CONUS (CONE SNAIL) SPECIES DIVERSITY IN CORAL REEF ASSOCIATED FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE NEOGENE OF THE NORTHERN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

It is a well-established ecological principle that habitat complexity favors greater species diversity, at least in part by increasing the total niche space available to taxa. It has been demonstrated, for example, that three-dimensionally complex Indo-Pacific coral reefs support far more Conus (cone snail) gastropod species than simpler habitats such as sand flats. The relationship between ancient habitat type and Conus species diversity is explored in fossil Conus assemblages from the late Miocene Cercado and early Pliocene Gurabo Formations of the northern Dominican Republic. Conus assemblages associated with three coral reef deposits (collected at Tulane University localities 1215, 1354, and 1422) are much more diverse (up to 19 co-occurring species, comparable to some modern coral reef-associated Conus assemblages) than other analyzed fossil assemblages that are associated with shallow- (<30m) and deeper-water (30-200+m) habitats, particularly when abundance is taken into consideration. The abundances of species in the coral reef assemblages are also more evenly distributed and, unlike many of the other samples, they are not dominated by a single taxon. Finally, the three reef-associated assemblages contain multiple undescribed new species that are either unknown from the other assemblages or are very rare in those assemblages, underscoring the important role that coral reef habitats have played in contributing to total biodiversity in the past.