Abstract:  This is the second contribution to the stratigraphic and genetic model of the Pinda Group. The mid-Cretaceous Pinda Group of the Congo basin in the northern Angolan offshore is a transgressive supersequence. Its lower part is made of Bufalo and Pacassa facies that correspond respectively to mixed and calcareous-dolomitic grain-dominated fabrics. Both facies were strongly diagenetically altered, mostly by dolomitic replacement and leaching. Contrary to opinions expressed by other authors that both styles of alteration are early diagenetic phenomena, there is substantial evidence for a burial origin with dolomitic replacement and leaching of calcite having started at depths not less than 150 m and 400 m, respectively.

 Abstract:  The purpose of this study is to clarify the problem posed by Triloculina laevigata Orbigny, 1826, nom. nud., described and figured by Fornasini in 1905. An other species, also called Triloculina laevigata was created by Bornemann in 1855 and Orbigny's specific name became invalid. This invalidity was only recently assessed and numerous authors still use the original assignation. Consequently, it seems necessary to erect a new name. After listing the various names, revising the subgenus and genera attributed to Triloculina laevigata, and comparing fossil and recent specimens, the name: Affinetrina alcidi Lévy et al., 1992a, is confirmed.

 Abstract:  A new dasycladalean alga is described as Uteria naghanensis n. sp. from the late Maastrichtian Tarbur Formation of the Zagros Zone, SW Iran. It is a small to medium-sized, rather well calcified species with small articles each bearing one fertile ampulla, alternating with close-set verticils of numerous sterile laterals. Another characteristic is its comparably wide main axis. The genus Uteria Michelin was so far only known from the Paleogene (Danian-Lutetian). The discovery of U. naghanensis n. sp. in inner platform wackestone of the Tarbur Fm. documents the origination of the genus already in the uppermost Cretaceous within an area belonging to the Arabian Plate.

 Abstract:  A new Dasycladacean species found in Hauterivian strata in Aquitaine is described. It is ascribed to the genus Bakalovaella Bucur, 1993, which is reinstated here. From a phylogenetic point of view, based of the "lifting piston" model, this taxon should be part of a lineage derived from the Diploporaceae.

 Abstract:  The late Turonian ammonoid fauna of Rochefort-en-Valdaine (Drôme, France) is herein described in detail and the intraspecific variability of Vocontiiceras vocontiense Diebold et al., 2018, is studied. The ammonoid assemblage (9 taxa identified) was deposited within the Prionocyclus germari Zone, which was defined in Germany, and is now also documented in southeastern France. Moreover, the co-occurrence of the heteromorph ammonoids Hyphantoceras (Hyphantoceras) flexuosum (Schlüter) and Hyphantoceras (Hyphantoceras) ernsti Wiese indicates the lower part of the Prionocyclus germari Zone.

 Abstract:  Teichichnus burrows occur in the Sandbian, Katian and Telychian of Estonia associated with carbonate rocks. It is possible that Teichichnus is more common in the Sandbian than in the Lower to Middle Ordovician and in the Silurian. Two ichnospecies, T. rectus and T. patens, have been identified from the Lower Paleozoic of Estonia. This is the first record of T. patens in the Ordovician of Baltica. Teichichnus in the Sandbian, Katian and Telychian of Estonia is restricted to the shallowest tier levels. The rarity of Teichichnus in the carbonate sequences of the Ordovician and Silurian of Estonia reflects little bathymetric variability and an extremely low sedimentation rate in the shallow epicontinental basin.

 Abstract:  The present paper examines the type specimens of the bivalve and gastropod taxa described by Gaetano Rovereto in the years 1897-1914 coming from the Oligocene rocks of Santa Giustina and Sassello areas (Molare Formation, Tertiary Piedmont Basin, Central Liguria, NW Italy). These taxa are part of the "Collezione BTP" (BTP Collection) housed at the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita - DISTAV - of the Università di Genova. The collecting sites reported in the Rovereto's papers and indicated on labels have been reinvestigated in the field. 22 taxa (6 gastropods and 16 bivalves) are revised and re-documented; 6 have been recognized as younger synonyms of other species, the others are valid taxa. The majority of this fauna is restricted to the Oligocene time and to the Tertiary Piedmont Basin.

 Extended abstract:  This is the third and last part of a review of the Rhapydioninidae, benthic foraminifera that inhabited almost alone the most central areas of carbonate platforms of the Mediterranean realm. A global schematic table (Fig. 18 , in addition to Figs. 15-17) shows their regional development. The stratigraphic succession of this family seems to have been dominated by three periods of emersion (one being documented, the others only inferred) that limit the time distribution of most of these taxa. Thus it is doubtful that this distribution can be used with certainty in other areas; for example the mention of "Cuvillierinella? sp." (possibly a Metacuvillierinella?) in the Upper Maastrichtian of Iran is a hint of such a discrepancy (Schlagintweit & Rashidi, 2016).
Rhapydionininae and Pseudedomiinae subfamilies are summarily considered here, either because the facts have been established previously, or because the knowledge of them is still fragmentary. The Rhapydionininae subfamily, summarily depicted in Figure 18, is characterized mainly by its endoskeleton, lacking the confluent structure, with a wide peripheral zone and a very early unrolling trend (either cylindrical: Rhapydionina, with small proloculus, or flabelliform: Fanrhapydionina, with large proloculus). The milioline origin of this subfamily is indicated by species of the R. dercourti group, which are faintly streptospiral in the initial stages of both generations (Fleury, 2014). The Pseudedomiinae subfamily is not the subject of these studies, being essentially represented by taxa in more Eastern regions. Besides, nothing definite can be deduced from the minimal knowledge of the group (see review in Mavrikas et al., 1994), until the type of the type species is still poorly known.
Cuvillierinellinae subfamily (Fleury, 2016) is made up of six genera, including Cuvillierinella from which the others are clearly derived. But the origin of this genus remains uncertain. However, the presence of Pseudonummoloculina aff. kalantarii in our samples enables the consideration of what would be such an ancestor and how it could be named. We can try to imagine it from a simple principle and a few observations. The principle is the independence of evolutionary characters, commonly observed elsewhere in the family but quite obvious in the type population of Cuvillierinella salentina (see De Castro, 1988; Fleury, 2016), in which coexist the well-known type and specimens of overall same appearance, either streptospiral and devoid of partitions, or planispiral with a highly specialized endoskeleton. The observations are those that can be performed on species described by various authors under the name of Pseudonummoloculina. These organisms change from streptospiral to planispiral stage during their development. Some have a unique "notched" opening, others a double row of openings (and complex combinations of these two rather indistinct types) and some have no endoskeleton while others display rudimentary partitions. Varying combinations of these characters defy the conventional criteria of classification, each combination (changing during the ontogenetic development) being likely to justify a generic or specific status according to the arbitrary ordinary standards. These organisms are however in all cases isolated in time and most often deprived of clearly identifiable descendants (with the exception of P. pecheuxi Fourcade & Fleury, 2001, which is the origin of the species of Praechubbina genus). They probably do not constitute a unique group, but represent a step in an iterative evolution, leading members of a group of Miliolacea to the Alveolinacea, as Reichel (1936, 1937) and Pêcheux (2002) conceived it and as Fleury and Fourcade (1990) illustrated. We are thus led to apply the generic term Pseudonummoloculina to indicate a transitional state, that is to say an evolving stage. We are here confronted with the fundamental difficulty of adapting a nomenclature of creationistic essence to the perpetual reorganization of living organisms. It is therefore futile to characterize by terminology the temporary results; the term Pseudonummoloculina seems better to express a vague and essentially unstable notion related to the realities of evolution, ... at least as long as evolving networks of various known stages are not identified.
The five genera derived from Cuvillierinella have a wide range of morphology (Fleury, 2016, Fig. 13). Each genus is characterized by a dominant evolutionary trend, variously associated with secondary independent features.
Metacuvillierinella and Pseudochubbina genera are treated superficially in this text and are probably derived from Cuvillierinella or its supposed close ancestor. Metacuvillierinella is the closest, comparable in its young stage to typical streptospiral tests of C. salentina, comprising an early well developed wide meshed endoskeleton. It is distinguished by its adult advolute coiling without final uncoiling and its very low dimorphism of generations, restricted to the initial coiling. Pseudochubbina is linked to Cuvillierinella perisalentina, also hesitating on its coiling mode ("Slow Axial Rotation" in Fleury, 2016), and sharing the "Scattered Secondary Chamberlets" (Fleury, 2016), which are the only likely criteria for the origin of this genus.
Murciella, Sigalveolina n. gen. and Cyclopseudedomia, are reviewed here from the types and various new populations, which allows deepening and renewing of the knowledge of them. They are all fully planispirally coiled in the A generation and to varying degrees display an endoskeleton that previously was called "helicoidal structure", here renamed 'confluent structure'.
Murciella is very close to Cuvillierinella as evidenced by the coexistence of specimens having characteristics of both types in the population of the Cuvillierinella type species. The existence of populations including both Cuvillierinella and Murciella, without morphological intermediaries, as well as the existence of populations containing only one or the other of these taxa emphasizes their independence. The six various populations assigned to M. cuvillieri, known from Spain to the Eastern Mediterranean sea, are likely to belong to the same zone (CsB6a) and were never associated with species of the overlying zone. These populations constitute a homogeneous set close to that of C. salentina appearance, with a little wider range of the A proloculus and a finer endoskeletal mesh. Tests of the B generation in several populations suggest that the holotype of the type species represents this generation, which appears to be less influenced by uncoiling than C. salentina.
Sigalveolina n. gen. has been long confused with Murciella, too incompletely known to be distinguished before now. This new genus characterizes younger levels (zone CsB6b). This study shows that the high degree of confluent structure that gives its individuality coincides with a morphological diversity illustrated by four distinct species, including a new one, Sigalveolina reicheli. This new species probably corresponds to the mythical material, known as "Cosinella", formerly discovered by Schlumberger from the Italo-Slovenian border. A tests of the four species are larger in size than those of Murciella, at diameters of proloculus of the same order of magnitude; they are only rarely uncoiled, with the apparent exception of Sigalveolina reicheli n. sp., which adopts this trend only at a very late development stage. B tests also tend to be involute at a later stage, in contrast to the early uncoiling of previous and next genera.
Cyclopseudedomia is characterized by a very large A proloculus and an extremely reduced involute stage resulting in a longer uncoiled uniserial stage. This outstanding evolutionary trend is modulated in four species, including three already described and a new one, C. mavrikasi from the Italo-Slovenian border and Southern Italy. This trend is well marked in tests of both generations. In A tests, the involute part never exceeds 1.5 whorls around a large proloculus, and the uncoiled part is either cylindrical or flabelliform. B tests are mainly made of large evolute flabelliform flange, reaching a discoidal stage in the type species only; these flanges are always flat and increase in thickness very slightly towards the periphery.
Finally, it must be noted that data in Figure 18, reduced to the A tests, are imprecise inasmuch as the genera generally include the features of several species, which are distinguished by nuances affecting their characters, but also because the time span of the genera and the included species likely does not correspond to the entire period of time covered by the zone in which they are recognized. This means that Figure 18 represents a state of schematic knowledge that can be improved only by specific careful field studies.

 Abstract:  Moldavites as ejecta glasses are fragile and transient: they are quickly abraded in fluvial conditions, this was confirmed by tumbling experiments. In the present study, multiple tumbling experiments were conducted to simulate the hydrogeological conditions of deposition of moldavites found in several different gravel pits. These experiments threw new light on the evolution of tektites during reworking. It appears that the original glass shape and mass as well as environmental conditions such as river velocity and the type of sediment with which they are associated are all important variables. However, the experiment did not simulate other significant variables, such as the variability of environmental energy. With given advantageous conditions, moldavite glasses could probably have withstood dozen kilometers of reworking, but this assertion is not sufficient to constrain the distance to their supply areas.

 Abstract:  One-hundred and fourteen samples from the Georges Pissarro's collection are kept in the Sciences Museum of Laval. Most of these represent the molluscan fauna from the Eocene of Cotentin (Hautteville-Bocage, Fresville and Gourbesville; France), Loire-Atlantique (Saffré, France) and Alabama (Monroe, U.S.). They were part of a bigger collection gathered by Maurice Cossmann and Georges Pissarro at the end of the XIX^th and the beginning of the XX^th centuries, then subsequently split in two parts. The first one, Cossmann's, was sent to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Like the Marin Defrance's collection from the Museum of Caen, the second part, Pissarro's, was considered lost, and then partially discovered in the Sciences Museum of Laval, giving it some scientific significance. These samples from Cotentin have been curated and the types and figured specimens found are illustrated herein.

 Abstract:  A rich geobiological record of Cretaceous biotic and abiotic interactions around the proto-Gulf of Mexico has been preserved in the massive Cupido carbonate platform, i.e., in a sedimentary sequence that represents a depositional period of approximately 15 Myr. This work documents lateral facies variation on a dip slope reef from a new outcrop in the upper part of the Cupido Formation in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The measured transect is correlated with a stratigraphic column logged in a nearby section. The preserved fossil biota represents marginal reef facies dominated by abundant rudist shells such as Douvillelia skeltoni, Toucasia sp., Offneria sp., and Amphitrocoelus sp. associated with relatively large colonial corals (with diameters up to 25 cm) like Stelidioseris sp. and to a lesser extent, with stromatoporoids. Benthic foraminifers (miliolids and textularids) with associated dasycladalean algae such as Salpingorella sp. and Terquemella spp. dominate the microfossiliferous content in wackestones to packstones. This facies is overlain by a thin (15-30 cm) stromatolite horizon at the upper end of the measured section. This locality represents a new paleobiological and taphonomic window into one of the most extensive carbonate platform system developed along the margin of the Gulf of Mexico during the Cretaceous.

 Abstract:  Six new Valanginian belemnite species (Duvalia crassa sp. nov., Duvalia elongata sp. nov., Duvalia kleini sp. nov., Duvalia superconstricta sp. nov., Castellanibelus vaubellensis sp. nov., and "Hibolithes" lebresensis sp. nov.) are described here and two species (Duvalia aff. elongata and "Hibolithes" aff. pistilliformis (Blainville, 1827)) are left in open nomenclature. They come from both the distal and proximal parts of the Vocontian Basin in south-east France and the Baetic Cordillera in south-east Spain. In addition lectotypes are selected for Castellanibelus orbignyanus (Duval-Jouve, 1841), Castellanibelus picteti (Mayer, 1866), and Duvalia lata (Blainville, 1827).

 Abstract:  The species Heteroceras gracile sp. nov. is described; it is a small and slender species, with a small helix and hamuliniform morphology, previously considered as an atypical variant of Heteroceras baylei (Reynès, 1876). In southeast France, it is mainly known in the Morteiron section (Alpes de Haute-Provence, France), but the species is also present in Bulgaria and possibly in Japan.

 Abstract:  Strontium-isotope measurements on Lower Cretaceous marine rocks derive from belemnite material sampled in ammonite-constrained basinal successions. A group of values with a narrow range across the Barremian/Aptian boundary does not allow the separation of the uppermost Barremian (Martelites sarasini ammonite zone) from the lower Aptian pro parte (Deshayesites oglanlensis-D. forbesi ammonite zones). Growing numbers of studies applied Sr-Isotope Stratigraphy (SIS) on Barremian-Aptian shallow-marine sequences (Urgonian facies) in order to solve controversial results obtained by using different shallow-water biological time markers. Based on re-examination of case studies, we conclude that Sr-isotope values can neither be used to prove nor to disprove the location of the putative Barremian/Aptian boundary based on biostratigraphy. Pending more data available, SIS should be used with caution for dating ammonite-free carbonate sediments in the corresponding time interval.

 Abstract:  Boueina hochstetteri Toula (type-species of the genus) was published by Toula (1884) in the 10^th report of his travel through the Balkan region. He considered this species to be a problematic organism with uncertain systematic affiliation. Later, Steinmann (1901) assigned this fossil to the calcareous algae. Our own field work performed in the autumns of 2015 and 2016 in the Pirot area (SE Serbia) led to re-identification of the rich Boueina hochstetteri type level, close to the confluence of the Temska and Nišava Rivers, the type locality of Toula. The rich Boueina level is part of a succession of bioclastic limestones. The fragments of Boueina thalli are occasionally branched, a feature supporting the interpretation of Boueina as an inarticulate udoteacean alga with rare branching.

 Abstract:  A Lower Cenomanian marine succession rich in corals is reported from the western margin of the Pelagonian zone in central Greece. The succession starts with a coarse conglomerate followed by sandstone, nodular limestone and massive limestone. Fifteen levels contain corals with the nodular limestone being the most species-rich. As a total, 78 species in 46 genera are described. They belong to 15 superfamilies. Three genera and four species are described as new. The new genera belong to the families Heterocoeniidae and Felixaraeidae, and the informal Plesiosmiliids. The record of six genera results in stratigraphical range extensions. The coral associations show more relationships to Lower than to Upper Cretaceous faunas. Thirty-nine genera already existed before the Cenomanian and 33 genera continued into the Middle Cenomanian, but only 19 genera persisted into the Turonian. The coral fauna has close palaeobiogeographic relationships with mainly Boreal or North Tethyan Cenomanian faunas such as those of the Aquitanian Basin, the Basque-Cantabrian Basin, or with faunas from the northern margin of the Rhenish Massif, but shares also species with the Upper Aptian to Lower Albian of the Bisbee Basin in North America and with faunas of the Lower to Middle Albian of the Northern Pyrenees.

 Abstract:  We report on three shells of whale barnacle (Cirripedia: Coronulidae) collected from Pleistocene shallow-marine deposits exposed at Cinisi (northwestern Sicily, southern Italy). These specimens are identified as belonging to the extinct species Coronula bifida Bronn, 1831. Calcareous nannoplankton analysis of the sediment hosting the coronulid remains places the time of deposition between 1.93 and 1.71 Ma (i.e., at the Gelasian-Calabrian transition), an interval during which another deposit rich in whale barnacles exposed in southeastern Apulia (southern Italy) formed. Since Coronula Lamarck, 1802, is currently found inhabiting the skin of humpback whales [Cetacea: Balaenopteridae: Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)], and considering that the detachment of extant coronulids from their hosts' skin has been mainly observed in occurrence of cetacean breeding/calving areas, the material here studied supports the existence of a baleen whale migration route between the central Mediterranean Sea (the putative reproductive ground) and the North Atlantic (the putative feeding ground) around 1.8 Ma, when several portions of present-day southern Italy were still submerged. The early Pleistocene utilization of the epeiric seas of southern Italy as breeding/calving areas by migrating mysticetes appears to be linked to the severe climatic degradation that has been recognized at the Gelasian-Calabrian transition and that is marked in the fossil record of the Mediterranean Basin by the appearance of "northern guests" such as Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767) (Bivalvia: Veneroida). The subsequent abandonment of the Mediterranean Sea by most species of mysticetes is likely to have resulted from the progressive emergence of shallow-water coastal environments that occurred in Calabrian and Middle Pleistocene times.

 Abstract:  International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature decided in September 2015 on case 3620 submitted by A. Ando (United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.), which regards the status of the species Ticinella primula Luterbacher in Renz et al., 1963, and Hedbergella trocoidea yezoana Takayanagi & Iwamoto, 1962. Decision was to place the former on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology and the latter on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Specific Names in Zoology (ICZN, 2015, p. 227). The scientific fundamentals in the presentation of case 3620 are weak and do not support such a decision by the International Commission. Moreover, they create a significant disturbance of nomenclatural stability in the Linnaean classification of the Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera.