title: Euryhaline preferences of the decapod crabMioplax socialisenabled it to survive during the Badenian/Sarmatian extinction (Miocene) in the Central Paratethys.
abstract: Although decapod crustaceans of the Central Paratethys were diverse during the Badenian (Langhian-Early Serravallian), a dramatic drop in their diversity occurred at the boundary with the Sarmatian. A crabMioplax socialisis one of the few decapods reported from the Lower Sarmatian (MohrensterniaZone) of the Paratethys. Until now, this species has been known from only a handful of specimens from Austria, Croatia and Bulgaria (Central Paratethys), and its systematics and ecology remain poorly known. Here, on the basis of new specimens from the Sarmatian tuffitic clays of the Stretava Formation (Skároš, Eastern Slovakia) we confirm that this species belongs to the subfamily Chasmocarcininae. The diagnostic characters of the male sternum that allow this classification are reported for the first time. The molluscan assemblage co-occurring withM. socialisdemonstrate that this species tolerated conditions with variable salinity. Its tolerance of a broad range of salinity regimes may thus explain its survival across the Badenian-Sarmatian extinction event. Preservation of near-complete and fully articulated individuals ofM. socialissuggests calm conditions and short residence times on the sediment-water interface.
authors.affiliation: Geological-palaeontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Matúš
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hyžný
authors.affiliation: Geological-palaeontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mandic
authors.affiliation: Geological-palaeontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harzhauser
authors.affiliation: The East Slovak Museum, Hrnčiarska 7, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ledvák
keywords: Crustacea; Mollusca; Sarmatian; euryhaline assemblage; stratigraphy