Article: A new cardiid bivalve from the Pliocene Baklan Basin (Turkey) and the origin of modern Ponto-Caspian taxa

We present the first record of the cardiid genus Monodacna from the Pliocene of Anatolia, Turkey. Monodacna imrei sp. nov. was found in the Pliocene Killik Formation from the western margin of the Baklan Basin, in very marginal brackish to freshwater lacustrine deposits. The new record extends the stratigraphic range of the modern Ponto-Caspian genus back into the Pliocene and adds to earlier evidence that modern Ponto-Caspian taxa originated in the Pliocene of south-western Turkey.