Paleobiogeography of the Late Paleozoic Family Annuliconchidae (Bivalvia: Pectinida) and Its Relation to Paleoclimate and Paleogeographic Changes

Abstract The paleobiogeographic distribution of bivalves of the Late Paleozoic family Annuliconchidae is analyzed. A list of all annuliconchid localities with reconstructions of their paleolatitudes is compiled. A stratigraphic interval of the existence of the family is corrected (the Bashkirian Age of the Carboniferous–the Capitanian Age of the Middle Permian). It is shown that the representatives of the family were distributed at low latitudes on the territory of Laurasia and microcontinents located in the Paleotethys and Pantalassa. Annuliconchids are not registered north of the paleolatitude of 32° and south of the paleolatitude of 14° in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. The change in the range of the family exhibits a link with climate and paleogeographic events of the Late Paleozoic. The distribution of annuliconchids was shifted to the north during cooling periods, which are marked by an increasing area of cover glaciations in the Southern Hemisphere, and to the south during warming periods. The narrowing of the range of distribution in the Middle Permian was caused by the closure of the Ural Strait and disappearance of a normal marine basin on the territory of the East European Platform related to the Paleotethys.