Tertiary and Quaternary Brachiopods from the Southwest Pacific

Abstract

Brachiopods from Tertiary and Quaternary sediments in the islands of the South Pacific are rarities. They are important in helping us to understand the geographic and geologic distribution and evolution of parts of the phylum. This paper describes genera and species from Fiji, Java, and the New Hebrides. All except two of the genera live in the South Pacific today but are rare, absent, or not yet taken from the waters surrounding Fiji and the New Hebrides: <i>Craniscus</i>?, <i>Cryptopora, Basiliola, Terebratulina, Abyssothyris, Dallithyris</i>?, <i>Argyrotheca, Platidia, Frenulina, Dallina</i>, and <i>Thecidellina</i>. The exceptions are: an extinct new genus, here named <i>Dicrosia</i>, and <i>Lacazella</i>, a genus common in the Mediterranean, less common in the Caribbean, but not now known to be living in the Pacific.