L'ichthyofaune des marnes messiniennes des environs de Gabbro (Toscane,Italie): Signification paleoecologique

Five species of fossil Fishes, of which three are new (Aphanius italicus nov. sp., Palaeoatherina etrusca nov. sp. and Gobius ignotus nov. sp.) occur in the Messinian marls from Gabbro (Tuscany, Italy). This association allows to consider this locality as constituted in a continental basin with a variable salt content.     

L'Ichthyofaune des marnes messiniennes des environs de senigallia (Marche,Italie): Signification paleoecologique et paleogeographique

The revision of the fish fauna from the Messinian marls of Senigallia (Marche, Italy) leads to the reduction of the faunal list of the fossil Fishes found in this locality to only four species. One new genus is created: Cryptolebias new. gen.. This fish fauna characterizes an environment with a variable salt content: it may have been more or less temporarily connected with the sea, although it was also exposed to noticeable continental influences, as demonstrated by the occurrence of Amphibians and Reptiles (Ophidians).     

The presence ofsus strozzii in the villafranchian (villanyian) of macedonia (greece)

The locality of Gerakarou is a new Pleistocene one in Macedonia (Greece) found in 1978. Between the material recovered there is a suid skull, which is studied in this article. Its morphological characters and dimensions allow us to determine this asSus strozzii Forsyth Major. It seems to be similar to the Upper Valdarno and Olivola suids and different from the other Villafranchian suid,Sus minor. Thus it is dated to Late Villafranchian (Villanyian). The certain presence of the species in Greece, where it was known only from some isolated specimens referred asSus cf.strozzii, completes the knowledge of the geographic distribution of the species in Southern Europe.     

Les primates hominoides du Vallésien de Macédoine (Grèce). Étude de la machoire inférieure

The locality of the Ravine of the Rain is located in Lower Macedonia (Greece); it has yielded an important mammalian fauna of Vallesian age (Upper Miocene). An hominoid Primate is present with a lot of well preserved jaws. It is one of the better set of specimens never found in the same locality. His features and caracters are described and compared with those of the others tertiary Hominoids. This is a species which is near of Sivapithecus, Bodvapithecus and Ramapithecus and also it is very near of the ancestry of Gigantopithecus. All these Primates have had a particular ecology and this is probably the set in which we shall find the root of the plio-pleistocen Hominids.     

Note on Lepidosiren annectens,Owen.

Refeering to Prof. Owen's paper on Lepidosiren in the 18th volume of the Society's “Transactions,” the author states that the conclusion at which that gentleman has arrived, that the animal in question is a Pish, although controverted by some of our best naturalists, appears to him to receive confirmation from one or two points in its structure on which no great stress has hitherto been laid. The first of these relates to the mode in which the gill is covered, having only a single small external opening, in which respect Lepidosiren makes a very near approach to Muræna. Secondly, the two peculiar anterior teeth in the upper jaw 80 closely resemble those of some Fishes, that the vignette representing these teeth in Echiodon Drummondii, given in Mr. Yarrell's “History of British Fishes,” might serve as well for the front teeth of Lepidosiren. Thirdly, the continuous dorsal, caudal and anal fin, and the absence of pectorals and ventrals, are common characters among Murænidæ. And fourthly, the true Fish-scales, together with the lateral line extending from the gill to the extremity of the tail, are characters peculiar to Fishes, and not to be found among Amphibian Beptiles. Assuming then that Lepidosiren is unquestionably a Fish, and not either a Reptile or an osculant between Fishes and Reptiles, Mr. Newman regards it as completely obliterating the boundary set up by Cuvier between the two great subclasses of Fishes, the Osseous and the Cartilaginous. In support of this opinion he quotes several passages from Prof. Owen's paper, and concludes by stating his conviction that it is “equally impossible to place it in either the Cartilaginous or Osseous series; and we are compelled either to establish an intermediate series, consisting of but three species or perhaps genera, or to break up those great divisions, which have received the almost universal approbation of naturalists. The first course seems most undesirable in an age in which we are exerting ourselves to find associates and allies for every abnormal form, however apparently isolated. The alternative, the mingling of cartilaginous and osseous fishes, seems inevitable.”     

Teeth of enigmatic neoselachian sharks and an ornithischian dinosaur from the uppermost Triassic of Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France)

Shark teeth and an ornithischian dinosaur tooth are described from a new palynologically dated Rhaetian locality at Lons-le-Saunier (Jura, France). The structure of the enameloid of the teeth ofSynechodus rhaeticus has been studied, but this appears quite different from the usual pattern seen in neoselachian sharks, making the precise relationships of this species difficult to determine. On the other hand,‘Hybodus’ minor, which has long be thought to be a hybodont shark, is included among the Synechodontiformes. The find of the tooth of an ornithischian dinosaur is also reported. Study of the Lonsle-Saunier site seems to indicate a change in the marine faunas during the Rhaetian transgression, preferentially affecting the neoselachian sharks, which increase in abundance, and thedurophasous bony fishes, which become dominated bySareodon tomicus.     

Découverte de Zygolophodon turicensis(Schinz) (Proboscidea,Mammalia) au lieu-dit Malartic a Simorre,Gers (Vindobonien moyen); Implications paléoécologiques et biostratigraphiques

The Vindobonian locality of Malartic (Gers),yielded a mammalian fauna characterized by the association of Brachypotherium brachypus and Zygolophodon turicensis. One can demonstrate the controversial existence of Z. turicensis in the french Miocene from a near complete dentition belonging to one specimen. This species can be clearly distinguished from the bunodont mastodont Gomphotherium angustidens from numerous characters of the tusks and molars. Z. turicensis immigrated in France in the middle Burdigalian (zone of Artenay in the Orléanais Sands), together with G. angustidens and Eotragus artenensis. This immigration puts a further point to establish the major event in continental stratigraphy of the middle Burdigalian mammalian immigration. Z. turicensis seems to be a forest animal and G. angustidens an inhabitant of savannah.     

Ademosynoides asiaticus Martynov, 1936, the earliest known member of an extant beetle family (Insecta, Coleoptera, Trachypachidae)

Fossil beetles are described from Kedrovka beds of the locality Babii Kamen’, Kuznetsk Basin, Siberia. According to different authors, this locality is dated to the terminal Permian or basal Triassic. SEM studies have shown that Ademosynoides asiaticus Martynov, 1936, described from this locality, should be placed in the family Trachypachidae, which makes it the earliest known extant family of beetles. In addition to the re-studied holotype, further material is described for this species; a new species of the same genus and a new genus and species of the same family are also described. As a result, almost 10% of the 78 beetle fossils known from this locality are identified as belonging to Trachypachidae. Unfortunately, the study of these beetles is complicated by the rather poor preservation quality and very small size of the majority of the fossils, which usually cannot be properly studied without using SEM. However, even in this case there is no full certainty that the results are absolutely reliable.     

Nouveaux Rongeursdans l'Éocène supérieur de Grisolles (Aisne)

The new locality of Grisolles, from the “Calcaire de Saint-Ouen formation (Marinesian) has yielded and important Mammal fauna. Here the Rodents are studied and two new species are described: Suevosciurus russelli n. sp. and Theridomys varleti n. sp. This Theridomys is the more primitive form of the group at this date. From the biostratigraphic point of view this study allows to show that Grisolles is situated between the standard level of Robiac and this of Fons 4.     

Bibarba bibarba: A new genus and species of Cobitinae (Pisces: Cypriniformes: Cobitidae) from Guangxi Province (China)

A new genus of Cobitinae, Bibarba gen. n., and a new species, B. bibarba sp. n., were discovered and are described for the Chengjiang River, a tributary of the Hongshuihe River in Guangxi Province of southern China. This river region is characterized by a Karst landscape, and the river that is inhabited by the new genus is a slowly moving stream with arenaceous and cobblestone beds. The new genus resembles Cobitis Linnaeus, 1758 (subfamily Cobitinae) in the shape and pigmentation pattern of their body, the absence of scales on their head, and the presence of a suborbital spine, but differs from it by a single Lamina circularis on the third pectoral fin ray instead of on the base of the second pectoral fin ray; two pairs of barbels (one rostral pair and one maxillo-mandibular pair) instead of three pairs of barbels (one rostral pair, one maxillary pair, and one maxillo-mandibular pair); a relatively thick and short suborbital spine with a strong medio-lateral process instead of a suborbital spine without or with a weakly formed medio-lateral process as in Cobitis; and the lack of a black stripe extending from the occiput through the eye to the insertion of the rostral barbel. The first two characters have not been reported in any other genus of the subfamily Cobitinae. A morphometric character analysis based on PCA reveals differences between B. bibarba and C. sinensis in body size, barbel length, interorbital width, pectoral fin length in males, and the position of the dorsal and ventral fins. Type specimens of the new species are kept in the Freshwater Fishes Museum of the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, Hubei Province.     

New material of Chalicotheriidae (Perissodactyla,Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Axios Valley,Macedonia (Greece) with the description of a new species

Chalicotheriids are rare in the late Miocene mammal localities of Axios Valley, Macedonia (Greece). The new campaign of excavations, since 1972, has provided some specimens, which are studied in this article. They are coming from two different localities. The late early Vallesian locality of Pentalophos 1 (PNT) has provided a skull and a mandible of an Ancylotherium. The morphological characters of the PNT material as the small size, the long snout, the shallow mandibular corpus, the strong cingulum in the teeth, the short tooth rows and the short M3/m3 indicate that it differs from the known Turolian species A. pentelicum and allow the erection of a new species, named Ancylotherium hellenicum n. sp., which can be used as a biostratigraphic marker of the Vallesian. The middle Turolian locality Prochoma 1 (PXM) has provided only one M3, which is determined to the chalicotheriine Anisodon macedonicus. This species was earlier described from the middle Turolian locality Vathylakkos 3 (VAT) and the late Turolian one of Dytiko 3 (DKO) of Axios Valley. The biogeography and biostratigraphy of the late Miocene chalicotheres of the Greco-Iranian Palaeoprovince (GRIP), as well as their palaeoecology are also discussed. The common chalicothere of GRIP is A. pentelicum, expanded from the Balkans to Afganistan and ranging stratigraphically from the early to the late Turolian. Chalicotherium goldfussi is certainly present in GRIP and it also ranges from the early to the late Turolian; its possible Vallesian occurrence needs confirmation. The other two late Miocene chalicotheres of GRIP A. macedonicus and Kalimantsia bulgarica are restricted to the Turolian of the Balkan Peninsula.     

Biological monitoring by citizens using Web-based photographic databases of fishes

The Internet has changed the way biologists communicate; this includes the collection of information on fish biology. This technological change may allow the possibility for biological monitoring by general citizens via the Internet. The Japanese Internet atlas of fishes, WEB sakana-zukan, has been in operation since 2002. It provides an opportunity to communicate and accumulate information on fish biology by amateur users, who consist mainly of sports fishing fans. This website has functioned not only as an entertainment and educational tool for users with an environmental and ichthyological interest. To date, more than 35,000 photographs of fishes have been registered on the website by more than 1,000 unique users, and more than 37,500 photographs of fishes have been posted in its bulletin board system (linking approximately 28,000 photographs to the website) by more than 2,000 unique users. As these photographs almost always include time and locality data, it is possible to provide distribution data by publishing the information as scientific papers or registering them as collections at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History (the Image Database of Fishes (KPM-NR) contributing to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). If the communication method is developed and improved, various scientists will be able to collect much more biodiversity data from general citizens via the Internet.     

The parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) from the Middle Miocene of Sansan (Gers,Southern France)

The occurrence of Archaeopsittacus sp. (Psittaciformes) in the fossil deposits of Sansan (France) is reported, testifying to a survival of this genus in the Middle Miocene, as Archaeopsittacus verreauxi was described from the Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (France) and was recorded only from its type locality. The data discussed here indicate the presence of two parrot species from Sansan, as it is the type locality of another parrot species, Pararallus dispar, only known from this locality. The differences between the humeri of these two taxa are described in detail, together with the differences from the other European fossil parrot species. The presence of more than one species of parrot in the same locality is not rare, but in Europe it is recorded in Sansan for the second time. Evidence for parrots also confirms the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Sansan, as parrots are primarily arboreal species. Archaeopsittacus also represents one of the few common elements between the Early and Middle Miocene European bird assemblages.     

New baleen whale genera (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the miocene of the northern caucasus and ciscaucasia: 1. Kurdalagonus gen. nov. from the middle-late Sarmatian of Adygea

A revision of previously known material and analysis of new records of Miocene baleen whales from the Sarmatian of Adygea (city of Maikop, Blinovo Formation) resulted in the establishment of a new genus, Kurdalagonus with three species: K. mchedlidzei sp. nov. (Middle Sarmatian, Nagiezh-Uashkh locality), K. adygeicus sp. nov. (Upper Sarmatian, Hydroelectric power station locality), and K. maicopicus (Spasskii, 1951) (=Cetotherium maicopicum Spasskii, 1951; Middle Sarmatian, Hydroelectric power station locality).     

The alien ascidian Styela clava now invading the Sea of Marmara (Tunicata: Ascidiacea)

During the implementation of a large project aimed to investigate the benthic community structures of the Sea of Marmara, specimens of the invasive ascidian species Styela clava were collected on natural substrata (rocks) at 10 m depth at one locality (Karamürsel) in İzmit Bay. The specimens were mature, containing gametes, indicating that the species had become established in the area. The Sea of Marmara seems to provide suitable conditions for this species to survive and form proliferating populations.     

A new sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Ilek Formation,Western Siberia,Russia

Sibirotitan astrosacralis nov. gen., nov. sp., is described based on isolated but possibly associated cervical and dorsal vertebrae, sacrum, and previously published pedal elements from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian?) Ilek Formation at Shestakovo 1 locality (Kemerovo Province, Western Siberia, Russia). Some isolated sauropod teeth from the Shestakovo 1 locality are referred to the same taxon. The phylogenetic parsimony analyses place Sibirotitan astrosacralis nov. gen., nov. sp., as a non-titanosaurian somphospondyl titanosauriform. The new taxon exhibits four titanosauriform and one somphospondylan synapomorphies, and one autapomorphy – a hyposphene ridge that extends between the neural canal and the postzygapophyses. It differs from all other Somphospondyli by having only five sacral vertebrae. The new taxon shares with Euhelopus and Epachtosaurus sacral ribs that converge towards the middle of the sacrum in dorsal view. Sibirotitan astrosacralis nov. gen., nov. sp., is only the second sauropod taxon from Russia and one of the oldest titanosauriform described so far in Asia.     

Dabbling ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Middle Miocene of Mongolia

A new genus and two new species of ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Middle Miocene Sharga locality are described. Mioquerquedula minutissima gen. et sp. nov. is a very small duck. Anas velox Milne-Edwards, 1868 from the Middle Miocene of France is transferred to the genus Mioquerquedula. Aix praeclara sp. nov. described here is the oldest record of the modern genus Aix. A revision of the previously described small duck Anas soporata Kurochkin, 1976 shows that only the specimens from the Sharga locality should be referred to this species. The status of other small ducks from the Neogene of Europe and North America is discussed. The diversity of herbivorous and diving ducks in the Sharga locality indicates that Miocene Shargyn Govi Lake was rich in food resources.     

Rodents, insectivores and chiropterans (Mammalia) from the late Aragonian of Can Missert (Middle Miocene, Vallès-Penedès Basin, Spain)

In this paper, the insectivores, chiropterans and rodents from the middle Miocene site of Can Missert are described. The faunal list of this locality includes the following species: Miosorex grivensis, Desmanella sp., Talpidae indet., Vespertilionidae indet., Hispanomys daamsi, Megacricetodon minor, Megacricetodon ibericus, Fahlbuschia crusafonti, Democricetodon brevis nemoralis, Eumyarion medium, Muscardinus hispanicus, Eomuscardinus sp., Paraglirulus werenfelsi and Spermophilinus bredai. H. daamsi is a new Cricetodontine species which is characterized by complete ectolophs and relatively long third lower molars. The rodent association of Can Missert enable one to assign this locality to the late Aragonian, MN 8, being close in age to other localities in the Vallès-Penedès Basin such as Castell de Barberà. However, the proportion in which each species is represented is very different in the two cases. This evidence points to the existence climatic pulses at the end of the Aragonian Mammal-Stage.