Conclusions

The Venezuelan fossil echinoids have been sporadically reported before by several authors, but no diversity analyses were available until now. In spite of the omnipresent issues of sampling and preservation biases, chronostratigraphical uncertainty, taxonomical confusion and choice of time interval played the role in this diversity analysis, it still enables us to observe echinoid diversity patterns through time. The major difference between the Venezuelan fossil record and other Caribbean echinoid faunas is the time of the highest diversity, which is recorded in Venezuela in the Middle Miocene and not in the Eocene as reported from most other Caribbean echinoid faunas. However, the diversity decrease around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary and one after the Middle Miocene diversity peak appears to be common for both Venezuelan and Caribbean echinoids. The gap in the Venezuelan echinoid fossil record from the end of the Early Cretaceous to the beginning of the Late Eocene unfolds an area of possible future research. A complete record of the Recent Caribbean echinoids would bring new and valuable information for better understanding the Quaternary echinoid diversity patterns in the Caribbean. The Caribbean region, experiencing the closure of the Central American Isthmus and its accompanied effects, has undergone major geographical and ecological changes in the last 12 m.y. Although the Venezuelan coast has somewhat different characteristics than other Caribbean regions, the knowledge about its fossil and extant fauna is still essential for understanding the evolutionary patterns in this region.