Michal Mergl & Olaf Elicki

Cambrian brachiopods from Sardinia are investigated for the first time in this paper. The silicified specimens come from nodular limestones of the late Early to Middle Cambrian Campo Pisano Formation of Gutturu Pala (southwestern Sardinia). The brachiopod fauna consists of lingulids and acrotretids and yields two new acrotretid species, described here as Opisthotreta sardica n.sp. and Vandalotreta proclinis n.sp. Material attributed to the genus Schmidtites is reported here for the first time from both the Middle Cambrian and western Gondwana. The genus Linnarssonella is reported for the first time from the Middle Cambrian and from outside North America. Whereas most brachiopods from Gutturu Pala biostratigraphically indicate a rather undifferenciated Middle Cambrian age, the last mentioned genus points to a late Middle Cambrian age for the uppermost part of the Campo Pisano Formation.

INSOLENTITHECA EMEND., PROTOINSOLENTITHECA N. GEN., AND CALIGELLIDAE EMEND., PERMANENT CYSTS OF PALAEOZOIC FORAMINIFERA?

DANIEL VACHARD & PEDRO CÓZAR

 Insolentitheca was interpreted as a microproblematicum, a foraminiferal test, or a syzygial cyst. Arguments are listed versus syzygial cysts or ordinary foraminiferal agglutinates, and for permanent cysts with probable infaunal life. Protoinsolentitheca fundamenta n. gen. n. sp. is described, which links Insolentitheca and the Caligellidae. Some elements of nomenclature are introduced to describe the particular tests of the Caligellidae. These taxa could be basically represented by an infaunal naked or chitinaceous foraminifer, which secretes during its lifetime a calcified perimeter denominated the chimney, only present in the Caligellidae. To this initial secretion are added two types of "agglutinated" and bioeroded tests: the fundamental in Protoinsolentitheca and Insolentitheca, and the bricks, in Insolentitheca only.

Stefan Schröder

 The Karakorum Block is regarded as a microplate of "Gondwanan" origin and was part of the Cimmerian continent ("Mega Lhasa") which rifted away from the northern margin of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic/Early Mesozoic. From the Northern Karakorum Range (Yarkhun and Karambar River Valleys: structurally belonging to the Northern Sedimentary Belt) an Upper Givetian to Lower Frasnian rugose coral fauna of the Shogram Formation is described. The fauna is dominated by cosmopolitan genera such as Hexagonaria, Disphyllum, Macgeea and the Temnophyllum/Spinophyllum group, generally showing a geographically wide distribution, although being absent from the Eastern Americas Realm in the Upper Givetian/Lower Frasnian. Therefore its components are of little use for biogeographical deductions at sub-realm level, and in explaining the relation between the Karakorum Range and other Cimmerian crustal blocks. A remarkable exception is the first record of the genus Pseudopexiphyllum outside of Turkey, indicating a connection to the western part of the Cimmerides. On species level, the coral fauna of the Shogram Formation is characterized by the development of a diverse and rather unique fauna including about 35 taxa, that differs from the faunas known from neighbouring crustal blocks. So far, faunistic links to the Central Iranian Microcontinent (Yazd-, and Tabas-Block), the northwest Iranian Plate (Elburz), Central Pamir, the Lhasa Block and Western Qiangtang are not clear, and although each of these fragments are believed to be closely connected they were apparently not in direct contact during the Devonian. However, the Karakorum fauna is remarkably close to one known from the Helmand Block in Afghanistan, showing a very similar generic composition that includes numerous morphologically closely related, although not identical species. Accordingly, the restricted faunal exchange led to the development of new taxa. Distribution of the new species of Spinophyllum, Pseudopexiphyllum and Pseudozaphrentis is limited to the Karakorum Mountains. Reasons for this individual faunistic development and the missing faunal exchange are unexplained, but suggest that some kind of active faunal barrier must have existed during the Devonian, which led to the development of the specific Karakorum fauna.With the exception of Phillipsastrea orientalis Smith, 1930, which is elsewhere only known from the Burmese Devonian, the occurrence of some other species suggest a connection to regions which are regarded as biogeographically unrelated. A weak relation to central European faunas is indicated by the occurrence of characteristic species of Macgeea and Hexagonaria known from the Ardennes and the Holy Cross Mountains. More unusual are the faunistic affinities to the Altai-Sayan region shown by the surprising occurrences of species of Spinophyllum and siphonophrentid corals morphologically very close to those known from the Altai Mtns. and Kazakhstan.

FAZL-I-RABBI KHAN, SAHADAT-UR-REHAMAN, RUTH MAWSON & MOHAMMED IHSAN AFRIDI

 A new stratigraphic unit, the Tabai Limestone of the poorly known Tirah area of northwest Pakistan, is one of several Early Carboniferous carbonate units distributed along the North Gondwana margin, some connected with transgressive interludes. The Tabai Limestone has produced latest Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous) conodonts indicative of the middle of the anchoralis-latus Zone.

Megaporella nikleri n. sp., a new calcareous alga (Dasycladales) from the Upper Barremian of Mt. Biokovo, Croatia

Branko Sokač and Tonći Grgasović

 The genus Megaporella Deloffre & Beun, 1986, is emended, and a new species, Megaporella nikleri n. sp., is established. The species is characterized by vesiculiferous and sporadically phloiophorous branches, arranged in whorls. Their number per whorl is variable and their distribution in consecutive whorls is unequal, giving a picture of a seemingly aspondyl arrangement in tangential section. The new species occurs in Upper Barremian.

Felicitász Velledits

In recent years detailed sedimentological and biostratigraphical investigations have revealed Anisian terrestrial sediments in three sections of the Bükk Mountains. In the northern part of the mountains fluviatile sediments were recognised while in the southern part lake deposits were observed. Based on the stratigraphical position and microfacies analyses of the resedimented grains, two terrestrial events can be reconstructed. The age of the younger is late Pelsonian–early Illyrian?. This can be correlated with the Richthofen Conglomerate in the Dolomites. The age of the older terrestrial event could not be established exactly but it must have happened either in the Pelsonian or in the Aegean–Bithynian; consequently it may correlate either with the Voltago or with the Piz de Peres Conglomerate in the Dolomites. The terrestrial sediments in the Bükk Mountains are parts of a volcano-sedimentary succession, which is characteristic of the updoming part of a rifting area. Terrestrial sediments in the southern part of the mountains represent the deepest part of the half-grabens, which originated during the course of the rifting. The present paper gives an overview of the Anisian–Lower Ladinian terrestrial sediments in the Southern Alps–Dinarides and considers their formation during the Triassic rifting of the Vardar-Meliata branch of the Neo-Tethys.

Laura Abbazzi, Chiara Angelone, Marisa Arca, Giancarlo Barisone, Claudia Bedetti, Massimo Delfino, Tassos Kotsakis, Federica Marcolini, Maria Rita Palombo, Marco Pavia, Paolo Piras, Lorenzo Rook, Danilo Torre, Caterinella Tuveri, Andrea M.F. Valli, Barbara Wilkens

 The preliminary results of the analisys of fossil vertebrate remains from 19 fissure fillings in the karst network at monte tuttavista (orosei, nuoro) are reported. about 80 taxa, among fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have been recognised.These remains document the evolution of vertebrate assemblages in the Sardinian insular domain, during a time interval apparently spanning the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene or Holocene. A succession of at least four populating complexes has been identified which document the vertebrate colonisation phases from the Italian mainland and the following periods of insularity. Indeed, the occurrence of endemic taxa such as the murid Rhagapodemus minor, the primate Macaca cf. M. majori and the caprine Nesogoral, suggest some fissure fillings date to a phase close to the Plio/Pleistocene boundary since these taxa occur at the Sardinian locality Capo Figari I which has been dated to about 1.8 Ma. However, the presence of the "hunting-hyaena" Chasmaporthetes, never reported before in Sardinia, could suggest that the beginning of the vertebrate record of Monte Tuttavista is older, given that this carnivore is documented in European Middle Pliocene-Early Pleistocene localities. The vertebrate assemblages that document the most recent migratory phases in the karst network of Monte Tuttavista are characterised by the occurrence of the endemic megalocerine cervid Praemegaceros cazioti and the arvicolid Tyrrhenicola henseli which are comparable with those occurring in other Late Pleistocene and early Holocene Sardinian sites.

Lorenzo Rook, Marco P. Ferretti, Marisa Arca & Caterinella Tuveri

 Occurrence of large carnivores in island ecosystems is unusual, especially in the case of top predators. Here, a new endemic hyaenid species, Chasmaporthetes melei, from the late Late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene fissure fillings of Monte Tuttavista, Orosei, Sardinia, is described. Although smaller, C. melei is morphologically comparable with the Plio-Pleistocene Eurasian hunting-hyena Chasmaporthetes lunensis, a possible ancestor of the Sardinian species. C. melei displays all the characteristic feeding adaptations of Chasmaporthetes, including a derived enamel structure similar to the condition in extant bone-crushing hyaenas. C. melei was an active predator that nonetheless included a relatively large amount of bone in its diet.

Fatemeh Vaez-Javadi

 There are a wellWell-preserved and abundant plant megafossils were found at in the basal part of the Shemshak Formation in on Ozon Mountain, Alborz, NE Iran .Persicostrobus is a new equisetalean strobilus which is introduced from the Rhaetian (Upper Triassic) strata. Persicostrobus ghavideli is introduced described as the type species of this genus. Persicostrobus sp. is an immature cone of this genus.

Assunta D’Alessandro & Rafael La Perna

Fossil specimens referred to the extant Atlantic-Mediterranean species Amygdalum politum (Verrill & Smith, 1880), occur in Upper Pliocene mudstones cropping out in northern Puglia (Southern Italy). Amygdalum is an infaunal mytilid living within a cocoon made of byssal threads, sediment and mucus. The examined material occurs in grey clayey silt, mainly massive, and in stratified yellowish clayey silt. The specimens from the grey mudstones are closed, strongly compressed, deformed and obliquely oriented. Also in the yellowish mudstones the shells are closed, compressed and intensely fractured but are concordant to the bedding plane and concentrated in a single pavement. On a whole, the associated macrofauna is indicative of upper slope tending to outer shelf environments. Taphonomic and palaeoecologic observations, together with the few available literature data, suggest that this bivalve lived in a particularly fluid substrate, keeping its vertical life position thanks to the stabilizing effect of the byssal cocoon. Since this species was able to cope with high turbidity waters, as suggested by taphonomic observation, it can be argued that the byssal cocoon acted also as a filter for the inhalant current.

Viverra howelli n. sp., a new viverrid (Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Baccinello-Cinigiano basin (latest Miocene, Italy)

Lorenzo Rook & Bienvenido MartÍnez-Navarro

 We describe a new viverrid species (Viverra howelli n. sp.). Viverra howelli n. sp. is identified in Late Miocene (Messinian) localities in the circum Mediterranean area (Italy and Lybia) and in East Africa (Kenya). Morphologically, the new species is characterized by a relatively small size and a lower carnassial with short talonid.