Upper Oligocene to Pleistocene Ostracoda from Guyots in the Western Pacific: Holes 871A, 872C, and 873B

Assemblages of upper Oligocene to Pleistocene Ostracoda are described from pelagic sediments capping three guyots in the western Pacific Ocean.Recent studies have shown that a high percentage of seamount Ostracoda are restricted (i.e., endemic) to these bathymetrically isolated sites.In the following we detail changes in the Ostracoda (diversity, abundance, dominance, endemism, faunal turnover) from upper Oligocene to Pleistocene sediments encountered during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 144.Our results support previous observations on guyots and indicate that their high levels of endemism do not simply reflect a poor knowledge of the fauna in that region but truly reflect their bathymetrical isolation.Furthermore, whatever global event or events affected the deep-sea Ostracoda during the Miocene, the guyot faunas were not isolated from these changes.