Mathias Harzhauser

• Professor
• Head of Department at Naturhistorisches Museum Wien

The reconstruction and interpretation of terrestrial ecosystems and vegetational patterns in the Central European Miocene have to take into account the influence of a vast landlocked water body, namely the Paratethys Sea. As a northern appendage of the early Mediterranean Sea, it spanned a north-south gradient of at least 4° latitude and has been s...

A high-resolution multi-proxy analysis was conducted on a 1.5-m-long core of Tortonian age (~ 10.5 Ma; Late Miocene) from Austria (Europe). The lake sediments were studied with a 1-cm resolution to detect all small-scale variations based on palynomorphs (pollen and dinoflagellate cysts), ostracod abundance, geochemistry (carbon and sulfur) and geop...

The Vienna Basin (VB) originated during the early Miocene and represents one of the largest onshore oil and gas field in Europe. The VB is composed of several horst and graben structures forming different subbasins, each with its own geodynamic evolution and deviating paleobathymetric developments during the Miocene. We present an analysis of water...

We present the first detailed intra-basin correlation of Upper Miocene deposits in the Austrian part of the Vienna Basin (VB) integrating the most important hydrocarbon fields. Herein, we use a high resolution dataset by separating the Pannonian (= Tortonian) stack into 20 lithostratigraphic units, which allow calculating regional differences in se...

We revise the Miocene Epitoniidae of the Central Paratethys Sea and summarize literature data for the Eastern Paratethys Sea. In total we trace 106 species level taxa of which 54 species are formally introduced as new species, six species are probably new but discussed in open nomenclature and 16 species are documented as new combinations. This res...

Today, the range of the genus Euthria encompasses the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, the region around southern Africa, and extends into the western Indo-Pacific. The genus, which has a geological history dating back to the Eocene of Europe, has recently undergone taxonomic revision in several European Neogene basins. These studies reveale...

We document 61 Cerithiidae and 5 Plesiotrochidae species from the Late Oligocene to Late Miocene of the Paratethys Sea. The maximum diversity with 24 species occurred during the early Middle Miocene in the Central Paratethys Sea (early/middle Badenian), coinciding with the Langhian part of the Miocene Climate Optimum. In the Eastern Paratethys the...

We describe a mixed assemblage of polyhaline, freshwater, and terrestrial mollusks from late Middle Miocene (early Serravallian, late Badenian) strata near the town of Hidas, southern Hungary. It comprises 19 species in 16 families - seven polyhaline to normal-marine gastropod species (Neritidae, Hydrobiidae, Nassariidae, Potamididae, Batillariidae...

This study reports on elasmobranch teeth recovered from bulk-sampling of a deep-marine succession deposited in the northern Tethyan Realm (Bergen, Germany). Analyses of the complex geological setting of the succession revealed Upper Maastrichtian (UC20c) sediments at the base of the section, which are overlain by stratigraphically older deposits of...

We document 59 species of Aspellinae, Ergalataxinae, Coralliophilinae, Rapaninae and Muricidae incertae sedis from the Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea. The subfamily Coralliophilinae is the most specious group among these subfamilies, comprising numerous rare and overlooked new species. Aspellinae and Rapaninae display moderate endemicity, wh...

The hydrological connectivity of semi-isolated basins with the global ocean drives remarkable ecosystem turnover and regional climate shifts, making palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological studies of the epicontinental basins of high relevance. During the late Middle–Late Miocene, the Paratethys Sea, which occupied vast areas of the West Eurasia...

Enigmatic, thick-walled, agglutinated microfossils are described for the first time from the Middle Miocene of Austria. The microfossils are documented in large numbers from the Oberpullendorf Basin in Austria, where they occur in intertidal mudflat deposits associated with an oyster biostrome and in close vicinity to stromatolites. The basin was p...

We present a new record of a crocodylian osteoderm from the Middle Miocene (Sarmatian) of the Vienna Basin (Austria) and summarise the current knowledge of Sarmatian occurrences of crocodylians. Our data extend the stratigraphic range of crocodylians in Central Europe by about 1 my compared to previous estimates. The obvious decline of fossils in t...

We document 72 species of Haustrinae, Muricinae, Ocenebrinae, Pagodulinae, Typhinae and Muricidae incertae sedis from the Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea. The subfamily Ocenebrinae is the most specious group within the Paratethyan Muricidae, comprising numerous new species. Muricinae, Muricidae incertae sedis and Typhinae display only low end...

“Welcome to the New Journal Taxonomy”, wrote Enric Sayas in his editorial in January 2021 [...]

„Wien am Sand“ klingt bei vordergründiger Betrachtung nach einer Bankrotterklärung. Ein zweiter Blick jedoch zeigt: Wien ist tatsächlich „am Sand“ – im Miozän, vor 20 bis 14 Millionen Jahren lag der Wiener Raum in einem tropischen Meer, das bis heute unsere Landschaft prägt und viele Spuren hinterlassen hat. Millionen fossiler Tiere und Pflanzen ze...

In this paper we continue to review the Mitroidea, family Mitridae Swainson, 1831 and Turbinelloidea, family Costellariidae MacDonald, 1860 of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. In the Mitridae 20 species are recorded representing four genera, of which one is described as new: Episcomitra gonnieae nov. sp., and two ar...

In this paper we continue to review the Buccinoidea of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain, with the description of the families Dolicholatiridae and Fasciolariidae. One species within the Dolicholatiridae is described: Dolicholatirus alboranensis nov. sp., and 13 within the Fasciolariidae, representing seven genera, of...

The Messinian salinity crisis and its precursor events have been the greatest environmental perturbation of the Mediterranean Sea to date, offering an opportunity to study the response of marine ecosystems to extreme hydrological change and a large-scale biological invasion. The restriction of the marine connection between the Mediterranean and the...

Understanding deep-time marine biodiversity change under the combined effects of climate and connectivity changes is fundamental for predicting the impacts of modern climate change in semi-enclosed seas. We quantify the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene [11.63 to 3.6 million years (Ma)] taxonomic diversity of the Mediterranean Sea for calcareous nannopla...

We present a revision of geological and paleontological data of the Vienna Basin (VB). The deposits comprise Miocene terrestrial, lacustrine and marine sediments, corresponding the Ottnangian, Karpatian, Badenian, Sarmatian and Pannonian regional stages (= Burdigalian to Tortonian). New 3D seismics and the analyses of hundreds of core samples resul...

The syntypes of Carychium reticulatum Hauffen, 1856 and Carychium bidentatum Hauffen, 1856, thought to be lost to science, have been rediscovered in a recent inventory of the shell collection of Domink Bilimek (1813–1884) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria (BOKU). In this work, we present (1) the historical...

Nubecularia bioherms" represent unique foraminifera dominated buildups which are restricted to the late Middle Mio-cene (late Serravallian) of the Paratethys. They occur in the Central Paratethys in the late Sarmatian and in the Eastern Paratethys in the Volhynian-Bessarabian, both regional stages of the respective Paratethyan areas. The generic as...

The Miocene Paratethys Sea is frequently depicted as junction between the Proto-Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Herein, we elucidate the biogeographic character of this large epicontinental Miocene sea based on its speciose gastropod fauna. We debunk the persistent myth that there was a connection between these marine realms during Langhian...

Massive salt accumulations, or salt giants, have formed in highly restricted marine basins throughout geological history, but their impact on biodiversity has been only patchily studied. The salt giant in the Mediterranean Sea formed as a result of the restriction of its gateway to the Atlantic during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) 5.97 to 5.3...

The Tethyan Seaway was the connection between the Eastern and Western Tethys which became restricted and finally closed during the Early and Middle Miocene. The growing Zagros Mountains split the seaway into two entities, the Iranian Gateway in the northeast and the Mesopotamian Gateway in the southwest. The reconstruction of the seaway is based on...

Gourmya belongs to a group of molluscs, which originated during the Paleogene in the Western Tethys and along the Eastern Atlantic coast but then established in the IWP Region during the Neogene. Similar patterns have been observed by Harzhauser et al. (2007, 2008) for tridacnine bivalves and certain strombids. In this paper we describe an extremel...

In the Clavilithidae Vermeij & M. A. Snyder, 2018, here raised from subfamily to family status in Neogastropoda, we name Liralithes gen. nov. (type species: Fusus tjidamarensis K. Martin, 1879) from the Early Miocene to Early Pleistocene of the Indo-Malayan region. It differs from other clavilithids by having lirae on the inner side of the outer li...

The Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO, ~ 17-14 Ma) was a time of extraordinary marine biodiversity in the Circum-Mediterranean Region. This boom is best recorded in the deposits of the vanished Central Paratethys Sea, which covered large parts of central to southeastern Europe. This sea harbored an extraordinary tropical to subtropical biotic diversity....

The Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO, ~ 17–14 Ma) was a time of extraordinary marine biodiversity in the Circum-Mediterranean Region. This boom is best recorded in the deposits of the vanished Central Paratethys Sea, which covered large parts of central to southeastern Europe. This sea harbored an extraordinary tropical to subtropical biotic diversity....

In this paper we continue to review the Buccinoidea of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain, with the description of the families Colubrariidae, Pisaniidae, Tudiclidae and Nassariidae (in part). Fifteen species are recorded within seven genera, of which eight are described as new: Colubraria alboranensis nov. sp., Kanama...

In the Early to Middle Miocene, the post‐orogenic intramontane lacustrine Sinj Basin that belonged to the Dinarides Lake System evolved in the area of the External Dinarides. A composite 770 m thick stratigraphic column was measured spanning the basin's stratigraphy. Eight facies were differentiated. Four facies are almost entirely composed of fres...

We describe one species of Dolicholatiridae and 30 species of Fasciolariidae from the Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea. The first records of the family Dolicholatiridae and of the Fasciolariidae genus Takashius are documented from the Neogene of Europe, and we describe a first Miocene radiation of the extant Mediterranean Fusininae Pseudofusus...

We describe 46 species in six families of Buccinoidea from the Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea (4 Colubrariidae, 5 Eosiphonidae, 1 Melongenidae, 14 Pisaniidae, 4 Prodotiidae, 18 Tudiclidae). For the first time species of the family Prodotiidae are documented from the European Neogene. Tethyspollia nov. gen. (Prodotiidae) and Gailleagrassor no...

Understanding deep-time marine biodiversity change under the combined effects of climate and connectivity changes is fundamental for predicting the impacts of modern climate change in semi-enclosed seas. We quantify the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene (11.63–3.6 Ma) taxonomic diversity of the Mediterranean Sea for calcareous nannoplankton, dinocysts, f...

The Messinian Salinity Crisis and its precursor events have been the greatest environmental perturbation of the Mediterranean Sea to date, offering an opportunity to study the response of marine ecosystems to extreme hydrological change and a large-scale biological invasion. The restriction of the marine connection between the Mediterranean and the...

Nubecularia bioherms represent unique bioconstructions that are restricted to the upper Serravallian of the Paratethys and have been reported since the 19th century. They occur in the Central Paratethys in the late Sarmatian and the Eastern Paratethys in the Bessarabian both regional stages of the respective Paratethyan areas. In this study, severa...

Polyene pigments represent a major class of pigments in present-day organisms. Their occurrence in fossils has been frequently discussed, but to date no spectroscopic evidence has been found. Here, we use in situ Raman spec-troscopy to examine the chemistry of exceptionally well-preserved gastropod shells with colour preservation from the Middle Mi...

Extensive bulk-sampling of the continuous Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary section at Gams (Styria, Austria) allows for the first time the description of the elasmobranch communities inhabiting the bathyal environment of this well-known section. The sampled succession comprises six horizons from the uppermost Maastrichtian (upper part of Nephrolites f...

This study reports elasmobranch remains from two fossil-rich horizons in the earliest Danian Olching Formation at Waidach, Austria. These outer neritic assemblages complement previous fine-scale bulk-sampling of latest Maastrichtian horizons at Waidach and document a regional elasmobranch faunal turnover across the Cretaceous-Palaeo-gene (K-Pg) bou...

Land snails exhibit an extraordinary variety of shell shapes. The way shells are constructed underlie biological and mechanical constraints that vary across gastropod clades. Here, we quantify shell geometry of the two largest groups, Stylommatophora and Cyclophoroidea, to assess the potential causes for variation in shell shape and its relative fr...

We present a detailed description of the Middle Miocene (Chokrakian and Karaganian) depositional environments of the Eastern Paratethys Sea in the southern Caspian Basin. The Chokrakian comprises a 500-m-thick succession of marls and sandstones, termed herein Javarem Formation, which formed in coastal marine environments. The lower Javarem Fm. deve...

The turn of the year is a good opportunity to reflect on the past year and summarize the milestones [...]

In this paper we review the Columbellidae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Twenty species are recorded within six genera, of which four are described as new: Costoanachis malaquiasi nov. sp., Mitrella avilai nov. sp., Mitrella pagodiformis nov. sp. and Mitrella velerinensis nov. sp. Relationships at generic leve...

In this paper we review the Terebridae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Ten species are recorded within four genera, of which three are described as new: Hastula wilmulderae nov. sp., Terebra henkmulderi nov. sp. and Terebra praehistrio nov. sp. Terebridae are an important marker of thermophilia in the Plio/Ple...

In this paper we review the Heterobranchia (excluding Pyramidelloidea) of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. 59 species are reviewed representing 37 genera. Voluta exilis Eichwald, 1829 is a junior homonym of Voluta exilis Gmelin, 1791, therefore Ringicula guzhovi nov. nom. is proposed for the Paratethyan species. Tor...

We present a critical review of the Miocene Terebridae of the European Central Paratethys Sea. In total, we document 23 species placed in 7 genera. We designate lectotypes for Terebra bigranulata Hoernes & Auinger, 1880 [= Fusoterebra terebrina (Bellardi & Michelotti, 1840)], Terebra (Hastula) cinereides Hoernes & Auinger, 1880 [= Hastula duboisian...

We resolve nomenclatural issues with 2 fossil helicoid land-snail species. We introduce Helix kadolskyi nom. nov. as the replacement name for Helix toulai Kojumdgieva, 1969 (non Schlosser, 1907), a Late Miocene species from Bulgaria. Moreover, we determine that the Middle Eocene Helix edwardsi Deshayes, 1863 (non H. edvardsi Bland, 1858) does not r...

We present previously unknown stacked bowl-shaped bioherms reaching a size of 45 cm in diameter and 40 cm in height from weakly solidified peloidal sand from the upper Sarmatian of the Paratethys Sea. The bioherms were mostly embedded in sediment, and the “growth stages” reflect a reaction on sediment accretion and sinking into the soft sediment. T...

Das erste Neuseeland-Tagebuch von Ferdinand von Hochstetter, das sog. Auckland-Tagebuch, liegt transkribiert und wissenschaftlich kommentiert vor. Es gewährt Einblicke in Hochstetters Forscherleben, seine Beziehungen zu den Maori, europäischen Kolonisten und Missionaren. Es illustriert wie Wissen auf Reisen generiert wurde und lässt auch Hochstette...

The Architectonicidae of the Miocene of the Central Paratethys Sea comprise 18 species placed in eight genera. The coeval Mathildidae are documented by 9 species, placed into three genera. We present descriptions of these species and illustrate type material wherever possible. Several species suggest relationships with Late Miocene to Holocene spec...

Potamidids (Potamididae, Batillariidae) are today typical inhabitants of coastal mudflats in tropical and warm temperate seas. From the Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene, the Eurasian Paratethys Sea harbored a striking diversity of mudwhelks as well. Based on occurrences from 466 localities covering an area of about 3 million km2 we trace range ex...

Dramatische Massenaussterbe-Ereignisse prägen unseren Planeten seit der Entwicklung erster Lebensformen. Seit der Entwicklung vielzelliger Organismen kam es zu fünf entscheidenden Umweltkatastrophen, die sogenannten Big Five, welche stets mit einem signifikanten Einschnitt der Biodiversität korrelierten. Das letzte und wohl auch prominenteste Big F...

In this paper we review the Drilliidae, Fusiturridae, Horaiclavidae, Turridae from the early Late Pliocene Estepona assemblages and include some member of the Borsoniidae and Pseudomelatomidae omitted in the previous part of this series. One species is added to the Borsoniidae, six species are included in the Drilliidae, two in the Fusiturridae,...

In this paper we review the Mangeliidae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Forty species are recorded representing 14 genera, of which six species are described as new: Agathotoma estherae nov. sp., Bela obesoiberica nov. sp., Bela olivoidea nov. sp., Mangelia pseudoceddaensis nov. sp., Sorgenfreispira planicostata...

The aim of this study was to analyze temporal and spatial changes in paleoenvironments from demise of the Sarmatian Sea to the Lake Pannon transgression (~11.6 Ma), as an example of a sequence boundary in a semi- to fully isolated epicontinental basin. Borehole cores from the central Vienna Basin were subject to facies analysis, biostratigraphy, ge...

Sulphate deficiency makes lake environments a key source of atmospheric methane because sulphate-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD-AOM) is hindered. Miocene to Pliocene Lake Pannon was the largest European lake, although the extent of its methane production remains unclear. When sulphate is available, SD-AOM occurs commonly in anoxic sedime...

We present XRF-based element data and magnetic susceptibility measurements of a 60-m-long core of Upper Miocene deposits of Lake Pannon from the Vienna Basin (Austria). The deposits formed during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum, which was a global warming event during the Late Miocene. Statistically significant cyclicities occur in all records center...

On the date of publication of Pliocénica 6-7

Polyene pigments represent a major class of pigments in present-day organisms. Their occurrence in fossils has been frequently discussed, but to date no spectroscopic evidence was found. Here, we use in situ Raman microspectroscopy to examine the chemistry of exceptionally well-preserved gastropod shells with colour preservation from the Middle Mio...

The identification of mass-extinction events and the assessment of their impact on communities are key questions in palaeontology. In order to understand these catastrophic events on sharks and fish communities, it is necessary to combine reliable geological, paleontological and sedimentological data. Although the interpretation of depositional env...

We present an exhaustive survey of the geological-paleontological collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna (Austria) based on 268,755 objects acquired from 1807 to 1918. The database encompasses information on geographic origin, provenance, stakeholders, and mode of acquisition. The resulting patterns record boom phases and periods of declin...

We present an exhaustive survey of the geological-paleontological collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna (Austria) based on 353,704 objects acquired from 1919 to 2019. The data encompass information on geographic origin, provenance, stakeholders and mode of acquisition. Special focus is laid on the interwar period from 1919 to 1938, the Na...

We present an in-depth revision of the Batillariidae and Potamididae from the Oligocene to the Pliocene of the Paratethys Sea, covering a geographic area of about 3 million km2 and a temporal frame of 23 Ma. A strong focus of this paper is laid on the consideration of rare and little known literature describing especially faunas from areas of the E...

We analyse the distribution of the potamidid genus Terebralia Swainson, 1840 in the European fossil record (middle Eocene to Miocene). Extant Terebralia contains species restricted to mangroves and mudflats, rendering it a reliable element for detecting these coastal environments in the fossil record. Our contribution summarizes the European fossil...

We present a journey through the history of the Austrian Arctic collections stored in Geological-Paleontological Department of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHMW). The NHMW-material was mainly acquired during four expeditions. The first was an Isbjørn expedition designed as a test cruise by Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht in 1871. One year lat...

The asteroid impact at the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary influenced one of the most severe first order mass extinction events since complex life evolved. Although numerous global-scale studies focused on the ecological crisis of marine biota during the K/Pg event, little is known about the cascade of changing environmental parameters that a...

Bryozoan–serpulid–algal–thrombolite bioherms of up to 50 cm size are described from the Sarmatian (upper Middle Miocene) of the Central Paratethys. They occur on top of lower Sarmatian carbonate sediments of high-energy conditions and the individual bioherms settle on crests of ripples. The buildups are overlain and partly truncated by cross-bedded...

The pulmonate gastropod genus Ellobium has its greatest diversity in the modern Indo-West Pacific Region (IWP). Its origin, however, is traced to the Early Oligocene of the Northeastern Atlantic and the Western Tethys Region. Two Ellobium species are documented from the Rupelian of France and Italy and a new species is recorded from the Chattian of...

The previously known occurrences of Protoxynotus were stratigraphically disjunct with the first occurrence in the Turonian being separated by a gap of about 6 Myr from the Campanian occurrences. The new record of isolated teeth from the Late Santonian of Lebanon described in this study narrows this gap down to about 3 Myr with a hiatus spanning the...

The “Stratigraphic Chart of Austria – Cenozoic”, which is enclosed to the descriptions to “The Lithostratigraphic Units of Austria: Cenozoic Era(Them)” follows widely the same principles as the Stratigraphic Chart of Austria 2004 (“Stratigraphische Tabelle von Österreich 2004”, ASC 2004) in respect of chronostratigraphy/geochronology and arrangemen...

In this paper we review the Borsoniidae, Clathurellidae, Mitromorphidae, and Pseudomelatomidae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. 15 species of Borsoniidae are recorded, of which two are left in open nomenclature. One species is described as new: Microdrillia plioserratula nov. sp. Aphanitoma pliocenica Vera-Peláez...

In this paper we review the Raphitomidae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Sixty-two species are recorded representing 21 genera and subgenera, of which 12 species are described as new: Clathromangelia acuticostata nov. sp., Clathromangelia mulderi sp. nov., Clathromangelia oliverioi sp. nov., Cyrillia clathrataef...

Fossils provide the only direct evidence we have of ancient life, and fossil insects are a window into the evolutionary history of insects [...]

Thanks to the favourable position within the Middle Miocene marine succession of the Vienna Basin, a geochronological study of the St. Georgen tuff becomes essential for the understanding of the timing of the middle Badenian transgression. This contribution reports new data on separated zircon U-Pb ages/phase chemistry and the clay mineralogy of al...

Hotspots of tropical marine biodiversity are areas that harbour disproportionately large numbers of species compared to surrounding regions. The richness and location of these hotspots have changed throughout the Cenozoic. Here, we review the global dynamics of Cenozoic tropical marine biodiversity hotspots, including the four major hotspots of the...

Extensive bulk sampling of seven horizons of a continuous succession deposited in an outer neritic environment of the latest Maastrichtian yielded more than three thousand ichthyoliths, including 1347 elasmobranch teeth. The sampled succession represents a characteristic deep-water fauna dominated by small squaliform sharks with an increase of spec...

The Neogene Lake Pannon was the largest lake that ever existed in Europe. It attained its greatest extent during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum. For the first time, results from a detailed lake record documenting about 85 kyr of Late Miocene time in a continuously recovered, 60-m-long, clay-rich core of Lake Pannon are reported. This record includes...

In contrast to other kinds of biological interactions, symbiosis is a scarcely investigated aspect of the fossil record. This is largely due to taphonomic biases that often frustrate any attempt to make a strong case that two organisms shared an intimate association in life. Among extant marine vertebrates, the sea turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermoche...

What controls species diversity and diversification is one of the major questions in evolutionary biology and paleontology. Previous studies have addressed this issue based on various plant and animal groups, geographic regions, and time intervals. However, as most previous research focused on terrestrial or marine ecosystems, our understanding of...

Deep-sea environments are thought to provide potential refuge environments during catastrophic events for chondrichthyans. Although the K/Pg boundary represents one of the five mass extinction events in the Phanerozoic, little is known about its consequences over elasmobranch evolution and ecological structure of shark faunas. Here, we present an e...

Due to the peculiar combination of dental features characteristic for different squaliform families, the position of the Late Cretaceous genera Protoxynotus and Paraphorosoides within squaliform families has long been controversial. In this study, we revise these genera based on previously known fossil teeth and new dental material. The phylogeneti...

In this paper we review the Clavatulidae of the lower Piacenzian, upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Ten clavatulid species; nine within the ‘Clavatula’ genus group representing the genera Clavatula (s.s.), ‘Clavatula’ (s.l.) and Granulatocincta, of which three are new: ‘Clavatula’ iberica nov. sp., ‘Clavatula’ pliogradata nov. sp., and ‘C...

The 2200 m thick Cretaceous units of well Gänserndorf UeT3 have been biostratigraphically analyzed based on cuttingsfrom 3210 m to 5140 m. The deposits from the Tirolic Glinzendorf Syncline (a part of the buried Northern CalcareousAlps) can be largely correlated with the Lower Gosau Subgroup of the Grünbach Syncline. An exception is the basal unit,...

We present a revision of the Clavatulidae gastropods of the Neogene of the Central and Eastern Paratethys seas. In total, 111 species level names have been used in the literature for Clavatulidae of the Paratethys Sea. After revision, we document 83 species. Seventeen genus-level groups are recognized, of which eleven are formally described. Six sp...

The origin and key details of the making of the ~ 30,000 year old Venus from Willendorf remained a secret since its discovery for more than a hundred years. Based on new micro-computed tomography scans with a resolution of 11.5 µm, our analyses can explain the origin as well as the choice of material and particular surface features. It allowed the...