Two fragments of upper jaws of the genus Entelodon, found in the Oligocene of Khoer-Dzan near Dzamyn-Ude, Eastern Gobi Desert, are described. They are attributed to the new species, Entelodon orientalis n.sp.
The analysis of size changes (length of placoliths, their width, length of central opening and its width) in elliptical reticulofenestrids from the NP25–NN5 zonal interval of the Central Paratethys allowed to dicriminate two size categories of placoliths: (i) small Reticulofenestra minuta (< 3.5 μm); (ii) Reticulofenestra haqii–pseudoumbilicus group (4–10.0 μm). The latter group appeared for the first time (FO, first occurrence) in the upper Egerian (size 4–7 μm) with the size of placoliths in this plexus increasing gradually. The FO of R. pseudoumbilicus > 8.0 μm has been established in the Zone NN2 while its FCO (first common occurrence) in the Zone NN5. This study shows that the FOs of size−defined morphotypes of the R. haqii–pseudoumbilicus group differ in the Central Paratethys and oceanic realm. Blooms of R. minuta at the Oligocene–Miocene boundary and in the Early Middle Miocene may be correlated with the incoming of warm water into the higher latitude Central Paratethys basins during connection with the Mediterranean Sea. Transgression favored the expansion of near−shore areas associated probably by some short−time oscillations of salinity. The FO of R. haqii–pseudoumbilicus group and the FO of R. pseudoumbilicus > 8.0 μm can be correlated with the opening of new pathways between the Mediterranean and the Central Paratethys. Gradual size changes in the R. haqii–pseudoumbilicus group probably reflect climatic changes: the decrease of coccolith size in the late Egerian may reflect cooling (Mi1 event) while the increase in coccolith size in the interval from the FO of Helicosphaera ampliaperta to the FO of Sphenolithus heteromorphus occurred due to warming. Two size categories of placoliths in the R. haqii–pseudoumbilicus group (3.5–6 μm and 6–8 μm) recorded in the interval from Zone NN1 to the lower part of the Zone NN2 may represent seasonal populations.
A diverse vertebrate fauna, dominated by elasmobranch taxa, was collected from the upper Oligocene (Chattian) Chandler Bridge Formation in Summerville, Dorchester County, South Carolina. Nearly 3,500 teeth and dermal denticles are assigned to 29 species of sharks and rays, and our sample includes the oldest known occurrence of the whale shark, Rhincodon, as well as a new skate, Raja mccollumi sp. nov. The Chandler Bridge elasmobranch assemblage is comparable in species diversity to Chattian assemblages of Virginia and North Carolina, USA, and Germany. Notable absences from Germany include Rhincodon, Hemipristis, and Sphyrna zygaena, likely reflecting the influence of colder water on the North Sea Basin during the Chattian. Squaloids, pristiophoroids, and hexanchoids are known from Chattian deposits of the Albemarle Embayment (North Carolina), Salisbury Embayment (Virginia), and North Sea Basin, but these taxa are absent from the Chandler Bridge assemblage, perhaps because of shallow, warm water (20 to 25°C) conditions within the more southerly Charleston Embayment.
Instances of dwarfism in the fossil record are of interest to palaeontologists because they often provide insight into aspects of palaeoecology. Fossil species of Australian-Pacific mekosuchine genus Mekosuchus have been described as dwarf, primarily terrestrial crocodiles, in contrast with the nearly ubiquitous semi-aquatic habitus of extant crocodilians (Willis 1997). This hypothesis has been difficult to test because of limited knowledge of the cranial and postcranial skeleton of extinct taxa and the continuous nature of crocodilian growth. New crocodilian vertebral material from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, tentatively referred to Mekosuchus whitehunterensis, displays morphological maturity indicative of adult snout-vent length little over a half-meter, proportionally smaller than extant dwarf taxa. Further, this material displays morphology that indicates a relatively large epaxial neck musculature for its body-size. These attributes suggest this dwarf mekosuchine employed unusual feeding behaviours. The ability to perform normal death-roll, de-fleshing behaviours would be limited in a mekosuchine of such small size. Given the powerful neck muscles and other anatomical features, it is more likely that this mekosuchine killed and/or dismembered its prey using a relatively forceful lifting and shaking of the head.
Palynological analysis of deposits ranging from the Middle Oligocene through the Upper Miocene from borings in the Great Poland Lowlands is presented. Mai's climatic-floristic phases on the territory under study have been characterized on the basis of the results of palynological analyses. A permanent tendency has been found to eliminate succesive warmlike components of flora in younger warm phases of the Neogene. Descriptions of 174 species of sporomorph are given. A new genus, Iteapollis a new species Microfoveolatisporis minutus and several new combinations have been erected by the present writer.
The relationships between amber preserved salticids and Recent genera from South-East Asia are established. The value of taxonomic characters is discussed and a new species Eolinus tystschenkoi described.
A description of a new genus from Gonostomatidae family, closely related to two living genera Bonapartia and Margrethia, on the basis of the palaeontologie data the evolutionary trends in one of the natural groups of this family are being presented.
Carpathichthys polonicus gen. et sp. n., alepocephaloid fish from the Menilite Beds (Carpathian flysch) is described. It represents the first fossil occurrence of this deep-sea group. This new form is superficially similar to the Recent genus Rouleina, but differs from it in osteological features.
Tonacatecutlius gibsoni gen. and sp. nov. - the first representative of the planthopper family Nogodinidae, and placed in the subtribe Nogodinina, from the Oligocene/Miocene fossil resin of Mexico is described.
A detailed account of the development of skeletal and some soft−tissue structures is based on 171 fossil tadpoles and metamorphosing froglets of Palaeobatrachus sp. from the Late Oligocene of the Czech Republic (locality Bechlejovice). Their exceptionally good preservation resulted from fossilization in diatomites. The fossil developmental series was compared with normal development of the contemporary anuran Xenopus laevis (Pipidae) represented by cleared and stained (alizarin/toluidin−blue) whole−mount specimens. The comparison revealed that in spite of differences in the sequence of ossification and its timing (e.g., ossification of the otic capsules and ribs was retarded in Xenopus whereas dermal ossification was retarded in Palaeobatrachus), in the number of free ribs, and in composition of the sacral region (the synsacrum in Palaeobatrachus involves two posterior presacrals, whereas there is a single sacral in Xenopus), both genera were similar in great number of anatomical features that appear during development. The most important difference is the shape of vertebral centrum (procoelous in Palaeobatrachus, opisthocoelous in all Pipidae) which is formed in comparatively early developmental stages. A view that could result from anatomical comparisons is that Palaeobatrachus could be derived from the Pipidae, but this is doubtful due to biostratigraphic and palaeogeographic discrepancies. The earliest palaeobatrachids were recorded from the Late Cretaceous of Europe but pipids could not invade northern continents after the Early Cretaceous when the Tethys Sea prevented interchanges of anuran faunas. Also, all palaeobatrachids retain primitive anatomical features (e.g., five pairs of ribs) that were more derived even in the earliest pipids from the Lower Cretaceous of Israel.
Fossil utricular otoliths (= lapilli) from cypriniform fishes have long been recorded from European Oligocene and Neogene freshwater and oligohaline sediments. Until now, their determination was limited to the family level owing to the lack of morphological investigations on lapilli of Recent cypriniforms. The present study introduces a terminology for the lapillus morphology that is based on the lapilli of 134 specimens of 20 cyprinid and one balitorid species. It is demonstrated that the lapillus has valuable characters for taxonomic classification. As a result, fossil lapilli from Oligocene and Miocene continental deposits from the western Mediterranean, the Swiss and the South German Molasse Basin, the Mainz Basin, and additionally from Anatolia could be determined. Nine species were identified: aff. Abramis sp. vel aff. Alburnus sp., aff. Alburnoides sp., aff. Barbus sp., cf. Leuciscussp., Palaeoleuciscus sp., Palaeotinca moeddeni sp. nov., Palaeotinca sp. 1, aff. Phoxinus sp., and aff. Rutilus sp. vel aff. Scardinius sp. Our study includes the oldest record of a Phoxinus−related and a Palaeotinca species from Europe. Additionally, aff. Abramis sp. vel aff. Alburnus sp. and aff. Alburnoides have been identified as fossils for the first time. The determination of the fossil lapilli has been supported by means of pharyngeal teeth, with the exception of aff. Abramis sp. vel aff. Alburnus sp., whose lapilli were found together with pharyngeal teeth of Palaeocarassius sp. It is suggested that these so−called Palaeocarassius pharyngeal teeth do not belong to an ancestor of the Carassiuslineage, but to a forerunner of the Abramis or Alburnuslineage. Our results support the previously described turnover in the Paratethys freshwater fish fauna about 17–18 Ma ago, when Palaeotinca spp. became extinct and the first appearance of Palaeoleuciscussp. and Palaeocarassiussp. (= aff. Abramissp. vel aff. Alburnus sp.) occurred. The Oligocene and Miocene cypriniform fishes did not evolve any provincialism from southern France throughout the Molasse Basin to the Mainz Basin.