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The Devonian/Carboniferous (D/C) transition is characterized by a major transgressive/regressive cycle which led to a widespread ocean anoxia known as the Hangenberg Black Shale Event (HBSE), as well to a major sea-level fall (Hangenberg Sandstone Event, HSSE), recognized around the world. Both events are known as the Hangenberg Crisis. In order to examine the D/C transition in shallow water environment, the Mighan section in eastern Alborz was studied in terms of conodont biostratigraphy and stable isotope geochemistry. Twenty-five conodont species belonging to seven genera were identified and 5 conodont zones discriminated; namely, the Bispathodus aculeatus aculeatus Zone, Bispathodus costatus Zone, Bispathodus ultimus Zone, Siphonodella praesulcata Zone, costatus-kockeli Interregnum, and the sulcata Zone. Below the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary (DCB), the Hangenberg Black Shale and Hangenberg Sandstone equivalents were recognized, representing the Hangenberg Crisis that highly affected trilobite, ammonoid, brachiopod and conodont faunas at Mighan and worldwide. The kockeli Zone of the latest Famennian is missing at Mighan due to the lack of conodonts, probably related with the major environmental changes linked with the Hangenberg Crisis recognizable worldwide. Carbon isotopes measured of micrites from Mighan indicate a proximal depositional environment of a shallow shelf with terrestrial input and the oxygen isotope values from conodont apatite suggest warm seawater temperatures of tropical and subtropical setting in the study area.

The Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) of Alberta, Canada, has produced one of the most diverse dinosaur faunas, with the record favouring large-bodied taxa, in terms of number and completeness of skeletons. Although small theropods are well documented in the assemblage, taxonomic assessments are frequently based on isolated, fragmentary skeletal elements. Here we reassess DPF theropod biodiversity using morphological comparisons, high-resolution biostratigraphy, and morphometric analyses, with a focus on specimens/taxa originally described from isolated material. In addition to clarifying taxic diversity, we test whether DPF theropods preserve faunal zonation/turnover patterns similar to those previously documented for megaherbivores. Frontal bones referred to a therizinosaur (cf. Erlikosaurus), representing among the only skeletal record of the group from the Campanian–Maastrichtian (83–66 Ma) fossil record of North America, plot most closely to troodontids in morphospace, distinct from non-DPF therizinosaurs, a placement supported by a suite of troodontid anatomical frontal characters. Postcranial material referred to cf. Erlikosaurus in North America is also reviewed and found most similar in morphology to caenagnathids, rather than therizinosaurs. Among troodontids, we document considerable morphospace and biostratigraphic overlap between Stenonychosaurus and the recently described Latenivenatrix, as well as a variable distribution of putatively autapomorphic characters, calling the validity of the latter taxon into question. Biostratigraphically, there are no broad-scale patterns of faunal zonation similar to those previously documented in ornithischians from the DPF, with many theropods ranging throughout much of the formation and overlapping extensively, possibly reflecting a lack of sensitivity to environmental changes, or other cryptic ecological or evolutionary factors.

Tetrapod (amphibian and amniote) fossils of Carboniferous age are known almost exclusively from the southern part of a palaeoequatorial Euramerican province. The stratigraphic distribution of Carboniferous tetrapod fossils is used to identify five land-vertebrate faunachrons: (1) Hortonbluffian (Givetian–early Visean), the time between the first appearance datum (FAD) of tetrapods to the beginning of the Doran; (2) Doran (late Visean–early Bashkirian), the time between the FAD of the baphetid Loxomma and the beginning of the Nyranyan; (3) Nyranyan (late Bashkirian–Moscovian), the time between the FAD of the eureptile Hylonomus and the beginning of the Cobrean; (4) Cobrean (Kasimovian–late Gzhelian), the time between the FAD of the eupelycosaur Ianthasaurus and the beginning of the Coyotean; and (5) Coyotean (late Gzhelian–early Permian), the time between the FAD of the eupelycosaur Sphenacodon and the beginning of the Seymouran. This biochronology provides insight into some important evolutionary events in Carboniferous tetrapod evolution.

Chronological sequences of Quaternary terrestrial mammalian faunas can provide important information about the evolutionary history of mammals, regional biostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental changes. Here we report the results of studies of a thick, nearly-continuous sedimentary sequence from Jinyuan Cave, in Liaoning Province, northeast China; the sequences contains four mammalian faunas ranging in age from the Late Pliocene to the late Middle Pleistocene. Detailed paleomagnetic and U-series age determinations date the upper unit of the sedimentary sequence to ~2.2–0.3 Ma. The results suggest that cave development and infilling were closely associated with the tectonic evolution of the Bohai Basin, including the subsidence of the basin and the uplift of the surrounding mountains, such as Luotuo Hill. Together with the large mammalian faunas from both south and north China, we suggest that these mammalian faunas were smaller in size and lower in species diversity during the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT) (1.2–0.7 Ma) than in the earlier and later Pleistocene. This indicates that major climatic variations during the MPT in north China may have reduced their taxonomic abundance and diversity. The extremely warm and wet interglacial climates that followed the MPT in monsoonal East Asia provided an ecological niche for the evolution and migration of these mammalian faunas, resulting in an increase in the numbers and diversity of mammals in East Asia.

There are many Middle-Upper Pleistocene outcrop sections in the Lower Volga region (Caspian Lowland, Russia) in between cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan. The present study focuses on the Seroglazovka locality, which is among the most famous key sites within the Lower Volga region. The Seroglazovka locality is of great regional interest, because of its clear exposure of genetically variable Middle and Upper Pleistocene deposits containing diverse complexes of fauna and flora. Even though the Seroglazovka locality was studied by many researchers, the diversity and along-strike variability of the depositional facies often makes the stratigraphic interpretation challenging. In this study, we performed an extensive and integrated study of the Seroglazovka locality including detailed outcrop mapping with lithological description, as well as diverse biostratigraphy analysis and OSL-dating. In addition to outcrop data, we used recently obtained borehole data near the Seroglazovka locality, which cover almost the entire Quaternary interval. This multidisciplinary approach permitted us to confidently stratify the Quaternary interval of the Seroglazovka locality into a series of regional horizons and subhorizons including the Akchagyl, Apsheron, Tyurkyan, Baku, Khazar and Khvalyn. Furthermore, we correlated the interpreted section to the adjacent parts of the Caspian Lowland and the Regional Stratigraphic Scale. Our results allowed us to determine the main Pleistocene palaeoenvironments and their evolution within the study area. Our findings are important to understand the processes, which led to the modern faunistic composition of the Lower Volga region, and to clarify the role of glacial refugia in the settlement of certain species and further colonization of water basins and land areas with habitable environments. Finally, we suggest the Seroglazovka locality as the key reference Pleistocene section for the Lower Volga region.

We present an updated look at Carboniferous brachiopod biozonation from most of the world framed into a revised Carboniferous palaeogeography, based on a selection of the literature published on Carboniferous brachiopods since the nineteenth century. The biostratigraphic significance of the most important brachiopod taxa is synthesized in seven geographical correlations. The Mississippian is characterized by rich brachiopod faunas, with widespread taxa with a good potential for global correlation, such as Rugosochonetes , Delepinea , Buxtonia , Antiquatonia , Spinocarinifera , Marginatia , Fluctuaria , Ovatia , Rhipidomella , Lamellosathyris , Unispirifer , Tylothyris and Syringothyris . From the mid-Visean to the late Serpukhovian, taxa of gigantoproductidines are biostratigraphically significant, and occur everywhere except South America and Australia, which remain as distinct faunal successions for most of the period. A major turnover occurs at the beginning of the Pennsylvanian, characterized by a higher degree of provincialism. Pennsylvanian brachiopod faunas are diverse in China, Russia and North America, but otherwise they are less developed and are characterized mostly by endemic taxa, hampering long-distance correlation. An exception is the rapid diversification of taxa of the Choristitinae, which were widespread from the Bashkirian to the Moscovian, allowing long-distance correlation.

International audience; The Paleogene record of caviomorph rodents has substantially increased over the last decades, and their evolutionary history better understood by the discovery of their earliest representatives, so far recorded in several pre-Deseadan localities in Peruvian Amazonia. We report here the discovery of new caviomorph fossils from the Balsayacu area in Peru (TAR-55/TAR-55bis, TAR-76 and TAR-77 localities, San Martín Department). The study of this new material reveals the occurrence of four caviomorph taxa in these localities: Balsayacuy huallagaensis gen. et sp. nov., Chachapoyamys kathetos gen. et sp. nov. and Caviomorpha gen. et sp. indet. 1 and 2. It allows the revision and refinement of taxonomic assignments of previously described specimens. The first three taxa have a primitive dental pattern, as that characterizing stem Caviomorpha recorded in pre-Deseadan localities of Peru (Eocene localities of Contamana and ?late Eocene/early Oligocene Santa Rosa). We support here an Eocene age for the Balsayacu section due to the complete absence of morphologically derived taxa representing modern caviomorph superfamilies. By the presence of derived characters in Balsayacuy and Chachapoyamys compared to Canaanimys maquiensis and Cachiyacuy contamanensis from CTA-27 (Contamana, Peru; late middle Eocene), the Balsayacu section may document a time interval slightly younger than CTA-27 (which further yields Chachapoyamys cf. kathetos) and older than those of Santa Rosa and Tarapoto-Shapaja, likely documenting latest middle or early late Eocene times. These low-latitude stem caviomorph faunas provide new insights into the early evolutionary history and paleodiversity of that group immediately before the rise of modern superfamilies.

We report the Narmada Seaway began in India during the largest global sea-level transgression and Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2) δ13C excursion during the late Cenomanian to early Turonian. The transgression progressed eastward during the Turonian-Coniacian and reached Jhilmili by the end of the Maastrichtian. During this time the Narmada and Godavari Seaways may have joined via the Narmada-Tapti rift and formed a Trans-India Seaway. The history of this major seaway is entombed in a fossil-rich marine transgression of the tectonically active Narmada rift zone. We examined this transgression in the western Narmada Basin, Gujarat, to improve age control based on planktic foraminifera and ostracods and evaluate paleoenvironmental changes based on the Cenomanian-Turonian OAE2 δ13C excursion, δ18O records, and mercury concentrations in sediments as index for volcanic eruptions. Results reveal the onset of the OAE2 δ13C excursion began in the western Narmada Basin during the late Cenomanian coeval with the sea-level transgression and first influx of planktic and benthic foraminifera in the Nimar Sandstone that overlies Archean rocks. The OAE2 δ13C excursion peak was recorded in oyster biostromes followed by fluctuating values of the δ13C plateau in the overlying Limestone with oysters beds, and gradual decrease to background values by the early Turonian. We tested the age of the transgression and δ13C excursion based on planktic foraminifera and ostracod biostratigraphy and successfully compared the results with the Pueblo, Colorado, Global Section and Stratotype Point (GSSP), and the eastern Sinai Wadi El Ghaib section of Egypt.

The Nanpanjiang Basin is a key area for paleontological and biostratigraphical study of the Middle Triassic. Herein we studied Middle Triassic conodonts from a well-exposed section, the Shaiwa Section, which is located at the northwest end of the Nanpanjiang Basin. A total of six Anisian conodont zones are recognized; in ascending order, they are: the Nicoraella germanica Zone, the Nicoraella kockeli Zone, the Paragondolella bulgarica Zone, the Neogondolella constricta Zone, the Neogondolella cornuta Zone, and the Paragondolella excelsa Zone, respectively. The first occurrence of Nicoraella kockeli defines the Bithynian-Pelsonian boundary. The Pelsonian-Illyrian boundary is defined by the first occurrence of Neogondolella constricta. The Anisian-Ladinian boundary cannot be recognized at the Shaiwa Section due to the absence of conodont indicative of the Ladinian. However, the new conodont data indicate that the uppermost strata could be very close to the boundary. The abrasion of conodont surfaces provides evidence for demonstrating reworking at the Shaiwa Section, which makes some conodonts possess a longer stratigraphic range than previously recorded. The variation in relative abundance between blade-shaped conodonts and platform conodonts indicates that segminiplanate elements probably preferred deeper and oxygenated environments whereas a restricted marine environment is more suitable for segminate elements.

The conodont fauna from the Willara Formation, a carbonate-dominated stratigraphic unit widely distributed in the subsurface Canning Basin of Western Australia, is represented by 41 species, including a new species, Erraticodon neopatu Zhen n. sp. The Jumudontus gananda and Histiodella altifrons biozones are recognized in the lower and upper parts, respectively, of the Willara Formation. Deposited primarily in shallow nearshore settings, the Willara Formation is characterized by the occurrence of predominantly long-range coniform species of Triangulodus, Scalpellodus, Drepanoistodus, Drepanodus, and Kirkupodus. Several widely distributed age-diagnostic species, including Histiodella altifrons, Histiodella holodentata, Histiodella serrata, and Jumudontus gananda, serve as keys for biostratigraphic analysis and correlation. Our study also shows that the basal and top boundaries of the Willara Formation are diachronous across the basin, extending from the middle Floian (Oepikodus communis Biozone) to middle Darriwilian (Histiodella holodentata-Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus Biozone). This contribution provides crucial new biostratigraphic data for precise correlation of the Willara Formation with its time equivalents regionally and internationally.

Recent U–Pb dating by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has demonstrated that reasonable precision (3 %–10 %, 2σ) can be achieved for high-resolution dating of texturally distinct calcite phases. Absolute dating of dolomite, for which biostratigraphy and traditional dating techniques are very limited, remains challenging, although it may resolve many fundamental questions related to the timing of mineral-rock formation by syngenetic, diagenesis, hydrothermal, and epigenetic processes. In this study we explore the possibility of dating dolomitic rocks via recent LA-ICP-MS dating techniques developed for calcite. The in situ U–Pb dating was tested on a range of dolomitic rocks of various origins from the Cambrian to Pliocene age – all of which are from well-constrained stratigraphic sections in Israel. We present imaging and chemical characterization techniques that provide useful information on interpreting the resulting U–Pb ages and discuss the complexity of in situ dolomite dating in terms of textural features that may affect the results. Textural examinations indicate zonation and mixing of different phases at the sub-millimeter scale (< 1 µm), and thus Tera–Wasserburg ages represent mixed dates of early diagenesis and some later epigenetic dolomitization event(s). We conclude that age mixing at the sub-millimeter scale is a major challenge in dolomite dating that needs to be further studied and note the importance of matrix-matched standards for reducing uncertainties of the dated material.

The Carboniferous record of tetrapod footprints is mostly of Euramerican origin and provides the basis for a footprint biostratigraphy and biochronology of Carboniferous time that identifies four tetrapod footprint biochrons: (1) stem-tetrapod biochron of Middle Devonian–early Tournaisian age; (2)Hylopusbiochron of middle Tournaisian–early Bashkirian age; (3)Notalacerta–Dromopusinterval biochron of early Bashkirian–Kasimovian age; and (4)Dromopusbiochron of Kasimovian–early Permian age. Particularly significant is the Carboniferous tetrapod footprint record of the Maritimes basin of eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), which encompasses well-dated and stratigraphically superposed footprint assemblages of Early Mississippian–early Permian age. The Carboniferous tetrapod footprint record provides these important biostratigraphic datums: (1) oldest temnospondyls (middle Tournaisian); (2) oldest reptiliomorphs, likely anthracosaurs (middle Tournaisian); (3) oldest amniotes (early Bashkirian); and (4) oldest high-fibre herbivores (Bashkirian). Carboniferous tetrapod footprints thus provide significant insight into some major events of the Carboniferous evolution of tetrapods.

Three sections from the upper Miocene (Pannonian) of the Guşteriţa quarry – Sibiu (the southern border of the Transylvanian Basin) were investigated in detail. The main part of the research was based on calcareous nannofossil analysis to which some aspects on molluscs and ostracods fauna, together with sedimentological remarks were added. The calcareous nannofossil assemblages from Guşteriţa quarry were compared with seven other previously analyzed sections from the western border of the Transylvanian Basin: Aiud area (Geoagiu, Gârbova, Gârboviţa, Lopadea exposures and Decea quarry) and Sibiu area (Vurpăr and Apoldu exposures). The Pannonian calcareous nannofossil assemblages are abundant at some levels and contain mostly species of the genera Isolithus and Noelaerhabdus.

Bakhtiariella, a new genus of Larger Benthic Foraminifera is described from the upper Maastrichtian Tarbur Formation of Iran. The new taxon is characterised by a trochospirally coiled initial test ...

Information on latest early Olenekian (latest Smithian) ammonoids is available apparently from only seven regions of the world, including South Primorye. Latest Smithian evidences on this topic are recorded from the West SMID (abbreviation from the Russian name of the quarry: "Building Materials and Details"), East SMID and Golyj Cape areas in South Primorye. This provides additional information on systematic composition of latest Smithian ammonoid, as well as conodont and brachiopod assemblages from the recently identified Shimanskyites shimanskyi Zone, located between lower Olenekian Anasibirites nevolini Zone and upper Olenekian Tirolites subcassianus Zone. There are many common ammonoid species in the Shimanskyites shimanskyi Zone and the underlying Anasibirites nevolini Zone, e.g., Prosphingitoides sp., Arctoceras septentrionale (Diener), Churkites syskoi Zakharov et Shigeta, Submeekoceras? subhhydaspis (Kiparisova), Prionites markevichi Zakharov et Smyshlyaeva, 'Anasibirites' simanenkoi Zakharov et Smyshlyaeva, Xenoceltites? subvariocostatus Zakharov et Smyshlyaeva, and Mianwaliites zimini Zakharov et Smyshlyaeva. The base of the Shimanskyites shimanskyi Zone, marked by a negative δ13Corg excursion in the Kamenushka-2 Section by our previous study, coincides with the FO (first occurrence) of ammonoids Shimanskyites shimanskyi Zakharov et Smyshlyaeva and Glyptophiceras cf. sinuatum (Waagen) and conodont Hindeodella budurovi Buryi. This zone is characterized additionally by some fossils common for the overlying upper Olenekian Tirolites subcassianus Zone: ammonoids of the genus Kamenushkaites, brachiopods Bittnerihyris margaritovi (Bittner) and Lepismatina sp. and conodont 'Neogondolella' (=?Borinella) jubata Sweet. The latest Smithian ammonoids recorded from the Shimanskyites shimanskyi Zone totally consist of 30 taxa belonging to 11 families (Sageceratidae, Ussuiriidae, Aspenitidae, Paranannitidae, Arctoceratidae, Proptychitidae, ?Galfetitidae, Prionitidae, ?Kashmiritidae, Xenoceltitidae and Palaeophyllitidae). The problems of global correlation of uppermost Smithian strata are also discussed.

This study presents the results of the conodont biostratigraphy and microfacies analysis carried out on the pelagic limestones of the Upper Triassic Dovško Section in Slovenia, which represents the eastern part of the Slovenian Basin. The age of the section ranges from the Lacian 1 to the Alaunian 1. The Lacian part of the succession is predominantly characterized by the representatives of the genus Ancyrogondolella. Transitional morphologies towards Alaunian faunas first appear in the Lacian 3 and become common during the Lacian-Alaunian transition. This evolutionary development coincides with a shift in microfacies from a dominantly radiolarian-bearing mudstone-wackestone-packstone to a filament- dominated wackestone-packstone, and the formation of small neptunian dykes, which may reflect environmental perturbations and/or a change in basin geometry. The proliferation of the genera Epigondolella and Mockina is observed in the Alaunian part of the section, though the genus Ancyrogondolella is still present in this interval. Systematic description of the conodont taxa is provided, and seven new species and two new subspecies are established. The new advances will be of great value in further biostratigraphic studies, especially in areas without ammonoid faunas, and in the reconstruction of the paleogeography of the Slovenian Basin.

In the Carboniferous, terrestrial vegetation became widespread, diverse and abundant. The resulting fossil record has proved to be an effective biostratigraphic tool for intra- and interbasinal correlations. Besides palaeogeographical configurations, Carboniferous plant biostratigraphy is affected by a transition from greenhouse conditions during most of the Mississippian to an icehouse climate in the Pennsylvanian. The greenhouse Mississippian climate resulted in weak provincialism, with a cosmopolitan flora ranging from the tropics to middle latitudes. The global cooling around the Mississippian–Pennsylvanian boundary enhanced development of a latitudinal climatic zonation and related floral provincialism. These changes are expressed in the recognition of distinct realms or kingdoms, where the tropical Amerosinian Realm (or Euramerican and Cathaysian realms) is surrounded by the Angaran and Gondwanan realms occupying middle to high latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. Floristic endemism in the Pennsylvanian precludes development of a global macrofloral biostratigraphy. Instead, each realm or area has its own biostratigraphic scheme. Poorer and less diverse floras of the Gondwanan and Angaran realms resulted in the establishment of relatively low-resolution macrofloral biostratigraphic schemes. Higher-resolution macrofloral zonations exist only in the tropical Amerosinian Realm due to diverse and abundant floras dominated by free-sporing and early seed plants occupying extensive wetlands.

Seven conodont biozones are recognized in the carbonate-dominated shelf-marine Middle Ordovician developed in the intracratonic sedimentary basins (Canning, Amadeus and Georgina) of central and north-western Australia, in the Lachlan and New England orogens of New South Wales, and in the Takaka Terrane of New Zealand. A separate scheme identifying seven conodont biozones spanning the Middle Ordovician has also been developed for siliciclastic sequences deposited in slope-basinal environments in the Lachlan Orogen in New South Wales and Victoria. This biozonal classification consisting of two parallel biostratigraphic schemes for the shelf-marine and deep-marine successions respectively has significantly increased precision in regional and global biostratigraphic correlation and laid a solid foundation for the Middle Ordovician chronostratigraphy of Australia and New Zealand. Recognition of short-ranging pandemic species as the eponymous species of the biozones also supports direct correlation with the classical conodont successions established in Baltoscandia and the North American Midcontinent, and with those of the major Chinese terranes (South and North China and Tarim). The Lachlan Orogen appears to be globally unique in enabling correlation of contemporaneous conodont faunas over a considerable spectrum of water depths and biofacies ranging from carbonate shelves, slopes to deep-water basins.

The results of a palynological study of the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments of three boreholes drilled in the South Transurals are presented. The Upper Cretaceous Kuznetsovo, Kamyshlov, Zaikovo, Fadyushino, and Gan’kino formations are exposed by Boreholes 3, 9, and 13, which contain four spore and pollen biostratons. Five dinocyst biostratons are identified for the first time: local zone with Chatangiella spectabilis, local zone with Spinidinium sverdrupianum, local zone with Chatangiella chetiensis, local zone with Chatangiella manumii–Dinogymnium spp., and local zone with Cerodinium diebelii. The comparison of the Late Cretaceous dinocyst assemblages of the southern and northern territories of Western Siberia shows that, in spite of significant provincialism of dinoflagellates, there is a series of stratigraphic intervals in the middle–upper Turonian, lower Coniacian, lower Santonian, Campanian, and lower Maastrichtian, which have interregional correlation potential. In the Talitsa, Serov, Irbit, and Chegan formations, intervals of six zones of the Thanetian–Bartonian age of the dinocyst scale of Western Siberia are identified in Borehole 9 (Alisocysta margarita, Apectodinium hyperacanthum, Deflandrea oebisfeldensis (acme), Dracodinium simile, Rhombodinium draco, and Rh. ornatum), as well as five local zones by spores and pollen. The Kurtamysh Formation is characterized by a Rupelian spore and pollen assemblage. Significant sedimentation hiatuses in the Cretaceous–Paleogene sequence corresponding to the upper part of the Maastrichtian, the most part of the Danian and Selandian, the lowermost parts of the Ypresian, middle–upper Ypresian, Lutetian, the upper parts of Bartonian, Priabonian, and the lower parts of the Rupelian are established.

In the Ritchie’s Archipelago of the Andaman group of islands (Northern Indian Ocean), Havelock Island is the largest one. The present study on diatoms has been carried out on three outcrops of Havelock Island situated in Kalapathar, South Point and Laccam Point localities. Samples collected from the three Neogene outcrops yielded poor to moderately preserved diatom valves. Two lithological units are exposed in this island, i.e., Inglis and Long formations. The diatoms have been recovered from the Inglis Formation and the diatom assemblages are represented by the marker diatom species, viz., Actinocyclus ingens, Annellus californicus, Araniscus lewisianus, Cestodiscus peplum, Craspedodiscus coscinodiscus, Denticulopsis simonsenii, and Rossiella paleacea that indicate the age as Burdigalian to early Serravallian.

Recently, rich fossiliferous deposits dated to the late Cenozoic have been discovered from Jinyuan Cave at Luotuo Hill, an extremely large-sized cave site situated within in the Dalian Puwan Economic Zone of Dalian Municipality, Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Abundant and diverse vertebrate fossils unearthed from different fossiliferous layers of Jinyuan Cave, a site of enormous size with a sedimentary thickness of over 40 m and its deposits can be roughly divided into three fossiliferous deposit units, altogether containing six fossiliferous layers belonging to different ages from the Late Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene. Based on a combination of biostratigraphic and geochronological evidence, the fossil assemblages from Jinyuan Cave can be divided into three successive faunas that span the Late Cenozoic (ca. 3.60–0.35 Ma): the Wanghai fauna from upper faunal unit (Middle Pleistocene, 0.78–0.35 Ma), the Jinyuan fauna from middle-lower faunal unit (Early Pleistocene, 2.60–0.78 Ma) and the Luotuoshan fauna of the bottommost faunal unit (Late Pliocene, 3.6–2.6 Ma). The mammalian faunal evolution of Jinyuan Cave can be divided into four temporal stages during the late Cenozoic. The new discovered Jinyuan Cave provides a unique and nearly-continuous faunal and sedimentary sequence stretching from the Late Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene, hugely significant for establishing the Quaternary Mammal Fauna Sequence of Northeast China for the first time based on a combination of biostratigraphy, geochronology, and for discussing the environmental background.

A new species of rugose coral, Sanidophyllum dubium n. sp., and the typical Emsian (Early Devonian) rugose coral Xystriphylloides nobilis are described from the Mia Le Formation in northern Vietnam. The lower Emsian index conodonts ranging from the Polygnathus excavatus zone to the P. nothoperbonus zone are illustrated. The biostratigraphic correlation between northern Vietnam and South China shows that the Mia Le Formation in northern Vietnam is early Emsian in age, and its upper part can be correlated with the lower part of the Shizhou Member of the Yukiang Formation in Liujing, Guangxi and its equivalents in South China. Based on the study of the lower Emsian biostratigraphic sequence, the disappearance of Xystriphylloides nobilis fauna in the overlying bed of the uppermost Mia Le Formation and the extinction of the “tonkinensis fauna” (sensu lato) in the interval between the basal Si Phai Formation and the uppermost Mia Le Formation demonstrate the influence of the Yujiang Event in northern Vietnam.

Recently, the end-Devonian mass extinction (Hangenberg Crisis, 359 Ma) was identified as a first-order mass extinction, albeit not one of the “Big Five” events. Many marine and terrestrial organisms were affected by this crisis. The cause of this mass extinction is still conjectural and widely discussed. Here we report anomalously high mercury (Hg) concentrations from the South Tian Shan (Uzbekistan), together with correlation using conodont biostratigraphic data. Hg enrichment (to 5825 ppb) was detected in marine deposits encompassing the Hangenberg Crisis. In the Novchomok section, the Hangenberg Crisis interval does not contain typical Hangenberg Black Shales; however, by means of inorganic geochemistry (enrichment of redox-sensitive elements such as Mo, V, and U) we detected an equivalent level despite the lack of marked facies changes. This is the first record of Hg and Hg/total organic carbon anomalies in marly shales, marls and carbonates that are totally independent of facies changes, implying that volcanism was the most probable cause of the Hangenberg Crisis. This conclusion is confirmed by the presence of a negative δ13C excursion, which may reflect massive release of isotopically light carbon from volcanogenic and thermogenic devolatilization likely combined with increased arc-volcanism activity worldwide at the end of the Devonian.

In the Lower Cretaceous McMurray-Clearwater succession of the intracontinental Alberta Foreland Basin, Canada, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology samples (referred to herein as DZ samples) have been used to interpret the strata as representing a paleo-continental-scale drainage system. However, the majority of DZ samples are relatively small (n≈90–100), and syndepositional DZ (i.e., crystallization age 5% of the total DZ population), calculating maximum likelihood ages from grouped DZ samples avoids negatively biased (i.e., too young) MDAs. We suggest grouped DZ samples and the gMDA method be used in systems with multiple DZ samples from a well-defined stratigraphic interval as a means of assessing variability in provenance within a depositional system and for improving estimates of depositional ages using DZ.

On the basis of a detailed study of 39 sections in the Djangdjir and Kokshaal ranges of the South Tianshan (Kyrgyzstan), the conodont zonation of deep-water facies of the Tournaisian, Visean, and Serpukhovian stages was specified. Nine conodont zones, including three new ones, and one unit in the rank of layers with conodonts were distinguished. The deep-water character of studied facies determines the predominant occurrence of cosmopolitan conodonts, which enable the reliable correlation with coeval sections in many regions worldwide. The comparison of conodont assemblages at the specific level indicates that conodont assemblages from the South Tianshan sections are the most similar to those from the Southern Urals and South China.

The Hadim Nappe, which is one of the allochthonous tectonic units in the Tauride Belt, in southern Turkey, includes a continuous stratigraphic succession from the Middle(?)–Late Devonian to Late Cretaceous. A relatively complete succession of the upper Serpukhovian to Bashkirian is exposed in the Central Taurides, where two sections (Yassıpınar and Gölbelen) have been selected for detailed biostratigraphic investigations. The Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary in these sections was determined by the first appearance datum of thePlectostaffella jakhensisand located in the oolitic limestone facies indicating a shallow-water depositional environment. The uppermost Serpukhovian and regional Bashkirian substages (Syuranian, Akavasian, Askynbashian, and Arkhangelskian) were determined by index taxa, namelyPlectostaffella jakhensis,P.bogdanovkensis,P.varvariensis,Pseudostaffella antiqua,Staffellaeformes staffellaeformis,Tikhonovichiella tikhonovichi, andVerella spicata. Fifty fusulinid species belonging to fourteen genera were determined in two sections, in which two species are new:Depratina turaniAkbaş new species andTikhonovichiella praetikhonovichiAkbaş new species. The taxonomic positions of two fusulinid species (Depratina convolutan. comb. andStaffellaeformes parva robustan. comb.) are revised. The studied fusulinid assemblages correlate with fusulinid assemblages from the southern Urals, Russian Platform, Donetz Basin, Darvaz, Spain, central Iran, and some other regions of the Tethyan Realm.UUID:http://zoobank.org/bcbb6c72-f6f9-4e77-9cf9-3572bd731ff3

Carboniferous conodont biostratigraphy comprises regional zonations that reflect the palaeogeographical distribution of taxa and distinct shallow-water and deep-water conodont biofacies. Some species have a global distribution and can effect high quality correlations. These taxa are incorporated into definitions of global Carboniferous chronostratigraphic units. A standard global Carboniferous zonation has not been developed. The lowermost Mississippian is zoned by Siphonodella species, excepet in shallow-water facies, where other polygnathids are used. Gnathodus species radiated during the Tournaisian and are used to define many Mississippian zones. A late Tournaisian maximum in diversity, characterized by short-lived genera, was followed by lower diversity faunas of Gnathodus species and carminate genera through the Visean and Serpukhovian. By the late Visean and Serpukhovian, Lochriea provides better biostratigraphic resolution. Shallow-water zonations based on Cavusgnathus and Mestognathus are difficult to correlate. An extinction event near the base of the Pennsylvanian was followed by the appearance of new gnathodid genera: Rhachistognathus , Declinognathodus , Neognathodus , Idiognathoides and Idiognathodus . By the middle of the Moscovian, few genera remained: Idiognathodus , Neognathodus and Swadelina. During the middle Kasimovian and Gzhelian, only Idiognathodus and Streptognathodus species were common. Near the end of the Gzhelian, a rediversification of Streptognathodus species extended into the Cisuralian.

Traditionally, biostratigraphy of the terminal Famennian (Upper Devonian) and lower part of the Tournaisian (Mississippian) is based on phylogeny of the conodont genus Siphonodella Branson and Mehl. This study is focused on a Siphonodella species with a long taxonomical history. For the last three decades it was known as S. hassi Ji, 1985 and was used as a zonal index for the eponymic hassi Zone, used worldwide. However, this species faces several taxonomical problems. The main issue is the homonymy of S. hassi and S. cooperi hassi Thompson and Fellows, 1970. However, S. cooperi hassi is a subjective junior synonym of S. obsoleta Hass, 1959. The oldest junior synonym of S. hassi is S. wilberti Bardasheva, Bardashev, Weddige and Ziegler, 2004, and, according to a statement by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the latter represents the only available name for this species. An additional problem is the similar morphology of early ontogenetic stages of S. wilberti and S. quadruplicata Branson and Mehl, 1944, the youngest stratigraphically important siphonodellid species. In advanced ontogenetic stages, P1 elements that possess two rostral ridges belong to S. wilberti only. The smaller P1 elements having two or less rostral ridges comprise the S. wilberti- S. quadruplicata plexus. Maintenance of the wilberti Zone in the Tournaisian global zonation is suggested.

We describe here five new bovid crania from the Çorakyerler fossil site (Tüglu Formation, Çankırı Basin, north-central Anatolia, Turkey), the fauna of which is dated by magneto- and biostratigraphy to the late Miocene, around the Vallesian–Turolian boundary. The material is assigned to a new bovid taxon of medium-to-large size, Gangraia anatolica gen. and sp. nov., characterized by horn cores that are long, keelless, compressed, obliquely inserted on the frontals, transversally ridged, moderately diverging from each other, slightly twisted homonymously, and sigmoidally curved in lateral view with long, fairly straight tips. The horn core features, along with the presence of a single large sinus occupying the pedicle and the base of the horn core, a strong cranial flexion, a short braincase, the presence of a distinct dorsal parietal boss, wide-apart temporal crests, and a widened anteriorly basioccipital, indicate a mixture of caprine-like and alcelaphine-like features that relate Gangraia anatolica gen. and sp. nov. to the Alcelaphini–Caprini–Hippotragini clade.

The Khoshyeilagh Formation located in the northeast of Iran yielded seven conodont species and sub-species and 19 macro- and microfossil taxa that allow recognition of two conodont biozones and one biozone based on calcareous microfossils. The latest Frasnian age (the Upper rhenana to linguiformis zones) is attributed to the topmost strata with Icriodus alternatus. Its replacement with I. cornutus indicates the Famennian (Lower triangularis to Lower crepida zones) corresponding to the Umbellina Zone. The fossil assemblages identified in the Khoshyeilagh Formation represent a shallow marine environment with a tropical climate at the time of deposition. The fossil species from the Khoshyeilagh Formation and the sedimentary basins in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Poland, and Russia reveal a close connection between the Iranian plateau and the northern parts of Gondwana in the Late Devonian. The biofacies and lithofacies analyses show a sea level decline at the end of Frasnian, followed by a considerable sea level drop, as in other regions of the world. After a short time, in the Famennian, the deepening occurred in some parts of the area and the open marine facies (bioclast spicule wackestone-packstone) were deposited. This study is the first attempt to determine Frasnian-Famennian boundary based on conodont assemblages and other fossil species such as umbellulids, tentaculites, and ostracods. The distribution of these species is interpreted in sedimentological, stratigraphic, sequence stratigraphy, and the global eustatic context. Keywords: biofacies, conodont, Frasnian-Famennian boundary, Late Devonian, NE Iran. RESUMO – A Formacao Khoshyeilagh, localizada no nordeste do Ira, produziu sete especies de conodontes e subespecies e 19 taxons de macro- e microfosseis, o que permite o reconhecimento de duas biozonas de conodontes e uma biozona baseada nos microfosseis calcareos. A idade Frasniana mais superior (as zonas superiores rhenana a linguiformis) e atribuida ao estrato mais superior com Icriodus alternatus. A sua substituicao por I. cornutus indica o Famenniano (zonas iniciais triangularis superior a crepida superior), correspondendo a Zona de Umbellina. Os fosseis identificados na Formacao Khoshyeilagh representam um ambiente marinho raso, com um clima tropical, no momento de deposicao. As especies fosseis da Formacao Khoshyeilagh e as bacias sedimentares na Argelia, Libia, Marrocos, Polonia e Russia revelam uma conexao intima entre o plato iraniano e as partes norte do Gondwana no Neodevoniano. As biofacies e litofacies analisadas mostram um declinio do nivel do mar no final do Frasniano, seguido por uma consideravel queda do nivel do mar, como em outras regioes do mundo. Apos um curto tempo, no Famenniano, o aprofundamento ocorreu em algumas partes da area, e a facies marinha aberta (bioclast spicule wackestone-packstone) foi depositada. Este estudo e a primeira tentativa de determinar o limite Frasniano-Famenniano com base em associacoes de conodontes e outras especies fosseis, como umbellulideos, tentaculites e ostracodes. A distribuicao dessas especies e interpretada nos contextos sedimentologico, estratigrafico, de estratigrafia de sequencias e de eustasia global. Palavras-chave: biofacies, conodonte, limite Frasniano-Famenniano, Neodevoniano, NE Ira.

The Upper Jurassic rocks of the El Bayadh Area (Central Saharan Atlas, Algeria) are composed of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks, which were roughly assigned to a Kimmeridgian-Hauterivian age in...

A relatively complete conodont record from Famennian to the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary was investigated in the Anarak section, Central Iran. The studied interval belongs to the Bahram, Shishtu, Ghaleh and Absheni formations. The Famennian part of the section (Bahram Formation) ranges from the Palmatolepis triangularis Zone into the Bispathodus ultimus Zone. Not all conodont zones could be defined due to the lack of indicative species. Furthermore, it seems likely that a hiatus occurs around the Devonian/Carboniferous (D/C) boundary (most probably from the Siphonodella praesulcata to the ?Siphonodella sulcata–early Siphonodella crenulata conodont zones) based on the lack of stratigraphically important conodonts as well as on sedimentological criteria. The lack of representative siphonodellids and protognathodids at the base of the Mississippian prevents detailed stratigraphic position of the D/C boundary. Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) rocks are characterized by red nodular limestone which is unique in comparison with other studied sections of the same age in Central Iran. Within the studied section, we could define the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary. The mid-Carboniferous boundary was defined by the occurrence of Declinognathus noduliferus s.l. Conodont biofacies changes (Mississippian genera Gnathodus and Lochriea have been replaced by Pennsylvanian genera Declinognathus and Idiognathodus) are recognized in this section as well., Ministry of Science Research and Technology (IR)

The PaleoLake Database contains available information on the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy of bottom sediments from numerous lakes located on the East European Plain and nearby regions. The database includes results from more than 70 years of paleolimnological investigations, with information on deposits from 287 water bodies. The compiled data were published mainly in Russian and come from more than 145 monographs, journal articles, dissertations, abstracts, reports and other sources that were difficult to access by the broader science community.

This paper reviews the foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Devonian–Carboniferous (D–C) boundary beds in Russia and Western Kazakhstan. The regional records of the zonal successions of Russia are summarised from sections and boreholes of the Volga-Urals Subregion of the East European Platform (Syzran no. 401 Borehole, Melekesskaya no.1 Borehole); Timan-Pechora Province of the East European Platform (Kamenka Section); South Urals (Sikaza, Zigan, Ryauzyak and Dzerzhinka sections); Middle Urals (Pershino Section); and West Siberia, Vagai-Ishim Basin (Borehole no. 1 Kurgan-Uspenskaya), and the zonal successions of Western Kazakhstan are summarised from the Mugodzhary Mountains. Three foraminiferal biozones can be defined in the interval comprising the latest Devonian and earliest Carboniferous: Quasiendothyra kobeitusana Zone, the Tournayellina pseudobeata – remnant Quasiendothyra Zone, and the Earlandia minima Zone. The D–C boundary interval is situated within the Tournayellina pseudobeata–remnant Quasiendothyra Zone. A correlation with the ammonoid and conodont zonations is proposed, which is useful for correlating deep-water and shallow-water successions.

The Dapingian and lower Darriwilian graptolite succession of the Krapperup drill core from Scania, southern Sweden, provides a detailed insight into the axonophoran (biserial) graptolites and their...

The lower Miocene marine units of NW Iran (Hamedan–Miandoab area) were studied to establish a high-resolution biostratigraphy framework in the context of European standard biozonation (SBZ zonal scheme). The units are dominated by larger and small benthic foraminifera together with coralline algae and corals. Due to its position in the Tethyan Seaway between the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific, the investigated area has high significance in palaeobiogeography. Seven species of benthic foraminifera were described, including Miogypsina globulina, Amphistegina bohdanowiczi, Elphidium crispum, Elphidium sp. 1, Borelis curdica, Austrotrillina asmariensis, and Peneroplis thomasi. The occurrence of Miogypsina globulina in the shallow-marine carbonates of the studied sections documents the Burdigalian SBZ 25 Zone. Austrotrillina asmariensis and Peneroplis thomasi occur with M. globulina. Simultaneously, their stratigraphical range is extended to the Burdigalian in the Middle East. Based on the discovery of lower Miocene deposits in the Hamedan–Miandoab area (previously mapped as Oligocene–Miocene units), the stratigraphy of northwest Central Iran is revised. The biostratigraphic results also present a more precise chronology for the marine transgression in the study area, initiating in the late early Miocene. The coralline algal assemblages and the abundance and diversity of larger benthic foraminifera indicate that shallow-marine Qom Formation got deposited in tropical to subtropical warm waters.

The Aptian deposits on Spitsbergen Island are poorly studied. Moreover, there were no published data on fossil distribution in the Aptian and Albian in the vicinity of the town of Longyearbyen. This article provides new data on ammonite-based biostratigraphy of the Carolinefjellet Formation, indicating the presence of Beds with Tropaeum arcticum (middle Aptian) and Beds with Grantziceras (lower Albian). The age of the formation was verified and the presence of lower Albian strata was justified. The results of microscopic and isotope studies of five samples of glendonites collected from the middle Aptian of the Carolinefjellet Formation section are presented. Glendonites from the Carolinefjellet Formation are composed of three calcite phases: ikaite-derived calcite and two successive types of cement, which fill cavities and develop partially after the first-phase calcite. The O and C isotope compositions of glendonites were measured in five bulk samples from the middle Aptian interval of the section. The δ18O isotope composition of glendonites is significantly different from that of seawater, indicating the input of diagenetic fluids; the δ13C values are characteristic of sedimentary organic matter and methanotrophy. For the first time, findings of ammonites allowed us to clarify the stratigraphic intervals of glendonite occurrence and associated cold-climate episodes and prove the early Albian age of glendonites from the top of the Carolinefjellet Formation.

The results of the palynological study of the Paleogene and the underlying Cretaceous sediments of the Cis-Donets Monocline, drilled by borehole 1238, are presented. Analysis of dinoflagellate cysts enabled the recognition of the Apectodinium hyperacanthum, Axiodinium augustum, and Ochetodinium romanum/Samlandia chlamydophora zone intervals and the Rhombodinium draco–Deflandrea spinulosa layers in the Paleogene part of the section. The age of regional formations and beds was updated: the Buzinovka Formation is dated by the early Thanetian; the Veshenskaya Formation is late Thanetian–earliest Ypresian age; the Surovikino and Osinovaya Beds are early–middle Ypresian; and the Ventsy and “Poltava” Beds are of the late Rupelian–Chattian age. Two major stratigraphic hiatuses, corresponding to the Maastrichtian–Selandian and the upper Ypresian–lower Rupelian, were recognized in the borehole 1238 section. The analysis of the quantitative fluctuations of different palynomorph groups through the section permitted to reconstruct changes in depositional environments of the Peri-Tethys Basin margin during the early and late Paleogene: the Buzinovka and Veshenskaya formations and the Surovikino and Osinovaya Beds were accumulated in an open-marine environments during the long late Paleocene–early Ypresian transgressive stage, whereas the Ventsy and “Poltava” beds were deposited in the half-landlocked basin during the Chattian.

Microfossils of the upper Bajocian Garantiana garantiana Zone of the Kyafar River (a tributary of the Bolshoi Zelenchuk River, Karachay-Cherkess Republic) are studied. The zone is represented by dark gray claystone-like clay series with sporadically scattered nodules, often forming interlayers, and is recognized in the upper subformation of the Djangura Formation. The taxonomic composition and distribution in the section of foraminifers, ostracods, dinoflagellate cysts, and miospores are studied. The range of foraminiferal and dinocyst biostratigraphic units and their correlation with the ammonite scale are established. On the basis of benthic foraminifera, these are Beds with Ophthalmidium caucasicum, corresponding to most of the Garantiana Zone, and Beds with Sublamarckella terquemi, corresponding to the upper part of the Garantiana Zone and the lower part of the Parkinsoni Zone. The Beds with Globuligerina dagestanica, recognized on the basis of planktonic foraminifera, are compared with the entire studied interval from the Garantiana Zone to the bottom of the lower Bathonian inclusive. The Beds with Meiourogonyaulax valensii and Rhynchodiniopsis? regalis (dinocysts) are considered equivalent to the entire range of the Garantiana Zone to the lower part of the Parkinsoni Zone inclusive. The key fossils are illustrated.

This Neogene-2020 volume presents elaborate reviews of our current understanding of Miocene and Pliocene deposits in Northern Belgium supported by new data. The review includes the latest research results notably from important field studies. This review volume should allow future progress in stratigraphic and palaeogeographic correlations of the Belgian Neogene with that of neighbouring countries. For this occasion, the Neogene databases of the Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB) and of the Flemish Community Databank Ondergrond Vlaanderen (DOV) are updated. Hence, reference to boreholes in these databases is made by their GSB and DOV code between brackets at the first mention of a borehole name in each paper. The IUGS definition is followed for the Neogene as the System/Period containing Miocene and Pliocene Series/Epochs having its upper boundary with the overlying Quaternary System/Period between the Piazencian and Gelasian Stages/Ages at 2.58 Ma (ICS chart, 2020). Historical developments in the understanding the Neogene of northern Belgium The present volume is intended as a step in the sequence of research efforts on Neogene deposits in northern Belgium that took off already at the end of the 19th century and resulted in a set of good quality geological maps. On these 1:40 000 geological maps made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Miocene and the Pliocene deposits were identified and classified as ‘Poederlien’, ‘Scaldisien’, ‘Diestien’ and ‘Bolderien’ stages

Major progress has recently been made regarding the biostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and isotope chemostratigraphy of the lower Cambrian successions in South Australia, in particular of the Arrowie Basin, which has facilitated robust global stratigraphic correlations. However, lack of faunal and sedimentological data from the lower Cambrian Normanville Group in the eastern Stansbury Basin, South Australia – particularly the transition from the Fork Tree Limestone to the Heatherdale Shale – has prevented resolution of the age range, lithofacies, depositional environments and regional correlation of this succession. Here we present detailed sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data through this transition in the eastern Stansbury Basin. Three lithofacies are identified that indicate a deepening depositional environment ranging from inner-mid-shelf (Lithofacies A and B) to outer shelf (Lithofacies C). New δ13C chemostratigraphic data capture global positive excursion III within the lower Heatherdale Shale. Recovered bradoriid Sinskolutella cuspidata supports an upper Stage 2 (Micrina etheridgei Zone). The combined geochemistry and palaeontology data reveal that the lower Heatherdale Shale is older than previously appreciated. This integrated study improves regional chronostratigraphic resolution and interbasinal correlation, and better constrains the depositional setting of this important lower Cambrian package from the eastern Stansbury Basin, South Australia.

Late Oligocene leaf assemblages from four sites in Southwestern Siberia (Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk oblasts) are described. Twenty-three leaf taxa and 3 reproductive structures represent local vegetation...

A hitherto unknown Neoproterozoic orogenic system, the Saharides, is described in North Africa. It formed during the 900–500-Ma interval. The Saharides involved large subduction accretion complexes occupying almost the entire Arabian Shield and much of Egypt and parts of the small Precambrian inliers in the Sahara including the Ahaggar mountains. These complexes consist of, at least by half, juvenile material forming some 5 million km(2) new continental crust. Contrary to conventional wisdom in the areas they occupy, evolution of the Saharides involved no continental collisions until the end of their development. They formed by subduction and strike-slip stacking of arc material mostly by precollisional coastwise transport of arc fragments rifted from the Congo/Tanzania cratonic nucleus in a manner very similar to the development of the Nipponides in east Asia, parts of the North American Cordillera and the Altaids. The Sahara appears to be underlain by a double orocline similar to the Hercynian double orocline in western Europe and northwestern Africa and not by an hypothetical “Saharan Metacraton.” The method we develop here may be useful to reconstruct the structure of some of the Precambrian orogenic belts before biostratigraphy became possible.

This study provides a description of the Devonian radiolarian associations of northern Eurasia and discusses their role in the evolution of Earth’s biosphere. It contributes to evolutionary studies of the Earth and its organic world by reconstructing the diversity dynamics of the Devonian radiolarian biota and the chorology of its components, at the same time revealing the biostratigraphic and paleoecological potential of radiolarians. The taxonomic composition and characteristics of the dominant morphotypes in radiolarian communities are indicators of environmental conditions. Associations of radiolarians vary significantly between different, even neighboring, water areas, so they can be considered as ecozones. Data on the structure of associations of radiolarians at the level of taxa of higher rank (classes) are a kind of “certificate” or “passport” of ecozones of individual paleobasins. Radiolarian ecozones replace each other in time, which allows their use for biostratigraphy. The results of the new and revisional studies of the Devonian radiolarians from 15 regions of northern Eurasia enabled a refined and detailed radiolarian scale of the Devonian system and description of 39 Devonian radiolarian ecozones, 24 of which are described for the first time: 17 ecozones are recognized based on the literature data, while seven ecozones are based on analysis of new data. Of 39 ecozones, 33 are dated based on conodont data, and six are dated using the co-occurring foraminifers, ostracodes, and/or ammonoids. General patterns in the evolution of Devonian radiolarians of northern Eurasia are considered and discussed. Spherical porous Sphaerellaria distinctly dominated in the Devonian. A clear trend towards an eastward increase in the relative abundance of spongy and latticed morphotypes of Spumellaria is shown. Spiny Aculearia of the orders Fasciculata and Triangulata are found to have been widespread. The early evolution of the bilaterally symmetrical Albaillellata is recorded. It is shown that in the Famennian, radiolarians with a pylome, Popofskyellidae and Archocyrtiinae, were common, while the genus Caspiaza first appeared at that time. The habitats and the distribution of the discoidal and ellipsoidal radiolarian morphotypes are analyzed in space and time. The dominance of these morphotypes can be used as an indicator of shallow water settings and a marker of transgression and regression boundaries in the paleobasin. A model of cyclic deposition of Domanik-type rocks in an anoxic basin is proposed, and the ecology of radiolarians in the anoxic environments of the Middle Frasnian Domanik Paleosea is analyzed. The predominance of the spiny morphotypes over spherical radiolarians is proposed as a paleoclimatic coefficient indicating cooling of the seawater in a paleobasin. Devonian radiolarians are represented by indigenous species and migrant species: (1) the value of the settled index exceeds that of the migration index by 3–5 times, (2) radiolarians occupied new ecological niches by emigration of evolutionarily young species representing genera with one–two species in total. Four radiolarian migration episodes are established in the Famennian basins of Laurussia. The monograph is intended for widespread use in paleontology, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, paleobiogeography and for university courses.

Information on the taxonomic composition and stratigraphic distribution of small benthic foraminifers in the Danian–Priabonian Paleogene stages of Syria based on the analysis of V.A. Krasheninnikov’s collections is presented. The small benthic foraminiferal zones identified in the Palmyrid sections within the framework of planktonic foraminiferal zonation developed by Krasheninnikov and correlated with the zonal standard of the International Stratigraphic Scale (zones P1–P17) are the following: Stensioeina beccariiformis–Anomalina danica Zone (P1a–P2); Vaginulina robusta–Pyramidina crassa Zone (P3); Reussella paleocenica Zone (P4–P5); Pseudogaudryina soldadoensis–Cibicidoides lybicus Zone (P6–P7); Hydromylinella wittpyuti Zone (P8–P9); beds with Paragaudryina dalmatina–Hydromylininella wittpyuti (P10 and P11); Falsoplanulina ammophila Zone (P12 and P13); beds with Queraltina epistominoides (P14); and Planulina costata Zone (P15–P17). The presence of species from these zones in other regions of Syria and Egypt is inferred from Krasheninnikov’s published works. The composition and development of the Paleogene foraminifera of Syria and the Crimean-Caucasian region that represent the Tethys and northeastern Peri-Tethys biota, respectively, are compared.

Data on the evolutionary and biogeographical differentiation features of the Volgian ammonites of the family Craspeditidae are summarized, an updated scheme of the Panboreal correlation of the terminal part of the Middle Volgian and Upper Volgian is proposed. The new Lambecki and Surlyki zones, as well as the surlyki, margaritae and discoides biohorizons are recognized. The diagnoses of the genera and subgenera of Volgian craspeditids are emended. All subfamilies of this family that existed at the end of the Middle Volgian and Late Volgian are characterized by a weakened ornamentation and a general tendency towards decrease in the size of the shells over time. Subcraspeditins and garniericeratins are characterized by a gradual decrease in the relative width of the whorls and umbilicus over time, while craspeditins in most lineages show a clear tendency to increase the relative thickness of the whorls. The taxa that inhabited the Middle Russian Sea show a direct correlation between the relative abundance of representatives of different subfamilies and the rate of their evolution, but in other regions this pattern is not observed. Volgian craspeditids are characterized by a high degree of endemism. Despite a constant exchange of faunas between the main evolutionary centers, only at the very end of the Late Volgian did the ammonite associations of most of the studied regions profoundly change due to massive introduction of immigrant taxa.

An integrated study of the Campanian–Maastrichtian deposits of Beshkosh Mountain (Southwest Crimea) was carried out. The finds of cephalopods and dinocysts were studied, and ichnofacies and sedimentological analyses were performed. Isotopic, paleomagnetic, and petromagnetic data were obtained for the first time. New macro- and micropaleontological data made it possible to refine the stratigraphic subdivision of the section and confirm its late Campanian–Maastrichtian age. Paleomagnetic studies have revealed no analogs of magnetic Chron C31r. The only recognizable reversed-polarity magnetozone against the background of the prevailing normal polarity was identified as an analog of Chron C30r. The study of dinocysts revealed a sharp change in their assemblages in the lower part of the section, above which ammonite Pachydiscus (P.) neubergicus neubergicus (Hauer), a marker species of the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary, was found. An integrated biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and sedimentological analysis made it possible to recognize the previously unknown unconformity in the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary interval. Data of stable isotopes are consistent with the proposed hiatus.

We present the inoceramid and dinoflagellate cyst record from the topmost Campanian–Maastrichtian strata of three key sections of the Western Fore-Balkan Mountains, northwest Bulgaria. The following inoceramid zones were recognized: “Inoceramus”redbirdensisZone,Endocostea typicaZone,Trochoceramus radiosusZone and “Inoceramus”ianjonaensisZone. The Campanian/Maastrichtian boundary was tentatively drawn slightly below the first occurrence ofEndocostea typica. The uppermost inoceramid assemblage was confined to the lower part of the upper Maastrichtian. Dinoflagellate cyst ranges, as well as the first and the last occurrence events of dinocysts, provided valuable markers for the stratigraphic subdivision of the Maastrichtian. The first occurrence ofMicrodinium carpentieraewas documented in proximity to the Campanian/Maastrichtian boundary. TheCerodinium diebeliiZone was recognized with a stratigraphical range from the lower Maastrichtian to the lower upper Maastrichtian. The last occurrence ofAlterbidinium acutulumwas recorded in the lower Maastrichtian and used as aid for tracing the lower/upper Maastrichtian substage boundary. The marked domination of delicate chorate dinocysts in all sections and the encountered low P/G ratio values are indicative of stable low-energy depositional environment and oligotrophic conditions, with normal marine productivity and nutrient availability in the basin during the Maastrichtian.

The deposits of the As Pontes Basin in north-west Spain yield extraordinarily well-preserved microfloral assemblages that have unmatched diversity within the European Oligocene. The comprehensive e...

This work documents the biostratigraphy of dinoflagellate cysts from the La Barca Formation at the Punta Ainol Locality, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. The succession at Punta Ainol represen...