Articles

First description of the early Devonian ammonoid Mimosphinctes from Gondwana and stratigraphical implications

Mimosphinctes is an ammonoid genus that occurs in many localities that formerly surrounded the Prototethys. In spite of the great exposures and abundance of fossils, unequivocal and well-...

Authors: Christian Klug

The shell and pelvic anatomy of the Late Jurassic turtle Platychelys oberndorferi based on material from Solothurn, Switzerland

Platychelys oberndorferi is a stem pleurodire from the Late Jurassic of Europe. The majority of informative specimens originate from the Late Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian) Turtle Limestone...

Authors: Patrick M. Sullivan and Walter G. Joyce

The age of the Tojeira Formation (Late Jurassic, Early Kimmeridgian), of Montejunto, west-central Portugal

Precise biostratigraphic dating of the Tojeira Formation (Late Jurassic, Early Kimmeridgian) of the Montejunto section of west-central Portugal, which has yielded important planktonic foraminiferal assemblages...

Authors: Holly E. Turner, Felix M. Gradstein, Andy S. Gale and David K. Watkins

Preface: The planktonic foraminifera of the Jurassic

Planktonic foraminifera originated in late Early Jurassic and, for reasons poorly understood, only underwent proliferation of species and geographic spreading from mid-Cretaceous onwards. Their evolutionary de...

Authors: Felix Gradstein, Ludmila Kopaevich and Michael Knappertsbusch

The planktonic foraminifera of the Jurassic. Part III: annotated historical review and references

Over 70 publications on Jurassic planktonic foraminifera, particularly by East and West European and Canadian micropalaeontologists, are summarized and briefly annotated. It provides an annotated historic over...

Authors: Felix M. Gradstein

Book review

Authors: Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra

A plea not to ignore ichnotaxonomy: recognizing and recording Oichnus Bromley

Many palaeontologists and sources of palaeontological data refer to ‘drill holes’ or ‘small round holes’ in shells, produced by invertebrate borers and sources of palaeoecological data. But such terminology ma...

Authors: Stephen K. Donovan

The planktonic foraminifera of the Jurassic. Part I: material and taxonomy

The taxonomy is modernized and updated for Jurassic planktonic foraminifera using all available literature and stratigraphic series of sediment samples from Canada, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Poland, Lithu...

Authors: Felix Gradstein, Andrew Gale, Ludmila Kopaevich, Anna Waskowska, Algimantas Grigelis and Larisa Glinskikh

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Preface: a first attempt to fill the gap between the otolith and skeletal records of teleost fishes

The studies presented in this special issue describe and evaluate otoliths in situ in 18 species of extinct Paratethyan fishes, 17 from Sarmatian, and one from Karaganian deposits. Together with previously des...

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans and Giorgio Carnevale

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part V: Bothidae and Soleidae

In the final section of our series of studies on Sarmatian fishes from the Paratethys with otoliths in situ, we deal with three pleuronectiform species. Each species is re-defined based on the type material pl...

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans, Giorgio Carnevale, Sanja Japundžić and Katarina Bradić-Milinović

New and emended species of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera

Two Jurassic planktonic genera are emended and two new species and one subspecies of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera are defined. The genera are Globuligerina Bignot and Guyader 1971 and Conoglobigerina Morozova

Authors: Felix M. Gradstein

Book review

Authors: Olivier Maridet

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part IV: Scorpaenidae, Labridae, and Gobiesocidae

Percomorph fishes are relatively uncommon in the Sarmatian deposits of Dolje and Belgrade where they are primarily of small size, often representing juvenile specimens. Here, we describe otoliths in situ from “Sc...

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans, Giorgio Carnevale, Sanja Japundžić and Katarina Bradić-Milinović

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part III: tales from the cradle of the Ponto-Caspian gobies

Articulated fossil fish skeletons with otoliths in situ provide a unique opportunity to link these two, otherwise independent data sets of skeletons and otoliths. They provide calibration points for otoliths a...

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans, Harald Ahnelt, Giorgio Carnevale, Sanja Japundžić, Katarina Bradić and Andriy Bratishko

Review of “Clupea humilis” from the Sarmatian of Moldova and description of Moldavichthys switshenskae gen. et sp. nov.

Moldavichthys switshenskae is established as a new fossil genus and species of the family Clupeidae, subfamily Alosinae, to encompass the specimens from the Sarmatian of Moldova, which hi...

Authors: E. M. Baykina and W. W. Schwarzhans

Extraordinary diversity of feather stars (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) from a Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian–Toarcian) rock reef of Feuguerolles (Normandy, France)

Comatulid feather stars are rare fossils in the Early Jurassic, providing only patchy insights into the early evolution of the group. Here, we describe new finds of comatulids from the late Pliensbachian to la...

Authors: Hans Hess and Ben Thuy

Triassic chirotheriid footprints from the Swiss Alps: ichnotaxonomy and depositional environment (Cantons Wallis & Glarus)

Autochthonous Triassic sediments of the Vieux Emosson Formation near Lac d’Emosson, southwestern Switzerland, have yielded assemblages with abundant archosaur footprints that are assigned to chirotheriids base...

Authors: Hendrik Klein, Michael C. Wizevich, Basil Thüring, Daniel Marty, Silvan Thüring, Peter Falkingham and Christian A. Meyer

Rostroconchs in Leiden

For a land with a dearth of natural rock outcrops, the Netherlands abounds with urban ‘exposures’ of fossiliferous rocks such as building stones, street furniture and street art. In the Rapenburg in Leiden, se...

Authors: Stephen K. Donovan and P. A. Madern

Description of Karaganops n. gen. perratus (Daniltshenko 1970) with otoliths in situ, an endemic Karaganian (Middle Miocene) herring (Clupeidae) in the Eastern Paratethys

Karaganops is established as a new fossil genus of the family Clupeidae, subfamily Clupeinae, to encompass the nominal species Sardinella perrata Daniltshenko 1970 from the Karaganian of ...

Authors: Eugenia M. Baykina and Werner W. Schwarzhans

Roveacrinida (Crinoidea) from Late Triassic (early Carnian) black shales of Southwest China

Rich material of a tiny pelagic roveacrinid from the lower member of the Carnian Xiaowa Formation, Guanling area (Guizhou Province, Southwest China), is described. The remains are assigned to a distinct species,

Authors: Hans Hess, Walter Etter and Hans Hagdorn

On the taxonomy and osteology of the Early Eocene North American Geranoididae (Aves, Gruoidea)

Whereas our knowledge of small arboreal Paleogene birds has greatly increased in the past years, that of the larger birds coexisting with them is far less detailed. Particularly poorly known and, hence, widely...

Authors: Gerald Mayr

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part II: Gadidae and Lotidae

Gadid otoliths are among the most common otoliths in the Neogene of Europe. To date, these have been recorded in situ and therefore correlated with the skeletal record only in two cases, Paratrisopterus avus and

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans, Giorgio Carnevale, Andriy Bratishko, Sanja Japundžić and Katarina Bradić

Evolutionary prospection in the Neogene planktic foraminifer Globorotalia menardii and related forms from ODP Hole 925B (Ceara Rise, western tropical Atlantic): evidence for gradual evolution superimposed by long distance dispersal?

Evolutionary prospection is the study of morphological evolution and speciation in calcareous plankton from selected time-slices and key sites in the world oceans. In this context, the Ne...

Authors: Michael Knappertsbusch

Nautilus: biology, systematics, and paleobiology as viewed from 2015

The natural history of the nautilid genus Nautilus, composed of a controversial number of extinct and extant species, has been the subject of scientific scrutiny for centuries. While a great research effort last...

Authors: Peter Ward, Frederick Dooley and Gregory Jeff Barord

Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part I: Atherina suchovi Switchenska, 1973

Several well-preserved otoliths were extracted from four slabs containing fish specimens of Atherina suchovi. Atherina suchovi is one of the five Atherina species recorded from the Middle Miocene of the Central a...

Authors: Werner Schwarzhans, Giorgio Carnevale, Alexandre F. Bannikov, Sanja Japundžić and Katarina Bradić

Reinhart A. Gygi (1935–2014): Scientific achievements of a life-long commitment to research in Late Jurassic carbonate sedimentology and biostratigraphy of the northern Swiss Jura Mountains

Authors: Walter Etter

Systematics, endemism and phylogeny of Indian proplanulitins (Ammonoidea) from the Bathonian–Callovian of Kutch, western India

Spath (1931) described five genera namely Sivajiceras Spath, Obtusicostites Buckman, Hubertoceras Spath, Kinkeliniceras Buckman and Cutchisphinctes Spath from the Upper Bathonian and entire Callovian of Kutch, we...

Authors: Rakhi Dutta and Subhendu Bardhan

Patterns of the evolution of aptychi of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Boreal ammonites

Here we are providing a review of aptychi records in ammonites of Boreal origin or that inhabited Boreal/Subboreal basins during the Bathonian–Albian with special focus on new records and the relationship betw...

Authors: Mikhail A. Rogov and Aleksandr A. Mironenko

New records of nautiloid and ammonoid cephalopod fossils in peninsular Thailand

Thirty species of nautiloids and ammonoids were identified based on the material collected from peninsular Thailand. Ordovician nautiloids: a sactorthoceratid nautiloid (Sactorthoceras banestanensis) from Changwa...

Authors: Kittichai Tongtherm, Jaruwat Nabhitabhata, Paladej Srisuk, Thammarat Nutadhira and Danupon Tonnayopas

The Callovian and Late Jurassic ammonite-based chronostratigraphy of West Siberia: important findings, biostratigraphic review, and basin correlation West Siberia-South England

This study reviews the Callovian to Volgian biozonation in West Siberia and discusses the problems related to zonations of Jurassic sequences relying only on well core data. The West Siberian Callovian to Volg...

Authors: Alexandr S. Alifirov, Alexander L. Beisel and Svetlana V. Meledina

Palaeontology, sedimentology, and biostratigraphy of a fossiliferous outcrop of the Early Miocene Querales Formation, Falcón Basin, Venezuela

The top of the Querales Formation is well exposed at the Quebrada Corralito section, 17 m thick, in northern Venezuela. The section, dominated by siliciclastic accumulations of fine-grained sediments, preserve...

Authors: Leandro M. Pérez, Juan P. Pérez Panera, Orangel A. Aguilera, Diana I. Ronchi, Rodolfo Sánchez, Miguel O. Manceñido and Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra

Covariance of sutural complexity with whorl shape: evidence from intraspecific analyses of the Cretaceous ammonoid Desmoceras

In order to test the hypothesis that complex suture lines in ammonoids reinforced their shell strength, intraspecific variation of sutural complexity and shell morphologies (whorl shape and septal thickness) o...

Authors: Daisuke Aiba and Ryoji Wani

Speculations on the ethology of some heteromorph ammonites

The mode of life of the turricones and colchicones are considered against the background of functional–morphological analyses of their shell modifications during ontogeny. Among turricones, there were more or ...

Authors: Mikheil V. Kakabadze

Special issue: recent advances in Cambrian to modern cephalopod research II

In September 2014, the 9th International Symposium Cephalopods—Present and Past (ISCPP) and the 5th International Coleoid Symposium were held at the University of Zurich. The numerous contributions from two jo...

Authors: Christian Klug, René Hoffmann, Dirk Fuchs and Daniel Marty

Jurassic ammonite aptychi: functions and evolutionary implications

Nine proposals of aptychus (sensu stricto) function have been published (in historical order): operculum, micromorphic males, lower mandible, protection of gonades, ballast for lowering of aperture, flushing of b...

Authors: Horacio Parent and Gerd E. G. Westermann

Interpreting drag consequences of ammonoid shells by comparing studies in Westermann Morphospace

Differently-shaped ammonoid shells present varied hydrodynamic properties, but the relevance of shell shape to ammonoid paleoecology is unclear. To examine trends in ammonoid shell shape that relate to hydrody...

Authors: Kathleen A. Ritterbush

The internal structure of varices and constrictions in Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonoid shells

The structure of pristine preserved shells of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonoids was examined to identify whether the character states of varices and constrictions are homologous or homoplasic traits. The inter...

Authors: Gregor Radtke and Helmut Keupp

Marine Early Triassic Osteichthyes from Spiti, Indian Himalayas

A new, marine osteichthyan (bony fish) fauna from the Early Triassic of northern India is presented. The material was collected in situ at localities within Pin Valley (Lahaul and Spiti District, Himachal Prad...

Authors: Carlo Romano, David Ware, Thomas Brühwiler, Hugo Bucher and Winand Brinkmann

The Gastornis (Aves, Gastornithidae) from the Late Paleocene of Louvois (Marne, France)

The Late Paleocene locality of Louvois is located about 20 km south of Reims, in the department of Marne (France). These marly sediments have yielded numerous vertebrate remains. The Louvois fauna is coeval wi...

Authors: Cécile Mourer-Chauviré and Estelle Bourdon

The gladiuses in coleoid cephalopods: homology, parallelism, or convergence?

In the cephalopod subclass Coleoidea, several homology problems exist, mainly owing to unsolved phylogenetic relationships between decabrachian orders. The present contribution reviews the “similarity” of the ...

Authors: Dirk Fuchs and Yasuhiro Iba

Reworked crinoidal cherts and screwstones (Mississippian, Tournaisian/Visean) in the bedload of the River Maas, south-east Netherlands

Rare Palaeozoic chert clasts collected from gravels in the bedload of the River Maas in the province of Limburg, south-east Netherlands, are rich in crinoid debris. These were transported during the Late Plioc...

Authors: Stephen K. Donovan, John W. M. Jagt and Mart J. M. Deckers

Special issue: recent advances in Cambrian to modern cephalopod research I

In September 2014, the 9th International Symposium Cephalopods—Present and Past was held at the Universitz of Zurich in combination with the 5th International Coleoid Symposium. Here, give a short account of t...

Authors: Christian Klug, René Hoffmann, Dirk Fuchs and Daniel Marty

Ontogeny and morphology of the retrochoanitic septal necks of Agoniatites vanuxemi from the Middle Devonian Cherry Valley Limestone

Retrochoanitic septal necks represent the primitive condition in the Ammonoidea. In this study, we examine the morphology of the septal siphuncular complex of specimens of Agoniatites van...

Authors: Susan M. Klofak and Neil H. Landman

Mid-Carboniferous ammonoids from the Shannon Basin, western Ireland: identification of crushed material

In the Carboniferous Shannon Basin, Western Ireland, the majority of ammonoids spanning the Serpukhovian-Bashkirian Stages (E₁–R₂ biozonal indices) are preserved as flattened, partial 2D impressions, for which id...

Authors: Anthea R. Lacchia, George D. Sevastopulo and John R. Graham

New size data on the enigmatic Spirula spirula (Decabrachia, suborder Spirulina), on a global geographic scale

The ram’s horn squid Spirula spirula is a unique deep-water marine organism whose life cycle remains enigmatic. Interpretations of its ecology and habitat preferences are currently based solely on dredging, on fi...

Authors: Alexander Lukeneder

Siphonal zone structure in the cuttlebone of Sepia officinalis

The evolutionary process through which the siphonal zone of the cuttlebone of Sepia replaced the tubular siphuncle seen in other shelled cephalopods is poorly understood. Recently, porous connecting stripes, inte...

Authors: Larisa A. Doguzhaeva and Elena Dunca

Early ideas about fossil cephalopods

Ammonites and belemnites are among the most celebrated invertebrate fossils, and both groups played a crucial role in the early history of palaeontology. This article gives an overview of the sometimes twisted...

Authors: Walter Etter

Soft-tissue preservation in the Middle Jurassic ammonite Cadoceras from Central Russia

The findings of fossilized ammonite soft tissues are extremely rare, so each specimen may be important for understanding the anatomy of these cephalopods. This paper deals with soft tissue fragments and imprin...

Authors: Aleksandr A. Mironenko

Statoliths from the Jurassic succession of south-west England, United Kingdom

The occurrence of statoliths within the Jurassic succession of south-west England and other parts of Europe is reviewed. Five ‘morphospecies’ have been identified, ranging in age from Hettangian to Kimmeridgia...

Authors: Malcolm B. Hart, Malcolm R. Clarke, Alex De Jonghe, Gregory D. Price, Kevin N. Page and Christopher W. Smart

Abrupt changes in distance between succeeding septa at the hatching time in modern coleoids Sepiella japonica and Spirula spirula

Analyses of distances between succeeding septa throughout ontogeny of modern coleoids Sepiella japonica and Spirula spirula reveal that the first several septa (until ca. 6th–8th septa in Sepiella japonica and un...

Authors: Ayaka Yamaguchi, Yuichiro Kumada, Andrea C. Alfaro and Ryoji Wani