Vertebrate fossils of the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Mühlenberg Formation in the Bergisches Land, northwestern Germany

Vertebrate fossils of the lower Middle Devonian Mühlenberg Formation from the western Bergisches Land (eastern Rhenish Massif) are described. The placoderms are represented by disarticulated plates of coccosteid arthrodires and the acanthodians by several ischnacanthid jaw bones and aMachaeracanthus finspine. The arthrodires are assigned to a new species; a new genus has to be erected if remains of trunk and head shield remains are conspecific.     

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.     

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.     

Erster Nachweis der GattungAmplexocarinia (Rugosa) im Eifelium der Nord-Eifel (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge)

The rugose coral genusAmplexocarinia Soshkina, 1928 is recorded for the first time from the Freilingen Formation (Upper Eifelian) of the Sotenich syncline (North Eifel, Rheinisches Schiefergebirge). A new species,Amplexocarinia freilingensis, is described, figured and compared toAmplexocarinia sp. from Eifelian/Givetian boundary beds of Moravia (Czechoslovakia) and to similar forms from different Devonian strata. Some remarks concerning the stratigraphy of the Freilingen Formation of the Sotenich syncline are given.     

A pachyosteomorph arthrodire from Gogo, Western Australia

A new monotypic genus of eubrachythoracid arthrodire is described from die Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia as Incisoscutum ritchiei gen. et sp. nov. It is at die pachyosteomorph level of organization, having no contact between the plates of die flank and those of the ventral shield behind the pectoral fin. It is interchangeable widi Coccosteus spp. and a number of earlier described Gogo forms in a sketch dadogram for arthrodires, but its phylogenedc relationships are unknown. Well preserved material of die scapulocoracoid throws new light on die structure of this element in arthrodires, particularly widi respect to variations in die pattern of canals and foramina.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Reanalysis of Heintzichthys gouldii (Newberry), an aspinothoracid arthrodire (Placodermi) from the Famennian of northern Ohio, with a review of brachythoracid systematics

Heintzichthys gouldii is redescribed based on new material from the Interstate 71 Paleontological Salvage Project (Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1966-67). Phylogenetic analysis of brachythoracid arthrodires clearly shows the monophyly of Camuropiscidae and the aspinothoracid arthrodires. Heintzichthys gouldii and Gorgonichthys clarki are removed from Dinichthyidae and placed within aspinothoracid arthrodires. The remaining members in the family Dinichthyidae are united solely by plesiomorphic characters. A number of putative synapomorphies for the eubrachythoracid arthrodires are questioned; however, the validity of this taxon is supported by three synapomorphies.     

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.     

A new species of eastmanosteid arthrodire (Pisces: Placodermi) from Gogo, Western Australia

A new species of Eastmanosteus Obruchev is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia as E. calliaspis sp. nov. It is at the pachyosteomorph level of organization having no contact between the plates of the flank and those of the ventral shield behind the pectoral fin. Well preserved material of the parasphenoid and scapulocoracoid throws further light on the structure of these elements in arthrodires. The genus Eastmanosteus is reviewed.     

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).     

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.     

The deepest vertebrate fossil and other arctolepid fishes*

A new genus and species of arctolepid arthrodire, Qataraspis deprofundis is based on an anterolateral plate recovered from a bore-hole in Qatar, Persian Gulf at a depth of nearly two and a half miles. It is compared with the corresponding plates of all known arctolepid arthrodires, particularly those referred to the undefined genus Kujdanoteiaspis Stensiö. The British species K. anglica is described in detail and referred to a new genus, Heightington-aspis, and a specimen from the Senni Beds of the Black Mountains is described as Ailuracantha dorsifelis gen. et sp. nov.     

Beyrichosteus radiatus n. g., n. sp., ein brachythoraker Arthrodire mit vollständig verknöchertem Endokranium aus dem höheren Mittel-Devon (Givetium) der Eifel

A completely perichondrally ossified endocranium of a generalized reprsentative of the Eubrachythoraci,Beyrichosteus radiatus n. g., n. sp., is described. The specimen shows a typical platybasie skull with widely separated nasal capsules like that of the mainly Early Devonian Dolichothoraci. This is contrary to the spezialized generaTapinosteus andPholidosteus from Wildungen, being previously often regarded as model for the endocranium of coccosteomorph arthrodires. However, characters of the orbit and the nasal capsule are more similar to other Eubrachythoraci than to those of Dolichothoraci and primitive Brachythoraci. Until now, there are not enough other examples of sufficiently preserved endocrania of brachythoracid arthrodires known for a phylogenetic analysis. Nevertheless, the observations made onBeyrichosteus are questioning the assignment of the Pholidosteidae to the Coccosteomorphi.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pelekysgnathus jeppssoni</Emphasis>, a new conodont species from the Eifelian Stage of the Bryansk Region,Russia

Distribution of the Devonian conodont genus Pelekysgnathus is considered. A new species, P. jeppssoni sp. nov. from the Mosolovian Regional Stage (Middle Devonian, Eifelian) of the Voronezh Anteclise is described.     

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.     

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.。     

A second eubrachythoracid arthrodire from Gogo, Western Australia

A new genus of long-snouted, eubrachythoracid arthrodire, Camuropiscis gen. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo formation of Western Australia. It is represented by two species, the type C. concinnus sp. nov. and C. laidlawi sp. nov. These species are interchangeable with Coccosteus spp. in a sketch cladograin for arthrodires; their phylogenetic relationships are not known in any detail. C. concinnus has a well-preserved pelvic girdle and throws new light on the structure of this element in arthrodires.     

New species of syringoporids from Eifelian deposits of the Subpolar Ural Mountains

A high diversity of tabulate corals in Eifelian deposits of the Syv“yu River basin (Subpolar Urals) is reported for the first time. Most of the corals are represented by colonies of syringoporids. Five new species Syringopora parva sp. nov., S. insueta sp. nov., S. indecora sp. nov., Tetraporinus syvjuensis sp. nov., and Armalites serotinus sp. nov. are described.