Bollettino SPI: Vol. 50 (1) 2011

The Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana is now 50 years old. It was founded in Modena at the start of the 1960’s thanks to the determination and willpower of the then President, Prof. Eugenia Montanaro Gallitelli. In the preface to the first number of Volume 1 (published in 1961) she wrote that “In establishing the Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana the repeated request of the society members to have their own national forum available for scientific activities with a precise paleontological character is fulfilled.” Behind these few simple words “establish the Bollettino” there was nevertheless a long and patient effort in relation to the preparation of the journal as the proposals of the printers never convinced her completely: neither with regard to the choice of format, font, paper nor layout, everything had to meet the exacting requirements of her scholarly humanistic cultural background. The major concerns of Mrs Gallitelli, as she was known to everyone, lay in the reproduction process of the illustrations which she wanted in collotype as this technique guaranteed the highest quality. She always stated that the plates were more important than the text in a paleontological paper. The lady professor, who was well-known for her strong stubborn character, managed the first 16 volumes of the “Bollettino” with a compelling enthusiasm which she transferred to her collaborators. [read more]

Skeletal remains of the teleost fish species Paravinciguerria praecursor Arambourg, 1954 are described for the first time from the upper Cenomanian of the Peloritani and Nebrodi Mountains, north-eastern Sicily. Four partially articulated cranial fragments were collected from the bituminous shales of the Argille Varicolori succession outcropping near the towns of Floresta and Malvagna, in the province of Messina. The upper Cenomanian fossil fish-rich bituminous shales of the Peloritani and Nebrodi Mountains were deposited on a distal ramp along the North African continental shelf and represent sediments related to the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. The finding of Paravinciguerria praecursor, previously described from the upper Cenomanian-lower Turonian deposits of Morocco and northern Italy, constitutes the eighteenth fish taxon to be described from the upper Cenomanian of north-eastern Sicily. The phylogenetic affinities of Paravinciguerria are discussed in detail in the present study. The assignment of this genus to one of the recognized protacanthopterygian subgroups is excluded here on the basis of anatomical features. Based on the structure of the upper jaw and hyobranchial apparatus, it is suggested that Paravinciguerria may be interpreted as a stem stomiiform, thereby representing the earliest member of this lineage.

The classification of the fossil mammalian remains from the “Canale delle Acque Alte” collection is here revised. The stratigraphical provenance of the fossil material has now been reconstructed based on paleontological and sedimentological evidence derived from analyzes of the faunal assemblage and the sediment residue that specimens still preserve within bone cavities. Many species such as Hippopotamus amphibius, Dama dama dama, Megaloceros giganteus, Ursus spelaeus, Vulpes vulpes, Bos taurus longifrons and Capra hircus are recognized for the first time within the material sampled from this locality. The data obtained allowed assessment of the relative abundance of taxa based on calculation of the minimum number of individuals present. Hypotheses regarding the environmental conditions under which the fauna lived are also proposed based on the results and the ecology of the species identified. The fauna is attributed to a time interval between the end of the MIS 5a and MIS 3, while the specimens within the topmost level are Holocene in age.

Amber of Early Eocene age is described for the first time from the Belluno Flysch succession from samples collected in the vicinity of the city of Belluno. The physicochemical properties of the amber have been analyzed with regard to obtaining paleoenvironmental and paleobotanical data in order to facilitate a comparison with other Eocene amber findings in the Venetian Prealps.

Nine specimens of fossil pigs are described here from the latest Miocene mammal assemblage of Monticino Gypsum Quarry (also referred to as Brisighella). The tooth remains consist of three elements of the upper dentition (I1, M3 and M2), and two of the lower dentition (P2 and M1). There are four post-cranial elements (astragalus, cuboid, navicular and third phalanx). The degree of dental wear, the closure of the root of the incisor, as well as the relative dimensions of the post-cranial remains indicate that the fossils belong to at least two individuals, a juvenile and an adult. The specimens have been assigned to the species Propotamochoerus provincialis (Gervais, 1859) based on a combinaton of dental morphometrics and morphological characters. Affinities may be shown with recent forms of Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758, based on aspects of the morphology of the post-cranial remains implying that the latter are quite homogenous within primitive or derived taxa of the family. As the post-cranial morphology of Propotamochoerus is poorly known the description given here of the findings at Brisighella is an important addition to the knowledge regarding the genus. The European distribution of Propotamochoerus provincialis (Gervais, 1859) ranges from the biochronological units MN13 to MN15. This description of the Brisighella specimens augments the knowledge of the Monticino Gypsum Quarry fauna, the most well-represented Messinian continental vertebrate assemblage in Italy.

A rich and diverse conodont fauna represented by fifty-six taxa belonging to fifteen genera is described from three sections (Ghale-kalaghu, Howz-e-Dorah 1 and Howz-e-Dorah 2) in the southern Shotori Range (central Iran). The association, dominated by Polygnathus, has allowed a detailed biostratigraphy across the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary interval to be constructed, ranging from the Uppermost marginifera Zone to the anchoralis-latus Zone. The D/C boundary is narrowly constrained within a condensed interval at the base of the “Mush Horizon” between the Shishtu 1 and Shishtu 2 subformations.

Findings of isolated wood clasts (wood branches and/or portions of a tree trunk) in Early Pleistocene deposits within the “Chiani-Tevere” depositional cycle (Orvieto area, central Italy) are described. The specimens show pervasive borings developed parallel to the wood fibers, assigned here to Teredolites longissimus Kelly & Bromley, 1984 and doubtfully to T. clavatus Leymerie, 1842. Oriented thin section analyses of the grouped or isolated Teredolites specimens have shown that the borings vary in shape and diameter from circular to oval or flattened, have a thin lining and are sand-filled. On the exterior surface the characteristic elongated grooves of Teredolites longissimus arranged in the direction of the perforation may be observed. Two successive phases of bioerosion are identified: subaerial borings by insect larvae indicate terrestrial activity prior to transport and teredinids indicate a marginal marine environment. The macrofossil assemblages and sedimentological structures suggest storm events in a lower shoreface environment. The ichnological analyses of the boring history combined with the sedimentological data indicate a gradual transition from a fan delta to upper shoreface conditions.

The morphological series composed of large xenusiids of the Chengjiang fauna of China and the basal anomalocaridids Pambdelurion and Kerygmachela from the Sirius Passet fauna of Greenland is supplemented with another xenusiid lobopodian, Siberion lenaicus gen. et sp. nov., from the Early Cambrian Sinsk Formation of central Siberia. Reduction and ventral bending of the proboscis in Siberion and the Chengjiang Megadictyon and Jianshanopodia may be a synapomorphy uniting these representatives with the anomalocaridids. Throughout the series, the raptorial appendages became larger and more sclerotised, while the gill-like structures on the trunk appendages were transformed from their originally tubular shape into a pinnate form and may eventually have given rise to the wide anomalocaridid flaps. Such a tendency can be rooted in the Aysheaia-like xenusians, that have raptorial appendages associated with a prominent proboscis. This results in a scenario of almost complete transition from early lobopodians to ancestral arthropods within the xenusian-anomalocaridid segment of the phylogenetic tree.