The brachiopod Terebratulinaretusa has migrated 3000-4000 km from the Iberian Peninsula as far north as Spitsbergen during the past 10 ka. This migration was caused by the progressive northward reestablishment of the North Atlantic Current, which had been deflected south during the last ice age and which represents the primary method of dispersal for short-lived pelagic brachiopod larvae. This migration has resulted in two similar but morphometrically distinct species, Terebratulinaretusaand Terebratulinaseptentrionalis, occasionally occurring together. This allows the identification of periods of rapid climatic change in the geologic record because of the effect such changes have on currents that control the distribution of sessile marine organisms. |
