Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2019-05-13DOI: 10.2478/if-2019-0006
Alexander Pohle, C. Klug, U. Toom, B. Kröger
{"title":"Conch structures, soft-tissue imprints and taphonomy of the Middle Ordovician cephalopod Tragoceras falcatum from Estonia","authors":"Alexander Pohle, C. Klug, U. Toom, B. Kröger","doi":"10.2478/if-2019-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2019-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Tragoceras falcatum (Schlotheim, 1820) is a common, loosely coiled estonioceratid (Tarphycerida, Cephalopoda) occurring in the Kunda Regional Stage (early Darriwilian, Middle Ordovician) of Estonia. Although the species is quite well-known, we document some features for the first time. For example, one specimen from the Harku quarry (Estonia) with a phosphatized replacement shell exhibits growth halts (megastriae) on the body chamber. As they are not preserved in smaller specimens, we suggest that these megastriae formed at the approach of maturity, possibly also reflecting sexual dimorphism and cycles of reproduction (iteroparity?). Additionally, the specimen shows minute soft-tissue imprints (drag bands and pseudosutures). These imprints are comparable to patterns in other cephalopods such as ammonoids, bactritids and other nautiloids, but have not yet been reported from Palaeozoic nautiloids. However, they might have been misinterpreted as oncomyarian muscle attachment scars previously. Lastly, we discuss the taphonomy of the specimen, which was encrusted by multiple bryozoan colonies post-mortem. Furthermore, it shows questionable traces of bioerosion.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"75 1","pages":"70 - 78"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48938679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0018
Z. Kvaček, V. Teodoridis, Miroslav Radoň
{"title":"Review of The Late Oligocene Flora of Matrý Near Sebuzín (České Středohoří Mts., The Czech Republic)","authors":"Z. Kvaček, V. Teodoridis, Miroslav Radoň","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Oligocene palaeontological locality on Matrý Hill near Sebuzín in the České středohoří Mts., North Bohemia, belongs to the Děčín Formation and is dated to 30.8-24.7 Ma according to the regional stratigraphy. It has yielded, in addition to insects from the Heteroptera group, a fossil bee Apis petrefacta and palaeobatrachid frogs, also numerous plant remains. Their recovery began in 1996. The plant fossil assemblage consists mostly of leaf impressions, occasionally accompanied by casts or impressions of fruits. Noteworthy are records of a fern Woodwardia muensteriana, conifers Pinus cf. rigios, P. cf. hepios, Calocedrus suleticensis, Tetraclinis salicornioides, Torreya bilinica, cf. Cephalotaxus parvifolia and numerous angiosperms, e.g. Liriodendron haueri, Daphnogene cinnamomifolia, Platanus neptuni, Cercidiphyllum crenatum, Sloanea artocarpites, Ulmus pyramidalis, Celtis pirskenbergensis, Carya fragiliformis, C. quadrangula, Betula brongniartii, B. dryadum, Alnus rhenana, A. cf. kefersteinii, Carpinus grandis, Ostrya atlantidis, Acer crenatifolium, A. cf. palaeosaccharinum, A. integrilobum and Craigia bronnii. Several angiosperm foliage specimens of both monocots and dicots have not yet been identified to a particular genus and species. The fossil plant assemblage at Matrý corresponds to two vegetation types, i.e. a zonal riparian forest and zonal mixed mesophytic forest, as corroborated by the Integrated Plant Record vegetation analysis. The vegetation thrived under a humid climate, characterized by average values of MAT (13.4 °C), WMMT (23.8 °C), CMMT (3.6 °C) and MAP (1,117 mm). The Matry fossil flora is similar in composition to the flora of Žichov from the same Oligocene Děčín Formation in the České středohoří Mts.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"292 - 316"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43588218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0017
S. Štamberg
{"title":"Actinopterygians of The Permian Locality Buxières-Les-Mines (Bourbonl’archambault Basin, France) and Their Relationship to Other Early Actinopterygians","authors":"S. Štamberg","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Actinopterygians from the large opencast coal mine in the vicinity of the village of Buxières-les-Mines (Bourbonl’Archambault Basin, Allier, France) are revisited and redescribed based on newly studied specimens. The understanding of the anatomy of Progyrolepis heyleri POPLIN, 1999, originally described by Poplin (1999) on the basis of the upper and lower jaws only, is greatly enhanced and is relatively complete. The anatomy of the palatoquadrate, dermal bones of the skull roof, hyoid arch, operculum, suboperculum, shoulder girdle, cheek bones and branchiostegal rays is described. In addition, new observations have been made on changes in the shape of the maxilla during ontogenesis and microstructure of the teeth. Details of Progyrolepis heyleri scales, including their microstructure and morphology of the ridge scales are provided. The collection of whole individuals, body fragments and numerous isolated bones provide confirmation of the presence of Aeduella blainvillei which is the main component of the actinopterygian fauna in Buxières-les-Mines. Additional new knowledge was obtained regarding the great variability in bones of the opercular apparatus and maxilla, presence of the supraorbital, branchiostegal ray with a conspicuous hyoid process and the direction of mutual overlapping of the suboperculum and branchiostegal ray in Aeduella blainvillei (AGASSIZ, 1833). Microsculpture on the scales is redescribed in this species. Paramblypterus cf. duvernoy is the third member of the actinopterygians in the locality Buxières-les-Mines. Fragments of Paramblypterus are very rare and the bones of the skull roof are presented here. Anatomical features of Progyrolepis heyleri, Aeduella blainvillei and Paramblypterus cf. duvernoy were studied and compared with those of other Devonian and Permo-Carboniferous actinopterygians.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"245 - 291"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43592746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0019
M. Mendes, Mário Pedro Dinis, J. Kvaček
{"title":"Some Conifers from The Early Cretaceous (Late Aptian – Early Albian) of Catefica, Lusitanian Basin, Western Portugal","authors":"M. Mendes, Mário Pedro Dinis, J. Kvaček","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Several mesofossil floras discovered in the Early Cretaceous rocks from the Lusitanian Basin of western Portugal comprise numerous well-preserved conifer remains. Here we report the occurrence of four conifer types in the mesofossil flora from the Catefi ca locality, about 4 km south of Torres Vedras in the Estremadura region on the western Portuguese Basin. The specimens were recovered from rocks belonging to the Almargem Formation, interpreted to be of late Aptian - early Albian age. It includes three Cheirolepidiaceae genera Frenelopsis SCHENK, Pseudofrenelopsis NATH. and Watsoniocladus V.SRINIV., and one conifer twig of Pagiophyllum-type. These conifers, which co-occurred in the same depositional bed with a well-diversified early angiosperm assemblage including flowers, seeds, fruits and dispersed stamens with pollen in situ, provide new insights into Early Cretaceous palaeoecology.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"317 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43230826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0020
M. Libertín, J. Kvaček, J. Bek, P. Štorch
{"title":"Plant Diversity of The Mid Silurian (Lower Wenlock, Sheinwoodian) Terrestrial Vegetation Preserved in Marine Sediments from The Barrandian Area, The Czech Republic","authors":"M. Libertín, J. Kvaček, J. Bek, P. Štorch","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Plant mega- and microfossils are described from the middle Sheinwoodian of the Barrandian area. The material comes from the Loděnice locality and the same horizon as the earliest unequivocal land plant, Cooksonia barrandei LIBERTÍN, J.KVAČEK, BEK, ŽÁRSKÝ et ŠTORCH. Its age (432 Myr) is inferred from the associated graptolite fauna, including the zonal index graptolite Monograptus belophorus. Megafossils have clear similarity with Cooksonia, due to their dichotomised axes with slightly widened subtending axes bearing putative sporangia. They document some of the plant diversity that was in place when the first proven representative of the genus Cooksonia appeared, and together with dispersed spores they provide strong and important evidence that a diversified terrestrial ecosystem had developed on the Barrandian volcanic archipelago in the peri-Gondwanan realm by the end of the Sheinwoodian Stage of the Silurian Period.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"327 - 333"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45751652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0016
R. Parsley, M. H. Lawson, John POJETA, JR.
{"title":"A Practical and Historical Perspective of the How and Why of Whitening Fossil Specimens and Casts as a Precurser to Their Photography","authors":"R. Parsley, M. H. Lawson, John POJETA, JR.","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Whitening fossils and casts to enhance photographic detail has evolved from the early twentieth century in step with advances in photography in both film and digital technologies. Whitening began with clouds of NH4OH and HCl being blown together to form a fine white coating of NH4Cl. The wet method has disadvantages in not being very stable and forms thick coatings in humid environments. Heating dry NH4Cl in a calcium chloride drying tube and variously expelling it in a concentrated vapor came into use in the mid twentieth century. It is a more advantageous method and the one commonly used by most invertebrate palaeontologists. Most dry methods differ in delivery of air to the heated drying tube (blowing over superheated NH4Cl) - directly by mouth, squeeze bulb, aquarium aerator, compressed gas bottle, or from a centralized compressed air system. It produces a fine-grained coating and works best when performed in a fume hood. Heating antimony in a drying tube or burning magnesium ribbon to produce whitening vapor or blowing fine grained powder with an airbrush have their adherents but are rarely used. Whitening electronically is a technique in its infancy but holds a great promise, especially in photography of large invertebrates and vertebrates.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"237 - 244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42497977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0021
D. Uhl, Pia S. Krüger, M. Wuttke
{"title":"Epidermal Anatomy of Glyptostrobus Europaeus (Brongn.) Unger from The Late Oligocene of The Westerwald (Rhinelandpalatinate, W-Germany)","authors":"D. Uhl, Pia S. Krüger, M. Wuttke","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Details of the epidermal anatomy of Glyptostrobus europaeus (BRONGN.) UNGER from the Late Oligocene locality Norken in the Westerwald (Rhineland-Palatinate, W-Germany) are documented and described by means of scanning electron microscopy of in situ cuticles. The taxon had a wide distribution over the entire Northern Hemisphere during the Oligocene and it is considered to represent the most common conifer during the Cenozoic of Europe, but cuticles from this taxon are rarely figured in the literature. The cuticles from Norken exhibit cellular patterns and details (e.g. of stomatal complexes) typical for taxodioid Cupressaceae. Anatomical observations are in close agreement with results for this taxon from other Central European localities. The in situ cuticles had already fragmented into very small pieces, and this explains why it was so far impossible to retrieve cuticles from this locality by means of standard cuticular analytic techniques.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"334 - 340"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49416811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-12-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0015
R. Musil
{"title":"Phenological Analysis of the Last Glacial Vertebrates from the Territory of Moravia (the Czech Republic) – Continuity and Change in Faunistic Communities","authors":"R. Musil","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Due to the vertical zonality of the studied area, its environment varied greatly over a relatively short distance within the same time span. It is possible to distinguish the following different types of environment: (1) Alluvial floodplains around larger water flows. I assume in the Last Glacial there was continuous coniferous forest, with occasional sporadic occurrences of thermophilous deciduous trees in favourable locations mainly in south Moravia. (2) Lower foothills up to about 300 m a.s.l. along the floodplains, probably the most widespread type of environment in the studied area. Open grasslands with isolated trees and shrubs were predominant. (3) At the higher altitudes of the hills (ca. 300-500 m a.s.l.) there was only steppe. (4) The highest parts of highlands and the mountains (500-1,400 m a.s.l.). During the cold and dry events these areas were mostly without grassy vegetation. The boundaries of the above mentioned environments fluctuated throughout the whole of the Last Glacial. A series of new investigations of Last Glacial Moravian sites took place over the recent decades. The result was a relatively large amount of fossil vertebrate findings, from karst areas (caves), and from open air sites. All findings were assigned to precisely defined layers which were in most cases radiometrically and/or archaeologically dated. It allowed association of the fauna communities with stratigraphical events and therefore produced a clearer picture of changes during the entire Last Glacial. The study showed that the species structure of the communities was not stable during the Last Glacial. The changes did not exhibit gradual linear development. The time span of the individual communities varied greatly. In two cases a total species change occurred very rapidly. In other cases the changes occurred over a longer period of time and may have involved penetration of new species into existing communities to a significant extent. The changes of communities associated with single stratigraphical events were palaeoecologically evaluated. In comparison with changes in the environment, I can conclude that both changes occurred simultaneously. I am therefore convinced that the primary impulse for community change was induced by environmental change. The Eemian communities of regions east of Germany differ from coeval communities of Western and the west part of Central Europe. This difference was driven by variation in precipitation, a more humid climate in the West and continental climate in the East. We have therefore two different Eemian provinces in Central Europe, the more humid west (oceanic weather) and the drier east (continental weather). The first half of the Last Glacial, about 40 ka from its beginning, had a wide range of climatic oscillations of different intensity. In layers of Moravian localities with interglacial species, the numbers of finds are always limited (small number). They were previously assigned to the Eemian. The earlier","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"199 - 236"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44742274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-08-31DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0005
J. K. Cittert, C. Pott, E. Kustatscher, Stefan Schmeissner, Günter Dütsch, J. Burgh
{"title":"Phialopteris Heterophylla (Sternberg Ex Göppert, 1836) Comb. Nov., A Rare Schizaeaceous Fern from the Early Jurassic Of Bavaria","authors":"J. K. Cittert, C. Pott, E. Kustatscher, Stefan Schmeissner, Günter Dütsch, J. Burgh","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recently collected material of the monotypic schizaeaceous fern genus Phialopteris is described including for the first time the in situ spores. The complex nomenclatural history of the type species is discussed, resulting in the designation of the new combination Phialopteris heterophylla (Sternberg ex Göppert, 1836) comb. nov. as type. This delicate fern has so far only been found in the Hettangian of Bavaria (Germany). Along with a comparison with contemporary schizaeaceous ferns and extant members of Schizaeaceae, and with dispersed spores, the possibility that this fern might have been a climbing fern, similar to some living Lygodium species, is briefly discussed.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"55 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48398139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fossil ImprintPub Date : 2018-08-01DOI: 10.2478/if-2018-0009
J. Kovar-Eder, V. Teodoridis
{"title":"The Middle Miocene Central European Plant Record Revisited; Widespread Subhumid Sclerophyllous Forests Indicated","authors":"J. Kovar-Eder, V. Teodoridis","doi":"10.2478/if-2018-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/if-2018-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Middle Miocene plant record from the wider Central Paratethys region (Central Paratethys, the North Alpine Foredeep, Carpathian Foredeep, the Swabian Alb and southern parts of the Bohemian Massif) was analysed by the Integrated Plant Record (IPR) vegetation analysis to assess major vegetation types. The plant assemblages at 27 sites accumulated under very different sedimentological settings and refl ect heterogeneous environments. Although of very different origin, the plant record delivers a fairly consistent signal towards subhumid sclerophyllous forests (ShSF) as the most likely major zonal vegetation unit for the Langhian/Serravallian. Today, such forests develop under seasonal climate with pronounced seasonal changes in precipitation. The fl oristic characteristics are outlined and the record is compared to that of the preceding and the following Miocene periods.","PeriodicalId":12431,"journal":{"name":"Fossil Imprint","volume":"74 1","pages":"115 - 134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46334829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}