About some aporrhaid and strombid gastropods from the Late Cretaceous

Sixteen species of the Stromboidea (Gastropoda) from the Late Cretaceous are described in this study. One species belongs to the Strombidae, the others to eight genera and subgenera of the Aporrhaidae. Eight species are new. They have been found in the Cenomanian of Kassenberg in western Germany, the Coniacian of the Mungo River in Cameroon, the Santonian of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, the Santonian/Campanian of the Ariyalur area in southern India, the Campanian of northern Spain, and the Maastrichtian of the Western Desert in Egypt. Two species ofDrepanocheilus from South Africa are considered stem-group representatives of the aporrhaids which inhabited the Weddellian Province in the early Tertiary. One new species of the strombid genusHippocrenes is regarded as an early species of the evolutionary lineage leading to the Seraphsidae. The new species areLatiala? ponsi, Drepanocheilus herberti, Drepanocheilus triliratus, Drepanocheilus (Tulochilus) jouberti, Graciliala quaasi, Kaunhowenia catalanica, Kaunhowenia punctata andHippocrenes kussi.     

Maastrichtian Challengeriidae (phaeodarian radiolaria) from deep sea sediments of SW Pacific

The paper reports three species of fossil phaeodarian Radiolaria of the family Challengeriidae, of which two (Protocystis pacifica and Challengeron takahashii) are new and one is determined at generic level. They have been found in a Maastrichtian sample from Site 275 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project located on Campbell Plateau, near New Zealand. Together with the two species of the same family recently described by Bragina [Paleontol. J. 37 (2003) 8] from the upper Cenomanian of Sakhalin Island, and three other species found by Takahashi [Tenth Meeting of the International Association of Radiolarian Palaeontologists, Abstracts and Programme, Lausanne (2003) 107] from the upper Campanian to lower Maastrichtian of central Japan, they represent the only Cretaceous phaeodarian species so far known. The family Challengeriidae, to which most of these species belong, seems to contain the most resistant phaeodarians to fossilization. These species prove that the skeleton structure of Cretaceous Challengeriidae is similar to Recent ones and that the difference between them is only at species level.     

First record of the Late Cretaceous starfish Metopaster parkinsoni (Forbes, 1848) in Iran

A body fossil of the starfish Metopaster parkinsoni was collected from chalky rocks of the Coniacian – Santonian transition in the Abderaz Formation at the Padeha section, east of Mashhad (Kopet-Dagh, Iran). The species is common in the English Chalk and is well known from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian of Europe. The new Iranian occurrence of M. parkinsoni extends its geographical range of 700 km to the South and 2500 km to the East. The species proliferated in upper offshore environments of the North Tethyan continental shelves. The outstanding occurrence of many well-preserved specimens during the Coniacian – Santonian transition in Europe and Iran may be related to favorable taphonomic conditions driven by the Ocean Anoxic Event (OAE III).     

Taxonomy and paleobiogeographic implication of Glabrobournonia Morris and Skelton (Hippuritida,Radiolitidae) from the Late Cretaceous Yigeziya Formation,southwestern Tarim Basin

A re-examination of the specimens that were identified as Biradiolites minor Pojarkova from the late Campanian to early Maastrichtian middle member of the Yigeziya Formation of southwestern Tarim Basin reveals that they should be assigned to the genus Glabrobournonia Morris and Skelton. Glabrobournonia is a genus of radiolitids characterized by indented radial bands, salient ridges on the shell margins and absence of fine ribs on the surface of the right valve. Apart from southwestern Tarim Basin, Glabrobournonia minor (Pojarkova) has also been recorded from the late Campanian of Fergana and Alai basins. The central Asian, late Campanian to early Maastrichtian G. minor differs from the late Campanian to Maastrichtian, eastern Arabian type species Glabrobournonia arabica Morris and Skelton in the flat left valve and an additional fourth ridge on the junction of the dorsal and posterior sides of the right valve. Biradiolites ingens (Des Moulins) could be the direct ancestor of Glabrobournonia. The paleogeographic distribution of Glabrobournonia suggests that this genus dispersed to central Asia from the late Campanian time, becoming widely distributed in the eastern Tethyan region rather than endemic to eastern Arabia. Correspondingly, specimens belonging to Gyropleura yielded from the same bed as G. minor in southwestern Tarim Basin, are similar to the specimens which were attributed to the eastern Arabian Gyropleura sp.; Campanian to early Maastrichtian Osculigera specimens described from the Yigeziya Formation are comparable with those known from the Campanian–Maastrichtian of Iran, Afghanistan and eastern Arabia. The similarity of the rudist assemblages between central Asia and eastern Arabia suggests a faunal connection and affinity between the north and south margins of the eastern Tethyan realm during Campanian to early Maastrichtian times.     

New enantiornithine bird (Aves, Ornithothoraces) from the Late Cretaceous of NW Argentina

A new enantiornithine bird, Intiornis inexpectatus gen. et sp. nov, is described here. It is based on a partial hind limb found in beds of the Upper Cretaceous Las Curtiembres Formation (Campanian), North-West Argentina. The new taxon is referred to the family Avisauridae on the basis of its cranially convex third metatarsal. Several features suggest close relationships between Intiornis and the avisaurid Soroavisaurus, from the Lecho Formation (Maastrichtian; North-West Argentina). Intiornis was the size of a sparrow, thus representing the smallest Enantiornithes known from South America. The new species shows adaptations for a perching mode of life. Moreover, the hypothesis suggesting that the flying pterosaur reptiles decrease in taxonomic diversity due to competitive interaction with birds is discussed. The new species shows adaptations for a perching mode of life. Moreover, the hypothesis suggesting that the flying pterosaur reptiles decrease in taxonomic diversity due to competitive interaction with birds is discussed.     

Gastropods of the family Aporrhaidae from the Lower Cretaceous of Ulyanovsk, Volga Region

Three new species of the genus Trilemma (family Aporrhaidae), T. polivnense Blagovetshenskiy, sp. nov., T. kremenkense Blagovetshenskiy, sp. nov., and T. tenuicarinatum Blagovetshenskiy, sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous of the Volga Region near Ulyanovsk are described. The data on the stratigraphic range of these species are provided.     

First record of the echinoid genusTylocidaris Pomel 1883 from the type Maastrichtian of The Netherlands

For the first time a representative of the echinoid genusTylocidaris Pomel 1883 (Psychocidarinae) is described from the Upper Maastrichtian of the type area of the Maastrichtian Stage. This record represents a new species,T. inexspectata, of which so far only the clavate primary spines are known from the Meerssen Member (Maastricht Formation).     

Gastropod mollusks from the Hauterivian of Ulyanovsk (Volga Region): 1. Family aporrhaidae

Data on the detailed stratigraphic range of eight species of gastropod mollusks from the Upper Hauterivian of Ulyanovsk (Volga Region) are presented. A new genus, Trilemma, is established within the family Aporrhaidae. Two new species of this genus, T. russiense sp. nov. and T. striatocarinatum (Sinzow, 1880), are described.     

Ostracods from the Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene Jiaozhou Formation of Jiaozhou,Shandong, China and their biostratigraphic significance

Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic non-marine deposits are well developed in the Jiaolai Basin, eastern Shandong Province, China, yielding abundant fossils including ostracods. In order to further understand the geological settings of the basin during the Late Cretaceous–Paleogene, three boreholes (JK-1, JZK-01 and JZK-02) were drilled in the city of Jiaozhou. Nine genera and sixteen species (including six indeterminate species) of ostracods are described from the Jiaozhou Formation in the three boreholes, including Cypridea, Mongolocypris, Talicypridea, Candona, Eucypris, Cyprois, Porpocypris, Sinocypris and Timiriasevia. Of these, Porpocypris sphaeroidalis Guan, 1978 is reported from northern China for the first time, indicating that this species has great potential to be an indicator of the K/Pg boundary. Correlation of these species with the known Cretaceous–Paleogene ostracod assemblages suggests that the age of the Jiaozhou Formation could be latest Cretaceous–Paleocene in borehole JK-1, Campanian–Maastrichtian in borehole JZK-01, and Maastrichtian–Danian in borehole JZK-02. The exact position of K/Pg boundary, however, is unavailable for the present in the Jiaozhou Formation from boreholes JK-1 and JZK-01.     

New data on late Santonian and early Maastrichtian ostracodes of the Saratov Region

The article presents a paleoenvironmental analysis of ostracode assemblages from Mezino-Lapshinovka (Upper Santonian) and Lokh (Lower Maastrichtian) Formations of the Vishnevoe section (Saratov Region). Two new species Cytherelloidea vishneviensis sp. nov. and Mauritsina mandelstami sp. nov. are described.     

A new kogaionid multituberculate mammal from the Maastrichtian of the Transylvanian Basin,Romania

The Latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) terrestrial sedimentary sequences of the Haţeg Basin in Transylvania are well known for the so-called “Haţeg Island” vertebrate faunas, which evolved in endemic (insular?) conditions. In addition to frogs, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, birds and dinosaurs, peculiar multituberculate mammals have been recorded, all belonging to the family Kogaionidae. Here, a new species of the genus Barbatodon is reported from the Maastrichtian Şard Formation in the Transylvanian Basin (Alba County, Romania). Barbatodon oardaensis n. sp. is characterized by M1 cusp formula 3:4:2 and is much smaller than the two other Maastrichtian kogaionids from Transylvania, Barbatodon transylvanicus and Kogaionon ungureanui. The origin and paleobiogeography of kogaionids are discussed.     

Upper Cretaceous sulcate pollen from the Timerdyakh Formation,Vilui Basin (Siberia)

One inaperturate and 16 monosulcate pollen types are described from the latest Campanian to earliest Maastrichtian sediments of the Vilui basin, Siberia, using both light and scanning electron microscopy, and assigned systematically when possible to modern families or subfamilies. Despite their scant occurrence, the pollen grains show considerable diversity. Two new genera have been erected. Lasioideaecidites with two species, Lasioideaecidites hessei and Lasioideaecidites bogneri, represents the earliest record of the subfamily Lasioideae (Araceae). Aristolochiacidites with one species, Aristolochiacidites viluiensis, is assigned to the subfamily Aristolochioideae (Aristolochiaceae) and represents the first fossil pollen record of the family. A new species of Liliacidites, Liliacidites goldblattii, is closely similar to pollen of Isophysioideae (Iridaceae) and/or Doryanthaceae and is the first fossil evidence of the clade that includes these closely related families. A further nine new fossil species are described (Clavatipollenites timerdyakhensis, Liliacidites palaeofritillaria, Retimonocolpites longosucatus, R. microreticulatus, R. microrugulatus, R. lysichitonoides, R. chapmaniae, Monosulcites parvus and Arecipites tyungensis) and assigned to Chloranthaceae, Araceae (Orontioideae, ?Pothoideae), Liliaceae, ?Hypoxidaceae and Arecaceae. The Hydatellaceae (Nymphaeales) may also be present in the palynoflora of the Vilui Basin, represented by pollen similar to M. rivularis Braman from the Santonian to Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Milk River Formation, Canada.     

A new species of Phoenicopsis (Leptostrobales) from the Maastrichtian–Danian of Chukotka,Russia

A new species, Phoenicopsis anadyrensis Nosova, is described based on the leaf morphology and cuticle features from the Maastrichtian–Danian Rarytkin Formation, Chukotka, North-East of Russia. It is characterized by hypostomatic leaves with stomatal bands on the abaxial side, undulate anticlinal epidermal cell walls and papillae on the epidermal cells and on the subsidiary cells of the stomata. The new species is the youngest reliable representative of the genus Phoenicopsis. This record extends the stratigraphic range of Phoenicopsis from its previously known latest records in the early Campanian up to Maastrichtian–Danian. The persistence of the genus Phoenicopsis up to the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary is most likely related with vicinity to mountain floras associated with Late Cretaceous and Paleogene volcanic uplands.     

Ostracodes limniques de la Formation d'Irbzer, Crétacé terminal du Moyen-Atlas, Maroc : taxonomie, biostratigraphie, paléoécologie, paléobiogéographie

An association of limnic ostracodes has been discovered in the upper part of the Irbzer Formation, of Maastrichtian age, in the Moroccan Middle-Atlas. A new species is described, Gomphocythere achloujensis nov. sp. Paracandona occitanica, which is very common in terminal Cretaceous non-marine deposits of southern Europe (France, Spain), is found for the first time on the south Tethyan margin.     

New data on duck-billed dinosaurs (Ornithischia, Hadrosauridae) from the upper cretaceous of Tajikistan

Duck-billed dinosaur remains (Hadrosauridae) from the Yalovach Formation (Lower Santonian) of the Isfara 2 and Kansai localities (northern Tajikistan) are described. Most of them belong to a flat-headed hadrosaurid which is distinguished from all other representatives of the family by the absence on the frontals of a facet for the nasals. In this feature, the Tajikistan hadrosaurid is similar to Bactrosaurus johnsoni from the Iren Dabasu Formation of China, which shows the minimum contact of the frontals and nasals; and in the wide prefrontal, it resembles Aralosaurus tuberiferus from the Bostobinskaya Formation in Kazakhstan. The theropod Troodon isfarensis Nessov, 1995 from Isfara 2 is described based on a hadrosaurid prefrontal.     

Ostracoda and palaeo-oxygen levels, with particular reference to the Upper Cretaceous of East Anglia

It has been shown that the percentage of Platycopina (the sole remaining group of filter-feeding Ostracoda since the global extinction of the Metacopina in the Lower Toarcian) making up a fossil ostracod fauna can be used as a measure of dissolved oxygen in past oceans. High levels of platycopids indicate low oxygen and vice versa. A new scale is introduced here, based mainly on the environmental oxygen levels of modern oceans and their equivalent percentages of living platycopids, in order to evaluate the palaeo-oxygen levels of the Upper Chalk in East Anglia. The effects of varying oxygen concentrations on the overall simple species diversity of the Ostracoda is also shown to have important palaeoenvironmental implications. The study is based on 79 samples from the Santonian to Lower Maastrichtian of the Trunch Borehole and 126 samples from outcrops in Suffolk and Norfolk, ranging from the Coniacian to Lower Maastrichtian. The Coniacian is shown to have been a time of low to very low oxygen, except for its upper part that was much better ventilated. The Santonian and Lower Campanian were low to very low in their dissolved oxygen, while the Upper Campanian and particularly the Lower Maastrichtian had much higher oxygen levels. Notwithstanding these general trends, oxygen levels appear to have fluctuated rapidly throughout the interval, during times of both generally low and high oxygenation. These variations in oxygenation are thought to have been associated with the Oxygen Minimum Zone and its migrations onto the continental shelf and subsequent retreat to the continental slope. This in turn is related to sea-level fluctuations and this, together with the potential for the application of this technique to sequence stratigraphy are discussed.     

Icriocarcinidae: a family of portunoid crabs from the Upper Cretaceous of North America

Icriocarcininae ?tev?i?, 2005, an extinct North American subfamily of portunoid decapods, is elevated to family level to contain two Late Cretaceous genera—Icriocarcinus Bishop, 1988, from the Pacific Coast, and Branchiocarcinus Feldmann and Vega, 1995, from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast Plain. The family is centered on Icriocarcinus xestos Bishop, 1988, described from the Late Campanian of Baja California. Closely allied with this species are: “Eryma” flecta Rathbun, 1926, originally described from the latest Campanian of Tennessee and now known to occur throughout the Maastrichtian of the adjoining Mississippi; Branchiocarcinus cornatus Feldmann and Vega, 1995, from the Maastrichtian of San Luis Potosí, Mexico; and undescribed material from the latest Maastrichtian of New Jersey. The Gulf and Atlantic populations compose a single new species—Branchiocarcinus flectus (Rathbun). Provisionally regarded as a lobster, on the basis of a single, eroded chela, B. flectus is now known from complete bodies found at several locations in the eastern US. The additional material also clarifies the identity of B. cornatus, which is based on a distorted external mold of a lone dorsal carapace. Members of the family lack the typical portunoid flattened fifth pereiopod but share other characters that enable placement within the Portunoidea.     

Paleocene coccoliths and coccospheres in deposits of the Maastrichtian stage at the `type locality' and type area in SE Limburg,The Netherlands

Three so-called `Tertiary Newcomer Coccoliths'—Cruciplacolithus primus, Neobiscutum parvulum and Neobiscutum romeinii—were found in what are generally believed to be upper Maastrichtian deposits at the ENCI quarry, St. Pietersberg near Maastricht, the CURFS quarry near Houthem and from the Maastrichtian part of the K/T boundary section of the cave system at Geulhemmerberg near Valkenburg, southeastern Limburg, The Netherlands. The mentioned species appear already far below The Berg en Terblijt Horizon at the CURFS quarry and Geulhemmerberg, which is actually supposed to mark the K/T boundary, at the ENCI quarry they range throughout the Maastricht Formation above the Horizon of Lichtenberg. The specimens are well preserved and originate from undisturbed sediment layers, thus it seems that they were not transported into the Maastrichtian sediments by water circulation or burrowing effects. The state of preservation and the presence of intact coccospheres indicate that they are autochthonous. C. primus, N. romeinii and N. parvulum are extremely small in size (800 nm to 2.0 μm), implying that a scanning electron microscope (SEM) must be set at least to 3 K magnification in order to detect them. With a light microscope (LM) at 1 K they cannot be classified, which is probably the reason why previous investigators who studied the same sections based on LM did not mention these species from the upper Maastrichtian. They furthermore appear in very low numbers contributing to around 1% of an associated calcareous nannoflora which is equivalent to the assemblage of the CC26 Nephrolithus frequens Zone of Cepek and Hay (1969). The biostratigraphic setting of the ENCI quarry, CURFS quarry and Geulhemmerberg have been the subject of a long and controversial discussion whether the exposed sediments still belong to the upper Maastrichtian or represent the lower Tertiary. Reworking of macrofossils and microfossils or autochthony of index fossils had been discussed and used to support the different opinions about the chronostratigraphy of these sections. Up to now there has not been any contribution which might lead to convincing data. If C. primus, N. romeinii, and N. parvulum are indeed `Tertiary Newcomer Coccoliths', the sediments exposed above the Horizon of Lichtenberg at the ENCI quarry, and the sediments below The Berg en Terblijt Horizon studied at CURFS quarry and Geulhemmerberg do belong to the NP 1 Biantholithus sparsus Zone, which means they are of Early Paleocene age. However, if these coccoliths already originate in the late Maastrichtian, the definition of the K/T boundary by calcareous nannoflora must be revised.     

Description of a new species,Globotruncana pseudoconica and remarks on its relation to Globotruncana conicaWhite and Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal

A new, strongly spiroconvex Globotruncana species,Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp., is described from the Maastrichtian of Tunisia. It is distinguished from Globotruncana conicaWhite in morphology and phylogeny. Some Maastrichtian, strongly spiroconvex specimens referred to as Globotruncana conicaWhite, are shown to be identical to Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp. The new species reveals close affinity with Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal from which it has evolved during the middle Lower Maastrichtian.     

陕北米脂上三叠统的进步古鳕类一新属——Mizhilepis

记述在陕西北部米脂县李家站乡张崖村上三叠统延长群瓦窑堡组中发现的进步古鳕类一新属新种Mizhilepiszhangyaensisgen.etsp.nov.,它与美国西部上三叠统钦尔组(ChinleFormation)和东北部上三叠统纽瓦克超群(NewarkSupergroup)中的TanaocrossusSchaeffer有密切的亲缘关系。文章还讨论了斯堪的纳维亚鳕科(Scanilepidae)的系统分类位置。