Based on a comparative morphological analysis and review of literary data, five species of Limnocytherinae from Western Siberia are revised, and their assignment to the genus Scordiscia Krstić et Schornikov, 1993 of the tribe Dinarocytherini Krstić, 1987, is substantiated.

Siberian representatives of the family Ilyocyprididae are revised based on Neogene–Quaternary ostracod collections assembled by T.A. Kazmina, I.I. Tetetrina, and the author of this article. Ilyocyprididae is represented in the region by two genera, Ilyocypris Brady et Norman, 1889 and Fossilyocypris Schornikov et Krstić, 2004. Species composition and stratigraphic position of 12 taxa of this family are discussed. One new species and four debatable species are described.

Carboniferous ammonoids from the Taimyr Peninsula (Russian Arctic) are described for the first time. Despite its rare occurrence, the ammonoid fauna is of great importance for the regional stratigraphy. Scientific names of ammonoids are given according to the modern systematic scheme, three biostratigraphic assemblages that specify the age of cephalopod-bearing strata are established. New species such as Glaphyrites taimyricus Konovalova et Borissenkov, sp. nov. from the upper part of the Makarovskaya Formation of the Western Taimyr and Kayutoceras pogrebitskyi Borissenkov et Kutygin, sp. nov. from the Olen’ynskaya Formation of the Central Taimyr are described.

Finds of the European fossil species Vestalenula danielopoli in the Holocene peat deposits of Western Siberia are reported. The age of the deposits is 8850 cal yr BP. The species first appeared at the beginning of the Atlantic period (5750 cal yr BP), and disappeared at the beginning of the Subatlantic period (2200 cal yr BP). Vestalenula danielopoli co-occurred with species typical for temporary shallow bodies of water.

TheKugarchi Section in the Zilair Synclinorium in the SouthUrals (Russia, Bashkortostan) is one of themost complete sections of the Bukharcha Formation, including the entire Serpukhovian and the lower Bashkirian. This is the type section of the Bogdanovkian Regional Infrasubstage ('Horizon'), the lowermost Bashkirian of the Urals. The section spans the Visean-Serpukhovian and Mid-Carboniferous boundaries and contains various ammonoids, conodonts, and foraminifers, providing a good basis for the regional stratigraphy and global correlations. The section has been measured and logged, and its microfacies and fossils are identified in this study.

The Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section is one of the best candidates for the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) at the base of the Stage (Mississippian). For boundary definition, the first appearance of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri Nemirovskaya, Perret et Meischner, 1994 in the lineage Lochriea nodosa (Bischoff, 1957)− L. ziegleri is used. L. ziegleri appears in the Venevian Substage somewhat below the base of the Serpukhovian in the Moscow Basin. The position of the FAD of L. ziegleri within the Hypergoniatites − Ferganoceras Genozone is confirmed and lies between 19.53 and 19.63 m above the section’s base. Before 2010, deep-water stylonodular limestone containing the boundary in unnamed formation C at Kardailovka was well exposed but only 3 m of Viséan strata cropped out immediately below. Recent trenching exposed another 10 m of underlying Viséan carbonates in formation C and older Viséan siliciclastics and volcanics in unnamed formation B. The contact between formation B and underlying crinoidal limestones in unnamed formation A representing the middle Viséan Zhukovian (Tulian) regional Substage was excavated. The boundary succession, situated in the Magnitogorsk tectonic zone above the Devonian Magnitogorsk arc and Mississippian magmatic and sedimentary rift succession, was deposited west of the Kazakhstanian continent during closure of the Ural Ocean. In the lower part of the section, Viséan tuffaceous siliciclastics and volcanics of formation B record rapid deepening after deposition of neritic middle Viséan crinoid lime grainstone of formation A and subsequent subaerial exposure. The overlying condensed upper Viséan to Serpukhovian succession in formation C comprises deep-water limestone deposited in a sediment-starved basin recording minor turbidite influx and carbonate-mound development. The δ 13 C carb plot shows a positive shift of 1‰ V-PDB (from +2 to +3‰) between 17.0 and 17.75 m (3.05 and 1.97 m below FAD L. ziegleri ). The δ 18 O apatite graph displays a prominent upward shift from 19.9 to 21.1‰ V-SMOW (at 19.15 to 19.51 m) in the nodosa Zone below FAD of Lochriea ziegleri .

Eifelian ammonoids are described for the first time from the Central Kyzylkum Desert (Uzbekistan, Navoiy Region, Aristantau Mountains). The ammonoid assemblage includes the typical Eifelian genera Fidelites , Subanarcestes (a new species S. aristanensis Nikolaeva sp. nov. is described), and Cabrieroceras , found in association with brachiopods, conodonts, and dacryoconarids. The ammonoid assemblage is similar to that from the Choteč beds of Barrandien and their equivalents in the Urals, Salair, Germany, and Morocco ( Subanarcestes macrocephalus Zone), suggesting a connection between the Eifelian Kyzylkum Basin, which was part of the Turkestan Paleoocean, and European, North African, Siberian, and Uralian basins. The ammonoids studied are not associated with black shale and apparently existed in normal marine environments.

In the upper Neopleistocene of the southeastern West Siberian Plain, two ancillary biostratigraphic units by ostracods in the rank of faunal beds, namely, the Cypridopsis vidua–Herpetocypris reptans Beds (Ermakovo Horizon and the lower part of the Karginsky Horizon) and the Ilyocypris pustulata Beds (Karginsky Horizon), are recognized for the first time. The age of the Ilyocypris pustulata Beds is substantiated by a series of radiometric datings. The Eucypris pigra–Cyclocypris laevis–C. triangula ostracod assemblage from the upper part of the Sartan Horizon, whose age is also justified by a radiometric date, is characterized. The new data on ostracods supplement the materials available on this group of fauna and refine the Quaternary regional stratigraphic scheme of the West Siberian Plain.

The Late Tournaisian ammonoids from the Kuilyuk Formation and the carbonate massifs of the Chatkal Group were studied in the lower reaches of the Chatkal River (Middle Tien Shan, Uzbekistan). Three successive ammonoid assemblages of the Late Tournaisian Pericyclus-Progoniatites and Fascipericyclus-Ammonellipsites Genozones were recognized. A new pericyclid genus, Parasiacyclus gen. nov., with the type species Parasiacyclus chatcalicus sp. nov., and the new species Eurites kuilukensis sp. nov., Habadraites kulosiensis sp. nov., and Nodopericyclus asiaticus sp. nov. are described. The genus Muensteroceratoides Popov, 1965, previously considered as a junior synonym of Dzhaprakoceras Popov, 1965 is reinstated and redescribed.

New Late Viséan and Early Serpukhovian ammonoids are described from the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section (South Urals, Bashkortostan). The ammonoid assemblages allow the recognition of the Hypergoniatites−Ferganoceras Genozone and a correlation with the synchronous zonations of North Africa, Spain, and China. The new species Ferganoceras constrictum sp. nov., Dombarites clemens sp. nov., and Hypergoniatites kardailovkensis sp. nov. are described.

New data are provided on the ostracode fauna of the Middle Neopleistocene to Holocene of the southeastern West Siberian Plain. Several species are recorded for the first time in the West Siberian Plain: Fabaeformiscandona aff. hyalina (Brady et Robertson), F. harmsworthi Scott, F. holzkampfi Hartwig, Pseudocandona insculpta Müller, Candona weltneri Hartwig, C. inaequivalvis Sars, and C. muelleri jacutica Pietrzeniuk. New evidence is presented on the distribution of the species Pseudocandona stagnalis Sars, Eucypris pigra (Fischer), Dolerocypris fasciata Fischer, Cyclocypris ovum Müller, and C. triangula Negadaev. New species, Candona kazminae sp. nov. and Ilyocypris pustulata sp. nov., are described. The study resulted in establishing the Late Karginian ostracode association.

In the Early Carboniferous-Bashkirian the most diverse ammonoid assemblages were associated with deep-water settings of the outer shelf and the carbonate platform slope. At the end of the Early Bashkirian, ammonoid assemblages of basins of the eastern slope of the South Urals were associated with shallow-water settings and bioherm buildups, which probably contributed to their endemism. New species of the genera Neogoniatites, Schartymites, and Stenoglaphyrites are described from localities of the eastern slope of the South Urals.

The paper describes a Serpukhovian Stage section, exposed along the Ural River near the village of Verkhnyaya Kardailovka (Bashkortostan). The section is uniquely complete and is proposed as a GSSP candidate for the base of the Serpukhovian. The Upper Visean and Serpukhovian beds are represented by relatively deep facies, which contain ammonoids, conodonts, ostracods, foraminifers, and other fossils. The section is described bed-by-bed and subdivided into zones based on four faunal groups. The lower boundary of the Serpukhovian is placed at the base of the Lochriea ziegleri conodont zone. The stratigraphic units are correlated with synchronous beds of the East European Platform, the Donets Basin, Western Europe, Central Asia, and North America.