Miocene

The morphological variation presents in the penguin tarsometatarsi from Pisco Formation (Miocene–Pliocene) from Peru assigned to Spheniscus Brisson, 1760 is analyzed. Metrics and geometric techniques to quantify the diversity present in each of the nine sites localities at the south–central coast were applied. A comparative description of Spheniscus and its Miocene morphologically closest genus PalaeoSpheniscus Moreno and Mercerat, 1891 is also provided. They together constitute the penguin avifauna of the Miocene of Peru. The results allow us to recognize that the intra–specific diversity is at the same level of variation than the inter–specific one. At least five species of Spheniscus are hereby recognized: Spheniscus urbinai Stucchi 2002, S. megaramphus Stucchi, Urbina and Giraldo 2003, S. muizoni Göhlich 2007 and two innominated species. Each one of these species transgresses the boundaries between the localities, being represented in more than one locality. It was not possible ...

Abstract: MLP 00-III-5-1 is a distal end of a right tibiotarsus belonging to a fossil penguin. It comes from the Cerro Águila Conglomerate (53 50'14.85 “S, 67 47'29.78 “W) near Río Grande City, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. These beds overly sediments referable to the ...

The provenance of the Upper Miocene sandstones from the Sava and Drava depressions of the North Croatian Basin was investigated using petrographic, geochemical, and heavy mineral analyses, including Raman spectroscopy. The study of these sandstones, which represent important oil and gas reservoirs in Croatia, allowed reconstruction of the Late Miocene source-to-sink model of the Lake Pannon drainage system and the evolution of the southwestern Pannonian Basin. The studied feldspatho-litho-quartzose sandstones consist of a mixture of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous detritus. Heavy-mineral assemblages are dominated by almandine-rich garnet with apatite, epidote, tourmaline, rutile, zircon, staurolite, and zoisite, indicative of low to medium-grade metamorphic source rocks. Higher concentrations of Ca and Mg than in the Upper Continental Crust standard (UCC) additionally reflect the abundance of limestone and dolostone rock fragments as well as carbonate cement. Geochemical compositional variations between sandstone samples from the Sava and Drava depressions primarily stem from diagenetic processes. CIX and alpha values indicate only minor weathering. Compositional features indicate an orogenic source located in the Eastern Alps and primarily represented by Austroalpine and Penninic nappes. This research offers a novel perspective to distinguish the Upper Miocene reservoirs from other sedimentary units within the basin, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the regional geological dynamics and supporting future exploration projects also related to energy transition.

This work presents new records of the Architectonicidae from the middle Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea. The shells were obtained from the lower Serravallian (upper Badenian) marine sediments revealed at the fossiliferous site Rohožník-Konopiská, situated in the eastern Vienna Basin (Slovakia). The herein surveyed architectonicids comprise two species, of which Nipteraxis transmontanus spec. nov. is established as new, and Spirolaxis cornicula (O. Boettger, 1902) is recorded for the first time from Slovakia, representing the first occurrence of the species in the upper Badenian of the Central Paratethys realm. Paleoecology of both taxa is shortly commented on and compared with the habitat preferences of similar species. In the benthic assemblages at Konopiská, the architectonicids were associated with ahermatypic scleractinian corals, which most probably represented their potential hosts.

Louis L. Jacobs developed the outlines of murine evolution through original fieldwork in the Siwalik Hills of
the Potwar Plateau in northern Pakistan. His discovery of middle Miocene age Antemus, an early stem murine, unveiled the
roots of the modern mouse radiation of the later Miocene. He developed a hypothesis on the early late Miocene divergence of
extant murine lineages, and included fossil Progonomys in the modern Mus lineage. A younger Miocene Siwalik locality produced
a species close to the living house mouse. Louis named it Mus auctor and, as an early record of ~6.5 Ma on the present
time scale, it seemed to define the emergence of modern mice. Since then, we have explored more thoroughly the Siwalik
sequence and studied its series of rodent assemblages, including newer collections that antedate Mus auctor. We were surprised
to discover a very small species of Mus older than Mus auctor and falling into the interval of 7.2 to 8.0 Ma. Morphometric
analysis established it as a member of the modern genus and, although preceding Mus auctor, the new species proved more
derived in some characters. Jacobs’ hypotheses that Progonomys is in the Mus lineage and that Mus auctor is readily transformed
from Progonomys appear to be validated. However, before Mus auctor was in place, a derived species of Mus, formally
named here, was present on the Potwar Plateau. The center of evolution of the genus Mus was likely in southeastern Asia, and
from time to time the Potwar Plateau sampled the periphery of that evolution. It is Jacobs’ vision that led to this discovery, and
we take this opportunity to explore in his honor the phylogenetic context of this new species.

In this study were analysed morphological features of pollen grains of five species of Euphorbia genus respectively glabriflora, myrsinites, paralias, peplus and characias compared to helioscopia specie. Based on aperture feature, the five species of Euphorbia genus, palynomorphologic features of which were described for the first time, varied from tricolporate at glabriflora, myrsinites, paralias and characias species, tricolpate at peplus specie and apertoid tricolpate at helioscopia specie. The pollen grains of 5 studied species compared to helioscopia specie had similarities in terms of shape, which was spheroidal in polar position and oval in equatorial one, their monad grouping and exine, which appeared with two layers. The main differences appeared in the exine feature, which varied from reticulate in Euphorbia characias, E. glabriflora and E. myrsinites, with equal and visible reticules in the glabriflora specie, fine reticules in the myrsinites specie, reticulate-perforate in E. paralias and E. peplus to granular in E. helioscopia and  margo, which was present in the four species: myrsinites, paralias, characias and helioscopia. The smallest dimensions were identified at Euphorbia myrsinites for the majority of studied features, while the length of porus was identified simultaneously at species: myrsinites, characias and paralias, the width of porus at glabriflora specie and the width of furrow at peplus specie. The largest dimensions were identified at Euphorbia characias for the majority of palynomorphologic features except for the length of porus, which was identified at Euphorbia glabriflora, the width of furrow at Euphorbia paralias and the exine thickness at helioscopia specie.

In this article we seek to integrate theories of music origins and dance with hominin fossil anatomy and the paleoecological contexts of hominin evolution. Based on the association between rhythm in music, dance and locomotion, we propose that early bipedal hominins may have evolved neurobiological substrates different from other great apes due to the rhythmic aspects of bipedal walking and running. Combined with the emancipation of the hands resulting from erect posture, we propose that the neurobiological changes necessary for technological innovation, cultural practices and human musical abilities may have evolved, at least in incipient form, much earlier than previously thought. The consequent ability to synchronize movement and sound production may have also proved beneficial as early bipedal hominins ventured out of late Miocene and early Pliocene woodland and forested habitats and into more open habitats with increased predation risk. We also postulate that, along with bipedalism, paedomorphic morphogenesis of the skull at the base of the hominin clade was a necessary prerequisite for the evolution of vocal modulation and singing in later varieties of hominin. To date research into the evolution of music and dance has yet to be integrated with the fossil and paleoecological evidence of early hominin evolution. This paper seeks to fill this lacuna in the extant literature on human evolution. We also suggest that autocatalytic feedback loops evolving synergistically with hominin erect posture, skull and hand morphology, neurochemical processes and the self-domestication syndrome, have been operative from early hominins some 6 Ma to the present. We document this process by reference to primatological, ethnographic, neurochemical and archaeological data.

A moderately diverse larger foraminiferal is described from the NE Iraq, Baba Formation with important stratigraphy, paleontology, microfacies, and palaeoenvironment implications. The fauna is dominated by hyaline perforated and porcellaneous forms including Nummulites, Austrotrillina, Amphistegina, Archaias, Lepidocyclina, Spiroclypeus, Operculina, and Neorotalia. The presence of those fossils allows the age of the formation to be determined as Late Rupelian (Shallow Benthic Zone SBZ 22A)-Early Chattian (Shallow Benthic Zone SBZ 22B), based on the two recognized biozones from older to younger:-Nummulites fichteli-Nummulites intermedius biozone and Lepidocyclina (Eulephidina) dilatata-Nummulites intermedius-Nummulites fichteli biozone. The identified benthic foraminifera were used to recognize three microfacies types: Nummulitic wackestone facies of inner-shelf environment, Nummulitic wackestone-packstone facies of middle-shelf environment, and Epicyclical packstone facies of outer-shelf environment. The palaeoenvironmental setting of the Baba Formation is interpreted as a shallow ramp lagoon environment rich in nutrients, slightly hyper-saline with the shallowest part of the photic zone characterized by the genera Archaias and Austrotrillina, the deeper part of the inner ramp with Nummulites, to the shallow part of the middle ramp with Spiroclypeus and Operculina, to deeper middle ramp setting dominated by coralline rhodoliths along with Lepidocylinids. Microfossils from Baranan and Kurdamir sections have been used for the regional correlations from Eocene-Early Miocene.

Presbyornithids were the dominant birds in Palaeogene lacustrine assemblages, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, but are thought to have disappeared worldwide by the mid-Eocene. Now classified within Anseriformes (screamers, ducks, swans and geese), their relationships have long been obscured by their strange wader-like skeletal morphology. Reassessment of the late Oligocene South Australian material attributed to Wilaru tedfordi , long considered to be of a stone-curlew (Burhinidae, Charadriiformes), reveals that this taxon represents the first record of a presbyornithid in Australia. We also describe the larger Wilaru prideauxi sp. nov. from the early Miocene of South Australia, showing that presbyornithids survived in Australia at least until ca 22 Ma. Unlike on other continents, where presbyornithids were replaced by aquatic crown-group anatids (ducks, swans and geese), species of Wilaru lived alongside these waterfowl in Australia. The morphology of the tarsometatarsus of t...

The Kibi Plateau Surface is associated with the Paleogene gravel river bed deposits of the Kibi Group and the Miocene marine deposits of the Katsuta Group and the Bihoku Group. These Paleogene and Miocene units are valley fill deposits. The Kibi Group is composed of formations which is deposited by more than 7 different depositional events during earliest to latest Paleogene Period. Repeated cycles of “erosion - formation of new valley system - deposition and fill up the valley” created the low relief topographic surface. The deposition of the Miocene deposits might complete the Kibi Plateau Surface. Detailed field works have done in middle western part of Okayama Prefecture. The Kibi Plateau Surface in study area is gently dipping from NW (about 600m high) to SE (about 100m high). The distributions of the Paleogene and Miocene deposits fit the surface. At the southern margin of the Kibi Plateau, the surface is a little inclined (from 400m high to 100m high) where the bottom of pale...

True seals (crown Phocidae) originated during the late Oligocene–early Miocene (approx. 27–20 Ma) in the North Atlantic/Mediterranean region, with later (middle Miocene, approx. 16–11 Ma) dispersal events to the South Atlantic and South Pacific. Contrasting with other pinnipeds, the fossil record of phocids from the North Pacific region is scarce and restricted to the Pleistocene. Here we present the oldest fossil record of crown phocids, monachines (monk seals), from the North Pacific region. The specimens were collected from the upper Monterey Formation in Southern California and are dated to 8.5–7.1 Ma, predating the previously oldest known record by at least 7 Ma. This record provides new insights into the early biogeographic history of phocids in the North Pacific and is consistent with a northward dispersal of monk seals (monachines), which has been recognized for other groups of marine mammals. Alternatively, this finding may correspond with a westward dispersal through the C...

We report on new stratigraphic, palaeomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) results from the Amantea basin, located on‐shore along the Tyrrhenian coast of the Calabrian Arc (Italy). The Miocene Amantea Basin formed on the top of a brittlely extended upper plate, separated from a blueschist lower plate by a low‐angle top‐to‐the‐west extensional detachment fault. The stratigraphic architecture of the basin is mainly controlled by the geometry of the detachment fault and is organized in several depositional sequences, separated by major unconformities. The first sequence (DS1) directly overlaps the basement units, and is constituted by Serravallian coarse‐grained conglomerates and sandstones. The upper boundary of this sequence is a major angular unconformity locally marked by a thick palaeosol (type 1 sequence boundary). The second depositional sequence DS2 (middle Tortonian‐early Messinian) is mainly formed by conglomerates, passing upwards to calcarenites, sandsto...

We examined the gut contents of a fossil giant pelobatid tadpole from the late Oligocene of Enspel, Germany, and discovered that it contains mainly pollen from spruce (Picea) but also pollen from pine (Pinus), beech (Fagus), and elm (Ulmus). Pollen in the gut of the fossil tadpole and other plant fossil records from this locality suggest that the regional vegetation around Enspel was characterised by mixed conifer and broadleaved forests with a prominent deciduous angiosperm component. Palaeoclimatic estimations indicate that the area endured a fully humid warm temperate climate with a hot to warm summer and a distinct temperature difference between seasons. The pollination period of potential modern analogues of the plant taxa discovered in the gut of the fossil tadpole hints that it was feeding on pollen floating on the water surface of the ancient Enspel Lake during late spring or earliest summer. Comparable analyses from the guts of extant pelobatid tadpoles have shown a broad spectrum of food remains, including whole/or parts of algae, protists, protozoans, macrophytes, rotifers, crustaceans, and pollen. It seems that living pelobatid tadpoles are indiscriminate and opportunistic feeders able to adapt and change their feeding behaviour according to the available food source. The time of origin and evolution of pollen feeding in tadpoles is obscure. Our discovery indicates that pelobatid tadpoles were already feeding on pollen in the late Oligocene, and the amount and purity of pollen filling the gut suggests intentional surface feeding.

The late Miocene was an important time to understand the geological, climatic, and biotic evolution of the ancient New World tropics and the context for the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). Despite this importance, upper Miocene deposits containing diverse faunas and floras and their associated geological context are rare in Central America. We present an integrated study of the geological and paleontological context and age of a new locality from Lago Alajuela in northern Panama (Caribbean side) containing late Miocene marine and terrestrial fossils (plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates) from the Alajuela Formation. These taxa indicate predominantly estuarine and shallow marine paleoenvironments, along with terrestrial influences based on the occurrence of land mammals. Sr-isotope ratio analyses of in situ scallop shells indicate an age for the Alajuela Formation of 9.77 ± 0.22 Ma, which also equates to a latest Clarendonian (Cl3) North American Land Mammal Age. Along wi...

The Upper Red Formation has extensive outcrops in the southern and western parts of the Zanjan
province, northwestern Iran. Here, we studied a sequence of lowermost part of this formation near Mehr-
Abad village, northwestern Zanjan. Lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and ichnology of the URF have
been studied in recent decades but palynology of this formation has not been investigated. This article
is a preliminary report of miospores. The palynofloras comprise thirty species including three algae
spores (in three genera), seven fern species (in seven genera), various type of gymnosperm (thirteen
species designated to nine genera), and angiosperm pollen species (seven species designated to six
genera); for example, Botryococcus sp., Closteritetrapidites magnus, and Diagonalites diagonalis of
algal spores; Echinatisporis muelleri, Magnastriatites sp. cf. M. grandiosus, and
Polyapodiaceoisporites potoniei of fern; Cathayapollis scheuringii, Cedripites sp., Ephedripites
tertiarius, Pinuspollenites spp., Cupressacites spp., Tsugapollenites spp. of gymnosperm, and
Acidanthera brevicollis, Calliandra spp., Fagopsis longifolia, Monoporopollenites sp., and
Retitricolporites sp. of angiosperm evidenced herein. Moreover, botanical affinity of miospores
considered. Therefore, Botryococcaceae/ Dictyosphaeriaceae, Closteriaceae, Zygnemataceae (algae);
Marattiaceae, Pteridaceae, Polypodiaceae (fern); Cupressaceae, Ephedraceae, Pinaceae (gymnosperm),
and Fagaceae, Fabaceae, Iridaceae, and Poaceae (angiosperm) identified.

In the Piedmont Basin (PB), one of the northernmost Mediterranean basins recording the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), pollen and plant macroremains (leaves, fruits and seeds) were studied in four sedimentary sections of the post-evaporitic interval (5.6–5.33 Ma). The joint palaeobotanical investigations of the two datasets allowed the reconstruction of a floristic assemblage which consists of 133 taxa (95 woody and 38 non-woody taxa). The lowland/coastal vegetation reconstructed by integrating macro- and microfossil data exhibits several analogies with existing “types/formations” of South-Southeast Asia, whereas taxa occurring solely in the pollen record suggest the existence of altitudinal forests with conifers and a few angiosperms. We suggest that the generalized type of lowland, zonal palaeovegetation in the post-evaporitic Messinian of the PB was of no-analog type, but most similar to either “mixed mesophytic forests” or “broad-leaved evergreen forests”, which indicates a Köp...

This document (D2.1) states the Geothermal Information Delivery Manual (IDM) for drilling processes involved in the GEOFIT project. The IDM for drilling processes specifies an integrated reference tool to collect the information and data from the different processes involved during drilling operations performance required by the GEOBIM model proposed in the project. The specification of an IDM for GEOFIT project and the need of providing an integrated model for drilling processes is one of the main outcomes of this deliverable as it is a very complex environment. The data acquisition processes and data workflows are produced in real time conditions and different data formats may be found. Within the GEOBIM project context, the IDM is aimed at providing the unified reference for the processes and data required by BIM by identifying the discrete processes that must be undertaken during drilling operations, the information required for their execution and the results obtained from thes...