Abstract:  Numerous and generally well-preserved examples of the intergrowth Rugosa-Bryozoa from the Upper Pragian and Lower Emsian of the Armorican Massif (Châteaulin and Laval synclinoria), France, and from the Upper Emsian of the Ougarta Mountains, Erg Djemel, Algeria, are described. In the Armorican Massif, the corallites of a rugosan Tryplasmatidae? are intergrown with Ceramoporidae bryozoan close to Crepipora, exceptionally with an unidentified Fistuliporidae (likely a new genus), whereas in Ougarta the coral is not identifiable and is associated with a Fistuliporidae assigned to Fistulipora. Although mainly left in open nomenclature, the material is fully described (structure and microstructure) and illustrated (calcitic skeleton and natural moulds) for the first time. In addition, the presence of Ceramoporidae in the Lower Devonian is clearly established. The evaluation of the association is briefly discussed and a mutualistic relationship supported.

 Abstract:  The bryozoan collection of Prof. Dr Ehrhard Voigt (1905–2004) at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is a world-renowned collection of great scientific value. It is the world's largest collection of fossil bryozoans from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene and a unique archive documenting the evolution of this phylum of marine invertebrates during this time interval in the Boreal Chalk Sea that extended from the British Isles to the Aral Sea in Central Asia.
The Voigt Collection contains over 300,000 specimens and was relocated to the Senckenberg Institute in 2005 according to the bequest of Ehrhard Voigt. As a result of a DFG-funded project, we present here a three-part type catalogue of the holotypes and neotypes of 256 bryozoan species in the Voigt Collection, of which this is Part 3. In total over the three parts, 247 species are re-illustrated but the name-bearing type specimens of 20 species are missing and no material could be found for 9 species. Two species, described as ctenostome bryozoans by Ehrhard Voigt, are questionable, while a further three 'ctenostome' species and one 'ctenostome' genus are considered as ichnotaxa.

 Abstract:  The Hăgimaş Massif provides important data for reconstructing the geological evolution of the Transylvanian Carbonate Platform. This unit is present nowadays in the basement of the Transylvanian Depression and as large-scale olistoliths, which crop out in various locations in the Eastern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains. They contain a large variety of microfacies as well as microfossil assemblages partly encompassing the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary. This study presents a detailed account of uppermost Jurassic-lowermost Cretaceous limestones from the Lapoş Valley (Hăghimaş Mountains) containing two distinct successions separated by a fault. The first succession contains platform margin and inner platform deposits (subtidal, intertidal) whereas the second one consists of inner platform deposits (shallow-subtidal to peritidal carbonates). The Upper Jurassic Stramberk-type facies is overlain by lower Berriasian regressive peritidal limestones. The upper Berriasian-? lower Valanginian consists mainly of inner platform deposits. They contain alternating, high and low-energy carbonates with rare calpionellids and calcispheres. The age assignment is based on a rich and diverse micropaleontological assemblage containing similar biota reported from other regions of the Tethysian Realm.

 Abstract:  The bryozoan collection of Prof. Dr Ehrhard Voigt (1905–2004) at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is a world-renowned collection of great scientific value. It is the world's largest collection of fossil bryozoans from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene and a unique archive documenting the evolution of this phylum of marine invertebrates during this time interval in the Boreal Chalk Sea that extended from the British Isles to the Aral Sea in Central Asia. The Voigt Collection contains over 300,000 specimens and was relocated to the Senckenberg Institute in 2005 according to the bequest of Ehrhard Voigt. As a result of a DFG-funded project, we present here a three-part type catalogue of the holotypes and neotypes of 256 bryozoan species in the Voigt Collection, of which this is Part 2. In total over the three parts, 247 species are re-illustrated but the name-bearing type specimens of 20 species are missing and no material could be found for 9 species. Two species, described as ctenostome bryozoans by Ehrhard Voigt, are questionable, while a further three 'ctenostome' species and one 'ctenostome' genus are considered as ichnotaxa.

 Abstract:  The upper Pleistocene deposit of Arenal de son Servera is reviewed using data from earlier works and new considerations based on its stratigraphy and taphonomical aspects of the fossils. In the present study, five different kinds of facies are identified: [1] palaeosols with pebbles from the Miocene basement, [2] aeolianites, [3] foreshore deposits with thermophilous molluscan fossil fauna, [4] palaeosols resulting from the pedogenesis of the beach units, and [5] bioclastic channelled deposits eroding the underlaying units. The detailed taphonomical analysis revealed that the fossils enclosed in these rocks remained on the sea bottom for a significant amount of time, but they were not bioeroded, perhaps because a submerged sand bar repeatedly buried and exhumed them. In addition, the fact that Persististrombus latus shells are in their position of maximum stability allows to infer that they were washed up on the shore during moderately energetic events, possibly comparable to present-day ordinary storms. These two last points could be of interest to the field of coastal management, as they provide insight on the scope of physical changes these systems could undergo in the present warming of the Mediterranean.

 Abstract:  The bryozoan collection of Prof. Dr Ehrhard Voigt (1905–2004) at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is a world-renowned collection of great scientific value. It is the world's largest collection of fossil bryozoans from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene and a unique archive documenting the evolution of this phylum of marine invertebrates during this time interval in the Boreal Chalk Sea that extended from the British Isles to the Aral Sea in Central Asia.
The Voigt Collection contains over 300,000 specimens and was relocated to the Senckenberg Institute in 2005 according to the bequest of Ehrhard Voigt. As a result of a DFG-funded project, we present here a three-part type catalogue of the holotypes and neotypes of 256 bryozoan species in the Voigt Collection, of which this is Part 1. In total over the three parts, 247 species are re-illustrated but the name-bearing type specimens of 20 species are missing and no material could be found for 9 species. Two species, described as ctenostome bryozoans by Ehrhard Voigt, are questionable, while a further three 'ctenostome' species and one 'ctenostome' genus are considered as ichnotaxa.

 Abstract:  Lower Jurassic (Hettangian-Pliensbachian) shallow-marine ooidal limestones of southern Montenegro contain a large number of isocrinid ossicles. They are assigned to the following taxa: Isocrinus psilonoti (Quenstedt), Isocrinus sp., and Pentacrinites cf. fossilis Blumenbach. The echinoderm assemblage also yields cyrtocrinid ossicles (Cotylederma sp., Cyrtocrinina indet.) and echinoid spines (only spotted in thin sections); however, these elements are rare. Given the fact that the recorded assemblage comes from a single locality, there is a growing need for further research that will require intense sampling to compile and complete the faunal list of crinoids and other echinoderm taxa.

 Abstract:  New findings of esthonioporate bryozoans of the species Revalotrypa cf. inopinata, representing one of the oldest bryozoans of Baltoscandia, are described from an outcrop located in Leningrad Oblast' (north-western Russia). The colonies of this species are very small and were extracted from limestone-cemented nodules found in glauconitic sandstones of the lower part of the Joa Member (Paroistodus proteus conodont zone, lowermost Floian, Lower Ordovician). Combined X-ray microtomography and the examination of traditional thin sections under a stereomicroscope and a light microscope were used to study the morphology of this species.

 Abstract:  The Cenomanian marls of the Batna region (NE Algeria) display several fossiliferous beds with highly diversified fauna. Among the abundant and well-preserved fossils stands out Aspidiscus cristatus (Lamarck, 1801). This coral taxon is assigned to the Family Latomeandridae Alloiteau, 1952, due to the presence of pennulae and inner septal margins with slight perforations. In the studied sections Aspidiscus cristatus is found in beds ranging from the Cunningtoniceras inerme Zone to the Acanthoceras amphibolum Zone, with a relative abundance within the Acanthoceras cf. rhotomagense Zone. This species is subsequently a good marker for the Middle Cenomanian in the Batna district. We give herein a systematic and paleontological description and discuss the paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic framework of this taxon. Actually the outer morphology of its test, with convex outer surface and planar to concave inner surface, suggests an adaptation to mud-supported, low-energy marine environments with high sedimentary rate. The paleogeographic range of this taxon, with often larger-size specimens on the southern and eastern margins of the Tethysian Realm, than those on the northern margin, supports very peculiar thermal gradient and climactic zone, with relatively warmer waters on the southern Tethysian margin during the Cenomanian, favoring a more frequent and more effective bioerosion on fossil specimens from southern Tethysian areas than that affecting specimens from northern Tethysian areas.

 Abstract:  On the southern margin of the Vocontian Basin (SE France), for taphonomic reasons (fragmentation, reworking, pyritization), lower Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) deposits of the interval between the Deshayesites deshayesi and Dufrenoyia furcata zones are usually not suitable for studying the late ontogenetic developments of ammonites (fossil cephalopods). In the vicinity of the village of Les Ferres (Department of the Alpes-Maritimes, SE France), a relatively thick sedimentary succession with well-preserved ammonites, representative of the zones mentioned above, is found in a small basin called the "Les Ferres Aptian Basin" (LFAB). The 1262 ammonites collected or studied in situ are dated from the Deshayesites forbesi Zone through the top of the Dufrenoyia furcata Zone. This study presents the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy derived from these ammonites, and the respective range of these taxa. This is an introductory contribution to any future palaeontological study of the lower Aptian ammonites in the Les Ferres area. The lithologic unit overlying the Hauterivian-Aptian limestones is introduced herein as the Les Graous Formation. It is subdivided in three members, from bottom to top: 1) the Combe de Joinet Member, 2) the Pont de la Cerise Member, and 3) the Les Graous Member. In addition, two remarkable levels are identified: the Ammonitoceras level (outstandingly abundant) and the Toxoceratoides bed.

 Abstract:  It is shown that the species names Palaeothrissum inaequilobum Blainville, 1818, and P. parvum Blainville, 1818, from the Lower Permian (Asselian) of Muse, near Autun (Saône-et-Loire department, France) are senior synonyms of the widely used species name, Aeduella blainvillei (Agassiz, 1833). In the interest of nomenclatural stability, conditions exist which allow reversal of precedence as stated in Article 23.9.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Thus the species name Aeduella blainvillei (Agassiz, 1833) is regarded as valid, qualifying as a nomen protectum, whereas Palaeothrissum inaequilobum Blainville, 1818, and P. parvum Blainville, 1818, are invalid, qualifying as nomina oblita. Some of the specimens from the type series upon which P. inaequilobum, P. parvum and Aeduella blainvillei were erected, are identified.

 Abstract:  On the occasion of the inventory of the J. Emberger Collection, specimens from the "Lower Cretaceous" (Valanginian and Hauterivian) of Algeria, which are referable to the genus Actinoporella (Gümbel in Alth) and which were earlier identified to its type-species A. podolica (Alth) by Conrad et al., are re-examined. They correspond to two discrete species, one of which could be a junior synonym of A. podolica, a synonymy that remains pending because it would require a new sampling at the original locality in western Ukraine some 140 years after the original specimens, now lost, were collected. Regarding their age ascription, they are Tithonian and/or Berriasian in age, i.e., latest Jurassic (sensu Oppel) in age, not earliest Cretaceous. In addition to these two Actinoporellas, a third discrete species, initially described as Clypeina nigra (Conrad & Peybernès), but later referred to the genus Actinoporella, is revised. New data justify its re-ascription to the genus Bakalovaella Bucur. Finally, it is now confirmed that both the Polyphysaceae and the modern Dasycladaceae derive from the Diploporaceae either directly or indirectly through the ancestral Dasycladaceae.

 Abstract:  Pseudocymopolia anadyomenea, the type-species of the genus, was described by Elliott (1959) from the Maastrichtian of Iraq. Besides the type-locality, it was also recorded from the upper Maastrichtian Tarbur Formation of Iran, from Afghanistan and Tibet. A rich but moderately preserved material is analyzed herein, evidencing the presence of two discrete species: P. anadyomenea and P. acuta n. sp. The new species is characterized by its thallus morphology displaying tapering, keeled segment margins. Besides the morphology, both are also distinguished by biometric parameters such as the outer diameter (D), inner diameter (d), and the d/D ratio. All other Lower Cretaceous species of Pseudocymopolia as well as the Maastrichtian P. anadyomenea have rounded segment margins. Both taxa from the Tarbur Formation occur in inner platform quiet water depositional settings whereas the Lower Cretaceous representatives typically characterize platform margin deposits.

 Abstract:  On the NW margin of the Algerian Sahara in the Bechar (Ben-Zireg), Ougarta (Marhouma) and Gourara (Charouine) basins, the Upper Devonian "griottes" nodular limestone was deposited during the Frasnian and the Famennian. These alternating clayey-sand-limestone deposits are rich in ammonoids. These facies vary laterally and in thickness in these three areas. These facies variations are directly related to depositional environmental conditions (hydrodynamism, basin physiography, sedimentary gaps). In the three studied areas, the griotte facies were deposited on a deep seabed platform and in basins under tectono-eustatic control. In the Ben-Zireg area platform facies are throughout the studied stratigraphic interval. In the Marhouma area, the facies change through time first as distal ramp sedimentation (Frasnian Ia), then shifting to an apron slope sedimentation with allodapic facies (Famennian II, VI and V), and then in basinal settings (Famennian II and VI). Finally, at the end of the Famennian, the series ended with sandy-clay slope sedimentation (lower member of the Ouarourout sandstone), and next platform sedimentation (upper member of Ouarourout sandstone) topped by an emersion surface. In the Charouine area, basin clays (hemipelagites) dominate the facies. The presence of asphaltene impregnations in the griotte facies and in centimetric slabs to metric blocks of the facies posterior to nodular limestones implies the effects of early diagenesis. This process played an important role in the sulphate reduction and the anaerobic oxidation of methane (biogenic and / or thermal). The segregation of sedimentary areas with griotte facies seems to be influenced by basement fragmentation. Indeed, the griotte facies closely follow the Pan-African flexure. In Ougarta, the "South Ougartian" fault corresponds to the extension of the mega-lineament of Tibesti. The reactivation of Precambrian basement faults during the Late Devonian may have been responsible for the observed contrasting facies.

 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.