Peter Joniak

Late Miocene and Pliocene history of the Danube Basin: inferred from development of depositional systems and timing of sedimentary facies changes

Late Miocene and Pliocene history of the Danube Basin: inferred from development of depositional systems and timing of sedimentary facies changes The development of the northern Danube Basin (nDB) was closely related to the Late Miocene geodynamic evolution of the Pannonian Basin System. It started with a wide rifting which led to subsidence of several basin depocenters which were gradually filled during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene. In the Late Pliocene the subsidence continued only in the basins central part, while the northern marginal zone suffered inversion and the uplifted sedimentary fill began to be eroded. Individual stages of the basin development are well recorded in its sedimentary succession, where at least three great tectono-sedimentary cycles were documented. Firstly, a lacustrine cycle containing Lower, Middle and lowermost Upper Pannonian sediments (A-F Zones; sensu Papp 1951) deposited in the time span 11.6-8.9 Ma and is represented in the nDB in Slovakia by the Ivanka and Beladice Formations. In the Danube Basin of the southern part in Hungary, where the formations are defined by the appearance of sedimentary facies in time and space, the equivalents are: (1) the deep-water setting marls, clays and sandy turbidites of the Endrod and Szolnok Formations leading to the overlying strata deposits of the basin paleoslope or delta-slope represented by the Algyő Formation, and (2) the final shallow-water setting deposits of marshes, lagoons and a coastal and delta plain composed of clays, sands and coal seams, represented by the Újfalu Formation. The second tectono-sedimentary cycle was deposited in an alluvial environment and it comprises the Upper Pannonian (G and H Zones; sensu Papp 1951) and Lower Pliocene sediments dated 8.9-4.1? Ma. The cycle is represented in the nDB, by the Volkovce Formation and in the southern part by the Zagyva Formation in Hungary. The sedimentary environment is characterized by a wide range of facies from fluvial, deltaic and ephemeral lake to marshes. The third tectono-sedimentary cycle comprises the Upper Pliocene sediments. In Slovakia these are represented by the Kolárovo Formation dated 4.1-2.6 Ma. The formation contains material of weathering crust preserved in fissures of Mesozoic carbonates, diluvial deposits and sediments of the alluvial environment.

First record of fossil anguines (Squamata; Anguidae) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Turkey

Fossil anguine lizard specimens from several Turkish localities are described in this paper. The material comes from ten different localities, spanning a large geographic area consisting of both parts of the European Turkey and Anatolia, and ranging in age from the Oligocene to the Late Miocene. In certain cases, the generic determination was possible and, accordingly, members of Ophisaurus and Anguis were identified and described in detail. The specimens of Anguis, found in different, Middle and Late Miocene localities from Anatolia, represent two of only a few fossil occurrences of this taxon. Moreover, the material reported herein represents the oldest occurrences of anguine lizards, not only from Turkey, but from southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean basin as a whole. These rare records provide important information about the dispersal routes of anguines from Europe to Asia and significantly enhance our understanding of their biogeography.

Fossil turtles of Slovakia: New material and a review of the previous record

This paper presents the first review of the fauna of fossil turtles of Slovakia. It is focused on the turtle assemblages from 11 localities (Sandberg Hill, Waitov Lom, Borský Svatý Jur, Kamenica nad Hronom, Ivanovce, Hajnacka, Žiar nad Hronom, Bojnice, Drevenik, Ganovce, and Levice) dated from the Middle Miocene to the Pleistocene. In addition, we describe new turtle material from the Hajnacka and Sandberg Hill localities and, for the first time, from the Borský Svatý Jur locality. This new data expands our knowledge of the composition of the fossil turtle fauna of Slovakia and the morphology of its representatives. It also enables a more detailed comparison of this fauna with the contemporaneous turtle faunas of Central and Eastern Europe.

Early Miocene rodents of Gökler (Kazan Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey)

Abstract The rich and relatively diverse fossil mammalian assemblage from Gökler is of special importance for understanding of faunal evolution in Central Anatolia. Large mammals were not recovered, but insectivores and rodents are abundant. The assemblage of rodents is studied in detail and comprises mainly diversified cricetids. Dormice are abundant, but are represented by only one species. Squirrels are represented only by few specimens and also beaver remains were identified. Spanocricetodon sinuosus is referred to a new genus Latocricetodon nov. gen that is tentatively assigned to the Pseudocricetodontinae. Newly named species are Cricetodon goklerensis sp. nov., Democricetodon haltmari sp. nov., Eumyarion lukasi sp. nov. and Glirudinus matusi sp. nov. The rodent assemblage is assigned to local zone C which is correlated to the European biounit MN2 (early Miocene). Our biochronological assessment is supported by radiometric dating from two volcanic ash layers. Latocricetodon LSID http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3414DB1E-0C5E-4154-BE5E-02A9ED183B1A Cricetodon goklerensis LSID http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1B658872-6C10-4355-B87C-3E6277AF4EDA Democricetodon haltmari LSID http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9B13F956-7F8C-406A-9970-1F5E999E54C6 Eumyarion lukasi LSID http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:34DED87E-855F-4969-AB84-10BED5C572BF Glirudinus matusi LSID http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:798ECB9A-E3B5-4C38-B5B3-FEB17AF734FE

Rodents from the Upper Miocene Tuğlu Formation (Çankırı Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey)

The upper Miocene assemblages of rodents collected from two layers of the type section of the Tuğlu Formation (Çankırı Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey) are described. The assemblage from the lower level is considerably less diverse than that from the upper level. It contains Progonomys together with Megacricetodon, which is a very unusual association. The assemblage from the upper layer shows a relatively high diversity with four species of Gliridae instead of only one in the lower layer. Apart from the more diverse Gliridae, Byzantinia sp., Spermophilinus, Keramidomys and Myocricetodon appear in the upper layer. The absence of Murinae in the assemblage from the upper layer is very unexpected, because they usually become dominant soon after their arrival. Their unusual subsequent absence may be either due to a significant change from an open and humid environment to a more dry and wooded environment or to taphonomic bias. Both rodent faunas are assigned to local zone I, which is correlated to the lower Vallesian (MN9).KurzfassungDie obermiozänen Vergesellschaftungen von Rodentiern aus zwei Lagen des Typus-Profiles der Tuğlu-Formation (Çankırı-Becken, zentral-Anatolien, Türkei) werden beschrieben. Die Vergesellschaftung der unteren Lage ist deutlich weniger divers als jene aus der oberen Lage. Sie beinhaltet Progonomys zusammen mit Megacricetodon, was eine ungewöhnliche Assoziation darstellt. Die Vergesellschaftung aus der oberen Lage zeigt eine relativ hohe Diversität, mit vier Arten der Gliridae, gegenüber nur einer in der unteren Lage. Neben den diversen Gliriden kommen in der oberen Lage Byzantinia sp., Spermophilinus, Keramidomys und Myocricetodon vor. Das Fehlen der Murniae in der oberen Lage ist unerwarted, da diese üblicherweise schon bald nach ihrem Auftauchen dominant werden. Ihre ungewöhnliche Abwesenheit mag entweder auf einen drastischen Wechsel von einem offenen, humiden Lebensraum zu einem trockenen und bewaldeten Lebensraum oder auf einen taphonomischen Artefakt zurückzuführen sein. Beide Rodentier-Faunen werden der lokalen Zone I zugeordnet, die mit dem unteren Vallesium (MN9) korreliert ist.

Gördes: a new early Miocene micromammal assemblage from western Anatolia

The mammal locality of Gördes is only known from its test sample, as it has been subsequently destroyed. This small sample yielded a surprisingly rich assemblage, with five rodent species, four species of insectivore and a bat. Based on the rodent contents, the assemblage is assigned to Anatolian mammal zone D, equivalent to MN 3. One of the rodent species, Eumyarion gordesensis nov. sp. is new. Both the cricetid Deperetomys and the glirid Glirudinus represent a hitherto unknown evolutionary stadium and have been assigned to D. aff. intermedius and G. aff. haramiensis, respectively. Based on the relatively high diversity of insectivores, the presence of a dimylid and the dominance of Eumyarion, the Gördes assemblage presumably represents a closed, humid environment.