The latest shallow-sea isocrinids from the Miocene of Paratethys and implications to the Mesozoic marine revolution.

The predation-driven Mesozoic marine revolution (MMR) is believed to have induced a dramatic change in the bathymetric distribution of many shallow marine invertebrates since the late Mesozoic. For instance, stalked crinoids - isocrinids (Isocrinida) have undergone a striking decline in shallow-sea environments and today they are restricted to deep-sea settings (below 100 m depth). However, the timing and synchronicity of this shift are a matter of debate.

The extinct shark, (Elasmobranchii, Ptychodontidae) in the Upper Cretaceous of central-western Russia-The road to easternmost peri-Tethyan seas.

Isolated teeth belonging to the genus Agassiz, 1834 (Chondrichthyes; Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Ryazan and Moscow Oblast regions (European Russia) are described and discussed in detail herein. The taxonomic composition of the assemblage from the Ryazan region is very diverse including the first records of the cuspidate species . and .

Comparative actualistic study hints at origins of alleged Miocene coprolites of Poland.

Excrement-shaped ferruginous masses have been recovered from the Miocene of Turów mine in south-western Poland. These siderite masses have been the subject of much controversy, having been interpreted either as being coprolites, cololithes or pseudofossils created by mechanical deformation of plastic sediment. Here we present the results of mineralogical, geochemical, petrographic and microtomographical analyses.

Bromalites from the Upper Triassic Polzberg section (Austria); insights into trophic interactions and food chains of the Polzberg palaeobiota.

A rich assemblage of various types of bromalites from the lower Carnian "Konservat-Lagerstätte" from the Reingraben Shales in Polzberg (Northern Calcareous Alps, Lower Austria) is described for the first time in detail. They comprise large regurgitalites consisting of numerous entire shells of ammonoid Austrotrachyceras or their fragments and rare teuthid arm hooks, and buccal cartilage of Phragmoteuthis. Small coprolites composed mainly of fish remains were also found.

Drill holes and predation traces versus abrasion-induced artifacts revealed by tumbling experiments.

Drill holes made by predators in prey shells are widely considered to be the most unambiguous bodies of evidence of predator-prey interactions in the fossil record. However, recognition of traces of predatory origin from those formed by abiotic factors still waits for a rigorous evaluation as a prerequisite to ascertain predation intensity through geologic time and to test macroevolutionary patterns. New experimental data from tumbling various extant shells demonstrate that abrasion may leave holes strongly resembling the traces produced by drilling predators.

Ophiuroids discovered in the middle triassic hypersaline environment.

Echinoderms have long been considered to be one of the animal phyla that is strictly marine. However, there is growing evidence that some recent species may live in either brackish or hypersaline environments. Surprisingly, discoveries of fossil echinoderms in non-(open)marine paleoenvironments are lacking.