Living Miocene Bryozoans – #365papers – 2017 – 7

#365papers for January 7, 2017

Ziko, Eweda and El-Khawaga, 2016, Extant cheilostomatous bryozoans of teh Middle Miocene from the north Western Desert, Egypt: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 124, p. 12-31.

What’s it about?

This is a discussion of several species of bryozoan (tiny colonial animals) in Miocene aged rocks. These same species of bryozoans live today, but in different parts of the Mediterranean region.

Why does it matter?

This paper shows that 1) some species of bryozoan have lived for a long time, and 2) based upon their recognition in the Miocene rocks, interpretation of the ancient environment can be made.

Why did I read this?

I was searching for recent papers on bryozoans to use in my class this semester and this one popped up. I was confused by the title… How could they be extant bryozoans (that means ‘living today”) if they were from the Middle Miocene? So I read it. Sadly, this paper is fraught with typos and organizational errors and I think I missed much of the point of it.