An integrated study of planktonic foraminifera, pollen, spores, and dinoflagellate cysts from two sites, Sidi Driss and Trifa, in the Boudinar Basin, south of the Alboran Sea, was conducted. The aim was to establish a precise, high-resolution biostratigraphic framework and to reconstruct the marine environment, terrestrial vegetation, and climatic conditions prevailing in the western Mediterranean during the early Zanclean, immediately following the Messinian Salinity Crisis. High-resolution biostratigraphic analyses of planktonic foraminifera from the two sections reveal a consistent succession of bioevents, providing precise dating for the sediments and enabling basin-scale correlations. Distal proxies from the combined analysis of foraminifera, dinoflagellate cysts, and pollen indicate a relatively shallow, open marine outer-platform setting, with a pronounced continental influence, during the early Zanclean. These data suggest that normal marine conditions were re-established in the Boudinar Basin under a context of progressive transgression following the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Palaeotemperature proxies further indicate predominantly warm conditions, consistent with the Early Pliocene climatic optimum. Pollen records from the studied sections provide new insights into the flora and vegetation of the Boudinar Basin during the early Zanclean. The vegetation was characterised by a mosaic of assemblages inherited from the Tortonian and Messinian contexts of Morocco; consequently, early Zanclean pollen floras closely resemble those of the Messinian. Analysis of various climatic parameters indicates an increase in aridity and a slight decrease in temperatures throughout the studied sedimentary sequences. Their evolution exhibits marked cyclicity, likely controlled by variations in orbital parameters.
The public excavation and preparation of sixteen sediment blocks of a Late Cretaceous Lance Formation bonebed (Eastern Wyoming, USA) yielded a well-preserved mammalian lower jaw. The sediment blocks were transported to the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) in 2018 and 2019 as part of the public “Edmond’s prehistoric Realm” event (“Edmonds Urzeitreich”, Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt 2020 to 2021). Here we highlight that public outreach projects can serve as valuable tools for engaging the public interest while contributing to science with the discovery and description of new material. The partial fossil jaw was professionally excavated and prepared from the surrounding sediment matrix and subsequently μCT scanned. Morphological characters like dental formula, occlusal surface characteristics, and jaw shape suggest affinities to Mesozoic Marsupialia or Marsupialiaformes. Abundant metatherian taxa known from the Lance Formation are the didelphimorph alphadontids and pediomyids. Position and form of the oblique cristid (i.e. cristid obliqua) in relation to the protocristid notch are key features that distinguish alphadontids and pediomyids. Even though the specimen shows heavily worn tooth surfaces, the identification of genus and species appears possible, and we tentatively assign the specimen to the pediomyid genus ?Leptalestes due to the following characters: both entoconid and hypoconulid are distally wing-like expanded, the oblique cristid connects to the trigonid at the protocristid notch, and the entocristid is a sharp crest rather than cusp-shaped. The strong dental wear indicates that the animal was likely fully adult to senile.
The Yacoraite Formation (Maastrichtian–Danian) of the Salta Rift System, northwestern Argentina, preserves one of the most diverse Late Cretaceous vertebrate ichnological records in Gondwana. This study documents multiple dinosaur track-bearing levels from the Huichaira site (Quebrada de Humahuaca, Tres Cruces sub-basin), located within the basal limestone-dominated peritidal succession of the formation. A 33 m stratigraphic section was logged, and a 1.2 m thick interval at the base of the Yacoraite Formation contains seven superimposed track-bearing limestone levels (L1–L7), yielding at least 36 tridactyl footprints. Photogrammetry, detailed sedimentological logging, and petrographic analyses of the true track-bearing level (L3) were conducted to assess substrate conditions and preservational controls. Tracks are preserved as true tracks, undertracks, and natural casts within cyclic wackestone–mudstone couplets associated with mudcracks and laminated structures possibly related to microbial activity. Notably, undertracks in L2 exhibit sharper morphological features than the corresponding true tracks in L3, reflecting differential substrate cohesion and stress transmission consistent with the “Goldilocks effect”. Displacement rims and microfacies evidence indicate impressions formed on water-saturated but variably cohesive fine-grained substrates, possibly reflecting variations in substrate cohesion. The assemblage includes Hadrosauropodus isp., theropod-like tracks, and indeterminate tridactyl footprints. The Huichaira tracksite constitutes the second record of Hadrosauropodus from both the Yacoraite Formation and Gondwanaland, reinforcing evidence for hadrosaurids in northwestern Argentina during the latest Cretaceous. This finding broadens the known spatial and stratigraphic distribution of large ornithopods in South America and emphasises the pivotal role of substrate consistency in preserving tracks in peritidal settings.
This commentary evaluates the methodological basis and palaeodietary interpretations presented by Rodríguez-Franco et al. (2026) for Ursus spelaeus from Cueva de Guantes (Palencia, Spain). Although the study provides new isotopic data from a region of the Iberian Peninsula that remains poorly represented in cave bear research, several aspects of the analytical framework raise concerns. These include incomplete assessment of collagen preservation, insufficient description of bioapatite preservation criteria, inconsistencies in isotopic terminology, unresolved chronological discrepancies with previously published dates from the same site, and limited integration of the extensive isotopic literature on cave bears. The interpretation of dietary variability, trophic position, hibernation behaviour, and ontogenetic isotopic patterns is further hindered by the absence of a faunal isotopic baseline and by reliance on hypotheses that are not adequately supported by the available evidence. We argue that the reliability of the isotopic dataset should be reassessed before robust palaeoecological conclusions can be drawn. This case highlights the importance of rigorous quality-control procedures and comprehensive contextualisation in stable isotope studies of fossil mammals.
Petrographic, palynofloral and palynofacies analyses of the samples from coal, associated shale horizons, clay and sandstone from the Permian coal deposits of the Godavari Valley Coalfield (GVC) were made to reconstruct the palaeofloristic and palaeodepositional settings during the sedimentation. The palynofacies analysis revealed the predominant occurrence of degraded organic matter (DOM) along with equidimensional phytoclasts, indicating the forested cover in the vicinity of the flooded palaeomire. The dominant occurrence of the glossopterids also suggests the contribution of gymnospermous vegetation in the swampy settings. Sedimentological analysis of the borehole sediments, coupled with petrography, reveals repeated typical cyclic deposition in a fluvial environment representing a fining upward sequence, in which coarse-grained massive sandstones were deposited at the base, followed by finer sandstone units; heteroliths; grey and carbonaceous shales; and associated coal seams towards the top. The various petrographic indices, palynofacies entities, along with the palynoflora indicate a low-energy swamp to floodplain setting, periodically influenced by fluvial sediment influx. The interpretations of the palynofacies investigation on the ternary diagram suggest that the accumulation of the organic matter occurred in three different palaeoenvironmental settings represented by the forest swamps, flooded palaeomires and oxidised swamps. Collectively, the results suggest that the deposition of the studied sediments of the Barakar Formation occurred under variable energy regimes, but predominantly within low-energy settings. Petrographic studies reflect the mixed provenance of the studied sediments of the Barakar Formation.
