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

Upper Miocene Ostracods of the Turiec Basin (Slovakia) - subfamily Cyclocypridinae

Six species of the sub-family Cyclocypridinae were found in the Upper Miocene of the Turiec Basin, 4 of which are new Cypria isosceles, C. lenticulata, C. polyphema, C. bodergatiae. The differences in arrangement of the zone of the fusion on ventral margin were used to distinguish the species. The genus Cypria is represented in whole area of the Turiec Basin but the species are restricted to the ecologically well determined biotopes. Valve shape is compared with ecological stability of the paleobiotopes