First record of Acanthuridae (surgeonfish) from the Miocene deposits of the Medvednica Mt

Abstract

Middle Miocene deposits at the Dubravica locality in SW Medvednica Mt. (N Croatia) contain various marine fossils, including one tooth of the surgeonfish (Acanthuridae). This is the first such record in Croatia and the second in the wider region, besides the Vienna Basin. The appearance of surgeonfishes in the Paratethys coincides with the Miocene thermal maximum. Their distribution was probably controlled by available reef habitat and their palaeobiogeography and migration routes are yet to be studied.