Ostracodes et stratigraphie du néogène et du quaternaire méditerranéens

A stratigraphical chart of marine ostracoda from Lower Miocene to Recent is established. Selected species (approximatively 220) are those morphologicaly well characterized and known from different parts of the Mediterranean area. It appears that: • lower Miocene ostracodes are still poorly known; • specific diversity is high during the Tortonian and the Lower Messinian before the complete disappearance of marine Mediterranean species during the Upper Messinian évaporitic episodes; • during the early Pliocene, about half of the Upper Miocene marine species are reintroduced with the Atlantic waters; other species migrate for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea by the same way; • at the end of the Pliocene or at the beginning of the Pleistocene several species known in Mediterranean since the Middle Miocene or before, such as Cytherella sp. gr. transversa and Ruggieria tetraptera, as well some “nordic guests” such as Hemicythere villosa and Cythere lutea, appear. This work is an opportunity to confirme a Late Miocene age for the Neogene of Skyros (Aegean Sea), to assign the “Upper Pliocene” of Terquem to the Lower Pleistocene and to refute the existence of a pliocene psychrosphere.     

Late Miocene lagomorphs from the Republic of Moldova

The aim of this paper is to enlarge knowledge about still poorly documented and understood record of Lagomorpha (Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Moldova. The lagomorph material from two new Late Miocene localities, Razeni (MN11/12), Gradishte (MN12), and re-sampling locality Chimislyia (MN12), of Southern Moldova, is described in detail here. The localities yielded small vertebrate fauna including five lagomorph taxa: Prolagus cf. oeningensis, “Proochotona” cf. eximia, Alilepus laskarewi, “Proochotona” sp., and Alilepus sp. P. cf. oeningensis is described for the first time in the studied area. A short review of the lagomorph record from the Republic of Moldova is provided. This contribution outlines the importance of the lagomorphs for biostratigraphic purposes, and highlighs the gaps in our knowledge related to the faunal succession in this area.     

Geopalaeontological setting,chronology and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Baccinello-Cinigiano Basin continental successions (Late Miocene,Italy)

The Latest Miocene succession of the Baccinello-Cinigiano Basin in southern Tuscany (Italy) recorded a faunal turnover documenting the extinction of an older, insular, endemic faunal complex characterised by the extinct ape Oreopithecus bambolii and the setting of a new, continental, European faunal complex including the colobine monkey Mesopithecus. A similar turnover pattern (Late Miocene ape/Latest Miocene Cercopithecidae) is generally observed in Late Miocene continental successions of Eurasia, from Spain to central Europe, Southwest Europe, the near East, and Southwest Asia. Abundant literature reports that the Late Miocene Eurasian hominoid primate distribution closely tracks the climatic/environmental changes occurring during the 12–9 Ma interval, until their extinction in western Europe. In the primate record, the dispersion of Cercopithecidae and the contraction of hominids is interpreted as an event depicting a pattern of “continentalisation” in the Old World. The sedimentary succession of the Baccinello-Cinigiano basin, one of the longest continuous vertebrate-bearing continental successions in the Neogene Italian record, contributes to the debate on this hypothesis. This paper provides an overview of the main characteristics of the sedimentary succession, the chronological constraints (biochronology, radiometric datings, magnetostratigraphy), and the palaeoenvironmental evolution as derived from palaeobiological approaches and from the study of stable carbon and oxygen isotope contents along the entire sedimentary succession. The 2 myr geological history of the Baccinello Cinigiano Basin, which documents the evolutionary history of Oreopithecus and associated faunas, does not have a direct relation with the event of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The evolutionary history of Baccinello-Cinigiano Basin and its palaeontological record have been mainly driven by the regional tectonism and palaeogeographic changes that affected the northern Tyrrhenian regions in Late Miocene (Latest Tortonian–Messinian) times.     

The late Messinian Lago-Mare episode in the Mediterranean Basin: Preliminary report on the occurrence of Paratethyan ostracod fauna from central Crete (Greece)

In the Crete Island, late Messinian Lago-Mare facies are not well known. At present, the occurrence in Crete of the uppermost Messinian post evaporitic deposits is a matter of debate. According to several authors, the well-known late Messinian Lago-Mare facies does not occur in Crete. In this paper the preliminary results obtained from the biostratigraphical analysis of some sections sampled in the Messarà Plain will be shown. Nearby Faneromeni and Ano Akria villages, the Miocene/Pliocene boundary is well exposed. There, gypsum-bearing clay, laminated microcrystalline gypsum and gypsum-rudites characterize the evaporitic deposits of the Messinian stage. In these areas, above the Messinian evaporite, post-evaporitic fine-laminated polychrome clays, with intercalations of sandstones and conglomerates, have been found. In both the Faneromeni and Ano Akria area, the Pliocene grey clays and conglomerates rest unconformably on the uppermost Messinian post-evaporitic deposits. A 20 cm-spaced sampling has been performed in both the sections, for more than 100 samples collected. The results of the micropaleontological analysis performed on the Faneromeni and Ano Akria sections point to the occurrence of ostracod assemblages containing: Loxocauda limata (Schneider in Agalarova et al.), Loxocauda sp., Cytherura pyrama Schneider, Cyprideis anlavauxensis Carbonnel, Cyprideis agrigentina Decima, Amnicythere palimpsesta (Livental), Amnicythere propinqua (Livental), Amnicythere accicularia (Olteanu), Amnicythere costata (Olteanu), Amnicythere multituberculata (Livental), Amnicythere sp. D (Miculan in Bassetti et al.), Amnicythere sp. 2 Gliozzi and Grossi, Amnicythere sp., Euxinocythere (Maeotocythere) praebaquana (Livental in Agalarova et al.), Mediocytherideini indet., Pontoniella pontica (Agalarova), Camptocypria sp. 1 Gliozzi and Grossi, Caspiocypris sp., Zalanyiella venusta (Zalanyi), Tyrrhenocythere sp., Loxoconcha rhombovalis Pokorny, Loxoconcha eichwaldi Livental, Loxoconcha sp. A (Miculan in Bassetti et al.), Loxocorniculina djafarovi (Schneider in Suzin). In the analysed samples, reworked planktonic foraminifers and well-preserved charophyte gyrogonites have been also found. The ostracod assemblages found in the Messarà Plain belong to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi Zone (sensu Carbonnel, 1978), which characterizes the uppermost Messinian deposits of the whole Mediterranean Basin. At that time, the well-known Lago-Mare biofacies was also widespread on the Crete Island. The presence of Paratethyan ostracods in the post-evaporitic Messinian deposits of both Faneromeni and Ano Akria sections suggests that in the Crete Island the latest Messinian sedimentation took place in brackish water palaeoenvironments.     

Late Messinian rodents from Verduno (Piedmont,NW Italy): Biochronological,paleoecological and paleobiogeographic implications

The stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context of the Verduno fossil vertebrate locality is discussed herein based on its rodent record. The Verduno section crops out in the southern part of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (TPB), and can be included in the Messinian post-evaporitic Cassano Spinola Fm., chronologically corresponding to the so-called Lago-Mare event. Rodents are represented by a relatively rich assemblage. Murids are by far the most diverse and abundant, with at least four taxa, including the common Centralomys benericettii and Paraethomys meini, and the rare Apodemus gudrunae and Occitanomys sp. Cricetids are represented by a single species, Apocricetus cf. A. barrierei. Muscardinus aff. M. vireti appears to be the only glirid present at Verduno. The Verduno rodent assemblage shares some taxa with other Messinian post-evaporitic localities from Italy bearing continental vertebrate remains, such as Brisighella (central Italy) and Moncucco Torinese (NW Italy) (e.g., C. benericettii, P. meini) and, possibly, with Ciabòt Cagna (NW Italy). However, the general structure of these four Messinian assemblages displays substantial differences, which may reflect different palaeoenvironmental conditions.     

Lower Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Burdur Basin of SW Anatolia

The Burdur Basin is one of the NE-trending extensional orogen-top basins of SW Anatolia hosting alluvial-fan, fluvial and lacustrine deposits from the Late Miocene onward. The remains of Equus (Allohippus) sp., Paracamelus cf. gigas, and medium-sized deer (Cervidae gen. indet.) from the uppermost reach of the basin-fill succession show an interregional palaeobiogeographical linkage. The composition of fossil associations is typical for the Villafranchian of eastern Europe and central Asia. The architecture of the basin-fill stratigraphy and associated fossil taxa refines the Early Pleistocene regional palaeogeography and biodiversity of Anatolia drawn over the Eurasian migration pattern.     

Pleistocene–Holocene marine ostracods from Mersin offshore sediments,Turkey, Eastern Mediterranean

Ostracod faunas from 18 gravity offshore cores taken from S-SW of Mersin–Ta?ucu harbour in Turkey (Eastern Mediterranean) at water depths comprised between 285 and 665 m were studied. Thirty-two (32) species have been identified. Argilloecia acuminata s.l. and Polycope cf. tholiformis are the dominant species in the studied area. The fauna corresponds very well to the “Argilloecia acuminata community, C11” from the Pleistocene to Holocene established by Sissingh (Sissingh, W., 1982. Ecostratigraphical outline history of the Late Cenozoic ostracode fauna of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean Basin. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wettenschappen B 85, 299–322), and indicates circalittoral to upper bathyal environment in the Mediterranean. The ostracod fauna of the Mersin offshore sediments also shows great similarities to those from the Adriatic Sea (Bonaduce, G., Ciampo, G., Masoli, M., 1975. Distribution of ostracoda in the Adriatic Sea. Pubblicazioni della Stazione Zoologica di Napoli 40 Suppl., 1–304), Sicily (Aiello, G., Barra, D., Bonaduce, G., 2000. Systematics and biostratigraphy of the Plio-Pleistocene Monte S. Nicola section (Gela, Sicily). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 39, 83–112) and Bay of Naples (Müller, G.W., 1894. Die Ostracoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeresabschnitte. Zoologische Station zu Neapel. Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel, Monographie 31, 1–404). Only a few species are common with the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara.     

A Late Miocene Paratethyan mollusc fauna from the Denizli Basin (southwestern Anatolia, Turkey) and its regional palaeobiogeographic implications

We report on a Late Miocene mollusc fauna from a single locality in the Denizli Basin in southwestern Turkey that is composed of ten presumably euryhaline species and three freshwater species. The fauna is remarkably distinct from faunas of the adjacent Late Miocene Aegean and Euxinian Basins, and has elements in common with the modern Caspian Sea fauna in the form of Didacna species. The suggested age of the fauna (Late Miocene) would extend the stratigraphic range of the lymnocardiid genus Didacna (hitherto Calabrian-Extant) considerably. The palaeobiogeographic significance of the Denizli fauna is discussed.     

Neogene history of Sporolithon Heydrich (Corallinales,Rhodophyta) in the Mediterranean region

Most modern species of Sporolithon live in tropical and subtropical areas and only one species of the genus, S. ptychoides, occurs in the Mediterranean Sea. The scarce present-day populations of Sporolithon in the Mediterranean region are relics of a long history of the genus in this area since the Early Cretaceous. Analysis of data from the palaeontological literature, combined with the study of both fossil samples and Recent ones collected from Italy and Spain, shows that during the Miocene variations in the number of Sporolithon species in the Mediterranean region parallel changes in global temperature. After a maximum species richness in the Langhian (early Mid Miocene), coincident with the Miocene climatic optimum, the number of species decreased to just two before the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This marked decline follows the global cooling event that began at around 14 Ma. The closure of the connections of the Mediterranean region with the Indian Ocean during the Langhian left Mediterranean Sporolithon populations isolated from the main dispersal area of the genus. After the Messinian desiccation, a single species, S. ptychoides, re-invaded the Mediterranean Basin during the Early Pliocene and continues to inhabit this temperate sea today. The Atlantic Ocean is the most probable source of the re-invading Sporolithon plants.     

Late Devonian non-marine Naiadites devonicus nov. sp. (Bivalvia: Pteriomorphia) from the Waterloo Farm Lagerstätte in South Africa

This study defines a new bivalve species, Naiadites devonicus nov. sp., of Famennian (Late Devonian) age. The material was excavated from the non-marine deposits of the Waterloo Farm Lagerstätte in South Africa, which form part of the Witpoort Formation (Witteberg Group, Cape Supergroup) of the Cape Fold Belt region. The type material of Naiadites devonicus nov. sp. is preserved in metamorphosed, clayey to silty mudstones of a coastal estuarine to lagoonal facies, deposited along the shoreline of the Agulhas Sea, in a high-palaeolatitude Gondwanan setting. The new bivalve species is the stratigraphically oldest representative of the genus Naiadites Dawson. It is a faunal element of a high-latitude palaeoecosystem, immediately preceding the Hangenberg extinction event at the end of the Late Devonian.     

Italian Cenozoic crocodilians: taxa, timing and palaeobiogeographic implications

Crocodylian remains are collected in 39 fossil-bearing localities but only in seven localities specimens with reliable taxonomic attributions, at least to genus level have been collected. Three species have been reported from the early Lutetian Purga di Bolca site: Pristichampsus cf. Pristichampsus rollinati, Asiatosuchus sp., Hassiacosuchus sp. (=Allognathosuchus sp.). The three crocodilians discovered at Purga di Bolca have been reported also from Geiseltal and Messel (Middle Eocene, Germany). Bolca at that time was part of a Tethysian archipelago and no mammals have been found there till now. Crocodilians and turtles clearly arrived from the European mainland across a marine water barrier. Among the other fossiliferous localities of Veneto, very interesting is the Monte Zuello site, of late Middle Eocene age, yielding a longirostrine crocodilian, Megadontosuchus arduini, a tomistomine species. Tomistomines are known in contemporaneous sediments of both Europe and Africa, but the European forms Dollosuchus and Kentisuchus seem the closest taxa. Remains of Oligocene age have been collected in Veneto and Liguria, but the fossils discovered in the second region are teeth or fragmented bones. The fossil crocodilians of Monteviale (Veneto), of Early Oligocene age, have been assigned to two species but they have been recently all identified as Diplocynodon ratelii, known from several European sites of Late Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene age. This species arrived in the Monteviale area from the European mainland across a narrow sea. Several crocodilian fossils of Miocene age are very fragmentary or represented by isolated teeth. In the Middle and Late Miocene of Sardinia, a well-established species, Tomistoma calaritanum is present. Remains of Tomistoma of the same age have been reported in some localities in Tuscany, Apulia, Sicily and Malta. In the Mediterranean area, the genus is known from European and African sites (of older age). The colonisation of Europe by this genus is the result of a dispersion from Africa (or less probably from Asia). During Late Miocene Sardinia and Tuscany belong to the same palaeobioprovince characterized by the Oreopithecus-Maremmia fauna. In Tuscany, a crocodilian identified as Crocodylus bambolii is present in the late Miocene site of Monte Bamboli. If the generic attribution of this form is correct, its ancestors must have arrived from Africa. Another fossil assemblage of Late Miocene age characterizes the Apulia-Abruzzi palaeobioprovince (Hoplitomeryx-Microtia fauna) and testifies complete isolation between the two palaeobioprovinces. In this last area, remains of Crocodylus sp. have been collected in coastal sandstones at Scontrone (Abruzzi) and in several fissure fillings of Gargano of slightly younger age. The ancestors of this species arrived from Africa while no African elements are present among the mammalian fauna. The dispersion of the genus Crocodylus in the Italian palaeoislands may have taken place once, with allopatric differentiation of the two populations (Tuscany-Sardinia and Apulia-Abruzzi) or twice with independent colonisation of each area.     

Les grands mammifères du Villafranchien supérieur des travertins du Bassin de Denizli (Sud-Ouest Anatolie,Turquie)

The large mammals from travertine deposits in the Denizli basin include the following species: Archidiskodon meridionalis meridionalis, Equus cf. altidens s. l., E. cf. apolloniensis, Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus, Metacervoceros rhenanus, Cervalces (Libralces) ex gr. minor-gallicus, Palaeotragus sp., Bovinae gen. and sp. indet. This association resembles those from the late Villafranchian of Southern and Eastern Europe, and, to some extent, fromWestern Asia, and could be older than 1.2 Ma.     

New material of Muntiacinae (Artiodactyla,Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,China

Recent expeditions in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have produced additional mammalian fossils from the Lower Baodean (equivalent to Vallesian, Late Miocene), and, significantly, a new large and the earliest muntjac, Muntiacus noringenensis sp. nov. It is phylogenetically closer to the Late Pliocene M. fenghoensis and extant M. vuqangensis than the other fossil and extant muntjacs are. The existence of this muntjac and other folivores in the Late Miocene Qaidam Basin suggests a forested period in the basin and the evolution from a forested and humid environment to a desert one today. Such a dramatic evolution in environments is an evidence of the effect of the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and of its influence on continental climates.     

NEW CALCAREOUS DINOFLAGELLATES (CALCIODINELLOIDEAE) FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA1

Investigations on calcareous dinoflagellates from surface sediments from the Mediterranean Sea revealed 14 species, including one new genus and four previously undescribed species: Calciodinellum levantinum sp. nov., Calciodinellum elongatum nov. comb., Lebessphaera urania gen. nov. et sp. nov., and Scripp‐ siella triquetracapitata sp. nov. Furthermore, Fuettererella cf. tesserula, so far only known from the fossil record, was found. The cyst–theca relationships of C. levantinum and C. elongatum are given, based on strains established from water samples of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This study gives an insight into the importance of the modern Mediterranean Sea as an unique region concerning calcareous cyst producing dinoflagellates.     

Early Miocene Amphibians (Caudata, Salientia) from the Mokrá-Western Quarry (Czech Republic) with comments on the evolution of Early Miocene amphibian assemblages in Central Europe

The Mokrá-Western Quarry exhibits the rare occurrence of Early Miocene (MN 4) vertebrate fauna within the area of the eastern part of Central Europe. In addition to a rich fauna of reptiles and mammals, two fossiliferous karst joints (Mokrá-Western Quarry, 1/2001 Turtle Joint and Mokrá-Western Quarry, 2/2003 Reptile Joint) yielded a rich fauna of amphibians including 13 amphibian taxa: Salamandridae: Mioproteus sp., Chelotriton sp., type I, Chelotriton sp., type II, Triturus aff. roehrsi, Triturus cf. marmoratus, Triturus sp. (T. cristatus species group), Chioglossa meini, Mertensiella mera, Salamandridae gen. and sp. indet.; Pelobatidae: Pelobates sanchizi; Ranidae: Rana sp. (synklepton Rana esculenta); Bufonidae: Bufo sp. The first records of the West European species Triturus cf. marmoratus and Chioglossa meini are reported from the eastern part of Central Europe indicating the wide distribution of those taxa throughout the whole of Europe as early as MN 4. The oldest known record of Pelobates sanchizi documents the Early Miocene presence of representatives closely related to the extinct Late Oligocene representatives of Pelobates. The slow evolution of amphibian species is documented by the presence of Triturus cf. marmoratus and the oldest known occurrence of the extinct salamander Mertensiella mera.     

Une nouvelle espèce du genre Bohlinia (Mammalia,Giraffidae) du Miocène supérieur de Toros-Menalla,Tchad

New Giraffidae specimens discovered from the Late Miocene fossiliferous sector of Toros-Menalla (northern Chad) are described. These specimens are assigned to Bohlinia, a genus known so far only in some Late Miocene localities of Eurasia. This is the first occurrence of the genus in Africa. Analysis of the material allows us to describe a new species of giraffid, Bohlinia adoumi n. sp., probably close to the Eurasian forms.     

Miocene cercopithecoidea from the Tugen Hills, Kenya

Miocene to Pleistocene fossiliferous sediments in the Tugen Hills span the time period from at least 15.5 Ma to 0.25 Ma, including time periods unknown or little known elsewhere in Africa. Consequently, the Tugen Hills deposits hold the potential to inform us about crucial phylogenetic events in African faunal evolution and about long-term environmental change. Among the specimens collected from this region are a number of discoveries already important to the understanding of primate evolution. Here, we describe additional cercopithecoid material from the Miocene deposits in the Tugen Hills sequence, including those from securely dated sites in the Muruyur Beds (16-13.4 Ma), the Mpesida Beds (7-6.2 Ma) and the Lukeino Formation (∼6.2-5.7 Ma). We also evaluate previously described material from the Ngorora Formation (13-8.8 Ma). Identified taxa include Victoriapithecidae gen. et sp. indet., cf. Parapapio lothagamensis, and at least two colobines. Specimens attributed to cf. Pp. lothagamensis would extend the species’ geographic range beyond its type locality. In addition, we describe specimens sharing derived characters with modern African colobines (Tribe: Colobina), a finding that is congruent with previous molecular estimates of colobine divergence dates. These colobine specimens represent some of the earliest known members of the modern African colobine radiation and, in contrast to previous hypotheses, suggest that early African colobines were mainly arboreal and that semi-terrestrial Late Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene colobine taxa were secondarily derived in their locomotor adaptations.     

Ostreopsis cf. ovata in the Gulf of Gabès (south-eastern Mediterranean Sea): morphological,molecular and ecological characterization

In the last few decades, the frequency of the toxic benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata proliferation has increased in the Mediterranean Sea. These blooms are associated with harmful effects on human health and the environment. The present work provides the first long term study on the spatio-temporal distribution of O. cf. ovata in relation to physical parameters in the Gulf of Gabès coastal waters (south-eastern Mediterranean Sea), as well as its morphological, molecular and physiological features. The strains of O. cf. ovata were identified morphologically by light and epifluorescence microscopy. The morphology and the size range of cultured strains were similar to those described regarding O. cf. ovata isolated from the Mediterranean Sea. The ultrastructural analysis of O. cf. ovata cells using the transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of numerous vesicles (VE) containing spirally coiled fibers (SCFs) connected to the mucus canal (CH). The phylogenetic tree based on the internal transcribed spacer region containing the 5.8S rDNA (ITS-5.8S rDNA) revealed that O. cf. ovata strains were placed into the Mediterranean/Atlantic clade. In addition, O. cf. ovata toxicity was evaluated by the mouse bioassay and a dose level ≥ 4 × 10⁴ cells was found to be lethal to mice. The examination of the O. cf. ovata occurrence in the Gulf of Gabès at a large temporal scale (1997–2012) revealed a clear seasonal pattern with dominance from midsummer (July) to late autumn (November). Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the abundance of O. cf. ovata and salinity, whereas no correlation was found as regards temperature. The occurrence of O. cf. ovata was only detected at salinity above 35 and the highest concentrations were observed at 45. Laboratory experiments confirmed such a result and showed that isolated O. cf. ovata strains had optimal growth at salinity ranging between 35 and 45, with its peak at 40.     

Discovery of an Upper Miocene Vertebrate fauna near Tizi N’Tadderht,Skoura, Ouarzazate Basin (Central High Atlas,Morocco)

The discovery of Upper Miocene vertebrates at Tizi N’Tadderht in the Ouarzazate basin (Morocco) helps to fill a gap in our knowledge of Neogene faunas in North Africa. The new fauna includes an ostrich cf. Struthio sp, a turtle cf. Centrochelys sp., Crocodylus cf. niloticus, and a relatively diverse fauna of large mammals. The mammal assemblage probably includes three hipparion species, including a very small form not previously reported from Africa, aff. Cremohipparion periafricanum, two species of rhinoceros cf. Ceratotherium sp. and aff. Chilotherium sp., a Proboscidean cf. Tetralophodon sp., a large member of the Giraffidae similar to “Palaeotragus” germaini and two bovids of which one is likely related to Prostrepsiceros, while the other is a new medium-sized antelope with spiral horns, certainly a representative of the Caprinae, a group that is rare in Africa. A late Miocene age, corresponding to the European Turolian Mammal age, is most likely for this fauna.