The paleogeography of late Neogene central Crete inferred from the sedimentary record combined with Albinaria land snail biogeography

Phylogenetic and geographic relations of recent land organisms often agree with results from tectonical and paleogeographic reconstructions. In the Hellenic island arc (Greece), Albinaria land snails (Gastropoda Pulmonata: Clausiliidae) are used to provide paleogeographical information in a combined analysis of their present distributional ranges and the sedimentary record. Late Tertiary (Neogene) islands in the region of present-day Crete existed for 6–9 Myear, before the arc was uplifted 3–2 Myear ago (Pliocene). The Albinaria fauna of Crete is known to be relictual. In central Crete (an area of 3800 km2), the distributional ranges of 15 parapatrically dispersed Albinaria species were determined. Based on differences in their ecological behavour, the species are subdivided into two groups: group 1 exclusively living on pre-Neogene substrate is believed to have largely conserved pre-Pliocene ranges; and group 2 partly living on Neogene, partly on pre-Neogene substrates is assumed to have occupied the land which appeared after late Neogene uplift events. Together with the sedimentary record, Albinaria helps to reconstruct the dynamic paleogeographic developments and block movements in central Crete since the Serravallian. The conclusions imply: (1) that some of the involved populations have been separated from each other for up to 11 Myear; and (2) that providing information on paleoislands, recent land snails may contribute to geoscientific questions concerning the rate and timing of uplift and erosion.