Description: Palynomorph assemblages reflect changes in land plant communities and are thus significant proxies to interpret palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes. The Middle Permian of the East European Platform is crucial to the understanding of marine and non-marine palaeoclimate archives and interregional correlations of marine and non-marine successions, utilising palaeoclimate signatures documented in the palynological record. New palynological data from the Kazanian stratotype section are presented and interpreted with respect to palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate. This dataset will serve as a basis for ongoing studies on the type area of the Kazanian and the mid-Permian biodiversity patterns, preceding the end-Guadalupian crisis and the changes of the end-Permian biotic diversification followed by the most severe extinction event in Earth’s history at the Permian-Triassic boundary.

Description: Many exceptionally preserved fossils have long been thought the product of preservation by bacterial autolithification, based largely upon the presence of, micron-sized, spherical or elongate bodies on their surface. This has recently been challenged by studies of similar fossils which cite morphological and geochemical evidence that these structures could be fossilized melanosomes, melanin-containing organelles. We geochemically analysed a tadpole from the Oligocene Enspel Formation, Germany, which displays such spherical bodies on its surface. Pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (Py-GCMS) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) indicate that the organic remains of the tadpole are original and are not the result of external contamination, shown by the different chemical compositions of the fossil and its enclosing matrix. Py-GCMS also demonstrates the presence of bacterial and plant biomarkers in the matrix but not the tadpole, suggesting that the spherical bodies are unlikely to be bacterial, and also that such fossils do not develop their dark colour from incorporating plant material, as has been suggested. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) shows high levels of organically bound Zn(II) in the fossilized soft tissue, a metal known to chelate both eu- and pheomelanin. The zinc in the tadpole shows greater similarity to that bound in pheomelanized extant samples than to that in eumelanized ones. Though further geochemical analysis of both pure pheomelanin and bacterial samples is required to completely exclude a bacterial origin, these results are in line with a pheomelanic origin for the spherical bodies on the tadpole.

Description: A partial skeleton of a young adult Eomyodon volkeri from the late Oligocene of Enspel (MP 28) represents the first of this genus, which was previously known only from isolated teeth at this locality. The specimen was split in two slabs upon discovery, and both parts were transferred to an artificial plastic matrix. Soft parts are preserved in the partial skeleton which comprises most of the skull with both mandibles, an incomplete vertebral column with parts of the ribcage, the right scapula with a clavicle fragment, almost the entire right forelimb (hand and left radius and ulna), parts of the pelvis and the left hind limb without the foot. It shows a generalised rodent ‘bauplan’; body mass is estimated to be about 10 g based on femur length. The lengths and proportions of the phalanges indicate a terrestrial lifestyle, and the preserved soft parts do not indicate any adaptations for gliding.

Description: The present contribution provides a first preliminary overview on flowers and inflorescences which have been discovered in the late Oligocene Fossil–Lagerstätte Enspel. These findings have so far been neglected in palaeobotanical studies on this locality, but several morphologically different types of flowers and inflorescences can be distinguished. Most of these have not yet been determined. The excellent morphological preservation of many of the flowers demonstrates that further careful investigations of these remains may provide important additional information about the diversity of this important palaeoflora and its palaeoenvironment.

Description: Seven ammonoid levels/assemblages are recognised in the Devonian (Famennian) and Carboniferous (Tournaisian) of the northwestern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China. Eleven genera and 20 species, including six new species ( Becanites sp. nov., Protactoclymenia junggarensis sp. nov., Prot. magna sp. nov., Cyrtoclymenia? parallela sp. nov., Sporadoceras impressum sp. nov. and “ Mimimitoceras ” transiens sp. nov.) are described from the Hongguleleng and Heishantou formations in the Bulongguoer, Hebukehe, Emuha and Hashatu sections. The first assemblage is characterised by Platyclymenia subnautilina (Sandberger), Prionoceras frechi (Wedekind) and Sp. impressum sp. nov. It is assigned to the basal upper Famennian Pl. annulata Zone (UD IV-A) and indicates that the global, transgressive Annulata Event enabled the first spread of ammonoids to the region. The second assemblage is characterised by large-sized Cyrtoclymeniaceae ( Protactoclymenia and Cyrtoclymenia? ) and Sporadoceras aff. muensteri (Münster) and correlates with the orbiculare Zone (UD IV-C) of North Africa, which also contains very large clymeniids and goniatites. The third regional assemblage consists of rare Gonioclymenia sp. and a related, more evolute form. The fourth assemblage is a peculiar Cymaclymenia “Mimimitoceras ” fauna, including C. striata (Münster) s.l., C. cf. involvens Lange, Sporadoceras sp., “Mimimitoceras” cf. geminum Korn, “M.” transiens sp. nov. and M. cf. rotersi Korn, most of which are discovered for the first time in the vast Junggar and adjacent areas. Based on conodont (associated Protognathodus fauna) and palynomorph data (LN Zone), this assemblage corresponds to the lower Hangenberg Event Interval (UD VI-E). Rare records from a fifth level suggest that cymaclymeniids survived regionally into the conodont Pr. kockeli Zone, as in other regions. The sixth level consists of a single Lower Tournaisian Acutimitoceras (Stockumites)? . The seventh level also has a low diversity and includes Weyerella angularia (Liang and Wang) and Becanites sp. nov. in the Emuha section. It falls in the Middle Tournaisian, as do Weyerella faunas that were previously reported from the region. The endemic species and the distinctive lack of otherwise widespread genera provide a strong regional signature of the overall ammonoid fauna.

Description: Microstratigraphically classified fossil finds of Emys orbicularis from the open-cast lignite mine of Jänschwalde and other sites of the Niederlausitz region (Brandenburg, E Germany) provide evidence for the occurrence of pond turtles during the last interglacial (Eemian, MIS 5e) for at least 4,600–5,200 years. Bite marks on the turtles’ upper and lower shells indicate predation by European badger ( Meles meles ). As part of a sophisticated killing technique, the predators smashed the nuchal area of the upper shell and the head of the turtles retracted underneath. The subsequent consumption of the soft body was initiated by opening the rear of the lower shell. The reconstructed preying behaviour would have only been possible in turtles up to a certain size and thus required the regular presence of small-bodied Emys individuals. Optimal prey specimens were of about 110 mm in shell length. Turtles with shells exceeding 135 mm and with some doming of the carapace were at lower risk, as a successful execution of the killing bite would not have been possible in these cases. The available Eemian record suggests that predation on European pond turtles was part of the badgers’ subsistence strategy for a period of at least 3,500–4,100 years. Although the demonstrated predator-prey relationship required narrowly defined environmental conditions, it occurred over a substantial portion of the last interglacial, a period of time characterised by temperate conditions and a certain climatic stability.

Description: The extinct Eopelobates (Eocene of western North America; Eocene–Pliocene of Europe) and Pelobates (Oligocene–Recent of Europe; Recent of northern Africa and the Middle East) are superficially toad-like anurans that are united within the family Pelobatidae mainly on the basis of a unique, tripartite frontoparietal complex. Both genera have a relatively good fossil record consisting of isolated bones, skeletons, and developmental series of tadpoles through adults, all of which are potentially informative for tracing the evolutionary history of the family. Eopelobates is of interest for several reasons. Of the two pelobatid genera, Eopelobates appears earlier in the fossil record (early Eocene vs. late Oligocene) and it is more primitive in lacking many of the features associated with fossoriality in extant Pelobates . The taxonomic composition of Eopelobates has been contentious and at least one putative new species has long been recognised, but never formally named. Here, we provide updated taxonomic accounts for Pelobatoidea, Pelobatidae, Pelobates , and Eopelobates and document development within a series of tadpoles and juveniles of E. bayeri from Bechlejovice (late Oligocene in age), Czech Republic. We also provide updated accounts for the five previously named and currently accepted species of Eopelobates . For the European congeners, E. anthracinus (late Oligocene) and E. bayeri (early Oligocene–middle Miocene) can confidently be regarded as separate species; although the distinction between E. hinschei and E. wagneri (both middle Eocene) is less certain, we provisionally maintain them as separate species. Micro-CT scans for the holotype skeleton of E. grandis (latest Eocene, USA) help resolve some problematic features, most notably showing that the cranial sculpture is of the pit-and-ridge style that is typical for Eopelobates . A sixth congener is named and described based on two skeletons from the middle Eocene portion of the Green River Formation, in Wyoming, USA. We caution that reports of Eopelobates -like anurans from the pre-Eocene of western North America and the early Eocene of India are based on isolated bones that cannot be assigned with confidence to that genus. The presence of Eopelobates in both North America and Europe may be explained by dispersal via the high latitude land bridge that connected those two continents during the late Paleocene through Eocene. The pelobatid fossil record is informative for documenting the nature and timing of changes in cranial features (e.g. ornament patterns, shape of nasals, pattern of frontoparietal–squamosal contact) from the inferred primitive condition seen in most Eopelobates to the more derived condition seen in extant Pelobates , but it is less informative for tracing the evolution of fossoriality, which is a key attribute of extant Pelobates .

Description: A new specimen of the cormorant species from the late Oligocene (MP 28) fossil site Enspel in Germany—the third to be discovered at this site—is described. Previously unknown or controversial features bearing on the taxonomic and phylogenetic affinities of this bird are identified, which do not support the assignment of the Enspel cormorant to the taxon Borvocarbo . The species is therefore here, tentatively, transferred back to Oligocorax , in which it was first placed. The new osteological data confirm that ? Oligocorax stoeffelensis is a stem group representative of Phalacrocoracidae, and the species exhibits a previously unrecognised derived morphology of the pectoral girdle bones in that the furcula is fused with the apex carinae of the sternum, a feature absent in modern cormorants. A phylogenetic analysis revealed two alternative positions for ? O. stoeffelensis relative to other stem group Phalacrocoracidae, supporting a sister group relationship either to the clade including Nambashag , Nectornis and crown group Phalacrocoracidae or to a clade including ? O. stoeffelensis and crown group Phalacrocoracidae to the exclusion of Nambashag and Nectornis .

Description: The Upper Norian (Late Triassic) red-beds of the Knollenmergel (Trossingen-Formation) are famous for their richness in prosauropod dinosaurs. Among the most productive localities, the Obere Mühle (Rutschete) at Trossingen (SW Germany) stands out for the large number of skeletons found in the early 20th century and the wide stratigraphic range of finds within a 12-m sequence of monotonous floodplain mudstones. New excavations at the original site have been carried out since 2007, aimed at securing taphonomic, sedimentological and palaeopedological data on the formation of the deposit. Based on the findings of the present and earlier excavations, the following conclusions can be drawn. (1) The Obere Mühle yields at least two different types of vertebrate lagerstaetten: (1) miring deposits, preserving numerous articulated skeletons in “life-like” postures and all stages of subsequent decomposition and (2) more regular sheet flood deposits, producing only a few skeletons (e.g. turtles), which were disarticulated into body parts and single elements, or in bonebeds. (2) The deposits were laid down in numerous successive cycles of sedimentation, interrupted by pedogenic phases. A broad range of pedologic features is recognised, leading to the interpretation of the deposits as paleo-vertisols and aridisols. This indicates a long depositional history for the whole section, interrupted by arid phases in which few vertebrates were preserved and life was probably less rich. (3) The occurrence of vertebrate skeletons correlates with more humid periods and traces of intense vegetation. (4) Weathering played a significant role in some beds of the Trossingen section. The absence of smaller tetrapods could be caused by intense weathering.