A review of the land snail faunas of the European Cenozoic – composition, diversity and turnovers

We present a critical review of the fossil record of Cenozoic terrestrial gastropods of Europe utilizing a literature-based dataset comprising 1640 species from 609 sites. Net diversity (expressed as species, genus and family richness) and β-diversity (as species, genus and family turnover) reveal several major disruptive phases. Turnovers occurred at the Ypresian–Lutetian and Eocene–Oligocene boundaries, and extinction events took place at the Oligocene–Miocene, Burdigalian–Langhian and Pliocene–Pleistocene boundaries. These biotic shifts correlate largely with global climatic events such as the Ypresian–Lutetian transition from Hothouse to Warmhouse, the Oi-1 glaciation at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary and with the onset of the Pleistocene glacials at the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. Phases of diversification during the Lutetian, Burdigalian and Pliocene seem to be linked to phases of relative climate stability. At least five immigration events are reflected by the appearance of exotic elements in European faunas during the Ypresian, Bartonian, Rupelian, Burdigalian and Langhian. Many of them correlate with the formation of terrestrial pathways and major migration events in mammals. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the stratigraphic ranges of families and genera in the European fossil record and discuss the timing of the first appearances of extant genera and species, setting important constraints for future molecular phylogenies. Pfefferiola nov. nom. pro Oppenheimiella Pfeffer, 1930, non Meunier, 1893, Hochheimia nov. nom. pro Palaeotrichia Nordsieck, 2014, non Guinot, 1976 and “Gibbulinella ” sandbergeri nov. nom. pro Pupa simplex Sandberger, 1870, non Gould, 1840 are introduced as new replacement names.