Ooidal ironstones and laminated ferruginous deposits from the Silurian of the Carnic Alps, Austria

Distinct ooidal horizons and diverse laminated ferruginous structures are reported from the Silurian of the Carinthian Carnic Alps. The former were recovered in forms of centimetric horizons at the base of a single section (Rauchkofel Boden). The Carnic Alps reports are the only record in the Silurian from the European sector of the Northern Gondwana margin. Ooids consist mostly of chamosite, goethite and mixtures thereof with subordinate amounts of apatite. Laminated ferruginous deposits are present in themajority of the investigated sections and are represented either by rare “stromatolite-like” structures or by abundant banded iron-rich fossil coatings, mostly around trilobites and cephalopods. Both types are composed of calcareous laminae alternating with layers rich in iron silicates or oxides (chamosite, goethite, and magnetite). All these deposits can tentatively be regarded as microbial. Magnetite coatings revealed peculiar filaments of possible organic nature, closely resembling fungal hyphae

Eurytholia plates (Problematica) from the late Silurian of the Austrian Carnic Alps

A small fauna of phosphatic plates of the enigmatic organism Eurytholia bohemica [Ferretti A., Serpagli E., Storch P., 2006. Problematic phosphatic plates from the Silurian-Early Devonian of Bohemia, Czech Republic. Journal of Paleontology 80 1026–1031.], is described for the first time from upper Silurian beds of Austria. Other known Silurian occurrences of this taxon were restricted to Bohemian localities even if the genus had been previously reported from several Ordovician outcrops. The extension of E. bohemica from the microcontinent of Perunica to that of Carnica suggests that Eurytholia was not an uncommon constituent of Silurian fauna, at least at intermediate latitudes in the southern hemisphere.Une faune restreinte de plaques phosphatiques de l’organisme ´enigmatique Eurytholia bohemica [Ferretti A., Serpagli E., Storch P., 2006. Problematic phosphatic plates from the Silurian-Early Devonian of Bohemia, Czech Republic. Journal of Paleontology 80 1026–1031.] est d´ecrite pour la premiere fois dans des niveaux du Silurien superieur d’Autriche. Bien que ce genre ait ´et´e d´ecrit dans divers affleurements ordoviciens, ses occurrences siluriennes ´etaient jusqu’`a present restreintes aux localites de Boheme. L’extension de la repartition de E. bohemica du microcontinent Perunica au microcontinent Carnica suggere que Eurytholia n’´etait pas un ´element rare des faunes siluriennes, tout du moins aux latitudes intermediaires de l’hemisphere sud

Editorial [BOLLETTINO DELLA SOCIETÀ PALEONTOLOGICA ITALIANA, Vo. 54, 2015]

Editorial to the Volume

Editorial [BOLLETTINO DELLA SOCIETÀ PALEONTOLOGICA ITALIANA, vol. 55(2), 2016]

Editorial to the Volume

Serpagli, celebrating his 44th Silurian-research birthday

The editors are pleased to dedicate this volume on the Silurian of Sardinia to Enrico Serpagli, an outstanding personality of Italian palaeontology, who devoted substantial part of his professional life to marine faunas and biostratigraphy of Ordovician and Silurian sedimentary formations mostly of southern Sardinia. Two of the editors are former doctoral students of Enrico Serpagli and PS has been collaborating with him since his first, early postgradual visit to Sardinia in 1982

Problematic phosphatic plates from the Silurian-Early Devonian of Bohemia, Czech Republic

Problematic phosphatic elements are reported for the first time from Bohemia, Czech Republic, and are attributed to Eurytholia bohemica n. sp. Similar mineralized elements, interpreted as sclerites, were known only in a very narrow interval from Middle-Late Ordovician beds bordering the Iapetus Ocean. This new report comes from the Silurian and Early Devonian and provides a significant range extension for these Problematica as well as an enlargement of their geographic extent. Comments open new perspectives in the interpretation of these elements