Vol 50, No 4 (2016)

The beds composing an unconformity at the boundary of the Mikhailovian and Venevian horizons in the Polotnyanyi Zavod quarry (Kaluga Region) are investigated. A detailed study has shown that, at the base of black “rhizoid” limestone, a pedocomplex of two paleosols of different genesis is formed. From below upwards, rocks of subaerial (Paleosol 1 of the rendzina type), subaerial–subaquatic (Paleosol 2 on bog marl), and palustrine genesis replace each other. Both paleosols display a horizontal structure of profiles; the presence of the root systems, imprints of plants, and traces of animal’s activity; the presence of soil new formations (micritic calcite with a light isotopic composition of C, Fe-concretions ). In paleosols, some geochemical indices (PWI, CIA, CIA-K), the ratios Ba/Sr, Rb/Sr, and concentration of Ga increase. The soil complex was formed under conditions of a warm subhumid climate. In the structure and lateral scale of distribution, the object investigated is comparable to the Everglades marsh landscape of Florida (United States).

A new species, Eoshumardites popowi Kutygin sp. nov., is described from the Upper Carboniferous of the upper reaches of the Paren’ River in the Gizhiga Province of the Kolyma–Omolon Region. The ontogeny of the sutural and shell morphology of the new species is described. In the level of sutural organization, E. popowi occupies an intermediate position between E. lenensis (Popow) and E. sublenensis Klets. It has been suggested that Eoshumardites evolved from the genus Syngastrioceras rather than Aktubites and, on this basis, a new monotypic endemic family, Eoshumarditidae, has been proposed. This family existed in the Kasimovian synchronously with members of the family Parashumarditidae.

The shell microstructure of the genus Monticlarella Wisniewska, 1932 is studied for the first time, with the species M. nova (Karakash, 1907) and M. lineolata (Phillips, 1835) from the Upper Hauterivian–Lower Barremian of Crimea being used as an example. It is shown that there is a strong similarity between the shell structure of this genus and another representative of the family Norellidae, Suiaella, thus supporting the possibility of using the shell microstructure as a diagnostic feature of the family Norellidae.

Three new bryozoan species of the order Trepostomata are described from the Tournaisian sedimentary rocks of Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan) and Armenia: Nikiforopora arpaensis sp. nov., Tabuliporella nakhichevanica sp. nov., and Anisotrypa kjarkiensis sp. nov. The sequential change in the bryozoan associations in southern Transcaucasia during the Tournaisian age is considered. Some taxa are shown to belong also to the Early Carboniferous bryozoan assemblages of the shelf seas of the Paleotethys.

A new unusual anthocoroid monotypic family, Taimyrocoridae fam. nov., is described from Late Cretaceous resin of the Taimyr Peninsula (Yantardakh, Coniacian–Santonian). The available data on the other records of hemipterans from the Late Cretaceous localities Yantardakh (Coniacian–Santonian), Baikura (Santonian), and Nizhnyaya Agapa (Cenomanian) are presented.

A proximal humerus fragment referred to as Azhdarchidae indet. from the Rybushka Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Lower Campanian) of the Beloe Ozero locality in Saratov Region is described. The proximal articular surface is not saddle-shaped, has a weakly convex profile in the frontal section. The most posteriorly projecting part of the proximal articular surface is displaced ventrally. A large pneumatic foramen is located on the anterior surface ventral to the base of deltopectoral crest and close to the proximal articular surface. The humeral head is slightly declined from the diaphysis and only slightly overhangs the diaphysis posteriorly. This proximal humerus fragment possibly belongs to Volgadraco bogolubovi Averianov, Arkhangelsky et Pervushov, 2008, described from the Rybushka Formation of the Shirokii Karamysh 2 locality in Saratov Region.