Bollettino SPI Vol. 60 (2)

Published in September 2021

Index

  • Pieroni V. & Prinoth H. (2021)

Mojsvaroceras gianii n. sp. and related coiled nautiloids from the Middle Triassic of Lombardy (Northern Italy)
pp. 99-110
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.11

Abstract

The nautiloid genus Mojsvaroceras Hyatt, 1883, is rare and poorly known among the Middle Triassic nautiloids in the Tethyan region. Strikingly, we discovered the novel species Mojsvaroceras gianii n. sp. at Rasa di Varese village in the Rasa dolostone outcrop from the uppermost Anisian, upper Reitzi Zone and Secedensis Zone. Furthermore, we found the species Mojsvaroceras zaki Parnes, 1986 and Mojsvaroceras kummeli Parnes, 1986 in the Esino Limestone of Parina Valley. These two species were previously known only from the Sephardic Province. Here we describe the many shared characteristics of these three species and hypothesise that they may originate from a single stem together with Mojsvaroceras haasi also from the Sephardic Province. The implications for the palaeogeographical occurrences of these forms are also discussed.

  • Jaselli L. (2021)

Reappraisal of the Lower Jurassic crinoid fauna of Lombardy (Italy): insights on regional museum collections
pp. 111-124
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.09

Abstract

Several Lower Jurassic outcrops in the subalpine foothills of Lombardy (northern Italy) provided a rich crinoid (isocrinid and millericrinid) fauna, described in literature since the middle of the 19th century. Most of these specimens were collected and then housed in regional palaeontological collections such as the “Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali E. Caffi” of Bergamo; the “Museo di Storia Naturale” of the Università di Pavia and the “Museo di Storia Naturale Antonio Stoppani” of Venegono Inferiore, Varese. This paper provides a new and more complete report of the crinoid findings in the Lower Jurassic of Lombardy, considering the specimens currently deposited in these Institutions. Furthermore, it provides description and illustration for these forms and reappraises the systematic position of some of the specimens.

Article
  • Schwarzhans W., Bannikov A.F. & Carnevale G. (2021)

A reappraisal of Palaeomolva tarchanica Daniltshenko, 1947 (Gadiformes, Lotidae), based on new skeletal material with otoliths in situ from the Miocene of North Caucasus, Russia
pp. 125-133
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.06

Abstract

Otoliths found in situ in fossil fish specimens offer the rare opportunity to relate taxa based on articulated skeletons and isolated otoliths. Here, we describe for the first time otoliths found in situ in two moderately well-preserved articulated skeletons belonging to the extinct lotine fish genus Palaeomolva, and, more particularly, to the species P. tarchanica Daniltshenko, 1947 recently discovered from the middle Miocene (Tarkhanian) of the NW Caucasus in Russia. The otolith-based species Brosme heinrichi Gaemers, 1976 known from a single large specimen from the middle Miocene of the North Sea Basin is now referred as a junior synonym of Palaeomolva tarchanica. The affinities of the known species of Palaeomolva are also briefly discussed.

  • Marramà G., Giusberti L., Papazzoni C.A. & Carnevale G. (2021)

An Eocene soldierfish (Teleostei: Holocentridae) from Monte Baldo (NE Italy)
pp. 135-147
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.12

Abstract

An Eocene holocentrid fish is described herein from the southern sector of Monte Baldo, NE Italy. Although the fossil lacks the posterior portion of the body and the dense scale covering prevents the observation of the postcranial skeleton, it shows a set of morphological characters (e.g., transverse crest on the dorsal surface of supraoccipital; skull roof ornamented by ridges and channels; frontals extending posteriorly over the parietals and supraoccipital; eyes large; opercle with weakly serrated posterior margin; maxilla expanded posteriorly; two supramaxillae) that support its assignment to the family Holocentridae. Moreover, the premaxilla with an ascending process shorter than the alveolar one, the quadrate-mandibular joint located behind the posterior margin of the orbit, and the absence of a prominent preopercular spine concur to suggest a possible attribution to the subfamily Myripristinae. The family Holocentridae is represented today by squirrelfishes and soldierfishes that inhabit warm shallow waters on coral reefs and rocky bottoms up to 200 m of depth. This new specimen represents one of the few fossils of this family recovered in the Eocene deposits of the western Tethys, providing support to the hypothesis that the evolutionary origin of holocentrid fishes took place in the warm and shallow paleobiotopes of this region.

  • Bona F. (2021)

New Late Pleistocene leopard fossils from Equi (Massa, Italy) rediscovered in the Manodori Collection, Musei Civici Reggio Emilia, Italy
pp. 149-155
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.08

Abstract

Seven leopard fossil bones from the important site of Equi (Massa, Italy), stored in the Musei Civici Reggio Emilia (Guido Manodori Galliani Collection), have been studied. These leopard fossils provide new and important data on this elusive and rare felid. The described specimens could represent at least two individuals, one female and one male. This note represents an important enhancement of our knowledge of Late Pleistocene European leopards, especially considering their scarcity in the fossil record.

  • Amalfitano J. (2021)

Reappraisal of the record of the genus Paraisurus (Chondrichthyes; Lamniformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of northern Italy
pp. 157-167
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.07

Abstract

Isolated and associated teeth of the poorly known lamniform shark Paraisurus macrorhizus are described from the Lower Cretaceous of northern Italy. These fossils, coming from a quarry located in the surroundings of the city of Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige, northeastern Italy), were preliminarily reported in 1927 by D’Erasmo with a problematic age attribution. Based on calcareous nannofossil analyses of the embedding matrix, the fossils are herein assigned to the Albian. The fossil record of Paraisurus is briefly reviewed, and a comparative morphometric analysis is carried out. The PCA analysis on a small data set highlights the existence of two distinct morphotypes that correspond to the two species Paraisurus macrorhizus and P. compressus. This analysis also suggests that P. amudarjensis should be regarded as a junior synonym of P. compressus. Specialised dental features of the genus Paraisurus are also discussed.

  • Cusumano A., D’Arpa C. & Duffin C.J. (2021)

Taxonomic revision of the shark Sphenodus in the Jurassic collections of the “Museo Geologico G.G. Gemmellaro” (Palermo, Sicily)
pp. 169-181
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2021.10

Abstract

As part of the cataloguing and systematic revision of some historical collections containing Mesozoic ammonites, housed at the “Museo Geologico G.G. Gemmellaro” of the University of Palermo, one specimen, indicated as Lamna in the original catalogue, is newly attributed to the genus Sphenodus, an extinct neoselachian shark genus ranging from the Early Jurassic to the Palaeocene. The discovery of this tooth provided an opportunity to verify the attribution to the genus Sphenodus collected from different localities in Sicily between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Specimens described and illustrated by G.G. Gemmellaro in 1871 are here revised to improve our knowledge of the record of this genus in the Sicilian Mesozoic successions. Sphenodus tithonius and S. virgai are retained as valid species. The specimen attributed by Di Stefano in 1888 to Sphenodus gigas is instead left in open nomenclature due to the poor state of conservation. Finally, a bibliographic study has been carried out to determine the validity of the types erected by De Gregorio, Giuseppe and Luigi Seguenza.