Mammal Paleogene zones explained

The Mammal Paleogene zones or MP zones are a system of biostratigraphic zones in the stratigraphic record used to correlate mammal-bearing fossil localities of the Paleogene period of Europe. It consists of thirty consecutive zones (numbered MP 1 through MP 30; MN 8 and 9 have been joined into MN 8 + 9 zone; and MP 17 zone is split into two zones - MP 17A and MP 17B zone) defined through reference faunas, well-known sites that other localities can be correlated with. MP 1 is the earliest zone, and MP 30 is the most recent. The Grande Coupure extinction and faunal turnover event marks the boundary between MP 20 and MP 21, the post-Grande Coupure faunas occurring by MP 21 onward. The MP zones are complementary with the MN zones in the Neogene.

These zones were proposed at the Congress in Mainz held in 1987 to help paleontologists provide more specific reference points to evolutionary events in Europe, but are used by paleontologists on other continents as well.^[1]

The zones are as follows:

Interval	Start	End	ICS stages^[2]
MP 30	23.2 Ma^[3]	23.03 ± 0.05 Ma^[4]	Chattian
MP 29	23.9 Ma	23.2 Ma	Chattian
MP 28	24.6 ± 0.1 Ma	23.9 Ma	Chattian
MP 27	25.4 Ma	24.6 ± 0.1 Ma	Chattian
MP 26	27.3 Ma	25.4 Ma	Chattian
MP 25	28.8 Ma	27.3 Ma	Chattian - Rupelian
MP 24	30.0 Ma	28.8 Ma	Rupelian
MP 23	30.9 ± 0.1 Ma	30.0 Ma	Rupelian
MP 22	32.5 Ma	30.9 ± 0.1 Ma	Rupelian
MP 21	33.9 ± 0.05 Ma	32.5 Ma	Rupelian
MP 20	34.0 Ma	33.9 ± 0.05 Ma	Priabonian
MP 19	35.0 Ma	34.0 Ma	Priabonian
MP 18	37.0 Ma	35.0 Ma	Priabonian
MP 17B	37.5 Ma	37.0 Ma	Priabonian
MP 17A	37.8 Ma	37.5 Ma	Priabonian
MP 16	40.0 Ma	37.8 Ma	Bartonian
MP 15	41.2 Ma	40.0 Ma	Lutetian
MP 14	43.5 Ma	41.2 Ma	Lutetian
MP 13	44.9 Ma	43.5 Ma	Lutetian
MP 12	46.3 Ma	44.9 Ma	Lutetian
MP 11	47.8 Ma	46.3 Ma	Lutetian
MP 10	50.8 Ma	47.8 Ma	Ypresian
MP 8 + 9	55.2 Ma	50.8 Ma	Ypresian
MP 7	56.0 Ma	55.2 Ma	Ypresian
MP 6	57.2 Ma	56.0 Ma	Thanetian
MP 5		57.2 Ma	Thanetian
MP 4			Paleocene series
MP 3			Paleocene series
MP 2			Paleocene series
MP 1	66.043 ± 0.011 Ma^[5]	61.7 ± 0.05 Ma^[6]	Danian

See also

• Mammal Neogene zones
• European land mammal age
• Geologic time scale

Notes and References

1. Norbert Schmidt-Kittler (ed.) "International symposium on mammalian biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the European Paleogene, Mainz, February 18th-21st 1987." Münchner geowiss. Abh., 10, 1-311.
2. International Commission on Stratigraphy (2021.) - INTERNATIONAL CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC CHART
3. Floréal Solé . Bernard Marandat . Fabrice Lihoreau . 2020 . The hyaenodonts (Mammalia) from the French locality of Aumelas (Hérault), with possible new representatives from the late Ypresian . Geodiversitas . 42 . 13 . 185–214 . 10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a13 . free .
4. İslamoğlu. Yeşim. Harzhauser. Mathias. Gross. Martin. Jiménez-Moreno. Gonzalo. Čorić. Stjepan. Kroh. Andreas. Rögl. Fred. van der Made. Jan. . 2006 . From Tethys to Eastern Paratethys: Oligocene depositional environments, paleoecology and paleobiogeography of the Thrace Basin (NW Turkey). International Journal of Earth Sciences. 99. 1. 183–200. 10.1007/s00531-008-0378-0.
5. Renne . Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary . 2013 . Science . 10.1126/science.1230492 . 23393261 . etal . 339 . 6120 . 684–7 . 2013Sci...339..684R . 6112274.
6. Web site: . The Paleobiology Database . Mammal Paleogene zones . 2006 . 17 July 2009.