Latest Articles from Zitteliana Latest 7 Articles from Zitteliana https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:36:19 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Zitteliana https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/ Middle Cenomanian coral fauna from the Roßsteinalmen (Northern Calcareous Alps, Bavaria, Southern Germany) – a revised and extended version https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/113796/ Zitteliana 97: 89-147

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.97.113796

Authors: Hannes Löser, Winfried Werner, Robert Darga

Abstract: In the Northern Calcareous Alps, relics of a formerly widely distributed shallow marine facies belonging to the Branderfleck Formation (upper Albian to lower Turonian) crop out and contain locally abundant corals. The fauna described here derives from Middle Cenomanian sediments. This study complements a former revision. In total, the fauna includes 98 species in 46 genera, belonging to 16 scleractinian superfamilies and two octocorallian families. One species – Enallhelia octasepta – is described as new. The fauna that was formerly located at the northern part of the Apulian plate (Austroalpine unit), south of the Penninic Ocean, shows palaeobiogeographic relationships to Cenomanian faunas from the Basque-Cantabrian Basin, the Prebetic zone, the Pelagonium, and the Quillan Basin, indicating stronger connections to Tethyan rather than Boreal faunas. The fauna also shares species with Aptian and Albian, but also with Late Cretaceous faunas of the Gosau Basin. Eight genera experienced a range extension; five genera have their last occurrence in the Middle Cenomanian fauna, and three genera have their first occurrence. Although the fauna presents numerous genera that became widespread in the Late Cretaceous, its generic composition is more closely related to late Early Cretaceous corals than to post-Cenomanian corals. The faunal turnover at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary was not marked by the sudden appearance of new faunal elements, but rather by the disappearance of taxa. Some faunal elements that constitute post-Cenomanian faunas already existed in the Cenomanian, but they were very rare. The increase of taxa after the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary took place during the Coniacian and Santonian.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Wed, 20 Dec 2023 14:54:17 +0200
The Early Pleistocene freshwater mollusks of the Denizli Basin (Turkey): a new long-lived lake fauna at the crossroads of Pontocaspian and Aegean-Anatolian realms https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/115682/ Zitteliana 97: 53-88

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.97.115682

Authors: Thomas A. Neubauer, Frank P. Wesselingh

Abstract: We describe here a newly discovered, diverse fossil fauna of freshwater gastropods and bivalves from the Denizli Basin in SW Turkey. The material was collected from the Kolankaya Formation, for which latest chronostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data indicate an Early Pleistocene age, which is much younger than previously assumed for the fossil-bearing strata of the Denizli Basin. The fauna consists of at least 27 species (25 gastropods, 2 bivalves) and includes a new genus, Harzhauseria gen. nov., and 6 new species within the Hydrobiidae: Falsipyrgula ? coronata sp. nov., Graecoanatolica ? alcicekorum sp. nov., Harzhauseria schizopleura gen. et sp. nov., Iraklimelania minutissima sp. nov., Iraklimelania submediocarinata sp. nov., and Xestopyrguloides ? sagitta sp. nov. Additionally, we define lectotypes for Staja orientalis (Bukowski, 1896) and Valvata orientalis Fischer, 1866, as well as a neotype for Theodoxus percarinatus (Oppenheim, 1919). Nine of the recovered species (33.3%) are only known from the Denizli Basin. Almost half of the fauna (44.7%) is endemic to the Aegean–Anatolian region, with biogeographical affinities to the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene faunas of Rhodes, Kos, and mainland Greece, as well as the Çameli and Eşen Basin in Turkey. On the genus level, the fauna also contains several typical Pontocaspian elements. The composition points toward a typical long-lived lake environment with oligohaline conditions.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Tue, 12 Dec 2023 15:40:57 +0200
On Paleozoic platycerate gastropods https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/115688/ Zitteliana 97: 29-51

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.97.115688

Authors: Alexander Nützel, Jan Ove Ebbestad, Barbara Seuss, Axel Munnecke, Royal H. Mapes, Alex G. Cook

Abstract: The platycerate gastropods Orthonychia yutaroi Ebbestad, sp. nov. (Ordovician, Boda Limestone, Sweden), O. enorme (Silurian, Sweden, Gotland), O. parva (Pennsylvanian, Finis Shale Member, USA), and Orthonychia sp. (Mississippian, Imo Formation, USA) are studied including their protoconch morphology. Orthonychia yutaroi is the oldest known species in Orthonychia. Platycerates contain species with both, openly and tightly coiled protoconchs. This is the first report that tightly coiled protoconchs occur in Orthonychia. This and previously published observations blur the diagnostic difference between orders Cyrtoneritimorpha (openly coiled protoconch) and Cycloneritimorpha (tightly coiled protoconch). We suggest to treat Cyrtoneritimorpha and Cycloneritimorpha as synonyms of Neritimorpha. The monotypic Devonian genus Pragoserpulina is morphological so close to the Orthonychia species reported herein that synonymy of both genera seems to be possible (and thus of the families Pragoserpulinidae and Orthonychiidae). Protoconch morphology and dimensions suggest that the studied platycerate species had planktotrophic larval development. By contrast, two studied Carboniferous euomphaloid species (one with an openly and the other with tightly coiled protoconch) have paucispiral, large protoconchs indicating non-planktotrophic larval development. We assume that openly and tightly coiled protoconchs were present in various Paleozoic gastropod clades and that selection acted against the openly coiled protoconch morphology. It has previously been proposed that increasing predation pressure in the plankton was the reason for the demise of openly coiled protoconchs (Paleozoic plankton revolution). The presence of larval planktotrophy in platycerates excludes the possibility that they belong to extant basal gastropod clades such as Patellogastropoda, Cocculiniformia, and Vetigastropoda. However, a previously proposed close relationship to Neritimorpha is corroborated.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Tue, 12 Dec 2023 15:40:25 +0200
Biostratigraphy and sedimentary sequences of the Toarcian Hainberg section (Northwestern Harz foreland, Northern Germany) https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/110677/ Zitteliana 97: 1-27

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.97.110677

Authors: Gernot Arp, Yagmur Balmuk, Stephan Seppelt, Andreas Reimer

Abstract: A temporary outcrop in southern Lower Saxony permitted the sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological investigation of a 40.8 m thick Toarcian section, from the top of the Amaltheenton Formation, through the Posidonienschiefer and Jurensismergel Formations, to lower parts of the Opalinuston Formation. Bed by bed collected ammonites and belemnites, bivalve associations, as well as data from neighbouring sections indicate a largely complete sequence of ammonite zones and subzones for the Lower Toarcian. A prominent stratigraphic gap at the Posidonienschiefer/Jurensismergel Formation boundary probably comprises the Semipolitum Subzone as well as the Variabilis and Thouarsense Zones. Above a condensed Dispansum Zone follows the higher Upper Toarcian with a presumably largely complete sequence of zones and subzones, although direct evidence for this is only sporadic. However, a thin condensed bed with stromatolite crusts is recognisable at the boundary Pseudoradiosa to Mactra/Aalensis Subzone. The Toarcian/Aalenian boundary can only be drawn on basis of belemnite finds at another thin condensed bed. Only a few metres above, the Opalinum Zone is evident by ammonite findings. Based on discontinuities, lithofacies, biofacies and correlations with neighbouring sections, a subdivision into alloformations, which largely correspond to formations, is applied. Based on that, a sequence stratigraphic interpretation with respect to third order transgression-regression cycles (T-R sequences) can be inferred: Above the regressive upper parts alloformation 1 (Amaltheenton Formation) with a maximum regression surface (mrs) near its top, the T-R sequence of the alloformation 2 (Posidonienschiefer Formation) is developed, with a maximum flooding surface (mfs) at the transition Falciferum/Commune Subzone and the regressive phase within the later Bifrons Zone. For the Commune Subzone, belemnite alignment indicates a seawater bottom current from SSE. The following maximum regression surface (mrs) lies near the Bifrons/Variabilis Zone boundary. The next sequence is not preserved at the studied location, but is preserved further East as well as further West, represented by the transgressive Dörnten Member (Variabilis and Thouarsense Zone). However, the regressive phase (Fallaciosum Subzone) is also missing there, indicated by a prominent sequence boundary with erosional relief at the base of the Dispansum Zone. The following alloformation 3 (Jurensismergel Formation and lowermost parts Opalinuston Formation) represents another T-R sequence with a maximum transgressive surface (base Mactra/Aalensis subzone) and a slightly thicker regressive Aalensis Subzone. The following maximum regression surface represents the boundary to alloformation 4 (major parts of Opalinuston Formation), followed again by a short transgressive phase (Pseudolotharingicum Subzone), condensation horizon and a longer regressive phase (Opalinum Zone). These sequence stratigraphic interpretations are largely consistent with previous investigations in Northern and Southern Germany. Minor deviations in the timely position of maximum flooding and regression surfaces likely reflect effects of a higher subsidence at variable sedimentation rate in the North German Basin. With respect to the, at the site of investigation, incompletely exposed Opalinuston Formation, further studies on complete drill core sections are required.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:51:06 +0200
In search for the unlikely: Leaf-mining caterpillars (Gracillariidae, Lepidoptera) from Upper Cretaceous and Eocene ambers https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/63317/ Zitteliana 95: 135-145

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.95.63317

Authors: Thilo C. Fischer

Abstract: Fossil leaf-mining caterpillars from amber are firstly described as the new species Phyllocnistis cretacea from Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber and Phyllonorycter inopinata from Eocene Baltic amber. Both show typical traits of leaf-miners, and specifically, of later instars of caterpillars of their respective genera. The findings give further evidence for these being quite old and conservative genera of Gracillariidae. These are basal Ditrysia which retained the larval feeding and mining live mode. The findings also represent direct fossil evidence of individual stages of hypermetamorphosis known from extant Gracillariidae. The finds from the Upper Cretaceous and their putative identifications give direct evidence for a minimal geological age for the genus Phyllocnistis (Phyllocnistinae) and, by indirect conclusion based on their divergence, also for the genus Phyllonorycter in a sister clade (Lithocolletinae). It also predates mining habit closer to the time of radiation of their angiospermous host plants.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Wed, 8 Dec 2021 07:00:18 +0200
Paleontological inventory of Paleozoic, Late Mesozoic, and Cenozoic plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate fossil species from Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA - over a century of paleontological discovery https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/73026/ Zitteliana 95: 95-134

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.95.73026

Authors: Steven L. Wick

Abstract: The extraordinary paleontological record from Big Bend National Park (BIBE), Texas chronicles nearly 120 million years of largely uninterrupted deposition through Late Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene time. Therefore, the park records one of the most complete and continuous fossil records of its kind in North America, if not the world. Paleontologists have collected and studied fossils from BIBE for over a century and nearly 1400 fossil species have been reported thus far. The BIBE paleontological record includes type specimens representing 44 scientifically valid species (five plants, nine invertebrates, and 30 vertebrates). Numerous other reported specimens are very likely new to science but have yet to be formally named. The present catalog presents the currently known assemblage of fossil plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate species from BIBE within a single, comprehensive record with significant references for each. This work is designed and written to be a research and resource management tool for scientists and non-scientists alike.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Fri, 19 Nov 2021 07:42:06 +0200
New records of ostracods and ammonites from the Aalenian (mainly Concavum Zone) of the Zollernalb (Swabian Alb, SW Germany) https://zitteliana.pensoft.net/article/56296/ Zitteliana 95: 1-55

DOI: 10.3897/zitteliana.95.56296

Authors: Norbert Wannenmacher, Volker Dietze, Matthias Franz, Günter Schweigert

Abstract: The lithostratigraphy and ammonite/ostracod biostratigraphy and the accompanying fauna of several sections and outcrops around the Hohenzollern (Zollernalb, SW Germany), ranging from the topmost Opalinuston Formation (uppermost Lower Aalenian) to the basal Wedelsandstein Formation (lowermost Lower Bajocian) are described and analyzed. The study of ostracods from 41 samples from the Aalenian and Lower Bajocian of the Heiligenbach, Hausterberg and Roschbach sections has yielded approximately 4,100 specimens. Significant changes in the ostracod assemblage occur at the base of the Lower Aalenian “Comptum” Subzone, at the Bradfordensis/Gigantea subzonal boundary, at the Bradfordensis/Concavum zonal boundary and at the Aalenian/Bajocian boundary (Concavum/Discites zones). A minor change occurs above the Calceola-Bank within the Concavum Zone. The following new ostracod species are described: Cytheropterina crassicostata sp. nov., Eucytherura eberti sp. nov. and Eucytherura foveolata sp. nov. In addition, 15 presumably new species are briefly described; 10 ‘incertae sedis’ taxa are figured, but left in open nomenclature. The ammonite faunas of the Inopernabank and Konglomeratbank beds (Upper Aalenian, Bradfordensis Zone, Gigantea Subzone) as well as the ammonite faunas from the Calceolabank and Rostrote Kalkbank beds (Upper Aalenian, Concavum Zone, Concavum Subzone, cavatum biohorizon) are described and correlated with those of other areas.

HTML

XML

PDF

]]>
Research Article Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:35:30 +0300