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The Dynów Marl Member of the Menilite Formation in Poland is one of the most significant lithostratigraphic units containing fauna of the early Oligocene Paratethys. The fish fauna from this member is presented, including three shark taxa and eight teleost taxa. The connection between the Upper Rhine Graben and the Central Paratethys in the calcareous nannoplankton zone NP23 (about 30-32 Ma ago) is consistent with the occurrence of the teleost Anenchelum glarisianum and the shark Keasius parvus. The presence of the teleosts Scopeloides glarisianus, Vinciguerria obscura and Oligophus moravicus confirms the connections between the Eastern and Central Paratethys. The distribution of the ichthyofauna supports the existence of a marine connection between the North Sea, the Upper Rhine Graben, the northwestern Tethys, and the Central and Eastern Paratethys during the early Oligocene. The fish assemblage shows a high percentage of fishes, whose extant relatives are living in the depth interval between 0 and 500 m. The presence of Gonostomatidae, Phosichthyidae and Myctophidae indicates normal salinity in the deep pelagic life zones. The fish fauna show distinctly Paratethyan affinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition and features of numerous bioclasts found in the sandy/silty fraction of turbidite layers in the Middle- Upper Cenomanian deep-water sediments of the Silesian Nappe in the Outer Carpathians, dominated by sponge spicules, suggest that they originated from the growth and destruction of sponge assemblages formed on shelves of the northern margin of the Silesian Basin. The morphological types of spicules, by comparison with fossil and living species, lead to their attribution predominantly to three orders: Lithistida, Hadromerida and Astrophorida. Sponges lived in association with other benthic fauna such as calcareous benthic foraminifers and echinoids. Many sponge spicules were calcified in their primary environment before their redeposition by turbiditic flows. Favourable conditions for development of sponge assemblages occurred during the Cenomanian transgressions, being related to balanced delivery of sediment particles trapped by sponges and waters enriched with nutrients. The amount of nutrients absorbed by sponges is related to the dissolved silica content that originated from two sources: 1) terrestrial chemical weathering on the low-gradient plains of the shelves and 2) opal grains, such as siliceous plankton, suspended in the water column during bloom periods forced by seasonal upwelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]