The Miocene Paratethys Sea is frequently depicted as junction between the Proto-Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Herein, we elucidate the biogeographic character of this large epicontinental Miocene sea based on its speciose gastropod fauna. We debunk the persistent myth that there was a connection between these marine realms during Langhian times via the Tethys Seaway. Throughout most of the Early and Middle Miocene the connectivity of the Central Paratethys was via the Rhône Strait and the Slovenian Strait as supported by up to ∼22 % of species shared with the Proto-Mediterranean Sea. The faunistic similarity decreased successively at higher latitudes towards the northeastern Atlantic and dropped to low values towards the North Sea. Therefore, a connection with the North Sea can be excluded throughout the Early and Middle Miocene. Faunistic relations of the Central Paratethys Sea with the Eastern Paratethys Sea were surprisingly low until the late Middle Miocene, when endemic species from the Eastern Paratethys ‘flooded’ the Central Paratethys. Therefore, the effectiveness in species transfer or presence of the Carasu and Barlad straits, hypothetically connecting both seas, must be questioned for most of the Middle Miocene.

中文翻译：

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中央帕拉泰斯海 – 热带东大西洋的一部分，而不是通往印度洋的大门


中新世帕拉提斯海经常被描述为原始地中海和印度洋的交界处。在此，我们根据其特定的腹足动物群阐明了这个大型中新世大陆海洋的生物地理特征。我们揭穿了一个一直存在的神话，即在朗吉安时代，这些海洋领域之间通过特提斯航道存在联系。在中新世早期和中期的大部分时间里，中帕拉泰斯群岛的连通性是通过罗纳海峡和斯洛文尼亚海峡，这得到了高达 ∼22% 的物种与原始地中海共享的支持。动物群相似性在东北大西洋的高纬度地区连续下降，在北海下降到低值。因此，在整个中新世早期和中期都可以排除与北海的联系。中帕拉提斯海与东帕拉提斯海的动物关系出奇地低，直到中新世晚期，东帕拉泰斯的特有物种“淹没”了中帕拉蒂斯。因此，在中新世的大部分时间里，必须质疑物种转移的有效性或假设连接两海的卡拉苏海峡和巴拉德海峡的存在。