Eastern Paratethys Research Articles

New evidence of the age of the lower Maeotian substage of the Eastern Paratethys based on astronomical cycles

The lower Maeotian sedimentary rocks of the Popov Kamen section (Russia, Taman Region, Eastern Paratethys) were investigated by cyclostratigraphy methods based on magnetic susceptibility measurements. Time series analysis (Lomb–Scargle and REDFIT periodograms, wavelets, Gaussian filters) revealed statistically significant signals with 5.2–6.0m wavelength corresponding most likely to the 41,000-year obliquity cycle. These new data imply a duration of the early Maeotian regional substage of 0.9Myr, and this sets the age of the Sarmatian–Maeotian boundary to about ~7.6Ma. These astronomically tuned lower Maeotian sediments of the Popov Kamen section result in an average sedimentation rate of about 11–12cm/kyr (=90.9–83.3yr/cm) for the whole section. In the relatively deep-water setting of the lower Maeotian Popov Kamen section, no major hiatuses were detected, with the exception of an insignificant gap in the upper part of the successions. The marine transgression in the Eastern Paratethys at the beginning of Maeotian was probably caused by the opening and consequent deepening of Rifian Corridor. At the end of the Tortonian (~7.6Ma), this tectonic event terminated the restricted conditions in the Mediterranean and re-established the connection between the Mediterranean Sea and Paratethys. Therefore, the Tortonian–Messinian transition in the Mediterranean probably corresponds to the clays of the lower part of the lower Maeotian record in Paratethys, which is located above the first bryozoan build-ups and below the 1.8m thick diatomite bed in the Popov Kamen section. Our astronomically calculated age for the beginning of the Maeotian at ~7.6Ma strengthens the connection between these two transgressive events.

The Slanicul de Buzau section, a unit stratotype for the Romanian stage of the Dacian Basin (Plio-Pleistocene, Eastern Paratethys)

Climatic changes cause large paleoenvironmental responses in semi-isolated basins. We analyze here the sedimentary successions of the Dacian Basin (Romania) to evaluate Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene paleoenvironmental changes through macro- and micropaleontology. These changes are dated by creating a magnetostratigraphic time frame for two long and continuous sections with a combined total thickness of 2850m. The studied succession spans the time interval between 4.7Ma and 1.6Ma and records both the mid Pliocene Warm Period (3.3–2.9Ma) and the onset of large-scale glaciations on the Northern Hemisphere (~2.7Ma). Due to progressive basin infill, the paleoenvironment changes from brackish to fluvio-lacustrine with a major extinction event of lymnocardiine bivalves around 4.15Ma. Rich and dominantly freshwater mollusk and ostracod faunas develop from this moment onwards. Between 3.2Ma and 2.95Ma, the reappearance of lymnocardiines identifies a short moment of higher salinities, the previously identified Plescoi event. In time, this correlates closely to the warmest interval of the Pliocene, and is therefore most likely related to connectivity to the Black Sea during maximum sea-level. After the climatic optimum, deposition continues in a fluvio-deltaic setting with only scarce finds of fauna. Increasing amounts of coarse grained fluvial sediments show a close relationship with the progressive cooling during the Pleistocene.

The Badenian–Sarmatian Extinction Event in the Carpathian foredeep basin of Romania: Paleogeographic changes in the Paratethys domain

The Badenian–Sarmatian boundary interval is marked by a major extinction event of marine species in the Central Paratethys. The exact age of the boundary is debated because many successions in marginal basins show erosional features and fauna reworking at the boundary level. Here, we selected the Tisa section in the Carpathian foredeep basin of Romania, which is continuous across this Badenian–Sarmatian Extinction Event (BSEE). Quantitative biostratigraphic records of planktic and benthic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils allow to accurately locate the Badenian–Sarmatian boundary and indicate a major paleoenvironmental change from open marine to brackish water conditions. Magnetostratigraphic results reveal a polarity pattern that uniquely correlates to the time interval between 12.8 and 12.2Ma. Interpolation of constant sedimentation rates determines the age of the BSEE in the Carpathian foredeep at 12.65±0.01Ma, in good agreement with several earlier estimates. We conclude that the extinction event took place in less than 10kyr, and that it was most likely synchronous across the Central Paratethys. It corresponds to a major paleogeographic change in basin connectivity with the Eastern Paratethys, during which the nature of the Barlad gateway switched from a passive to a full connection.

Fish otoliths from the Konkian (Miocene, early Serravallian) of Mangyshlak (Kazakhstan): testimony to an early endemic evolution in the Eastern Paratethys

Reconstruction of fossil teleost faunas can provide important information on palaeoenvironments, palaeogeography and evolution, and otoliths are particularly useful for that purpose. Here we present an otolith-based fish fauna from the middle Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys, i.e. the Karagaily section of the Mangyshlak Peninsula in Western Kazakhstan, and report on the accompanying nannoplankton, foraminifera, molluscs and ostracods. A total of 30 teleost species are described and figured, including ten new species: Alosa paulicrenata n.sp., Morone? bannikovi n.sp., Centracanthus pobedinae n.sp., Genyonemus? karagiensis n.sp., Trewasciaena suzini n.sp., Parablennius prokofievi n.sp., Aphia djafarovae n.sp., Neogobius udovichenkoi n.sp., Ponticola zosimovichi n.sp., Pomatoschistus bunyatovi n.sp. Nannoplankton and gastropods indicate a Konkian (late Badenian, early Serravallian) age for this fish assemblage. The dominance of Gadidae and Gobiidae, together with the composition of the nannoplankton, indicates an inner-neritic to coastal environment with high productivity. The Konkian fish fauna of the Eastern Paratethys shows a high degree of autonomy relative to approximately contemporaneous fish faunas from the Central Paratethys and other European basins. This confirms that the Konkian was a time of limited faunal exchange between the Central and Eastern Paratethys, while a marine connection may have persisted between the Central Paratethys and the northern Mediterranean. We conclude that the fish fauna reported here records an early endemic development in the Eastern Paratethys during the middle Miocene (Konkian). The disappearance of Bregmacerotidae and Gonostomatidae (Bonapartia) during the preceding stage of the Karaganian and the first appearance of Palimphemus minusculoides in the Konkian are important biostratigraphical markers.

High-latitude regions of Siberia and Northeast Russia in the Paleogene: Stratigraphy, flora, climate, coal accumulation

The geological structure and development history of superposed depressions on the Arctic coast of East Siberia and Bering Sea region (Chukotka, Koryakiya, northern Kamchatka) in the Early Paleogene are considered with the analysis of their flora and climatic parameters. The paleofloral analysis revealed thermophilic assemblages that reflect phases of maximum warming at the Paleocene-Eocene transition and in the Early Eocene. The appearance of thermophilic plants (Magnoliaceae, Myrtaceae, Lauraceae, Araliaceae, Loranthaceae, and others) in the Siberian segment of the Arctic region is explained by the stable atmospheric heat transfer from the Tethys to higher latitudes and absence of the latitudinal orographic barrier (Alpine-Himalayan belt). The plants migrated to high latitudes also along the meridional seaway that connected the Tethys with the Arctic Ocean via marine basins of the Eastern Paratethys, Turgai Strait, and West Siberia. The migration from the American continent was realized along the southern coast of Beringia under influence of a warm current flowing from low latitudes along the western coast of North America. The palm genus Sabal migrated to northern Kamchatka and Koryakiya precisely in this way via southern Alaska. In the Oligocene, shallow-water marine sediments in high-latitude regions were replaced by terrestrial facies. The Late Oligocene was marked by maximum cooling. Coal accumulation in Northeast Russia through the Paleogene is reviewed.

A new species of the genus Sardina (Pisces, Clupeidae) from the Middle Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys

A new clupeid species of the genus Sardina (Clupeinae) from the Konkian-Sarmatian boundary beds of the Pshekha River Basin (western Ciscaucasia, Krasnodar Region) is described.

EARLY TUROLIAN FRESHWATER ICHTHYOFAUNA FROM THE FRUNZOVKA 2 LOCALITY (ODESSA REGION)

As a result of long-term filed researches employees of department of paleozoology of vertebrates of National Museum of Natural History of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine discovered a series of locations of fossils of Late Sarmatian, Meotis and Pontus vertebrates, of which the remains of small and large mammals have been researched to the greatest detail and less - of reptiles, amphibia and bony fishes. The aim of the work was to fill the existing gap in research of Late Miocene lower vertebrates (in particular, freshwater fishes) of Ukrainian South by materials from Frunzovka 2 location, situated in the south-west outskirts of the similarly called village of Frunzovsky district of Odessa region, in the ravine network of the right board of the Kuchurgan river valley.Species composition of ichthyofauna from Frunzovra 2 locality characterises the reservoir with rather various conditions of existence. The composition of the community of bony fishes from Frunzovka 2 location is enough usual for freshwater fauna associations of Late Miocene of Eastern Paratethys and can be characterised as limnophilic fauna of the Mediterranean type.Forms, the majority of which (especially Cyprinidae) are the morphological analogues of modern taxons, are presented in the complex. This confirms the opinion about constancy of fish community in relatively stable and slightly changing conditions of reservoir.The detailed research of paleoichthyological material with application of methods of morphosystematic analysis renders valuable data, which can be applied for creation of local paleolandscape and paleoclimatic reconstructions.

The correlation of the Neogene of Central and Eastern Paratethys segments of Ukraine with the International Stratigraphic Chart based on planktonic microfossils

Abstract Detailed analysis of microplankton occurrence (planktonic foraminifera, nannoplankton, dinocysts) in Neogene sediments situated at the north-western and south-eastern margins of Ukraine enabled us to distinguish 10 associations of oceanic plankton which specified the relative age of lithostratigraphic units of various regions and were used as correlation levels within the Central and Eastern Paratethys strata. Moreover, an attempt to correlate regional stages and the International Stratigraphic Chart (ISC) is performed. The Oligocene/Miocene boundary (of ISC) represented by the correlation level I was placed within the Central Paratethys regional stage Egerian and in the middle part of the Eastern Paratethys regional stage Caucasian s.l. The latter regional stage is subdivided by the correlation level into two substages: Lower Caucasian (Chattian of ISC) and Upper Caucasian (Aquitanian of ISC). The correlation level II was placed within the upper part of the Eggenburgian and lower part of the Batisifonian (Sakaraulian) regional stages and is correlated approximately with the middle part of the Burdigalian (of ISC). The base of the Middle Miocene is marked by level IV and was recognized only in deposits of the Eastern Paratethys belonging to the Tarkhanian regional stage. This level corresponds to the lowermost Badenian and Langhian (of ISC) stages. Correlation level V is traced in the Konkian sediments of the Eastern Paratethys and is compared with the Upper Badenian and Lower Serravalian (of ISC) stages. Level VI at the Middle/Upper Miocene boundary is situated in the middle part of the Bessarabian regional substage of the Eastern Paratethys and enables its correlation with the Serravallian/Tortonian boundary (of ISC). Level VII is recognized in the Baherovo Member (Meotian stage), while level VIII is fixed at the top of the Meotian regional stage in the Azov and Black Seas, Crimea and adjacent region named Northern Prichornomorye. Both these levels are also identified in the Berezhnytsya Formation of the Eastern Carpathian Foredeep. Correlation of these sediments is similar to the correlation of sediments of Lake Pannon (Pannonian regional stage), hence with the Tortonian stage (of ISC). Level IX was recognized in sediments of the Azov Member belonging to the Kimmerian regional stage of the Eastern Paratethys and represents the top of the Miocene strata. Level X occurs within the Taman Member of the Black Sea shelf and is correlated with the upper part of Kuyalnikian regional stage; corresponding to the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary.

Dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the upper Eocene and lower Oligocene of the Kirmizitepe Section, Azerbaijan, South Caspian Basin

The South Caspian Basin is a deep Cenozoic basin located in eastern Paratethys along the northern margin of the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone. The basin, with its proven oil and gas reserves, has been the subject of numerous biostratigraphic studies, but most of these studies have concentrated on the Pliocene reservoir rocks. Precise chronological correlations between Paratethyan sedimentary successions and Mediterranean stages have not yet been achieved, although detailed local foraminiferal and non-foraminiferal biostratigraphic studies allow chronostratigraphic division and accurate regional correlations. As a pioneering work, this paper provides a detailed dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy of the upper Eocene and lower Oligocene deposits in the South Caspian Basin. A total of 127 dinoflagellate cyst taxa have been studied for the first time from the Eocene Koun Formation and the Oligocene part of the Maykop Formation exposed in the Kirmizitepe Section, Azerbaijan. Three dinoflagellate cyst biozones known from classic areas in central Italy are recognizable in the South Caspian Basin. One (Aal zone) is uppermost Eocene and two (Gse and Adi zones) are lower Oligocene. Thus, although some dinoflagellate cyst species from the studied section have stratigraphic ranges different from those of mid and higher latitudes, others provide correlations with previously defined biozones and dinoflagellate cyst events in the Tethyan realm and northwestern Europe. Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages indicate shallow marine depositional conditions for the latest Eocene. Deeper conditions prevailed during the earliest part of the early Oligocene, succeeded by a pronounced shallowing later in the early Oligocene.

New Species of Praepusa (Carnivora, Phocidae, Phocinae) from the Netherlands Supports East to West Neogene Dispersal of True Seals / Новый вид Praepusa (Carnivora, Phocidae, Phocinae) из Нидерландов, подтверждающий распростра- нение настоящих тюленей в неогене с востока на запад

AbstractExamination of new fossils (humerus and sacrum) from The Netherlands reveals morphologically-distinctive characters, allowing the description of a new Late Miocene - Early Pliocene representative (Praepusa boeska sp.n.) of the subfamily Phocinae. Diagnostic humeral differences in shape of the coronoid (oval in males vs triangular in females) and depth of the olecranon fossae (shallow in males vs deep in females), as well as the presence of a rounded first ventral foramen and thick lateral wall in the male sacrum, reveal the first evidence of sexual dimorphism in the genus Praepusa. The newly described species adds information on the distribution of true seals, supporting the westward dispersal of this genus across the Paratethys. Strong endemism from closure of the Paratethys, and climatic, geological and stratigraphic diff erences indicate that Praepusa first inhabited the Eastern Paratethys (Early - Middle Miocene, 16.5-13.6 Ma) before dispersing to the Central (Middle Miocene, 13.6-11.2 Ma) and, later, Western (Late Miocene - Early Pliocene, 11.6-3.6 Ma) Paratethys. The Pr. boeska fossils are the youngest to date and have been found the furthest west of any previously described material of this genus. These findings help explain the origin and dispersal among described species of the genus Praepusa in comparison with other genera of the subfamily Phocinae.

Stratigraphic scheme for the neogene deposits of the Northern Black sea region and adjacent part of the Ukrainian shield

There are currently two stratigraphic schemes (1993 and 1995) utilised for stratigraphic subdivision of the Neogene deposits of the Northern Black Sea region and adjacent parts of the Ukrainian Shield. These schemes are based on biostratigraphic (molluscs, foraminifers, ostracods) and lithological studies and therefore local stratigraphic subdivisions used in these schemes (according to the Stratigraphic Code of Ukraine, 2012) are essentially biostratigraphic subdivisions, namely «beds with fauna». This fact impedes using these stratigraphic schemes as a basis for developing legends for large-scale and medium-scale geological maps. A new modernized stratigraphic scheme of the Neogene deposits of the Northern Black Sea region and adjacent parts of the Ukrainian Shield is introduced in this study. The scheme is supported by new and previously published data on the distribution of lithological types of Neogene sediments and their detailed biostratigraphic analysis. The stratigraphic scheme of the Neogene deposits of the Southern Ukraine (1995) includes regional stratigraphic subdivisions – «horizons» that are subordinate to regional stages. The new scheme suggests using only those horizons that are characterized by mollusc assemblages or other paleontological groups. These assemblages should be typical for different facies of coeval sediments in the most structural-facies zones of the Southern Ukraine. The volume of local stratigraphic subdivisions in previous stratigraphic schemes (1993, 1995) has been revised; their stratigraphic status and names have been emended. New local stratigraphic subdivisions, namely formations, beds and strata, have been identified based on the similarity of lithology and biostratigraphy between Neogene deposits of different investigated areas. The age of those local stratigraphic subdivisions has been determined by key species of different fossil groups. These subdivisions have been correlated with the Neogene regional stages of the Eastern Paratethys. Based on the presence of representative fossil assemblages within some local stratigraphic subdivisions, «beds with fauna» have been introduced. The suggested stratigraphic scheme of the Neogene deposits of the Northern Black Sea region and adjacent parts of the Ukrainian Shield consists of two sheets with a graphic image of the scheme, three graphic appendices and text. Sheets demonstrate the spread areas of local stratigraphic subdivisions, their spatial and stratigraphic correlation and names. Sheet 1 includes a schematic diagram of the Neogene deposits from the west to the east: Western structural-facies zone – Genichesk structural-facies subzone – Priazovye; Sheet 2 – from the south to the north: Genichesk structural-facies subzone – Kakhovka structural-facies subzone – the southern slope of the Ukrainian Shield. The «beds with fauna» have been shown for local subdivisions. The comparison of local stratigraphic subdivisions from this scheme with those from the previous schemes (1993, 1995) is provided in graphic appendices.

Paleomagnetic analyses on Badenian–Sarmatian drill cores from the North Carpathian Foredeep (Middle Miocene, Poland)

Accurate dating of the Badenian–Sarmatian transition, a boundary between two regional Middle Miocene stages of the semi-isolated Paratethys Sea, is crucial to understand what event caused the corresponding major turnover in faunal assemblage at that point in time. The general opinion is that this event resulted from a sudden isolation of the Eastern Paratethys from ocean water, due to the closure of the Eastern Anatolian seaway to the Indian Ocean, but it remains debated if the final isolation had a tectonic or climatic cause. This pilot study presents paleomagnetic analyses of two drill cores from the North Carpathian Foredeep in Poland that straddle the Badenian–Sarmatian transition. Rock magnetic experiments, including thermomagnetic runs in air on a Curie balance, and hysteresis measurements on a MicroMag, indicate that the dominant magnetic carrier is the iron sulphide greigite. This is in agreement with the observed gyroremanence obtained during alternating field demagnetization above 40 mT. Alternating field and thermal demagnetization results are in good agreement and show a weak, mixed-polarity, signal for most of the Badenian, rapidly shifting to a much stronger and dominantly normal polarity signal in the Sarmatian part of the cores. First order reversal curves diagrams indicate that the greigite in the Sarmatian part is clearly of diagenetic origin, it thus most likely concerns a secondary overprint by the present-day field that cannot be used for magnetostratigraphic correlations. We conclude that the Paratethys-wide paleoenvironmental change that occurred at the Badenian–Sarmatian transition had probably also created different conditions for the formation and/or preservation of magnetic minerals

До стратиграфії конксько-сарматських відкладів Південної України по молюскам (середній - верхній міоцен)

The results of study marine bivalve and gastropod from konkian-sarmatian deposits of the Southern Ukraine are gave. Their lateral and vertical distribution is studied. Local stratigraphic schemes for the Northern Black Sea region,Flat Crimea and Kerch peninsula.Key words: Bivalvia, Gastropoda, biostratigraphy, Middle-Upper Miocene, Southern Ukraine, Eastern Paratethys.

Miocene sea-level changes in northernmost Anatolia: Sedimentary record of eustasy and tectonism at the peri-Pontide fringe of Eastern Paratethys

This study from the Central Pontide Miocene foredeep basin compares the local record of relative sea-level changes at the Turkish southern periphery of the Eastern Paratethys with the general Paratethyan eustatic history. Detailed sedimentary facies analysis is used to decipher high-resolution sequence stratigraphy of the basin-fill succession. The Tarkhanian–Chokrakian Sinop Formation overlies directly the pre-Cenozoic bedrock and consists of neritic to littoral, foreshore and barrier–lagoon deposits, which form transgressive–regressive parasequences with estimated time spans of ca. 60 to 700ka. The overlying Konkian–Bessarabian Gelincik Formation occurs as the infill of fluvial valleys, up to >120m deep, which were incised during the Karaganian and filled with deltaic to non-deltaic bayhead shoreline deposits passing up-valley into alluvium. The valley-fill deposits form parasequences with an estimated mean time span of ca. 300ka, organized into a lower regressive and an upper transgressive set. These 1st-order parasequences consist of smaller, 2nd-order parasequences with an estimated mean time span of ca. 5ka.All the main mid-Miocene Paratethyan eustatic events are recognizable in the basin-fill succession, although their record appears to have been modulated by the local tectonism and high rate of post-orogenic sediment supply. The signal of 3rd-order eustatic cycles is recorded on a stratigraphic scale of parasequence sets. The 1st-order parasequences are attributed to pulses of the basin subsidence, which was initially driven by the thrust loading of the collapsing Pontide orogen and later by the neotectonic inception of the strike-slip North Anatolian Fault System. The 2nd-order parasequences represent minor subsidence pulses and/or the Milankovitch eustatic cycles. The study shows how a comparative analysis of local sequence stratigraphy and eustatic sea-level record can serve to recognize the relative role of eustasy, tectonics and sediment supply in a sedimentary basin.

Reply to the comment on the paper “Lago Mare and the Messinian Salinity Crisis: Evidence from the Alboran Sea (S. Spain) by Do Couto et al. (2014) Marine and Petroleum Geology 52 (57–76)” authored by Serrano and Guerra-Merchán

The marine context of the Lago Mare deposit near Malaga has received agreement as well as its ascription to the third Lago Mare event of Clauzon et al. (2005). This deposit is not a “transitional unit towards normal marine conditions” but followed the marine reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin, allowing the connection with the Dacic Basin (Eastern Paratethys). We show that this Lago Mare event did not result from a climatic change leading to a dilution episode but from a high sea-level connection. Different interpretations on the respective effects of tectonics and eustatism on the sedimentary archives linked to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) are once more debated. They depend on (1) the duration assigned to the MSC and its subdivisions, (2) the amplitude of the successive sea level variations, and at last (3) the dimensional (local or regional) view of the MSC. Such discrepancies concern subsidiary matters which cannot mask first order facts and progresses in their knowledge.

Astronomically-tuned cyclicity in Upper Maeotian deposits of the eastern paratethys (Zheleznyi Rog section, Taman)

Astronomically-tuned cyclicity in Upper Maeotian deposits of the Zheleznyi Rog section (Taman, Eastern Paratethys) was revealed first time using the methods of cyclostratigraphy. According to the spectral analysis of the data on the magnetic susceptibility of rocks and basing on the peaks of Lomb-Scargle and REDFIT periodograms, cyclicity with a length of 7.1–8.9 m was established in studied deposits. These cycles are comparable with the period of oscillations of the Earth’s axis angle to the plane of its orbit, which corresponds to 41000 years. The data we obtained confirm the idea of the correlation of Upper Maeotian deposits to the greater part of the Chron C3An and duration of the late Maeotian no longer than 700000–750000 years.

Miocene connectivity between the Central and Eastern Paratethys: Constraints from the western Dacian Basin

The Dacian Basin formed an important link between the central and eastern parts of the Paratethys, a chain of late Tertiary inland seas and lakes. This study presents constraints on Miocene sea and lake level fluctuations in the Dacian Basin and on the connectivity between it and other Paratethys basins, based on the interpretation of seismic lines, a micropalaeontological study and lithofacies analysis of a large number of outcrops. It is shown that relative sea level fluctuations in the western part of the Dacian Basin during the Middle Miocene were primarily driven by tectonic activity in the nearby Carpathian Mountains. From the Maeotian (Late Miocene) onwards, however, tectonic activity was minor and relative sea level fluctuations were primarily driven by changes in basin connectivity and climate. The connection between the Central and Eastern Paratethys was broken at the end of the Middle Miocene, leading to the development of an endemic fauna in the former, but new data presented here suggest that isolation was not sustained completely as Central Paratethys species appeared in the Dacian Basin during the Maeotian (Late Miocene). Besides the isolation two falls in water level occurred in the basin during the latest Miocene: Of these, the intra-Pontian sea-level drop is the best known. We show, however, that this drop was preceded by a larger sea or lake-level drop in the late Sarmatian/Maeotian. This latter event may have affected much larger parts of the Paratethys, and we recommend more study of the bordering basins. The hypothesis that the connection between the Dacian and Central Paratethys basins was located in the region where the Danube River presently crosses the Carpathians was tested, but no supporting evidence was found.

Cyclostratigraphy of Pontian deposits of the Eastern Paratethys (Zheleznyi Rog section, Taman Region)

The first data on the cyclostratigraphy of Pontian deposits of the Eastern Paratethys were obtained by studying the magnetic susceptibility of Upper Miocene rocks of the Zheleznyi Rog section in the Taman Region. Based on statistical methods, using the Lomb-Scargle and REDFIT periodograms, cycles related to long-period insolation oscillations (precession of the Earth’s orbit and variations in Earth’s axial tilt) were revealed. It is proposed that a hiatus occurred (about 150000–200000 years) at the Novorossian/Portaferian boundary (Lower Pontian/Upper Pontian) due to the onset of the maximum Messinian Salinity Crisis.

Three bird taxa (Aves: Anatidae, Phasianidae, Scolopacidae) from the Late Miocene of the Sea of Azov (Southwestern Russia)

European Late Miocene avian faunas are very insufficiently known. Until now, no Mio-Pliocene birds have been described from the eastern part of the Eastern Paratethys, and the entire record of birds from the Eastern Paratethys is restricted to several poorly described taxa from Ukraine and Moldova. Here we describe the remains of three bird species from the recently discovered Late Miocene vertebrate locality Morskaya-2, which has yielded the first known avian fauna of this age in the European part of Russia and also the easternmost Neogene avian fauna in Europe. The three taxa represent the families Phasianidae, Anatidae and Scolopacidae, which have not been documented from the Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys before. A small quail from Morskaya is assigned to Plioperdix hungarica comb. nov., which was previously known from the Late Miocene of Hungary. We show that the morphology of the acrocoracoid process of the coracoid is very diagnostic in phasianids and fits the molecular phylogeny of the family relatively well. Apomorphic characters indicate that Plioperdix is a sister taxon of the extant genus Coturnix. A medium-sized duck is assigned to the genus Anas s.s. and described as a new species, A. kurochkini sp. nov. Although metrically close to S. clypeata, this duck is morphologically distinct from all extant dabbling ducks. The presence of the quail and the duck indicates a certain degree of similarity between the avian faunas across the northern borders of the Central and Eastern Paratethys in the latest Miocene. The third reported taxon is a large snipe, which is described here as Gallinago azovica sp. nov.

Brandtocetus, a new genus of baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the late Miocene of Crimea, Ukraine

ABSTRACT A new cetotheriid baleen whale, Brandtocetus chongulek, gen. et sp. nov., is described from the late Miocene of Crimea, Ukraine. The type series is represented by three partial skulls with periotic bones and tympanic bullae, one of the three belonging to a juvenile. Brandtocetus chongulek has transversely expanded squamosals, ‘S’-shaped nuchal crests, an anterior margin of the occipital shield extending anterior to the center of the temporal fossa, and an elongated posterior process of the tympanoperiotic. The tympanoperiotic and postglenoid process of the squamosal are typical of cetotheriines (as opposed to herpetocetines). Comparison of the juvenile specimen with adults shows no differences in tympanoperiotic anatomy, moderate squamosal growth, and significant growth of the neurocranium after the age of at least 1 year. The phylogenetic analysis including 13 cetotheriids supports the monophyly of Cetotheriidae sensu stricto and suggests the monophyly of whales from the Eastern Paratethys (Brandtocetus, Cetotherium, Kurdalagonus, and possibly Eucetotherium). Brandtocetus and other cetotheriids from the Black Sea region possess cranial features hypothesized to be adaptations to a generalized filter feeding strategy combining different modes of suction feeding. SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP