Mammal Neogene zones

The Mammal Neogene zones or MN zones are system of biostratigraphic zones in the stratigraphic record used to correlate mammal-bearing fossil localities of the Neogene period of Europe. It consists of seventeen consecutive zones (numbered MN 1 through MN 18; MN 7 and 8 have been joined into MN 7/8 zone) defined through reference faunas, well-known sites that other localities can be correlated with. MN 1 is the earliest zone, and MN 18 is the most recent. The MN zones are complementary with the MP zones in the Paleogene.

The zones are as follows:[1]

Interval Reference Locality[2] Start End ICS stages[3]
MN 18 2.0 Ma 0 Ma Gelasian to present
MN 17 Saint-Vallier (France) 2.5 Ma 2.0 Ma Gelasian
MN 16 Arondelli / Triversa (Italy) 3.2 Ma 2.5 Ma Gelasian - Piacenzian - Zanclean
MN 15 Perpignan (France) 4.2 Ma 3.2 Ma Zanclean
MN 14 Podlesice (Poland) 4.9 Ma 4.2 Ma Zanclean
MN 13 El Arquilla (Spain) 7.0 Ma (between 6.8 and 7.2 Ma) 4.9 Ma Zanclean - Messinian
MN 12 Los Mansuetos (Spain) 7.75 Ma (between 8.0 and 7.5 Ma) 7.0 Ma (between 6.8 and 7.2 Ma) Messinian - Tortonian
MN 11 Crevillente 2 (Spain) 8.7 Ma 7.75 Ma (between 8.0 and 7.5 Ma) Tortonian
MN 10 Masia del Barbo (Spain) 9.7 Ma 8.7 Ma Tortonian
MN 9 Can Llobateres (Spain) 11.1 Ma 9.7 Ma Tortonian
MN 7/8 La Grive M (France) 12.75 Ma (between 13.0 and 12.5 Ma) 11.1 Ma Tortonian - Serravallian
MN 6 Sansan (France) 13.7 Ma 12.75 Ma (between 13.0 and 12.5 Ma) Serravallian
MN 5 Faluns Pont Levoy- Thenay (France) 16.0 Ma 13.7 Ma Serravallian - Langhian - Burdigalian
MN 4 La Romieu (France) 16.9 Ma (between 16.6 and 17.2 Ma) 16.0 Ma Burdigalian
MN 3 Wintershof-West (Germany) 20.0 Ma 16.9 Ma (between 16.6 and 17.2 Ma) Burdigalian
MN 2
  • Montaigu (France)
  • Laugnac (France)
 22.4 Ma 20.0 Ma Burdigalian - Aquitanian
MN 1 Paulhiac (France) 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma[4][5][6] 22.4 Ma Aquitanian
  1. ^ "Mammal Neogene Units". Paleobiology Database. Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ Mein, P. (1990), Lindsay, Everett H.; Fahlbusch, Volker; Mein, Pierre (eds.), "Updating of MN Zones", European Neogene Mammal Chronology, NATO ASI Series, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 73–90, doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2513-8_6, ISBN 978-1-4899-2513-8, retrieved 2021-06-02
  3. ^ International Commission on Stratigraphy (2021.) - INTERNATIONAL CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC CHART
  4. ^ Norbert Schmidt-Kittler (ed.) "International symposium on mammalian biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the European Paleogene, Mainz, February 18th-21st 1987." Münchner geowiss. Abh., 10, 1-311.
  5. ^ İslamoğlu, Yeşim; Harzhauser, Mathias; Gross, Martin; Jiménez-Moreno, Gonzalo; Čorić, Stjepan; Kroh, Andreas; Rögl, Fred; van der Made, Jan (2006). "From Tethys to Eastern Paratethys: Oligocene depositional environments, paleoecology and paleobiogeography of the Thrace Basin (NW Turkey)". International Journal of Earth Sciences. 99 (1). Springer: 183–200. doi:10.1007/s00531-008-0378-0. S2CID 54934222.
  6. ^ Floréal Solé; Bernard Marandat; Fabrice Lihoreau (2020). "The hyaenodonts (Mammalia) from the French locality of Aumelas (Hérault), with possible new representatives from the late Ypresian". Geodiversitas. 42 (13): 185–214. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a13. S2CID 219585388.