Paleocene methane seep and wood-fall marine environments from Spitsbergen, Svalbard

A recently discovered Paleocene seep locality from Fossildalen on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, is described. This is one of a very few seep communities of the latest Cretaceous–earliest Palaeogene age, and the best preserved Paleocene seep community known so far. The seep carbonates and associated fossils have been first identified in museum collections, and subsequently sampled in the field. The carbonates are exclusively ex-situ and come from the offshore siltstones of the Basilika Formation. Isotopically light composition (δ13C values approaching -50‰ V-PDB), and characteristic petrographic textures of the carbonates combined with the isotopically light archaeal lipid are consistent with the formation at fossil hydrocarbon seep. The invertebrate fauna associated with the carbonates is of moderate diversity (16 species) and has a shallow water affinity. It contains a species of the thyasirid genus Conchocele, common in other seeps of that age. The finding sheds new light onto the history of seepage on Svalbard, and onto the evolution and ecology of seep faunas during the latest Cretaceous–earliest Palaeogene time interval

Zonal and Zoogeographic Characteristic of the Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Ukraine

One hundred fourty ant species belonging to 38 genera of 5 subfamilies are known to occur in Ukraine nowadays. All the species are attributed to 16 zoogeographic complexes that are grouped into three faunogenetic classes. Comparative zonal and zoogeographical analysis of the fauna of different geographical regions of Ukraine has revealed their essential heterogeneity. The ant fauna of the Forest-Steppe zone is not original. At the same time, it is not transitive between the faunae of the Forest and Steppe zones. Ant fauna of the Forest-Steppe is related to those not the Steppe but the Forests zones, and the Forest-Steppe can be included in the southern subzone of a Forest zone of t Europe.В Украине известно 140 видов муравьев из 38 родов 5 подсемейств. Выделены 16 зоогеографических комплексов, отнесенных к трем фауногенетическим классам. Сравнительный зональный и зоогеографический анализ фаун различных физико-географических регионов Украины выявил их существенную разнородность. Показано, что фауна муравьев Лесостепи не является самобытной. В то же время, она не является переходной между фаунами лесов и степной зоны. По происхождению мирмекофауна Лесостепи связана с таковой не степной, а лесных зон, и, на основании данных о распространении муравьев, Лесостепь может быть включена в состав южной подзоны лесной зоны Европы