Novocrania turbinata (Brachiopoda) from the Early Pliocene of the Azores (Portugal)

Novocrania turbinata (POLI, 1795) is documented from the Early Pliocene strata of Santa Maria Island (Azores, Portugal), extending the range of this species to the central Northern Atlantic Ocean. This record increases the meagre brachiopod fauna known from the Pliocene of the Azores, which so far consisted only of Terebratulina retusa (LINNAEUS, 1758). It may also represent an example of a thermophilic species that disappeared locally due to Late Pliocene-Pleistocene climate deterioration.