Aptian–Albian rudist bivalves (Hippuritida) from the Chilean Central Andes: Their palaeoceanographic significance

The study of Aptian–Albian rudist faunas from the Chilean Central Andes documents the presence of two forms, ascribed to the Monopleuridae: Douvillelia skeltoni an early Aptian species known hitherto from Mexico, and Jerjesia chilensis, an endemic Albian species from Chile and Peru, with a complex taxonomic history. The regional stratigraphy of the Central Andes, combining ammonites and rudists, is consistent with the Caribbean stratigraphic distribution of Jerjesia and Douvillelia. Andean occurrences of the two genera broaden their distributional area on the Pacific side of Americas, and testify their biostratigraphic value. Oceanographic conditions of the Chilean Pacific margin during the Aptian–Albian, including moderate but effective cold oceanic current, upwellings, high productivity and thermal instability, may acknowledge the low taxonomic diversity of rudist assemblages, which look impoverished when compared to their low latitude homologues from the Caribbean regions which were functioning as a dispersal centre.