Reconstruction of a marine landscape of the Early Pliocene (5.1-4.5 million years ago) off the coast of Tuscany (central Italy) showing the monodontid Casatia thermophila and the sirenian Metaxytherium subapenninum - two of the many species that were only found in the Mediterranean Sea after the reopening of the gateway to the Atlantic.

The end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, ~5.3 million years ago, was marked by a distinct change in the sediments deposited on the Mediterranean Sea floor, which is seen here at Pissouri area, on Cyprus.

Konstantina Agiadi at the Laganas coast, on Zakynthos, Greece, where the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis can be observed.

Cast of a bivalve shell preserved in 6.5-million year old sediment on Crete (Greece). The scientists analyzed the presences of organisms such as this to complete their extensive analysis.