New Discovery of Hipparion theobaldi Skull from the Late Miocene of Padhri, District Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan and Associated Mammalian Fossil Assemblage

A fossil-bearing locality near Padhri village, Dhok Pathan, 55 km away from the tehsil Dina, Jhelum District, in the Potwar Plateau, Middle Siwaliks, Punjab, northern Pakistan, is significantly rich in mammalian fossils. This site has provided an abundant mammalian fossil fauna of Late Miocene age from the Dhok Pathan Formation (Fm.). The recovered material belongs to four families: Equidae (horses), Rhinocerotidae (rhinos), Bovidae (cows), and Suidae (pigs). We discovered a new skull of hipparionine Hipparion theobaldi from this locality along with 22 specimens from the associated assemblage of fossil mammals. The recovered material includes seven other species: the aceratheriine Chilotherium intermedium, boselaphines Tragoportax punjabicus, Selenoportax vexillarius, Pachyportax latidens, the antelope Gazella lydekkeri and suinine Propotamochoerus hysudricus. The specimens are isolated teeth, fragments of maxilla, mandibles and horn cores. The Dhok Pathan Fm. is generally composed of claystone, siltstone and sandstone beds and, based on the mammalian fauna, the Padhri fossil locality is dated as Late Miocene. Thi99s formation was deposited in a subtropical paleoenvironment and the predominance of fossil bovids indicates extremely moist conditions with small but frequent standing water bodies.     

Paleoenvironmental and biostratigraphic significance of uvigerinids and other foraminifera from the Bhuban Formation,Assam-Arakan Basin,Mizoram

Planktic and benthic foraminifera including uvigerinids are documented from the Upper Bhuban Formation, exposed at Thingdawl village, Kolasib district, Mizoram. The foraminiferal assemblage is poorly preserved and consists of index fossils useful for precise biochronology and interpretation of the depositional environment. A total of ten benthic and six planktic foraminiferal species are described. Six species belong to the genus Uvigerina, four to Ammonia, one species each of Globorotalia, Globigerinoides, Clavatorella, Praeorbulina and two species of the genus Orbulina. Based on lithological and foraminiferal assemblage, middle neritic to upper part of outer neritic paleobathymetry is inferred for the deposition of this part of the Upper Bhuban Formation. The foraminiferal assemblage suggests late Early Miocene to early Middle Miocene, (∼16 Ma) equivalent to planktic foraminiferal zones N8-N9 for the Upper Bhuban Formation.     

A Late Jurassic fossil assemblage in Gondwana: Biostratigraphy and correlations of the Tacuarembó Formation, Parana Basin, Uruguay

The Tacuarembó Formation has yielded a fossil assemblage that includes the best known body fossils, consisting of isolated scales, teeth, spines, and molds of bones, recovered from thin and patchy bonebeds, from the Botucatu Desert, Parana Basin, South America. The remains are preserved in the sandstones widespread around the city of Tacuarembó. We propose a new formalized nomenclature for the Tacuarembó Formation, naming its “Lower” and “Upper” members as the Batoví (new name) and Rivera (new rank) members, respectively. An assemblage zone is defined for the Batoví Member (fluviolacustrine and aeolian deposits). In this unit, the freshwater hybodontid shark Priohybodus arambourgi D’Erasmo is well represented. This species was previously recorded in Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous units of the Sahara and the southern Arabian Peninsula. Globally considered, the fossil assemblage of this member (P. arambourgi, dipnoan fishes, Ceratosaurus-like theropods, and conchostracans) is indicative of a Kimmeridgian–Tithonian age, which in combination with the stratigraphic relationships of the Tacuarembó Formation with the overlying basalts of the Arapey Formation (132 My average absolute age) implies that the latter was deposited during the Kimmeridgian–Hauterivian interval.     

罗平生物群化石类型在云南泸西地区的发现及其意义

罗平生物群是我国著名的三叠纪海相生物群,时代为中三叠世安尼期Pelsonian亚期,主要分布在云南罗平县城周围大洼子、九光村等地.在泸西地区中三叠统关岭组二段发现了海生爬行类、鱼类、节肢动物、棘皮动物、软体动物、腕足动物、植物等罗平生物群化石类型,初步研究显示泸西地区罗平生物群化石构成面貌与罗平基本一致,但新发现的盾鳞化石是罗平生物群层位软骨鱼类的首次报道.在泸西白水塘中三叠统关岭组二段剖面中识别出了Nicoraella germanicus、Nicoraella cf.kockeli和Neogondolella? bifurcata等牙形石类型,构成面貌特征表明其归属于中三叠世安尼期Pelsonian亚期,与罗平地区地层时代相当.泸西地区罗平生物群化石的发现扩大了罗平生物群的分布范围,其中新发现的盾鳞化石为研究华南中三叠世软骨鱼类提供了新材料.      

Selachian fishes from Bhuban Formation,Surma Group,Aizawl, Mizoram

An interesting selachian fish assemblage having stratigraphic and palaeoecological significance is being described from the two intraformational calcareous conglomeratic horizons within the Upper Bhuban unit of Bhuban Formation, Surma Group (Lower to Middle Miocene). The assemblage consists of eighteen species of selachian fishes including two new ones (Carcharhinus bhubanicus and Hemipristis unidenticulata) belonging to thirteen genera and another thirteen forms have been identified up to generic level. It is dominated by the families Carcharhinidae and Lamnidae, and is one of the most diversified Miocene assemblages from the Indian subcontinent. The fish fauna and the associated mega-invertebrates suggest Lower Miocene (Aquitanian - Burdigalian) age for the Upper Bhuban unit of Bhuban Formation. These further suggest that the fish yielding horizons were deposited under a warm shallow marine set-up near to the shoreline in a high-energy environment.     

Middle Pleistocene large‐mammal faunas from North Iberia: palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications

The rich Quaternary fossil record from the Cantabrian region (NW Iberia) is virtually restricted to the Late Pleistocene, with Middle Pleistocene findings very rare. This work presents the study of two Middle Pleistocene palaeontological sites in the Cantabrian region: Llantrales quarry and Mestas de Con mine, both discovered and first described in the 1950s but never studied in detail thereafter. The material was here re‐analysed and re‐evaluated. Taxonomic attributions have been changed in most cases and, consequently, chronological assignments of the fossils have also been changed. This first detailed study of the assemblage from Llantrales quarry revealed the occurrence of the large‐sized deer Praemegaceros solilhacus, which has never been reported previously in North Iberia. Cervus cf. elaphus and Stephanorhinus cf. hundsheimensis were also identified. The age of these fossils was originally regarded as Pontian (late Miocene), but new palaeontological results indicate a much younger age, most likely from around 0.8 to 0.5 Ma. A taxonomic re‐evaluation of the fossils from Mestas de Con provided different results with respect to the 1950s works. The faunal association is composed of a large‐sized deer (probably corresponding to Praemegaceros), Cervus elaphus, Capreolus cf. capreolus, Bison sp. (small sized), Equus sp. (large sized), Stephanorhinus hemitoechus, Ursus sp. and Homotherim latidens. This faunal association was evaluated within a western European context and proves to be highly analogous to other contemporary assemblages there. The chronology was initially regarded as late Villafranchian (in a broader sense). New results, documenting the co‐occurrence of Stephanorhinus hemitoechus and Homotherium latidens, indicate a more precise and younger age, most likely between 0.6 and 0.4 Ma. These two fossil assemblages provide new and relevant information on the Middle Pleistocene faunas from a geographical region where this information, compared with other western European areas, is rare and poorly known.     

西藏西部昂拉仁错地区多桑地堑带芒乡组的特征及时代

详细描述了西藏昂拉仁错地区多桑地堑带中的芒乡组地层剖面。讨论了芒乡组的岩性组合特征、地层接触关系和沉积环境。芒乡组自下而上由冲积扇→河流→湖泊沉积构成一完整的沉积旋回。岩性岩相的横向变化不明显,略显东粗西细的变化特征,说明物源区主要为地堑东侧的地垒断隆带。首次在多桑地堑芒乡组中采获了较丰富的双壳及植物化石,并建立为Psilunio stoliczkai-Rhododendron cf.namalingense组合带。依据该生物组合带的时限并结合砂岩ESR年龄值将芒乡组归于中新统。     

A Changhsingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna from Son La, northwest Vietnam

A small brachiopod fauna is described from the upper part of the Yenduyet Formation near Son La, northwest Vietnam. The fauna includes the following species: Peltichia kwangtungensis (Zhan), Acosarina minuta (Abich), Rhipidomella hessensis King, Schuchertella cf. cooperi Grant, Derbyia sp., Waagenites soochowensis (Chao), Spinomarginifera chenyaoyanensis Huang, and a Marginiferinae gen. and sp. indet. The fauna is most closely correlated with brachiopods from the lower Changhsingian Stage of South China and the lyttoniid fauna from the Huai Tak Formation of northwest Thailand. In view of these correlations, an early Changhsingian (Late Permian) age is proposed for the Son La brachiopod assemblage.     

冀北滦平盆地大北沟组叶肢介化石研究新进展

系统研究了采自滦平盆地火斗山乡张家沟剖面大北沟组(J3d)的叶肢介化石4属22种(包括11个新种)。其中,Nestoria属占绝对优势,并贯穿整个大北沟组,故大北沟组可称为Nestoria群。在该剖面大北沟组首次发现了Jibeilim-nadia属和Keratestheria属,分别产于该组下部和上部,可将Nestoria群进一步划分为下部Nestoria-Jibeilimnadi组合(带)和上部Nestoria-Keratestheria组合(带)。另外,在张家沟剖面大北沟组上部首次发现了中侏罗统土城子组中的重要分子cf.Pseudograpta属,进一步证明了大北沟组的叶肢介动物群与土城子组的叶肢介关系密切,具有重要的时代意义。     

甘肃和政古动物化石地质遗迹特征及其科学意义

甘肃和政古动物化石地质遗迹是一个以丰富的渐新世至更新世的古动物化石为特色的地质奇观。和政古动物化石地质遗迹主要发育4个古动物化石群:底部红色砂砾岩中埋藏着距今30 Ma的巨犀动物群;下部河湖地层中,埋藏着13 Ma前的铲齿象动物群;中部以红土为主,埋藏着距今10 Ma左右的三趾马动物群;上部黄土堆积中埋藏着2 Ma前的真马动物群。这些古动物化石地质遗迹记录了渐新世以来地球历史的丰富信息和演化过程,是研究青藏高原隆升历史的重要证据。甘肃和政古动物化石地质遗迹孕育了分布密集、保存完好、种类繁多的古动物化石,且甘肃和政临近我国"一带一路"战略中"丝绸之路经济带"的中联点。这些世界罕见的古动物化石,具有不可替代的珍藏价值、游览价值、科普价值和科学研究价值。     

贵州台江中寒武世凯里组中分枝状宏观藻类化石

本文描述了贵州中寒武世凯里组中的分枝状宏观藻类化石5属7种，即：Marpolia spissa Walcott,Marpolia aequalis Walcott,Guizhouella ramulosa Yang(gen.et sp.nov.),Doushantuophyton lineare Chen,Thamnophton formosus Yang(gen.et sp.nov.),Eoulothrix fibrillata Ding,Eoulothrix flabellophyton Yang(sp.mov.)。根据大量的藻类与凯里生物群共生特征，从藻类的生态及生物群分布受到沉积韵律控制等特征分析，认为凯里生物群生活环境的水深应该在30－60m，而埋藏和保存环境的水深是150m左右。另外，将凯里生物群中的宏观藻类化石与震旦纪陡山沱期的藻类化石进行了比较，两者在以分枝状藻类占主要组成上是相似的，从这一方面来说，晚震旦世宏观藻类与寒武纪宏观藻类没有大的演变，但寒武纪宏观藻类以出现钙质珊瑚藻类、分枝更加复杂的类型和具有锯齿状叶状体、生殖托构造的藻类为特征。     

Cambrian trace fossils of the Cruziana ichnofacies from the Bikaner-Nagaur Basin,north western Indian Craton

The Marwar Supergroup of the Bikaner-Nagaur Basin is composed of sediments deposited from the late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) to Upper Cambrian. The Nagaur Sandstone Formation of the Nagaur Group (uppermost division of the Marwar Supergroup) preserves trace fossils significant for establishing Early Cambrian biostratigraphic zones and depositional facies. Fifteen ichnospecies (and eight ichnogenera) identified in the Nagaur Sandstone Formation include “Treptichnus” pedum, Cruziana cf. tenella, Cruziana isp., Diplichnites ispp. A, B, and C, Gyrophyllites isp., Lockeia isp., Merostomichnites isp., Monomorphichnus gregarius isp. nov., Monomorphichnus isp., Planolites isp., Psammichnites isp., Rusophycus bikanerus isp. nov., Rusophycus cf. carbonarius, Rusophycus isp. and radial trace fossils.These trace fossils belong to ethological categories pascichnia, repichnia, cubichnia, and fodinichnia and represent arthropod and worm-like burrowing biota. The assemblage and a regional comparison with contemporaneous trace fossils in the eastern Gondwanan realm suggest that the sequence in the study area belongs to the Cruziana tenella Ichnozone and to Stage 2 (upper part of Terreneuvian), however the Middle Cambrian is not excluded. The trace fossil assemblage belongs to the archetypal Cruziana ichnofacies. Cross bedded sandstone, mud cracks and rainprints in the ichniferous strata of the Nagaur Sandstone Formation indicate deposition in an intertidal sand flat with channels that was exposed episodically.     

A middle Cambrian shallow water trilobite fauna from the Comstock Formation,near Queenstown,western Tasmania

A limestone lens within the Comstock Formation, from low in the Tyndall Group near the Lyell Comstock Mine near Queenstown, western Tasmania, contains a small trilobite fauna. The trilobites include Ammagnostus cf. laiwuensis, Kootenia sp., Sudanomocarina? sp. and a possible member of the Monkaspidae. These suggest an age somewhere in the range from the upper Ptychagnostus atavus Zone to the Lejopyge laevigata Zone, with regional stratigraphic correlations suggesting the latter zone. This is only the second Tasmanian Cambrian fossil assemblage described from limestone; almost all previously described Tasmanian Cambrian faunas are found in siltstones and shales.     

鄂尔多斯盆地拉什仲组遗迹化石组合与古环境

首次对鄂尔多斯盆地西北缘桌子山地区中奥陶世拉什仲组的遗迹化石进行了系统研究。该组遗迹化石共有6属8种,建立了Paleodictyon遗迹化石组合。此组合以被侵蚀、改造呈斑状分布的遗迹大量存在与Paleodictyon的普遍出现为最显著的特征。遗迹化石的形态、行为习性、保存方式等分类特征、埋藏学特征等表明该组合相当于Nereites遗迹相,代表了深海远源浊流沉积环境;而在本组沉积晚期,水体开始变浅,大致为大陆斜坡－陆隆半深海浊流沉积环境。其沉积层序、沉积构造及岩性等特征说明拉什仲组为典型的浊流相沉积,并以远源相浊流沉积为主,其下部近相浊流沉积较发育。据古流向测定,自中奥陶世拉什仲组至公乌素组沉积期,重力流运动方向的变化大致反映了贺兰拗拉槽张裂的幅度在变小并渐呈收敛隆起的趋势。     

Neogene echinoids from the Cayman Islands,West Indies: regional implications

The first fossil echinoids are recorded from the Cayman Islands. A regular echinoid, Arbacia? sp., the spatangoids Brissus sp. cf. B. oblongus Wright and Schizaster sp. cf. S. americanus (Clark), and the clypeasteroid Clypeaster sp. are from the Middle Miocene Cayman Formation. Test fragments of the mellitid clypeasteroid, Leodia sexiesperforata (Leske), are from the Late Pleistocene Ironshore Formation. Miocene echinoids are preserved as (mainly internal) moulds; hence, all species are left in open nomenclature because of uncertainties regarding test architecture. All Miocene taxa are recorded from single specimens apart from the 27 assigned to Brissus. Schizaster sp. cf. S. americanus (Clark) is compared to a species from the Oligocene of the south‐east USA. Brissus sp. cf. B. oblongus is close in gross morphology to a taxon from the Miocene of Malta. Leodia sexiesperforata is identified from fragments with confidence, being the only extant Antillean sand dollar with elongate ambulacral petals that is limited to carbonate substrates. The Miocene echinoids of Grand Cayman, although of limited diversity, are mainly comprised of genera common in comparable mid‐Cenozoic carbonate environments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

湖南汝城盆地原定中侏罗世地层发现早白垩世孢粉组合

通过对湖南汝城盆地原定为中侏罗统的李家洞水库剖面28个孢粉样品的分析处理,发现24个样品有孢粉化石,化石呈现早白垩世孢粉化石组合特征。发现的早白垩世特征分子有高含量的无突肋纹孢Cicatricosisporites,徐氏孢Hsuisporites,刺毛孢Pilosisporites,膜环弱缝孢Aequitriradites,二连粉Erlianpollis,有突肋纹孢Appendicisporites,微囊粉Parvisaccites,以及少量被子植物花粉。依据孢粉化石组合特征,建议将本剖面时代重新厘定为早白垩世。     

Newly Discovered Fish Faunas from the Early Triassic, Karoo Basin, South Africa, and their Correlative Implications

Recent collecting in exposures of the lowermost Burgersdorp Formation (Beaufort Group), of the Karoo Basin of South Africa, has revealed a previously unknown fish fauna from the Early Triassic (Scythian), lowermost Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (CAZ), which forms an important component of the total vertebrate assemblage. The newly discovered fish material includes lungfish, saurichthyids, and a large microfauna that includes numerous isolated chondrichthyan teeth, two fin spine fragments, and actinopterygian scales and teeth. The latest fish finds, together with the lowermost Cynognathus Assemblage Zone vertebrate faunas, make this Karoo Basin Assemblage Zone one of the most diverse Early Triassic faunal assemblages, comparable in faunal diversity to those from the Czatkowice Formation (Poland) and the Arcadia Formation (Australia). The presence of the lungfish Ptychoceratodus phillipsi in the early Middle Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Subzone B), and in the underlying latest Early Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Subzone A), indicates that these lungfish could serve as range index fossils within the CAZ, and thus are potentially useful biostratigraphic markers across the Early-Middle Triassic boundary. Furthermore the ‘new’ fish fauna provides a vital marine realm link in particular with the faunas of Madagascar and Australia, that is unavailable using the tetrapod faunal elements of the lower CAZ.     

Osteichthyans from the Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation (Maastrichtian), Meade County, South Dakota, USA

The Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation (upper Maastrichtian) in Meade County, South Dakota, USA, contains an osteichthyan assemblage indicative of transitional to marine shoreface deposits. The fauna consists of: Lepisosteus sp., Paralbula casei, Cylindracanthus cf. C. ornatus, Enchodus gladiolus, Hadrodus sp., and indeterminate osteichthyans with probable affinities to the Siluriformes and Beryciformes. The Fairpoint fauna is of limited species diversity and in this character mirrors many other Upper Cretaceous North American osteichthyan assemblages. Comparison to Upper Cretaceous chondrichthyan diversity and consideration of the structure of Cretaceous marine food webs suggest that osteichthyans are strongly under-represented in the Upper Cretaceous of North America. The small size and poor preservation potential of many Upper Cretaceous North American osteichthyans probably account for much of this observed paucity. Fairpoint osteichthyans are members of families that survive the Cretaceous–Paleocene boundary extinction event. Some of these genera and families are still extant and occur in a wide array of modern fresh, brackish, and shallow marine environments.     

The oldest trilobites in Cambria: Early Cambrian trilobite faunas from the Llanberis Slates Formation,Gwynedd, North Wales

Historical published works on the fossil fauna of the Llanberis Slates Formation in Gwynedd, North Wales, concentrated on the endemic trilobite Pseudatops viola (Woodward, 1888), and placed the formation towards the top of Stage 3 (Series 2) of the Cambrian chronostratigraphy.The impression given was that the fauna is not particularly diverse and fossils are rare. However, recent collecting has produced a comprehensive fauna of sponges, hyolithids and diverse arthropods including over 250 trilobite specimens from two localities of the uppermost Green Slate horizon. Among them are examples of the endemic trilobite Pseudatops viola, sufficiently well preserved to enable a reappraisal of its status. The most abundant trilobite is a form of Strenuella (cf. strenua), but the collection includes previously unrecorded eodiscoid trilobites and specimens representing unrecorded and potentially new taxa. These additions result in the most comprehensive lower Cambrian trilobite assemblage yet described from Wales, and place it in the lower part of Stage 4, Series 2 in standard global terms.     

西藏塔惹增地区中—上侏罗统仁多组的厘定及其地质意义

在西藏塔惹增地区前人划分的中二叠统下拉组中发现了具有典型意义的、代表中—晚侏罗世的Classopollis,Annulispora,Chasmatosporites等孢粉化石,以及较为丰富的Systematophora cf,Ctenidodinium等沟鞭藻类。表明在该区下拉组中至少有一部分以前没有被识别出的中—上侏罗统。通过岩石组合特征、基本层序、生物化石时代对比,将该套地层归属于仁多组。该地层的厘定,为区域地层对比、地层格架建立及探讨中生代盆地演化提供了基础资料。