Article: The significance of a new nephropid lobster from the Miocene of Antarctica

The nephropid lobster, Hoploparia gazdzicki sp. nov., is described from Early Miocene glacio-marine sedimentary rocks of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Such an occurrence considerably extends the stratigraphical range of a widespread lobster genus that reached its acme in the Late Cretaceous. The previous youngest records were from the Eocene of western Europe, and it would appear that by the Early Miocene, the genus may have become a relict in relatively cold and deep waters in Antarctic. Although the full phylogenetic implications of this extension to the stratigraphical range are not yet apparent, there are some important palaeoecological ones. This occurrence can be taken as a further indication that certain benthic decapods were able to survive the onset of glacio-marine conditions in Antarctica. Perhaps other factors, such as the availability of food, habitat space, or decline in seasonal temperature fluctuation, ultimately controlled the decline of this major benthic group in the Southern Ocean.