Early Miocene coral reef-associated bryozoans from Colombia. Part II: Ascophora Cheilostomatida

Bryozoans are common and diverse in fossil and modern coral reefs. However, studies of bryozoans in ancient reefs are generally limited, and even less is known about fossil bryozoan faunas associated with coral reefs in the Caribbean region. This is the second contribution describing the bryozoan assemblage from the early Miocene (Aquitanian) reefs of the Siamana Formation in the La Guajira Peninsula, southern Caribbean. Here, we describe and illustrate 17 species of ascophoran-grade cheilostomes, including one new genus and three new species, Ditaxiporina colombiana n. sp., Poricella paulae n. sp., and Cycloavicularia parva n. gen. n. sp. Of the remaining fourteen taxa left in open nomenclature, one is considered confer and three affinis to species previously described, one is identified at family level, and nine at genus level. The Siamana bryozoan fauna differs in species and colony-form composition from those associated with other paleoenvironments from Oligocene and Miocene localities of North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil. UUID: http://zoobank.org/043eadcf-0e39-4c1b-b207-f7628d6b5c84

Automated summary

This study focuses on the bryozoan assemblage from the early Miocene reefs of the Siamana Formation in the southern Caribbean, describing and illustrating 17 species of ascophoran-grade cheilostomes, including new species and genus. The bryozoan fauna from Siamana differs significantly from those in other paleoenvironments in North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil in terms of species and colony-form composition.