Bollettino SPI Vol. 61 (3)
Published in December 2022
Index
- Di Martino E., Rosso A. & Mandic O. (2022)
Systematic revision and scanning electron microscopic study of some critical cheilostome bryozoan species of Arthur Waters from the Pleistocene of Brucoli (Siracusa, Sicily)
pp. 249-268
doi:10.4435/BSPI.2022.06
In 1878, Arthur Waters described a bryozoan fauna from a Pleistocene (Calabrian) outcrop, at that time considered as Pliocene, located near the town of Brucoli in southeast Sicily (Italy). Waters’ work on bryozoans was based on the material collected four years earlier by Theodor Fuchs, curator of the Imperial-Royal Mineralogical Court-Cabinet in Vienna, now the Natural History Museum, and currently housed in the palaeontological collection of the same museum. Since its first description, Waters’ material has never been revised and his new species never recorded again. Here, we employ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study Waters’ new species that are still valid today, and some other critical taxa present in the same collection. Based on this revision, Eschara lunaris Waters, 1878 is synonymized with Microporella verrucosa (Peach, 1868), and Lepralia auriculata var. leontiniensis Waters, 1878 is confirmed to be a valid species, i.e., Stephanotheca leontiniensis (Waters, 1878) comb. nov. We also highlight that Biflustra rhynchota Waters, 1878 fits better in the genus Amphiblestrum, showing a close affinity with A. lyrulatum (Calvet, 1907). Additional specimens in Waters’ collection identified as Onychocella angulosa (Reuss, 1847) were compared with Reuss’ Miocene syntypes to confirm their identification and the distinction of this species from the Recent Onychocella marioni (Jullien, 1882). Lastly, a specimen identified by Waters as Busk’s Microporella morrisiana (Busk, 1859) from the Pliocene Coralline Crag is now regarded as M. appendiculata Heller, 1867, a common Pliocene-to-Recent Mediterranean species, after comparison with a topotypic colony of the former species.
- Gutiérrez-Marco J.C. & Malinky J.M. (2022)
First orthothecid hyolith from the Ordovician of the Iberian Massif, Spain
pp. 269-277
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2022.16
The record of Middle Ordovician (Oretanian, ca. Darriwilian 2) hyoliths from the Iberian Massif (Spain and Portugal) is increased with the recognition of the orthothecid hyolith Bactrotheca teres (Barrande, 1867), originally described from coeval strata in the Barrandian region of central Europe, and first recorded here outside Bohemia. Orthothecid hyoliths are more common than earlier realized in the Ordovician of the “Mediterranean Province” (Bohemia, Morocco, Montagne Noire) but remained unrecognized in the Ibero-Armorican area of southwestern Europe until now. The discovery in Spain of specimens of Bactrotheca in the same layer as the tergomyan mollusk Pygmaeoconus lends support to the notion that this organism not only lived with but also could have lived on Bactrotheca as an epibiont, as this relationship has been earlier observed with a specimen from the Barrandian of Bohemia. The Spanish and Bohemian occurrences suggest that the ecological preferences for Pygmaeoconus have expanded because until now the majority of known hosts for this mollusk are hyolithids rather than orthothecids.
- Hoşgör I. & Pacaud J.-M. (2022)
New pareorine gastropod species from the Danian (Paleocene) of the Haymana-Polatlı Basin, Central Turkey
pp. 279-287
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2022.05
Lower Paleocene gastropod macrofaunas of Turkey (Anatolia) are seldom collected and studied due to their poor preservation. Two new pareorine gastropod species are described from the Çaldağ Formation of the Haymana-Polatlı Basin in Central Turkey. Sigmesalia erifensis n. sp. and Sigmesalia anatole n. sp. were found in foraminiferal wacke-to-packstones associated with algal limestones in the Erif section. The analysis of benthic foraminifers and dasycladaceans suggests that the Çaldağ Formation was deposited in tropical conditions, probably within the photic zone. These newly identified pareorine species record the first abundant macrofossil gastropod assemblage found in the Danian sediments of the Erif section.
- Zoboli D. & Messina M.Y. (2022)
The Mesozoic vertebrate fossil record of Sardinia (Italy): state of the art and new data
pp. 289-296
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2022.17
As highlighted by literature data, the Mesozoic vertebrate fossil record of Sardinia is very poor. Two ichnotaxa (Rotodactylus isp. and Rhynchosauroides isp.) referred to the continental vertebrates have been reported in the Triassic (“Buntsandstein”) of the Nurra sub-region (north-western Sardinia). In the “Muschelkalk” of the same area, remains of an actinopterygian fish (Colobodus sp.) and seven conodont taxa (Budurovignathus japonicus, B. hungaricus, B. trümpyi, Neogondolella constricta, N. longa, “Algherella riegeli”, and “A. uniformis”) have also been recorded. Teeth of a hybodont shark and a marine reptile, probably an Ophthalmosauridae, are documented in the Middle Jurassic of the Ogliastra sub-region (central-eastern Sardinia). We present herein two chondrichthyans teeth belonging to an indeterminate Hybodontoidea and an indeterminate member of the Hexanchoidei. The specimens come from two different localities of north-eastern Sardinia referable to the Bathonian and Oxfordian-Valanginian, respectively. The new data expand the Mesozoic fossil record of the Island and could be a starting point for future research.
- Bonilla-Salomón I., Čermák S., Luján À.H., Jovells-Vaqué S., Ivanov M. & Sabol M. (2022)
When different is the same: a case study of two small-mammal bearing fissures from the Early Miocene of Mokrá-Quarry sites (South Moravia, Czech Republic)
pp. 297-318
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2022.18
Fossil rodents belonging to Cricetidae, Eomyidae, Platacanthomyidae, and Gliridae from the karstic fissures MWQ 2/2003 and MCQ 3/2005 from Mokrá-Quarry (South Moravia, Czech Republic) are described in this work. These fissures have yielded remains of three cricetid genera (Megacricetodon, Democricetodon, and Eumyarion) which denote a high cricetid biodiversity, and together with the finding of Ligerimys florancei indicate an earliest Karpatian age (Burdigalian, MN4). Moreover, the rare Platacanthomyidae species Neocometes similis, together with four different genera of dormice (Myoglis, Glirudinus, Bransatoglis, and Peridyromys) are present as well. The small mammal assemblages from the two fissures presented here, although coeval in age, are much more diverse than the previously studied MWQ 1/2001. Our results confirm that the faunal assemblages recovered from all Mokrá-Quarry fissures resemble those from other Czech localities, such as Dolnice sites and Ořechov. The inferred paleoecological conditions concur with previous studies focused on the herpetofauna and small mammals from MWQ 1/2001, showing a dry karst plateau with marshy areas together with open steppe and patches of dense woodland. The wide range of species found in Mokrá-Quarry fissures would confirm a rich and diverse environment during the early Karpatian. Therefore, Mokrá-Quarry constitutes one of the most relevant localities of the Burdigalian (Early Miocene) in Central Europe.
- Solounias N., Smith S. & Rios Ibàñez M. (2022)
Ua pilbeami: a new taxon of Giraffidae (Mammalia) from the Chinji Formation of Pakistan with phylogenetic proximity to Okapia
pp. 319-326
doi: 10.4435/BSPI.2022.19
Ua pilbeami is a new genus and species of Giraffidae that was discovered in the Chinji Formation of Pakistan. It is most similar to Okapia and Afrikanokeryx of the Okapiinae (Bohlin, 1926). Ua and Okapia share ossicones with an exposed apex and constriction, a large anterior frontal sinus, and a para-style on the upper pre-molars that is deeply separate from the meso-styles. The lower premolar anterior stylids and posterolingual conids are also deeply separated. The metapodials resemble those of Giraffokeryx and Giraffa. Comparisons to other subfamilies of Giraffidae show the uniqueness of Ua n. gen. The discovery encourages the notion that Okapiinae may have originated in the Indian Subcontinent.
- RASSEGNA DELL’ATTIVITA’ SOCIALE
Adunanza dell’Assemblea dei Soci della Società Paleontologica Italiana – 10 Giugno 2022
pp. 327-329