Alveolites megastomus Steininger 1849 (Tabulata) im Mittel-Devon der Eifel (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge)

Two new specimens of the rare tabulate coralAlveolites megastomus Steininger 1849 are described from the lower Middle Devonian (Eifelian) of the Eifel Limestone Synclinorium (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge/Germany). One specimen originates from the Freilingen Formation of the Dollendorf Syncline; it is the first record from the Upper Eifelian of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge. The second specimen comes from the upper Junkerberg Formation (Middle Eifelian) of the Prüm Syncline being the first proof in this Formation. The state of conservation of the skeletal microstructure of both coralla is described and discussed.     

Bryozoans, corals, and microfacies of Lower Eifelian (Middle Devonian) limestones at Kierspe, Germany

The Lower Eifelian Meinerzhagener Korallenkalk (= upper Cultrijugatus Beds) at Kierspe, Sauerland, contains a rich reefal fauna. Eight bryozoan species are described, two of them are new: the cystoporate Fistuliporella kierspensis n. sp. and the trepostome Leptotrypella sophiae n. sp. The bryozoans from the Meinerzhagener Korallenkalk shows distinct similarities to the Lower–Middle Devonian of Spain (Santa Lucía Formation, Emsian–Eifelian), and to the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) of Transcaucasia. The coral fauna comprises five tabulate corals and one rugose coral that document a paleobiogeographic relationship between Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The associated fauna is represented by brachiopods, ostracods, and echinoderms. The studied limestones also commonly contain calcimicrobes represented by three species. The faunal and microfacial characteristics indicate a shallow marine depositional environment just above the storm wave base, with a supposed depth of 20 m, within the photic zone. The nutrient regime was at least a mesotrophic. The upper boundary of the Cultrijugatus Beds coincides with the Chote?-Event that strongly affected brachiopods, whereas corals and bryozoans were insensitive to this event.     

New data on the Devonian and Carboniferous Graptolithina (Dendroidea) from Belgium with notes on possible occurrences of Rhabdopleuridae in the Belgian Carboniferous

An old find of a graptolite from the Eifelian Jemelle Formation, combined with the recent discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen from the Upper Frasnian (Matagne Formation), allow documentation of the geologically oldest and youngest dendroid fossils from the Devonian of Belgium. Both are ascribed to the long-ranging genus Callograptus (Acanthograptidae). These records enlarge the sparse knowledge of graptolite diversity and occurrences along the southern margin of Laurussia during the mid-Paleozoic. In Belgium, Devonian dendroids are exclusively known from the Dinant Synclinorium. The Devonian dendroid faunas previously reported from the Eifelian, Givetian and Frasnian of the Ardenne–Rhenish massifs (Belgium and Germany) are of low diversity (one to five species per locality). The specimens, generally inedaquatelly preserved, were ascribed to the genera Callograptus, Dictyonema, Palaeodictyota?, and Ruedemannograptus? In these massifs, Carboniferous dendroids are only known from the Viséan (Moliniacian) Denée Konservat-Lagerstätte. Other but undocumented reports of dendroids (and rhabdopleurids) are from the historical type area of the Tournaisian Stage (Tournai area, Brabant Parautochthon). Rhabdopleuridae from the Viséan–Serpukhovian of the Campine Basin (Turnhout borehole) remain incompletely known in the absence of the previously described material.     

Middle Devonian Thelodonti (Agnatha) from the Khush-Yeilagh Formation,North-East Iran

New thelodont scales from the type section of the Khush-Yeilagh Formation, between Shahrud and Shahpasand(Iran), are described. They are provisionally referred to as Skamolepis sp. and Turinia cf. hutkensis. Together with T. hutkensis from South-East Iran and some undescribed scales from the Givetian of Australia, these specimens are some of the youngest thelodont scales known to date, since they are of Lower Eifelian age.     

蒙古南戈壁泥盆纪(埃姆斯期-艾菲尔期)牙形刺

在蒙古南戈壁地区丘隆组(Chuluun Formation)和查干卡勒噶组(Tsagaankhaalga Formation)发现的牙形刺证明丘隆组的时代为晚埃姆斯期,查干卡勒噶组的时代为早艾菲尔期,与以前大化石所确定的时代一致。但艾菲尔阶的底界暂时还无法准确确定,蒙古南戈壁地区艾菲尔阶牙形刺动物群与同期北美的牙形刺动物群相似．但也包含一些地方性分子,蒙古海相艾菲尔期的沉积可能不完整。本文描述了2个命名新种．Caudicriodus delicatus sp. nov. , C. paraculicellus sp. nov. ,一个未命名新种,Caudicriodus sp. nov. A和一个新亚种,Cuadicriodus angustus cauda subsp, nov.。     

Lower Middle Devonian,Eifelian, crinoids from central Guangxi,South China

The extensive Devonian marine deposits of South China have yielded few articulated crinoid cups or theca. Two Eifelian specimens, from the Gupa Member, are the first ones reported from the Yingtang Formation, Eifelian, from the Ma’anshan section, Guangxi, South China. The new taxon Guangxicrinus xiangzhouensis n. gen. n. sp. is the first report of a marsupiocrinid in China, extending the paleogeographic range of the family into the Paleotethys and the stratigraphic range of the family upward from the upper Silurian into the lower Middle Devonian, Eifelian. The occurrence of Halocrinites sp. is the third occurrence of a cupressocrinitid in China and extends the paleogeographic range from Yunnan to Guangxi.     

Agelacrinitid Edrioasteroidea (Echinodermata) from the Middle Devonian of the Eifel (Rhenish Massif, Germany)

The few isolated reports of agelacrinitid edrioasteroids (“Timeischytes”) from the Middle Devonian of the Eifel (Rhenish Massif, Germany) are revised. In this context, a specimen-rich but low-diversity edrioasteroid association is described from the threshold of the Eisen and Latistriatus Members of the Junkerberg Formation (Eifelian, Middle Devonian) of the Blankenheim Syncline. Predominantly, the autochthonously preserved edrioasteroids settled fixosessile-epibenthically on the frequent-occurring orthid brachiopod Schizophoria schnuri blankenheimensis and represent a wide spectrum of ontogenetic growth stages. They are associated with epibenthic brachiopods, microconchids, bryozoans, and auloporids—exemplifying synecological interactions. Roundish, shallow concavities with the shape and size of preserved adjacent edrioasteroids within encrusting colonies of the bryozoan Eostenopora clivosa are of special interest. It is suggested that the depressions represent former positions of the adjacent edrioasteroids. The new Bellastrella eifeliana n. gen. n. sp. is described, and genus Krama Bell, 1976 is reported from the Middle Devonian of Germany for the first time.     

从底栖生物化石再释贵州独山泥盆系龙洞水段的时代

贵州独山的猴儿山组龙洞水段是一套浅海相碳酸盐沉积,盛产底栖牛物化石.通过对该段地层中所含四射珊瑚、床板珊瑚和腕足类等化石属种的详尽分析,再次证实龙洞水段的地质时代仍应属中泥盆世早期(Eifelian).而不是像某些根据痕迹化石或层序地层学的研究那样将它置于下泥盆统.     

New radiolarians from the Devonian of the southern Ural Mountains: 1. Early-Middle Devonian (Late Emsian-Early Eifelian)

Late Emsian-Early Eifelian radiolarians from the southern Ural Mountains are recorded and described for the first time. They come from the Kamennaya Gora section on the Tanalyk River near the town of Buribay, Bashkiria. The new Late Emsian-Early Eifelian radiolarian assemblage consists of 20 species of 11 genera of spherical, discoidal, spindle-shaped, pylomate, and spiny radiolarians. Four new species, i.e., Entactinia rostriformis sp. nov., Palaeodiscaleksus tumefactus sp. nov., Primaritripus buribayensis sp. nov., and P. chuvashovi sp. nov., are described. The diagnosis of the genus Primaritripus Afanasieva, 2000 is amended. The fact that the oryctocenosis is dominated by discoidal radiolarians suggests that, in the Late Emsian-Early Eifelian, the area under study was occupied by a relatively shallow marine basin. Based on radiolarians, a new Upper Emsian-Lower Eifelian biostraton, beds with Primaritripus buribayensis-Entactinia rostriformis, is established. The history of the study of Early Devonian radiolarians is considered.     

The discovery of Eifelian ammonoids in the Central Kyzylkum Desert (Aristantau Mountains,Uzbekistan)

Eifelian ammonoids are described for the first time from the Central Kyzylkum Desert (Uzbekistan, Navoiy Region, Aristantau Mountains). The ammonoid assemblage includes the typical Eifelian genera Fidelites, Subanarcestes (a new species S. aristanensis Nikolaeva sp. nov. is described), and Cabrieroceras, found in association with brachiopods, conodonts, and dacryoconarids. The ammonoid assemblage is similar to that from the Chote? beds of Barrandien and their equivalents in the Urals, Salair, Germany, and Morocco (Subanarcestes macrocephalus Zone), suggesting a connection between the Eifelian Kyzylkum Basin, which was part of the Turkestan Paleoocean, and European, North African, Siberian, and Uralian basins. The ammonoids studied are not associated with black shale and apparently existed in normal marine environments.     

Eine neueOtarion-Art (Trilobita, Arthropoda) aus dem Greifensteiner Kalk (unteres Mittel-Devon, Unter-Eifelium) von Greifenstein bei Herborn (Hessen, Deutschland)

en|This paper deals with a new species ofOtarion [Otarion (Otarionella) greifensteinen.se n. sp.] from the ‘Greifenstein Limestone’ of the ‘Wiege’ near Greifenstein, close to the village Greifenstein near Herborn (Lahn-Dill area, Hesse, Germany), which is described, figured and compared with all known species of this subgenus. It is a typical trilobite of the hercynian-bohemian shallow marine facies near the Lower-/Middle Devonian boundary (Upper Emsian / Lower Eifelian), which extends up into the lower part of the Middle Devonian (Lower Eifelian). The trilobites are transported for short distances only and, thus, are parautochthonous elements of the Greifenstein Facies.     

New finds of vertebrates in the Middle Devonian Brandenberg Group (Sauerland, Northwest Germany)

The arthrodires of the Eifelian Brandenberg Group of Hagen-Ambrock and Lasbeck (Northwest Germany) are described. A new tuberculated holonematid arthrodire (Holonema bruehni n. sp.) is represented by plates of the trunk shield and some plates of the head region. The tuberculation is here regarded as the plesiomorphic character of the Holonematidae compared to an ornamentation of ridges in advanced genera. This agrees with the stratigraphical occurrence of the new form. Additionally, several other plates belonging to at least three different taxa of coccosteid arthrodires have been found. Despite the absence of complete skeletons, the placoderm fauna is more diverse than the fauna of the classical Scottish Eifelian localities.     

Cyrtinoides Yudina and Rzhonsnitskaya, 1985, an aberrant Middle Devonian ambocoeliid brachiopod genus from China

Here we redescribe and reillustrate specimens of an ambocoeliid brachiopod previously described as Echinocoelia guangsiensis Sun, 1992 from the late Eifelian–earliest Givetian Mingtang Formation of the Liujing section in Guangxi Autonomous Region. The internal structure of the species, and especially the presence of a spondylium with tichorhinum in the ventral valve indicates that the species represents the aberrant genus Cyrtinoides Yudina and Rzhonsnitskaya, 1985. It seems probable that the anterior part of the tichorhinum in Cyrtinoides accommodated the diductor attachments. Geographic distribution of Cyrtinoides is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere and shows a disjunct pattern. This genus has not hitherto been identified from China.     

New radiolarians from the Devonian of the southern Ural Mountains: 2. Middle-Late Devonian

Middle-Late Devonian Radiolarians are recorded for the first time in the southern Ural Mountains in Bashkortostan, in a section of Kariukmas Mountain (Upper Eifelian) and on the southern slope of Argagan Mountain (Middle Frasnian). The new Late Eifelian assemblage is composed of 17 species of 11 genera, and Middle Frasnian radiolarians comprise 13 species of 7 genera of spherical, discoidal, pylomate, and spiny radiolarians. A new species, Primaritripus kariukmasensis, sp. nov., is described. The prevalence of discoidal forms in the oryctocenosis suggests shallow marine conditions in the Late Eifelian and Middle Frasnian basins. Two new biostratons, the Upper Eifelian beds with Primaritripus kariukmasensis and Middle Frasnian beds with Primaritripus chuvashovi, are established based on radiolarians.     

Ostracodes du Dévonien moyen et supérieur du Tafilalt (Maroc)

Forty-four ostracod species are recognised from the upper part of the Eifelian to the base of the Famennian of the Djebel Mech Irdane, Bou Tchrafine and El Atrous sections, in the Tafilalt. The majority are in open nomenclature, and one is new: Tubulibairdia tafilaltensis nov. sp. Ostracods belong principally to the Eifelian Mega-Assemblage and they are generally indicative of poorly oxygenated relatively deep marine environments below storm wave base. However, in the base of the Famennian of the Bou Tchrafine section, ostracods belong to the Myodocopid Mega-Assemblage indicative of strong hypoxic water conditions. They confirm that the hypoxic water conditions linked to the “Upper Kellwasser Horizon”, subsisted in North Africa, in the extreme base of the Famennian. Twenty-four ostracod species are recognized in the Djebel Mech Irdane Eifelian/Givetian stratotype, where the most important change in the ostracod fauna is related to the 40 cm-thick level of grey silty-marl located 10 cm below the boundary. However, this change is not indicative of an extinction event at this level. Three zones established on ostracods are recognized in the Frasnian and in the base of the Famennian of the Tafilalt.     

Integrated Middle Devonian chitinozoan and miospore zonation of the Amazonas Basin, northern Brazil

Middle Devonian chitinozoans were studied from 13 deep wells in the central part of the Amazonas Basin, northern Brazil, and compared with a newly established regional miospore zonation. Of the 23 chitinozoan species encountered, four are newly described: Ancyrochitina multibrachiata, Lagenochitina praeavelinoi, Ramochitina autasmirimense, and Ramochitina herculesi and seven species are retained in open nomenclature because of an insufficient number of well-preserved specimens. The stratigraphic intervals investigated herein correspond to three miospore interval range zones previously defined for the Amazonas Basin, namely, the Grandispora/Samarisporites spp. (GS); late Emsian-early Eifelian, Grandispora permulta (Per); late early Eifelian through the Eifelian-Givetian transition, and Geminospora lemurata-Chelinospora ex. gr. ligurata (LLi); early Givetian. A regional Middle Devonian chitinozoan biozonation, also consisting of three zones, is proposed for the investigated interval. These zones are the interval zone of Angochitina n. sp. A (early Eifelian), the interval zone of Alpenachitina eisenacki (late early to late Eifelian), and the total range zone of Ramochitina stiphrospinata (early Givetian).     

Crustaceen-Koprolithen aus der Trias der westlichen Tethys (Lienzer Dolomiten, Österreich; Pragser Dolomiten,Italien) und vom Gondwana-Westrand (oberes Magdalenatal,Kolumbien, Südamerika)

We describe Triassic Crustacean microcoprolites from the western Tethyan realm (Lienz Dolomites, Southern Alps) and from the western shores of Gondwana (upper Magdalena valley, Colombia, South America). The Colombian fauna originates from the Norian Payandé Formation and represents the first discovery of microfossils in this formation. The Colombian fauna is highly diverse and shows close affinities to faunas of the western Tethyan and Mediterranean region but also to North American faunas. The form speciesPalaxius colombiensis andPalaxius groesseri are new, and forPalaxitts shastaensis the genusPayandea n. gen. is erected.Thoronetia quinaria is revised. It is shown, that crustacean microcoprolites are a good tool for supra-regional stratigraphic correlation. Possible migration paths are discussed.     

Eine Ammoniten-Fauna aus der Badamu-Formation (Unterbajocium,sauzei- Zone) westlich von Kerman (Zentraliran)

A fauna of small-sized ammonites is described from the Upper Badamu Formation west of Kerman, including 15 species. Following species are new: “Pelekodites”kermanensis n. sp., “Pelekodites”nodosus n. sp.,Lissoceras (Microlissoceras) badamui n. sp.,Etropolia sapunovi n. sp. The fauna is closely related to the west and northwest European realm. It corresponds to thesauzei zone. Kurzfassung: Aus der oberen Badamu-Formation wird eine insgesamt kleinwüchsige Ammoniten-Fauna mit 15 Arten beschrieben, darunter die neuen Arten: »Pelekodites«kermanensis n. sp., »Pelekodites«nodosus n. sp.,Lissoceras (Microlissoceras) badamui n. sp.,Etropolia sapunovi n. sp. Die Fauna hat eindeutig einen west- bis nordwesteuropäischen Charakter und gehört dersauzei- Zone an.     

Taxonomy of the fossil grylloblattid nymphs (Insecta: Grylloblattida)

Nymphs of fossil grylloblattid insects are revised. Newly described taxa are Lemmatonympha gracilissima gen. et sp. nov. and Kaltanympha vorcutensis sp. nov. from the Verkhne-Syr’yaginsk locality (Ufimian, Lek-Vorkuta Formation in the Vorkuta Coal Basin), genera Sylvalitoralis gen. nov. and Tshebardanympha gen. nov. from the Tshekarda locality (Kungurian, Koshelevka Formation, Middle Urals), Tataronymphakamensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Tikhie Gory locality (Lower Kazanian, linguloid beds of the Baitugan Formation, Tatarstan), and Kaltanympha ornata sp. nov. from the Kerbo locality (Upper Tatarian, lower part of the Degali Formation, Evenki Autonomous Region). Liomopterites (?) gracilis Sharov, 1961 from Lower Kazanian deposits of the Kuznetsk Formation in the Kuznetsk Basin is transferred to the genus Kaltanympha Sharov, 1961; Permonympha arcuata Sharov, 1957 from the same locality is synonymized under Permonympha gracile Sharov, 1957; the nymph described from the Karatau locality (Upper Jurassic, Karabastau Formation in southern Kazakhstan) as Blattogryllus karatavicus Rasnitsyn, 1976 is excluded from grylloblattids. Keys to extinct grylloblattid nymphs are provided.     

Morphology and distribution ofKerpina Struve (Devonian Atrypida)

The anomalous atrypid brachiopod genusKerpina Struve (family AtrypidaeGill) is restricted in distribution to Eifelian (Middle Devonian) rocks of the Eifel region, Germany, and is found associated with, or attached to, the platy tabulate coralAlveolites. Both coral and brachiopod appear to be characteristics of a currentagitated shallow water environment. The marked variation in shell shape and beak incurvature, as well as the unique internal morphology of the type speciesKerpina vineta Struve are described for the first time.