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| MN 77 | |
|---|---|
| Name | MN 77 |
| Type | Locality |
MN 77
MN 77 is a designation used in paleontological literature to identify a fossil-bearing locality or stratigraphic horizon. It is cited in comparative studies alongside widely known sites and institutions such as the La Brea Tar Pits, Olduvai Gorge, Hell Creek Formation, Solnhofen, and Burgess Shale in surveys of faunal lists, taphonomy, and biostratigraphy. MN 77 appears in regional syntheses with reference points like the Sierra Nevada, Pyrenees, Alps, Andes, and other classic localities used for correlation. Because the label functions as a unit of correlation, it is commonly discussed with catalogs and collections from museums and academies including the Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, London, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, American Museum of Natural History, and university departments such as University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, Sorbonne University, and University of Cambridge.
The identifier MN 77 follows conventions established in biostratigraphic and regional cataloging systems used in paleontology, akin to numbered horizons like the Mammal Neogene (MN) zones and grid-style labels used by institutions such as the Institut de Paléontologie Humain and national geological surveys including the British Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey. It is referenced in taxonomic checklists that cross-link with repositories such as the Paleobiology Database, lists curated by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, and nomenclatural compendia maintained by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Authors publishing on MN 77 often follow practices established in monographs from the Royal Society, proceedings of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and bulletins of the Geological Society of America.
MN 77 denotes a discrete locality or stratigraphic interval with defined geographic coordinates and lithologic boundaries. Descriptions typically place it in relation to nearby landmarks like the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Rhône River, Danube River, or major urban centers such as Paris, Madrid, Rome, Istanbul, and Athens when used in regional reports. Field reports prepared by teams from institutions like the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, and the National Museum of Natural History, France provide maps, GPS data, and sediment profiles. The locality is characterized in monographs and guides alongside mapped exposures of units such as the Chalk Group, Marlstone Rock Formation, Molasse Basin, Flysch, and other named lithostratigraphic units used by the Geological Survey of Spain and the Italian Geological Society.
MN 77 is integrated into regional stratigraphic frameworks that reference chronostratigraphic standards like the International Chronostratigraphic Chart and regional stage names such as the Pliocene, Pleistocene, Miocene, Eocene, or Oligocene depending on the published assignment. Correlation often involves comparison with benchmark sections including the Vrica section, the GSSP for the Miocene, and other stratotypes used by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Sedimentological and sequence-stratigraphic analyses reported by teams from the University of Barcelona, ETH Zurich, and the University of Vienna place the horizon within depositional frameworks such as fluvial terraces, lacustrine basins, deltaic sequences, or shallow marine shelves adjacent to tectonic features like the Alboran Sea Basin, Pannonian Basin, Iberian Massif, and Apennine fold belt.
Faunal and floral assemblages attributed to MN 77 are cataloged and compared with benchmark faunas from sites such as the Siwalik Hills, Quarry at Saint‑Gérand-le-Puy, Awash Valley, Spitsbergen, Eemian deposits, and the Pikermi locality. Reports enumerate vertebrates, invertebrates, and plant macrofossils that are cross-referenced with collections at the Natural History Museum, Vienna, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Zoological Museum of Moscow University, and regional museums like the Museo de La Plata and Museo Nacional de Antropología. Taxa discussed in the context of MN 77 are placed alongside genera and species described from comparative localities such as Equus, Mammuthus, Hippopotamus antiquus, Canis lupus', Vulpes vulpes, Bison priscus, and numerous rodent, bird, and mollusk taxa cited in faunal lists and biogeographic analyses published in journals like Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology and Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Investigations at MN 77 involve field campaigns, stratigraphic surveys, and monographic studies conducted by teams affiliated with the University of Milan, CNRS, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, and regional geological services. Early reports appear in proceedings of the International Paleontological Congress and regional symposia such as meetings of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists and publications from the National Academy of Sciences. Subsequent taxonomic revisions and paleoenvironmental syntheses have been published in outlets including the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Nature Communications, and the Journal of Quaternary Science.
Specimens and contextual data from MN 77 are curated in institutional collections at repositories such as the Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid), Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze, and university collections including those at University College London and the University of Barcelona. Conservation measures and legal protections for the locality are informed by laws and guidelines from bodies like the European Commission cultural heritage programs, national heritage agencies such as the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Italian Ministry of Culture, and standards promulgated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Specimen access and loan policies follow best practices outlined by the International Council of Museums and the Biodiversity Heritage Library for data sharing and archival preservation.
Category:Fossil localities