A new occurrence of Carboniferous seed predation is described on Trigonocarpum noeggerathii Sternberg from the lower Moscovian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW Germany). This damage trace has been assigned to DT306, being the first report of its kind in Germany and the fifth worldwide. Here, we compare this feeding boring with the previously documented feeding traces in the literature on both Trigonocarpum Brongniart and Samaropsis Goeppert sp., shedding some light on the origins of this functional feeding group, despite the long pre-existence of seeds.
Coprolites are fossilised faeces that offer a unique archive of the biology and ecology of extinct vertebrates. However, in the high-altitude Puna ecoregion of north-western Argentina, palaeoecological studies remain scarce, and existing analytical protocols are often unsuited to the distinctive taphonomic and sedimentary conditions of this environment. These limitations hinder reliable reconstructions of past faunal and environmental dynamics. In this study, coprolites attributed to extinct megaherbivores (Megatheriidae/Mylodontidae) from the Antofagasta de la Sierra microregion (Catamarca Province) were analysed to determine their taxonomic attribution and dietary habits. The samples were recovered from two archaeological contexts: Cueva Cacao 1.A (CC1.A; ca. 41,000 14C years BP) and Peñas de las Trampas 1.1 (PT1.1; ca. 13,750 14C years BP). Nine coprolites were analysed through a multiproxy approach combining morphology, ancient DNA (aDNA) and palynomorphs. Three aDNA extraction protocols were tested to assess their effectiveness in DNA recovery from ancient samples. The optimal method was determined based on its success in amplifying mitochondrial 12S rRNA fragments and the overall DNA yield, with higher amplification efficiency observed in PT1.1 samples. The results confirmed the attribution of the coprolites to Megatheriidae/Mylodontidae. The pollen assemblages were dominated by Poaceae, Asteraceae subf. Asteroideae, and Adesmia; this suggests a diet primarily composed of herbaceous plants and shrubs. These findings provide new insights into taxonomic identity and the trophic ecology of extinct sloths from the southern Central Andes during the Late Pleistocene.
The Early Devonian Rhynie chert Konservat Lagerstätte in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, contains an abundance of structurally preserved fossils of organisms that lived together in an early terrestrial geothermal-wetland ecosystem, including cyanobacteria, fungi and fungus-like organisms, algae, land plants, and animals ranging from testate amoebae to nematodes and aquatic crustaceans to the earliest harvestmen, which were fully adapted to life on land. The chert also provides ample direct evidence of interactions between different organisms. Many of the fossils are preserved in situ and reveal astonishing details at the (sub-)cellular level, suggesting that entombment in silca has occurred rapidly to virtually instantaneously. However, not all fossils from the Rhynie chert are excellent; there are also signs of desiccation and shrinkage, as well as biological decay and mechanical destruction. Understandably, most attention has been directed at the well-preserved fossils, while the tattered, fragmented, (partially) decayed, and otherwise inferior ones have received little attention. In this article, we present examples of the varying quality of preservation of organic remains in the Rhynie chert and discuss the taphonomic processes that have led to this. We focus on land plant reproductive biology, microbial fossils, and different levels of fungal interaction, three aspects that stand out in the fossil content of the Rhynie chert Lagerstätte.
Pujatopouli soberana is a small Cretaceous bird collected from Maastrichtian rocks of the López de Bertodano Formation, Marambio (Seymour) Island, Antarctica. The exquisite preservation of the skull, including the braincase and beak, and the synsacrum enabled the most complete examination of the central nervous system for an extinct Neornithes. The soft tissue reconstructions based on CT scan data include the brain, inner ear, craniofacial nervovasculature (peripheral trigeminal nerve), and spinal medulla (synsacrum organ). The innervation of the mandible and upper beak, and the morphology of the lumbosacral canal (which encloses the second-largest nervous structure by volume) are also described for the first time in a Cretaceous bird. The implications of inner ear morphology, the presence of a glycogen organ, and the innervation of mandible and bill for the sensory biology of Pujatopouli are analyzed to shed light on its lifestyle.
The Piesberg north of the city of Osnabrück, NW Germany, has been known as a locality for plant fossils of Pennsylvanian age since at least 1799. Still, even in modern times palaeontological progress can be made, from the insight that faunal elements are far more common than previously thought throughout the succession, gained in the late 1980’s, to the recent discovery of lacustrine freshwater deposits in 2018, a palaeoenvironment rarely recorded in the Moscovian of equatorial Pangaea. The present paper highlights recent palaeontological finds from the Piesberg Fossil-Lagerstätte and their significance for our understanding of systematics, phylogeny and palaeoecology of various taxa ranging from arthropods to sphenophytes. A sedimentological overview of the shale beds representing the palaeo-lake illustrates a deepening-shallowing-trend with the highstand sedimentation exhibiting rhythmic, varve-like stratification, probably representing a seasonal to subseasonal signal in an otherwise calm and inhospitable depositional environment. Fossil preservation is often exceptional in these black shales, due to the small grain sizes, anoxic depositional environment and subsequent lack of bioturbation, and thus records fine anatomical details of specimens. The biotic inventory of the palaeo-lake exhibits significant differences to other fossil-bearing beds of the Piesberg succession, with e.g. occurrences of “dryland” flora such as Dichophyllum moorei and Taeniopteris, as well as a higher abundance of scorpions and representatives of the xiphosuran genus Liomesaspis. In the light of these recent discoveries, the Piesberg locality will very likely continue to provide significant palaeontological insights in the future.
