Fleming, C.A. 1957 The genus Pecten in New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Geological Survey. New Zealand Geological Survey paleontological bulletin 26 69 p.
Abstract: The morphology, biology, geographic and stratigraphic distribution, and dispersal ability of scallops belonging to the genus Pecten (s. str.) are discussed as a basis for their classification. Australasian forms of Pecten were apparently derived from a few parental stocks which developed in the Mediterranean and spread eastward to the Pacific during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. New Zealand fossil and living forms are systematically described and classified in two species-groups and four polytypic species to show their relationship with those of other parts of the Old World. Two new subspecies, P. benedictus tepungai and P. b. zeehanae, are described. During the Pleistocene, the boundary between the distribution areas of the two species-groups of Pecten fluctuated across New Zealand, probably owing the climatic changes, so that distinct fossil scallops are preserved in sequence in the Castlecliffian Stage (Pleistocene) of the Wanganui Basin and can be used as zonal indices. Outliers of Castlecliffian in other parts of the North Island are correlated with the zones of the type Castlecliffian from the fossil pectens they contain. (auth)
