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Palynofloral assemblages are an invaluable source of information about the interactions between fossil plants and their environments. Here we describe a new Early Cretaceous palynoflora from the Lusitanian Basin in the Estremadura region of central western Portugal. A palynological assemblage of 28 genera and 40 species was extracted from 14 samples collected in the Vale Cortiço clay pit complex near the small village of Ameal (Torres Vedras Municipality). The source is a dark grey mudstone layer belonging to the lower part of the Santa Susana Formation, which is considered to be of early Hauterivian age. The palynoflora is dominated by fern spores and gymnosperm pollen. Bryophyte and lycophyte palynomorphs are also present but subordinate. Angiosperm pollen and algal or dinoflagellate cysts were not recognised in the studied samples. The palynological assemblage represents mixed conifer forest with the ground cover and understorey vegetation dominated by ferns, with patchy occurrences of bryophytes and lycophytes. A riverine environment with surrounding vegetation of open woodland and ground cover primarily of ferns is strongly indicated for the region.

Palynofloral assemblages are an invaluable source of information about the interactions between fossil plants and their environments. Here we describe a new Early Cretaceous palynoflora from the Lusitanian Basin in the Estremadura region of central western Portugal. A palynological assemblage of 28 genera and 40 species was extracted from 14 samples collected in the Vale Cortiço clay pit complex near the small village of Ameal (Torres Vedras Municipality). The source is a dark grey mudstone layer belonging to the lower part of the Santa Susana Formation, which is considered to be of early Hauterivian age. The palynoflora is dominated by fern spores and gymnosperm pollen. Bryophyte and lycophyte palynomorphs are also present but subordinate. Angiosperm pollen and algal or dinoflagellate cysts were not recognised in the studied samples. The palynological assemblage represents mixed conifer forest with the ground cover and understorey vegetation dominated by ferns, with patchy occurrences of bryophytes and lycophytes. A riverine environment with surrounding vegetation of open woodland and ground cover primarily of ferns is strongly indicated for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixteen dinosaur footprints are exposed along the upper-bedding surface of a single Lower Hauterivian limestone layer in Palud cove (western Istria, Croatia). This footprint-bearing horizon is part of the thick Mesozoic stratigraphic succession of the Adriatic-Dinaridic Carbonate Platform. The Palud site section is characterized by peritidal (shallow subtidal to intertidal) limestone with several shallowing-upward cycles composed of mudstone, peloidal wackestone/packstone, peloidal packstone/grainstone and fenestral mudstone/wackestone with common geopetal infill. The Early Hauterivian age of these deposits is based on their micro fossil content, which is dominated by ostracods, benthic foraminifera and calcareous green algae (Dasycladales). The footprints are circular to elliptical in shape, with no distinct digit impressions (with one possible exception), and with average length of 26 cm. Most footprints have a well-defined expulsion rim produced by the compression and displacement of the waterlogged substrate caused by the feet of the dinosaurs. All of the footprints are nearly the same shape and size, which indicates that they were produced by the same kind of trackmaker - likely a sauropod dinosaur. These animals left their footprints on the top of an intertidal and shallowing-upward succession during ephemeral subaerial exposure of the fine-grained carbonate sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holcoptychites is known only from the Neuque´n Basin, Argentina, but appears close to the more widespread genera Jeanthieuloyites and Spitidiscus. Thus it is placed in the subfamily Spitidiscinae (Family Holcodiscidae). Previously described Holcoptychites species are revised and their taxonomy clarified, while one new species is left under open nomenclature. The sequence of forms allows two subzones to be recognized. These are correlated provisionally with the lowest Hauterivian Acanthodiscus radiatus Zone of the Mediterranean region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Am Beispiel von drei geringmächtigen Profilen aus Niedersachsen und einem Bohrprofil aus Südwest-Brandenburg wird die Fazies des kalkig entwickelten UnterHauterivium im östlichen Niedersächsischen Becken dargestellt. Neben lithologisch-mikrofaziellen Ergebnissen werden hauptsächlich biostratigraphische Daten mit Hilfe von Ostrakoden und Foraminiferen für das Arbeitsgebiet vorgestellt. Eine Gegenüberstellung von zentralem und östlichem Niedersächsischen Becken ergab eine höhere Ostrakoden-Diversität im östlichen Beckenteil, hervorgerufen durch die Schwellenposition und den tethyalen Einfluß der „Polnischen Straße“. Diese Ostrakodenfaunen, die sich durch ein gegenüber heute wärmeres Klima und Tethyseinfluß entwickeln konnten, bevorzugten einen flachen, küstennahen, mit stärkeren Wasserturbulenzen geprägten Lebensraum. Es werden drei neue Ostrakoden-Arten, Valendocythere jerxheimensis n. sp., Valendocythere robustireticulata n. sp. und Amphicytherura arcuata n. sp. sowie eine neue Unterart, Protocythere triplicata marginopunctata n. subsp., aufgestellt, die bisher nur aus den bearbeiteten Profilen bekannt sind. Three thin sequences in Lower Saxony and a borehole section from southwestern Brandenburg are described as examples of the calcareous lower Hauterivian facies in the eastern part of the Lower Saxony basin. Lithology, microfacies, and biostratigraphic (ostracodes and foraminifers) data are presented. The ostracodes in the eastern part of the Lower Saxony basin are more diverse than those in the central part. These ostracodes, which developed in a warmer climate than today under the influence of the Tethys, preferred shallow, high-energy, coastal environments. Three new ostracod species ( Valendocythere jerxheimensis n. sp., Valendocythere robustireticulata n. sp. and Amphicytherura arcuata n. sp.) and a new subspecies ( Protocythere triplicata marginopunctata n. subsp.) are presented. They have been found only in the sections examined in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New material and the investigation of old collections provided some 150 specimens of Early Cretaceous brachiopods from the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary. Taxonomic evaluation resulted in the identification of some species previously unknown from Hungary and confirmed the presence of some previously described species, too. In this paper Fortunella cf. fortunae Calzada, 1985, Lacunosella hoheneggeri (Suess, 1858), Monticlarella remesi Nekvasilova, 1977, Moutonithyris moutoniana (d'Orbigny, 1847), Karadagella ? aff. bilimeki (Suess, 1858), Nucleata veronica Nekvasilova, 1980 are described. This fauna is rather endemic. All the specimens reveal a unique phenomenon: they exhibit 25–70% larger average dimensions compared to populations of their closest relatives or type localities. The uniform size increase of these brachiopods may be linked to hydrothermal processes of the sea-floor. Lately, a discovery from the Tyrrhenian Sea offers a Recent, present day analogue to this enigmatic palaeoenvironment. Palaeobiogeographic comparison of this small endemic fauna with eight others, mainly Hauterivian and Tethyan brachiopod assemblages reveals the distinct Sub-Tethyan domain consisting of the faunas from Zengővárkony, Codlea (Eastern Carpathians) and Štramberk (Czechia). This strengthens previously described affinities and relationships of these faunas and helps to clarify the Cretaceous palaeogeographic position of the Mecsek Mountains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]