A nearly complete but disarticulated skeleton of a small sized nothosaur is described. The specimen was collected in 2003 from an outcrop of the Besano Formation (Grenzbitumenzone of Swiss authors) of latest Anisian (Middle Triassic) age, in the Monte San Giorgio Area, northern Italy. The osteology of the postcranial skeleton supports the assignment to the genus Nothosaurus, and also excludes its belonging to Nothosaurus giganteus/Paranothosaurus amsleri already known from coeval localities of the Besano Formation in the Swiss part of the Monte San Giorgio area. Despite the lack of most of the skull, which contains diagnostic characters at the species level for Nothosaurus, the few preserved cranial elements suggest similarities with N. juvenilis which skull, and only known part, is also of comparable size. This specimen is particularly significant because it improves the knowledge of the osteology of N. juvenilis and because the second Nothosaurus species, smaller than N. giganteus/P. amsleri, suggests coexistence of sympatric species characterized by size and, probably, trophic differentiation within the genus Nothosaurus in the Monte San Giorgio area as occurred in the coeval Germanic Basin.

A new taxon belonging to Neopterygians is described, based on very nicely preserved specimens from the rich vertebrate levels recently discovered in Luoping County, Yunnan Province, South China. This new assemblage dates to Pelsonian (Anisian, Middle Triassic), about the same age of the Panxian Fauna from the nearby Guizhou Province. The Luoping Fauna, yielding this new taxon, is turning out to be one of the most important fish faunas of the whole Middle Triassic and the oldest evidence of the fish radiation of this time span. This new genus of basal neopterygian shows unique derived characters, especially for the almost naked body, with a single row of urodermals covering the body lobe in the tail and a row of very small and thin scales bearing the lateral line canal along the flank. Also in the axial skeleton the new taxon shows peculiar characters such as the neural spines perfectly aligned to each paired neural arches and abdominal ribs well developed. Concerning skull bones, no suborbitals have been detected.

Rudolf Stockar & Evelyn Kustatscher

A newly opened excavation in the Cassina beds of the Lower Meride Limestone (Monte San Giorgio UNESCO WHL, Canton Ticino, Southern Alps) has yielded a small collection of Ladinian plant fossils, together with vertebrate (mostly fish) and invertebrate remains. The flora contains at least five species; conifer remains assignable to the genera Elatocladus, Voltzia and ?Pelourdea are the most common elements. A new species, Elatocladus cassinae n. sp., is formally described. Co-occurring with the conifers are seed ferns (Ptilozamites) and a few putative cycadalean remains (?Taeniopteris). Among the identified genera, only Voltzia has previously been reported from Monte San Giorgio. The fossils presented in this paper indicate that a diversified flora thrived in the region during the Ladinian. Floral composition and preservation patterns are suggestive of a taphonomically-biased record and a relatively far-away source area.

Revision of the Early Cretaceous coral genus Felixigyra

Hannes Löser

The Early Cretaceous coral genus Felixigyra Prever, 1909 is revised on the basis of type material from Italy. Felixigyra has a hydnophoroid-meandroid colony organisation with conical monticules attached to each other. The very thick monticules are arranged in a way that calicular centres become apparent. The septa are compact and rhopaloid. The genus can be related to other genera of the Eugyridae family, but differs from them by its particularly developed monticules. It also shows certain resemblance to meandroid genera of the Trochoidomeandridae family. Of the six species originally assigned to Felixigyra only five are recognized, since the type of Felixigyra crassa is too poorly preserved to give a diagnosis. The remaining five species have almost no significant difference in calicular dimensions. In addition to the Italian material, one sample from the Early Cenomanian of Greece and one sample from the Early Albian of Mexico are also assigned to the genus. Material assigned to Felixigyra after Prever (1909) needs to be entirely reclassified to the genus Eohydnophora.

STEFANO TORRICELLI & GABRIELLA KNEZAUREK

The study of palynomorphs and calcareous nannofossils recovered from the volcano-arenitic succession outcropping at Troina and Cerami (Sicily) documents Rupelian assemblages comparable to those published for the Tusa Tuffite. This new evidence, combined with petrographic, geochemical and sedimentological affinities documented in the literature, eventually proves the genetic relationships between these units. Accordingly, the new name Troina-Tusa Formation is proposed to include all these lower Oligocene volcano-sedimentary units and to replace inappropriate names formerly used. The Troina-Tusa Formation conformably lies on a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate turbidite succession, lacking volcanic detritus, reported in the literature with different names (Polizzi Formation, Varicoloured Shales, Troina-Tusa Flysch) and different ages (ranging from Eocene to Early Miocene). Palynomorphs and nannofossils recovered from its uppermost part, indicate an earliest Oligocene age. The denomination Polizzi Formation is recommended for this unit that includes also the Varicoloured Shales (Eocene-basal Oligocene). The appearance of conglomerates and volcano-arenites in the basal portion of the Troina-Tusa Formation, immediately above the top of the Polizzi Formation, marks a sudden reorganization of the Rupelian depositional systems related to the rise and erosion of a volcanic belt. Apparently, no biostratigraphically detectable hiatus is associated to this boundary. Differences in the composition of sandstones, sedimentary features and relationships with the substratum do exist between the ‘internal’ Reitano Flysch, outcropping in the type-area on the northern slope of the Nebrodi Mountains, and the volcano-arenitic successions of Cerami and Troina, reported by some authors as ‘external’ Reitano Flysch. These differences are widely documented in the literature, where the ‘internal’ Reitano Flysch is shown to lack volcanic detritus and to rest unconformably on the deformed Monte Soro Flysch. Since the definition of the Troina-Tusa Formation now includes the external outcrops (Cerami, Troina, Ancipa Lake), the adjectives ‘internal’ and ‘external’ become disused, and the name Reitano Flysch is restricted to the successions lacking volcanic detritus exposed in the type-area of Reitano, Pettineo, Caronia and Capizzi. Palynomorphs and nannofossils recovered from the Pettineo section, suggest a Rupelian age also for the Reitano Flysch.

The species originally attributed by Airoldi (1932) to the genus Lithothamnion (L. roveretoi, L. obstrusum, L. stefaninii) are here re-examined upon the original material, descriptions and illustrations. L. roveretoi and L. obstrusum are confirmed to belong to the genus Lithothamnion, on the basis of their epithallial and sub-epithallial morphology. L. stefaninii was moved by Fravega (1984) to the genus Archaeolithothamnium, under the nomen novum A. airoldii. In agreement with Fravega, we propose for L. stefaninii Airoldi the new combination Sporolithon airoldii (Fravega). According to ICBN, we select the epitype of Sporolithon airoldii (Fravega) comb. nov. containing both the gametangial and sporangial plants, since the holotype and isotype are ambiguous.

PAOLO MONACO & ALESSIO CHECCONI

Five, 3-8 cm-thick calcarenitic turbiditic beds belonging to overbank deposits in the marginal sector of Marnoso-arenacea Basin, close to the intrabasinal high of Verghereto (Romagna, Northern Apennines, Upper Miocene), exhibit a well preserved ichnofossil-lagerstätte. The lagerstätte is composed by 43 ichnotaxa: 31 of them are preserved as casts at the sole of turbidites (background hypichnia) (group a), while 12 of them occur at the top (post-turbidite epichnia) and within (endichnia) (group b). The ichnodensity reaches its maximum at the top of the turbiditic beds. Background hypichnia (group a) is represented by graphoglyptids and non-graphoglyptid resting traces (background ichnofauna), with three-dimensional networks and shafts, meander systems, radiate, plug-shaped or stellatae structures forming clusters and unbranched systems of strings. Many taphonomic features suggest a fluting induced by bottom currents; graphoglyptids should have colonised the substrate after the action of these currents being not destroyed or fluted. All hypichnial structures are perfectly preserved by the turbidite casting and in this phase also endichnial burrows could develop. Post-turbidite epichnia (group b) concern vagile feeding burrows that developed horizontal patterns in a post-turbiditic regime, during the suspension phase of fine material; they were probably produced by organisms transported by suspension flows. Here, the very high ichnodensity suggests a competition among burrowers under stable currents with occurrence of vagile opportunistic organisms immediately followed by others that produced radiate spreite structures.

PREDATION ON NEOGENE OSTRACODS OF SOUTHWESTERN SPAIN

FRANCISCO RUIZ, MANUEL ABAD, MARÍA LUZ GONZÁLEZ-REGALADO, JORGE CIVIS, JOSÉ ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ-DELGADO,

EDITH XIO MARA GARCÍA & ANTONIO TOSCANO¹

This paper analyzes the evidence for predation on ostracods observed in Neogene sediments of southwestern Spain. Eighty bored valves were extracted from the analysis of more than 2000 specimens collected in shallow marine to upper bathyal palaeoenvironments. Bored specimens are more abundant in Neogene shallow marine areas, although very high percentages can be obtained in deeper sediments with very low ostracod densities. Two main types of boreholes can be distinguished, being concentrated mainly in the central areas of the valves, and drilled mainly by the gastropods: a) Oichnus paraboloides Bromley, with more of 70% of the total boreholes; and b) Oichnus simplex Bromley. Borehole diameter shows a positive but no significant correlation with the dimensions of the predated valves. Ornamentation seems to be secondary in the predatory selection.

The organic walled dinoflagellate cyst Pseudorhombodinium cinguloindentatum gen. et sp. n. is formally described from the Upper Eocene of Sicily, Italy. It consists of a brown coloured, circumcavate wetzelielloid cyst with marked V-shaped cingular indentations in the pericyst. The proposed generic name refers to similarities existing in the overall morphology with the genus Rhombodinium Gocht. However, substantial differences in archeopyle styling, in the disposition of antapical horns, and in the amount of cingular indentation, advocate the erection of the new genus Pseudorhombodinium.

Ciabòt Cagna (Piedmont, NW Italy) is a post-evaporitic Messinian fossiliferous locality. According to the literature, in Ciabòt Cagna was recorded the ochotonid Prolagus michauxi, but the present revision led to: 1) ascribe it to Prolagus sorbinii, a species present since the beginning of Messinian in continental Italy; 2) exclude a W Europe immigration source of ochotonids into continental Italy during Messinian; 3) and modify the geographical range of P. sorbinii and P. michauxi, which boundary should be W Alps.