Early Permian diadectomorph tetrapod footprints from the Bromacker locality (Thuringia, Germany) in the National Museum Prague

Abstract

The Bromacker locality in Thuringia, Germany is world famous for its exceptionally well-preserved early Permian tetrapod footprints. In this paper, we provide the first detailed description of the Bromacker specimen with diadectomorph footprints that was donated to the National Museum Prague in 1916. The specimen shows more than 80 footprints of six trackways and several incomplete step cycles of different morphological qualities assigned to the ichnotaxon Ichniotherium sphaerodactylum. Apart from its paleoichnological value, the slab is of historic interest as it fits into a long period of about five decades (1908 to 1954) from which there is almost no information on fossil discoveries at the locality.

Key words

Ichniotherium, Diadectomorpha, fossil trackways, Bromacker locality, Tambach Formation

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Horseshoe crab trace fossils Arborichnus Romano et Meléndez, 1985 from the Bashkirian (Carboniferous) of the Donets Basin, Ukraine

Abstract

This paper describes resting traces of horseshoe crabs Arborichnus repetitus Romano et Meléndez, 1985 from marine deposits of the Dyakove Group (Viséan–Bashkirian) and the Bashkirian coal-bearing rocks of the Mandrykyne and Mospyne formations in the Donets Basin, eastern Ukraine. The presence of Arborichnus repetitus indicates the widespread distribution of horseshoe crabs in the coastal paleobiocenoses of the Dyakove Paleobasin, located in the central part of the Donets Basin. The horseshoe crab resting traces Arborichnus repetitus from the Bashkirian strata of the Donets Basin are typical of deltaic and prodeltaic rocks, usually represented by sandstones and siltstones. Horseshoe crabs are the most likely trace-makers of Arborichnus Romano et Meléndez, 1985, but some other arthropods, e.g., aglaspidids, could also have produce these trace fossils. The discovery of the presumably horseshoe crab thoracetron on the same sandstone bedding plane as the traces Arborichnus indirectly confirms that xiphosurans were the trace-makers of these ichnofossils.

Key words

trace fossils, horseshoe crabs, cubichnia, Arborichnus, Carboniferous, Donets Basin

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Macaque molar from the Red Crag Formation, Waldringfield, England

Abstract

Fossil monkeys are rare in the British palaeontological record, a few specimens having been reported from the Pleistocene, and a single specimen from the Red Crag, possibly of Late Miocene or Pliocene age. An undescribed monkey tooth from the Red Crag at Waldringfield collected circa 1908 that has remained unidentified in the collections of the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, is described herein. The fossil was associated with dental remains of a suid, a tapir and a deer which, taken as an assemblage, are best correlated to the Early Pliocene, being similar to specimens from Perrier, France. Because of the high latitudinal position of Waldringfield (52°N) and indications for a tropical to sub-tropical palaeoenvironment during the Late Miocene – Early Pliocene, the monkey tooth from there is of great interest.

Key words

Mio-Pliocene, Cercopithecidae, Palaeoenvironment, Palaeoclimate, Taphonomy, East Anglia

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Diverse fruits and seeds of the mid-Eocene Kishenehn Formation, northwestern Montana, USA, and their implications for biogeography

Abstract

Lacustrine shales of the Kishenehn Formation of northwestern Montana provide an important window to the local mid-Eocene (Lutetian) ecosystem including evidence from insects, molluscs, vertebrates and plants. However, little has been published on the macrofossils flora, which includes abundant compressed fruits and seeds as well as foliage. Here we provide a preliminary survey, with particular attention to reproductive remains from the Middle Fork Region. Identified families include Equisetaceae, Cupressaceae, Pinaceae, Betulaceae, Brassicaceae, Cercidiphyllaceae, Eucommiaceae, Juglandaceae, Oleaceae, Platanaceae, Rutaceae, Salicaceae, Sapindaceae, Simaroubaceae and Ulmaceae. With at least 107 entities, this is among the most diverse lacustrine megafossil floras in North America. This flora shares elements with the early to mid-Eocene Green River Parachute Creek Member flora of Colorado and Utah, the Thunder Mountain flora of Idaho and the Okanogan Highland floras of British Columbia and Republic, Washington, as well as some with the late Eocene Ruby flora of Montana. We estimate the mean annual temperature to have been between 8.91 and 12.10 °C and mean annual precipitation to have been between 945 and 1,204 mm using the Bioclimatic Analysis/Mutual Climate Range Technique. This summary of floral elements complements the faunal record of the Kishenehn Formation and fills a gap in prior knowledge of the paleofloristic distributions.

Key words

fossil plants, paleoclimate, Lutetian, shale, Lemnoideae, Brassicaceae

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Upper Aptian ammonites from Roussillon, southern France

Abstract

The present contribution describes a new rich ammonite material from the Aptian-type area, Vaucluse, France, made accessible by the expansion of the wine cellar of Domaine de Château-Blanc at Roussillon, located at ca. 8 km northwest of Apt. This temporary outcrop exposed a few meters of sandstones and sandy, glauconitic marls, characterising the fifth unit of the Aptian-type series. The ammonite specimens are preserved as crushed, internal moulds with phosphatised shells, and are assigned to the Acanthohoplitidae Egoianiceras angulatum, Egoianiceras lautum, ?Egoianiceras exiquecostatum, and Acanthohoplites sp., together with poorly-preserved Parahoplitidae (Parahoplites sp.). This assemblage is coeval to the Fallot black shale episodes occurring in the nearby Vocontian Basin, and correlates to the uppermost Epicheloniceras martini Zone of Dutour (2005), or the lower Colombiceras tobleri Zone of Dauphin (2002), an age which challenges the younger ammonite-age calibration previously established for the fifth unit.

Key words

Acanthohoplitidae, Ammonites, Aptian, Apt, Roussillon, Vaucluse, France

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