Notes on Pleistocene and Recent non-marine Mollusca from Zambia
Baldreki, C.; Barham, L.; Simms, M.J.; Penkman, K.E.H.; White, T.S. (2024). Notes on Pleistocene and Recent non-marine Mollusca from Zambia. J. Conch., Lond. 45(2): 282-295. https://dx.doi.org/10.61733/jconch/4532
In: Journal of Conchology. Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland: London. ISSN 0022-0019; e-ISSN 2755-3531, more
|   |
| Keywords |
Classification > Taxonomy
Environments > Palaeoenvironments
|
| Author keywords |
Land snails, South-Central Africa, Achatina craveni, A. morrelli, A. morrelli var. kafuensis, A. tavaresiana |
| Authors | | Top |
- Baldreki, C.
- Barham, L.
- Simms, M.J.
|
- Penkman, K.E.H.
- White, T.S.
|
|
| Abstract |
Pleistocene and Recent non-marine molluscan faunas from Zambia, and from South-Central Africa more generally, are relatively poorly understood. Many extant species have been reported only from single localities, often the type localities from which they were first described, and their distributions and ecological preferences are unknown. Fossil assemblages have seldom been documented in any detail, partly because early archaeological investigations often disregarded non-marine molluscs as invasive elements of the fossil record. Here, we present new data from the late Middle to Late Pleistocene Palaeolake Kafue lacustrine sequence, situated in the landscape below the archaeological site of Twin Rivers Kopje, Zambia, where non-marine mollusc shells are preserved in cemented carbonate-rich sediments. The composition of this fauna, its palaeoecological significance, and relevance to the archaeological and hydrological records of the Lake Kafue Basin are discussed. We also briefly review the molluscan fauna of Zambia as a basis for future research in the region. Type specimens of Achatina craveni E.A. Smith, 1881, A. morrelli Preston, 1905, A. morrelli var. kafuensis Melvill & Ponsonby, 1907, and A. tavaresiana Morelet, 1866 are illustrated. |
|
