New biostratigraphical data for the Burdigalian Montchaibeux Member at the locality Courrendlin-Solé (Canton of Jura, Switzerland)

Geological surveys were carried out in the Miocene deposits at the place known as “En Solé” east of the village Courrendlin (Delémont Basin, Canton of Jura, Switzerland). This resulted in the discovery of new Miocene small mammal assemblages. The association of the rodents Megacricetodon aff. collongensis and Melissiodon sp. allows to biochronostratigraphically correlate for the first time the so- called “Rote Mergel des Mont Chaibeux” representing the lower part of the Montchaibeux Member of the Bois de Raube Formation to the regional M. collongensis–Keramidomys interval zone (MN 4; early Miocene)

Late glacial and Holocene Ostracoda from the Melilla cold-water coral mound field

The ostracod assemblages from sediment core TTR17-401G recovered from the Melilla cold-water coral mound field in the eastern Alboran Sea spanning the last 13 ka are analysed quantitatively, taxonomically and palaeoecologically. The core can be subdivided in three distinct assemblages linked to environmental shifts during the Younger Dryas and the Bølling–Allerød interstadial. A total of 9 ostracod species is recorded, Paracypris polita is dominant throughout the core. Common accessory taxa Cytherella robusta, Echinocythereis vidua and Macromckenziea ligustica characterize the well-oxygenated ostracod assemblage 2 affected by the Younger Dryas. Favourable growth conditions for ostracods during the latter are indicated by large- sized Krithe praetexta specimens

A new Late Agenian (MN2a, Early Miocene) fossil assemblage from Wallenried (Molasse Basin, Canton Fribourg, Switzerland)

Excavations of two fossiliferous layers in the Wallenried sand- and marl pit produced a very diversified vertebrate fauna. New material allows the reassessment of the taxonomic position of the ruminant taxa Andegameryx andegaviensis and endemic Friburgomeryx wallenriedensis. An emended diagnosis for the second species is provided and additional material of large and small mammals, as well as ectothermic vertebrates, is described. The recorded Lagomorpha show interesting morphological deviations from other Central European material, and probably represent a unique transitional assemblage with a co-occurrence of Titanomys, Lagopsis and Prolagus. Rodentia and Eulipotyphla belong to typical and well-known species of the Agenian of the Swiss Molasse Basin. Abundant small mammal teeth have allowed us to pinpoint the biostratigraphic age of Wallenried to late MN2a. The biostratigraphic age conforms to data derived from the charophyte assemblages and confirms the oldest occurrence of venomous snake fangs. The palaeoenvironmental context is quite complex. Sedimentary structures and fauna (fishes, frogs, salamanders, ostracods) are characteristic for a humid, lacustrine environment within a flood plain system

Oxygen and carbon isotope fractionation of marine ostracod calcite from the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Over the last two decades, non-marine ostracods have been intensively studied with respect to the stable isotopic composition (δ13C, δ18O) of their calcified valves, however, few data for marine taxa have been published so far. Here, we provide new dat