Announcing publication of a facsimile PDF version:
CENOZOIC MOLLUSCA OF NEW ZEALAND
A. G. Beu and P. A. Maxwell, drawings by R. C. Brazier
New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin 58, 518 p, 57 pls, 1990
ISSN 0114-2283
This book provides an overview of the Cenozoic molluscan fauna of New Zealand, including a large number of previously unrecorded taxa, in a much fuller synthesis than anything attempted before or since.
Four introductory chapters review the history of the description of the fauna, introduce molluscan paleoecology, tabulate the time ranges of the most biostratigraphically useful taxa (both genera and species), and provide an illustrated glossary. Most of the book is taken up with an extensive description of the fauna, arranged in 12 chapters, subdivided by age—from Early Paleocene to mid-late Pleistocene. In these 12 chapters, 550 species are described in detail, with discussions of related taxa and of their utility in biostratigraphy and paleoecology; all are illustrated in 49 plates of 720 drawings by Ron Brazier. Chapter 17 introduces the huge topic of "micromolluscs", describing 43 genera as examples of New Zealand's extensive fauna of molluscs with shells less than 10 mm across, and illustrates all 43 genera in eight plates of scanning electron micrographs.
The PDF version has been produced as part of a project to put online an updated checklist of NZ Cenozoic mollusca, with illustrations from the monograph. The book has long been out of print, and is in demand for university classes as well as by paleontologists and fossil collectors.
The PDF file (84 Mb) is available as a free download from the GNS website
or on CD for NZ$40 from
Publications Officer,
Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences,
P.O. Box 30-368, Lower Hutt
Use our order form here.
Phone: +64 4 570 1444
Fax: +64 4 570 4679
