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Fossil Rotifers and the Early Colonization of an Antarctic Lake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kerrie M. Swadling ,
Herbert J. G. Dartnall ,
John A. E. Gibson ,
Émilie Saulnier-Talbot  and
Warwick F. Vincent
Kerrie M. Swadling
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Sainte-FoyQuébec, G1K 7P4, Canada
Herbert J. G. Dartnall
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia
John A. E. Gibson
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada; and Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania, 7050, Australia
Émilie Saulnier-Talbot
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Sainte-FoyQuébec, G1K 7P4, Canada
Warwick F. Vincent
Affiliation:
Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Sainte-FoyQuébec, G1K 7P4, Canada
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Abstract

Early Holocene sediments from a continental Antarctic lake (Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica) contained abundant fossil rotifers of the genus Notholca. The fossil is similar to specimens of Notholca sp. present in modern-day Ace Lake and other fresh and brackish lakes of the Vestfold Hills. Cyanobacteria and protists (chrysophyte cysts, dinoflagellate cysts, and rhizopod tests) were also recovered from the core samples. These sediments were deposited early in the freshwater phase of Ace Lake, soon after deglaciation of the area. The occurrence of this trophically diverse assemblage of organisms at an early stage in the evolution of the lake suggests either that they were part of an endemic Antarctic flora and fauna which pre-dated the last glacial maximum and survived in glacial refugia or that efficient intercontinental dispersal had occurred.

Keywords

fossilrotifersNotholca, HoloceneAntarctic biogeographylakespaleoecologycolonization
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , May 2001 , pp. 380 - 384
Copyright
University of Washington

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