Interbedded faunas in the Messinian gypsum of Los Yeses (Sorbas Basin, SE Spain): consequences

Marine faunas have been recently found interbedded in the Messinian gypsum of Los Yeses, in the Sorbas Basin (SE Spain). More than 80 species have bee n identified, including molluscs, echinoids, foraminifers, ostracods, crust aceans and bryozoans. Several specimens from these exceptional marine fossi ls are figured for the first time. The palaeoecological analysis of these f ossils show that their environment of deposit was located between the deep part of the inner shelf with photophile seagrass and the upper part of the outer shelf with sciaphile seagrass. Biostratigraphically, the association of species is typically Messinian in age, but include taxa that survive dur ing the Pliocene and even to the Recent inside of the Mediterranean basin. These results ask again the question of the real impact the 'Messinian cris is' on the shelf Mediterranean faunas.