Early complex tiering pattern: Upper Ordovician, Barrandian area, the Czech Republic

Upper Ordovician shallow marine fine-grained sandstones and siltstones exposed in the Loděnice – vinice locality yielded a distinct and well-preserved tiering pattern of trace fossils. The two uppermost tiers are composed mainly of Bifungites and Nereites. Deeper in the sediment, tiers dominated by Thalassinoides, Zoophycos and Teichichnus occur. Most of the succession is completely bioturbated; however, several storm layers enabled study of a well-preserved frozen tiering pattern. Large portions of the bedding planes (ichnologic snapshots) showed a considerable patchiness of intensive surface bioturbation and a preferred orientation of Bifungites. The identified tiering pattern is one of the earliest examples of a well-documented complex tiering of burrows documented in detail.

Angiosperm diversification in the Early Cretaceous of Primorye, Far East of Russia

The Partizansk and Razdolnaya coal basins of Primorye, Far East of Russia, contain diverse early angiosperm fossils (pollen, leaves, and fruits). In this paper, we revise the previous data on early angiosperms of this region and summarize the results of our latest research. Age of the plant-bearing deposits was clarified using isotopic U-Th-Pb LA-ICP-MS and U-Pb ID-TIMS methods. Age of the upper part of the Lipovtsy Formation is 118 ± 1.4 Ma, which corresponds to the late Aptian. The early Albian age (109 ± 1 Ma) is assigned to the upper part of the Frentsevka Formation. The diversification of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous of Primorye region and their systematic affinity are analyzed. Early representatives of Laurales, Ranunculales, Platanaceae, and probable Cercidiphyllaceae are revealed. New combination Pandanites ahnertii (Krysht.) Golovn., comb. nov. is created, and new species Araliaephyllum vittenburgii Golovn. et Volynets, sp. nov. is described. Reconstructions of herbaceous angiosperms from autochthonous locality Bolshoy Kuvshin are proposed.

A new specimen of Araucaria fricii from the early Coniacian of the Bohemian Massif, Central Europe

A specimen of Araucaria fricii is described from the upper part of the Teplice Formation in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. It extends the first occurrence of A. fricii from the mid-Coniacian back to the early Coniacian. Found in the Radovesice locality near Kučlín in the northern part of the Czech Republic, it is characterised by a deltoid cone scale complex with a centrally placed seed. It is compared to the type material of A. fricii from the mid-Coniacian Březno Formation and other European Cretaceous species of Araucaria. The taphonomy and palaeoecology of A. fricii is briefly discussed.

Actinopterygians of the Broumov Formation (Permian) in the Czech part of the Intra-Sudetic Basin (the Czech Republic)

Actinopterygians from the Permian sediments of the Czech part of Intra-Sudetic Basin, occurring in the Ruprechtice and Otovice Limestone horizons (Broumov Formation), are revised and redescribed based on both old material and newly discovered specimens. A new diagnosis and reconstruction of Paramblypterus vratislaviensis (Agassiz, 1833), the most numerous actinopterygian of the Ruprechtice Limestone Horizon, and the rare Paramblypterus zeidleri (Fritsch, 1895) are published. First actinopterygians from the Otovice Limestone Horizon were described. Most of the specimens from the Otovice Limestone are referred here to Paramblypterus cf. rohani and Paramblypterus sp. Representatives of Aeduellidae have also recently been discovered in the Otovice Limestone. Osteological fragments belonging to a new taxon exhibit the diagnostic features of the genera Aeduella and Bourbonnela. The reasons for the significantly different faunistic content in the stratigraphically close Ruprechtice Limestone Horizon and Otovice Limestone Horizon are discussed.

The ultrastructure of the tooth enamel of small Equus of the “tarpan” group and their possible phylogenetic connections

The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the ultrastructure of tooth enamel (incisors, premolars and molars) in representatives of morphologically (and possibly phylogenetically) similar forms of small horses. These are both extinct forms of tarpan – Equus gmelini from various sites of the early Holocene of Ukraine (Myrne, Kamiana Mohyla and Hirzhevo) and modern forms – konik polski and E. przewalskii, and European wild ass – E. hydruntinus. Morphology of prisms in different layers of tooth enamel and its relative relationships in various taxa were thoroughly described. The data obtained in the form of tables and graphs, with the appropriate statistical processing thereof, show the morphological similarity of tarpan remains from different sites, and their similarity to the konik polski and Przewalski’s horse. However, the European wild ass differs significantly from the other groups studied. In equines, the radial enamel varieties (types І, ІІ and ІІІ) have evolutionary tendencies to strengthen the first and second types of hydroxyapatite prisms, while reducing the share of the IPM matrix in the enamel structure. In turn, the enamel of the incisors is characterized by lamellar enamel of the HSB uniserial type.

Naming of parts: the use of fossil-taxa in palaeobotany

Fossil plants are extinct plants whose remains (referred to as plant fossils) are found preserved in sedimentary deposits. Plant fossils are classified using fossil-taxa as defined in the International Code of Nomenclature. Fossil-taxa differ conceptually from taxa of living plants in that they often do not refer to whole organisms, but to the remains of one or more parts of the parent organism, in one or more preservational states. There can be complications when two parts of a plant are shown to be connected, or when two preservational states are correlated, and to avoid disrupting the wider palaeobotanical taxonomy it is often best to keep the fossil-taxa separate. Extinct fossil plants reconstructed by piecing together the plant fossils are best not given formal Linnean taxonomic names. There can also be problems using living plant taxa for fossils, even when there is a close morphological similarity of particular plant parts. Fossil-taxa for different plant parts can reflect different taxonomic ranks of the parent plants so care must be taken when using such taxa in floristic or phylogenetic studies. Because of taphonomic factors, a number of “artificial” fossil-taxa have proved useful, despite that they do not fully reflect the systematic positions of the parent plants.

The occurrence of pollen of Sciadopityaceae Luerss. through time

Here we present LM and SEM data of pollen of extant Sciadopitys verticillata, fossil Cerebropollenites from Aptian/Albian strata (Austria, Mongolia) and Sciadopityspollenites from Campanian/Maastrichtian and Oligocene/Miocene strata (Siberia, Germany). Measurements and image comparisons show that the investigated fossil pollen taxa range from somewhat comparable to very similar to extant Sciadopitys verticillata, and that a previous affiliation of Cerebropollenites taxa with Tsuga cannot be corroborated. Additionally, it can be speculated that either the Rhaetian to Lower Cretaceous Cerebropollenites taxa are the pollen equivalent of the Eurasian Miroviaceae macrofossils that have unresolved relationships with Sciadopityaceae, or that they might belong to a basal group in the Sciadopityaceae, which is quite recognizable due to the similarity of the pollen morphology of Cerebropollenites thiergartii and Sciadopitys verticillata. However, until in situ pollen within cones attributed to the Miroviaceae are found, we will not know for sure.

New suoid fossils (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Miocene of Moghara, Egypt, and Gebel Zelten, Libya: biochronological implications

Some undescribed suoid specimens from early and middle Miocene deposits at Moghara, Egypt, and Gebel Zelten, Libya, are of interest for biochronology. The fossils comprise maxillae and mandibles with incomplete dentitions, which are described and illustrated in detail. Three species of suids and one sanithere occur at Moghara. A huge edentulous suid mandible was collected at Gebel Zelten in 1997 during the Spanish-Libyan Palaeontology Expedition. In January, 2020, additional sanithere fossils were collected from Moghara by a team from Cairo University and the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. A suid mandible with four teeth collected from Moghara in 1994, and now curated at the Cairo Geological Museum, confirms the presence of the species Libycochoerus massai at the site, previously represented by an isolated upper molar and two canines. A talus previously thought to be from Moghara is now known to have been collected at Wadi Natrun (late Miocene) and thus probably represents a tetraconodont rather than a kubanochoere. The age of the Moghara deposits is estimated to span the period ca. 19.5–16.5 Ma (late early Miocene, Faunal Sets PII–PIIIa) and the Zelten sequence is most likely to span the period ca. 17–14.5 Ma (late early Miocene to basal middle Miocene, Faunal Sets PIIIa–PIIIb).

New actinopterygians from the Permian of the Brive Basin, and the ichthyofaunas of the French Massif Central

A new actinopterygian fauna from the Permian of the Brive Basin (Corrèze, Massif Central, France) is described in detail. It is represented by a new pygopterid taxon, Briveichthys chantepieorum gen. et sp. nov., erected and described here on the basis of several well-preserved specimens showing peculiar characters in the bones of the skull roof, parasphenoid, bones of the cheek and opercular apparatus. Other specimens from this new fauna are also described; they are referred to Progyrolepis heyleri Poplin, 1999, also known in the Bourbon-l’Archambault Basin, and Aeduella cf. blainvillei, which is relatively common in the Permian of France. These discoveries show the importance of the Brive Basin which was previously considered as a rather barren basin in term of palaeontology. This new fauna from Brive is compared with the other Permian ichthyofaunas from France: it is less rich in terms of specimen numbers than the faunas of Bourbon-l’Archambault and Autun, but it is more diversified in terms of number of taxa than the faunas of Lodève and L’Argentière (Ardêche). These actinopterygians, together with other aquatic vertebrates (e.g., acanthodians, sharks etc.), were widespread and diversified in the Hercynian Mountain Chain during the Permian. They indicate that the French basins were connected in time and space. The wide distribution of these aquatic taxa may have been favoured by numerous hydric systems (lakes, rivers etc.) which were well developed under the tropical climate.

Early flowers of primuloid Ericales from the Late Cretaceous of Portugal and their ecological and phytogeographic implications

A distinctive feature of the major eudicot diversification that occurred through the Late Cretaceous is the unequivocal presence of Cornales and diverse Ericales. Here we describe well-preserved fossil flowers from the Mira locality in western Portugal, of Campanian-Maastrichtian age, that we assign to a new extinct genus of Ericales with two new species; Miranthus elegans gen. et sp. nov. and Miranthus kvacekii sp. nov. The fossil flowers are pedicellate, structurally bisexual, actinomorphic, pentamerous and isomerous, with five narrowly triangular persistent calyx lobes, a five-lobed corolla, five antepetalous stamens, five staminodes alternating with the petals and a semi-inferior, unilocular ovary. The ovary consists of five carpels and has a raised nectariferous ring with stomata-like openings above the insertion of the perianth, and a long five-angled style. A key feature, which confirms a relationship with Primulaceae s. l., is the free, central dome-shaped placenta that bears numerous, densely spaced ovules. The ovary matures into a capsule containing many, minute, reticulate seeds. Flowers of Miranthus are especially similar to those of extant Samolus, a genus of about twelve species that is sister group to other genera of subfamily Theophrastoideae and that has a disjunct distribution mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. Miranthus also appears to have grown in environments influenced by marine conditions, an ecological preference also seen in Samolus. Miranthus expands the diversity of Ericales known from the Late Cretaceous, and together with previously described fossils provides further evidence that the diversification of Ericales was already underway by the Campanian-Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous.