Gábor Botfalvai

A new species of the side-necked turtle Foxemys (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary and the historical biogeography of the Bothremydini

The continental deposits of the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbanya Formation of the Bakony Mountains in Hungary yielded abundant remains of a bothremydid side-necked turtle, which are attributed to a new species of the genus Foxemys , Foxemys trabanti . F. trabanti shows strong affinities with the European monophyletic group Foxemydina owing to the absence of pits in the upper and lower triturating surfaces, the exclusion of the jugal from the triturating surface, the separation of the Eustachian tube and the stapes by a narrow fissure, the presence of deep and narrow fossa pterygoidei, the partially closed foramen jugulare posterius and the pentagonal shape of the basisphenoid in ventral view. Among the Foxemydina the bothremydid from Iharkut is more closely related to F. mechinorum than to Polysternon provinciale from the Early Campanian of France, mainly because of the position of the occipital condyle relative to the mandibular condyles of the quadrate. The new remains represent the only record of the Foxemydina outside of Western Europe and provide the earliest known occurrence of this endemic, freshwater group in the former Mediterranean Basin. The historical biogeography of the tribe Bothremydini is investigated and a hypothesis of migration from Africa to North America via the high-latitude Thulean route is put forward.

Hettangian (Early Jurassic) Dinosaur Tracksites from the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary

Isolated theropod dinosaur tracks were first collected in Hungary from Hettangian (Lower Jurassic) beds of the Mecsek Coal Formation in 1966 and described as Komlosaurus carbonis Kordos, 1983. Our study is based on newly collected material from additional track-bearing beds. The description of the two largest preserved surfaces containing a total of 102 tracks that can be referred to as 21 trackways is provided here. This represents the first attempt to measure, map and compare the tracks of these bipedal, functionally tridactyl dinosaurs in several associated trackways. Significant morphological variability can be observed (e.g., depth, presence or absence of a metatarsal impression, digit length, digit divarication angle) that is explained by differences in physical parameters of the substrate. The mean of pes length is 16.3 cm in tracksite PB1 and 19.9 cm in tracksite PB2. Stride length of trackways usually ranges between 120 and 170 cm; pace angulation is 160–175°. The speed of the trackmaker is calculated to range between 6 and 14 km/h. Imprints are diagnosed by a pes length/width ratio lower than 2.0; metatarsal pads and hallux impressions are frequent. Based on the similarity of several morphological characters, the herein described tracks are referred to the ichnotaxon Komlosaurus carbonis, which is clearly distinct from Grallator and Kayentapus.

Upper Oligocene marine fishes from nearshore deposits of the Central Paratethys (Máriahalom, Hungary)

A rich and diverse ichthyofauna is described from the upper Oligocene (Egerian) sands of Máriahalom, Hungary. The site is dominated by brackish molluscs that are preserved together with rare marine and terrestrial vertebrates. Based on the isolated elasmobranch and bony fish remains, eight sharks, four rays and seven teleost taxa were identified from Máriahalom. The ichthyofauna represents a nearshore marine subtropical community dominated by odontaspidid and carcharhinid sharks and by euryhaline durophagous sparids and by sciaenid teleost fishes. Epibenthic feeders were common, whereas piscivorous taxa included barracudas, billfishes and numerous sharks, including the macropredatory Otodus angustidens. Palaeontological, sedimentological and stratigraphical data indicates a tide-influenced and fluvial-influenced nearshore palaeoenvironment with brackish lagoons and normal marine littoral habitats. The remains of terrestrial, brackish and nearshore marine invertebrates and vertebrates accumulated in a tidal channel. The systematics of the ichthyofauna is consistent with the palaeogeography inferred from invertebrates, i.e. a Central Paratethys connected to the Mediterranean area during the Egerian.

Collection of the thinnest: A unique eggshell assemblage from the Late Cretaceous vertebrate locality of Iharkút (Hungary)

As a result of several years of screen-washing activity, a remarkable assemblage of eggshell fragments has been recovered from the Late Cretaceous vertebrate locality of Iharkut, Hungary. Detailed investigation of the assemblage by multiple visualization techniques (scanning electron microscopy, polarizing light microscopy, X-ray micro-computed tomography), quantitative morphometric analyses, and micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry revealed a diverse composition of five different eggshell morphotypes (MT I–MT V) and three subcategories within the second morphotype (MT II/a, b, c), with MT I being by far the most abundant (83%) in the assemblage. MT I, MT III, and MT V represent theropod dinosaurian eggshells, whereas MT II and MT IV show characteristics of crocodilian and squamate eggshells, respectively. Hence, despite their fragmentary nature, these eggshells represent the first clear evidence that various sauropsid taxa had nesting sites near the ancient fluvial system of Iharkut. Besides the implied...

A new carnivoran fauna from the late Oligocene of Hungary

A new carnivoran fauna composed of rare dental and long bone remains of basal arctoid carnivores from upper Oligocene lagoon deposits of Hungary are described. Despite the small sample size, four separate taxa could be identified including the semi-aquatic basal mustelid Potamotherium valletoni, the small-sized, terrestrial basal mustelidan Amphictis sp. or Franconictis sp., another indeterminate basal mustelidan, and the medium-sized, terrestrial basal ursoid Pachycynodon boriei. These or related taxa are typically known from the Oligocene–early Miocene of Western Europe and for a much lesser extent from Eastern Asia or North America. The new Hungarian occurrence provides the first record of Oligocene carnivorans from geographically intermediate coeval localities in Eastern Europe. These remains will aid biostratigraphic correlation of the terrestrial Oligo-Miocene of Western Europe with the marine Paratethys region.