English Abstract

_ DELFINO M., RAGE J.-C. & ROOK L., 2003 Tertiary mammal turnover phenomena: what happened to the herpetofauna? Deinsea, 10: 153-161.

Since the Paleogene and Neogene Mammal Units are based on mammal turnovers that are the expression of more general changes in biodiversity, we question whether other vertebrates might contribute to define the biodiversity dynamics and consequently the limits of the stratigraphic units. Theoretically, due to their high sensitivity to environmental factors, amphibians and reptiles could act as precise signals of changes in biodiversity. How much did the European herpetofauna evolve during the Cenozoic? Did it experience any turnover phenomenon? Is it possible to find any synchrony in mammalian and herpetofaunal turnover?
Focusing on some major mammal turnovers (i.e. those limiting different epochs) it appears evident that also the herpetofauna experienced some more or less abrupt changes that are sometimes perceivable at suprabasinial scale but are often detected in relatively restricted areas.


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