Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark • Volume 51/1

Mollusc fauna of the Early Cambrian Bastion Formation of North-East Greenland

Skovsted, C.B. 2004–10–20: Mollusc fauna of the Early Cambrian Bastion Formation of North-East Greenland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, Vol. 51, pp. 11–37. © 2004 by Geological Society of Denmark. ISSN 0011–6297.

Abstract: A diverse mollusc fauna from the Bastion Formation (Early Cambrian, middle Dyeran Stage) of North-East Greenland includes fifteen species (thirteen helcionelloids and two bivalves), adding considerable detail to the known fossil record of Early Cambrian molluscs from Laurentia. The occurrence of secondarily phosphatized shell surfaces together with phosphatic internal moulds in acid resistant residues allows new morphological details to be observed in several taxa. The fauna shows affinity to contemporaneous faunas from the Taconic allochthon of the eastern United States, but also to mollusc faunas of South Australia, China and Europe. The following new helcionelloid taxa are described: Capitoconus inclinatus n. gen. and n. sp. Capitoconus artus n. sp., Figurina groenlandica n. sp. and Latouchella ostenfeldense n. sp.

Key words: Mollusca, Helcionelloida, Bivalvia, Biostratigraphy, Dyeran, Botoman, Early Cambrian, Greenland.

Address: Christian B. Skovsted [ ], Program for Palaeobiology, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 22, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden. 25 June 2004.

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Ordovician stratigraphy of the Kovel-1 well (Volkhov–Haljala) in the Volynia region, northwestern Ukraine

Saadre, T., Einasto, R., Nõlvak, J. & Stouge, S. 2004–10–20: Ordovician stratigraphy of the Kovel-1 well (Volkhov–Haljala) in the Volynia region, northwestern Ukraine. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark Vol. 51, pp. 47–69. © 2004 by Geological Society of Denmark. ISSN 0011–6297.

Abstract: The Ordovician succession of the Kovel-1 well in the Volynia region, northwestern Ukraine is composed of a basal 0.6 m thick siliciclastic unit succeeded by 24.7 m Lower and lower Middle Ordovician carbonate sediments. The carbonate rocks are divided into 13 informal lithologic units. The carbonate sediments accumulated in marine shallow water open shelf and shoal or turbulent environs. Biostratigraphically, the succession is referred to seven chitinozoan zones and 12 conodont biozones. Integration, chronostratigraphic position and correlation of the proposed biozones with those from Baltoscandia are briefly discussed. Four major unconformities are recognized within the succession: 1) the Pakerort(?)–Volkhov unconformity, 2) the mid Volkhov unconformity, 3) the early Kunda unconformity and 4) the early Mid Ordovician hiatus. The latter straddles the Oeland–Viru regional Series boundary in the well. The early Mid Ordovician unconformity is prominent and the corresponding hiatus spans the Aseri and Lasnamägi regional stages (= upper Darriwilian). A complex of cyclic transgressive–regressive depositional pattern prevailed and the whole succession is referred to three major depositional cycles. The major depositional cycles are related to global eustatic sea-level cycles in general and hypothetic way to tectonic events caused by collisions of Peri-Gondwanan microcontinents with Baltica.

Key words: Ordovician, Kovel-1 core, Ukraine, sedimentology, facies analysis, biostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy and sea-level curve.

Address: Tõnis Saadre [ ], Geological Survey of Estonia, Kadaka tee 82, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia; Rein Einasto, Tallinn College of Engineering, 62 Pärnu Street, 10135 Tallinn, Estonia; Jaak Nõlvak, Institute of Geology at Technical University, 7 Estonia Avenue, 10143 Tallinn, Estonia; Svend Stouge [ Geological Museum, Øster Voldgade 5–7, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. 20 August 2004.

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A probable thyreophoran (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) footprint from the Upper Triassic of southern Sweden

Abstract: A curious blunt-toed tridactyl footprint of a relatively large trackmaker is stored in the Geological Museum in Copenhagen. The footprint was found nearly 50 years ago in the Rhaetian coal-bearing strata mined in the Gustav Adolf Mine, near Höganäs, Scania, Southern Sweden. The morphology of the specimen suggests that it was left by an early advanced thyreophoran dinosaur, in this case the earliest known.

Key words: Footprint, Thyreophoran dinosaur, Late Triassic, Scania, Sweden.

Address: Jesper Milàn [ ], Geological Institute, Østervoldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Gerard Gierlinski [ ], Polish Geological Institute, ul. Rakowiecka 4, 00-975 Warszawa, Poland. 16 June 2004.

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Three new fossil landbirds from the early Paleogene of Denmark

Dyke, Gareth J., Waterhouse, David M. & Kristoffersen, Anette V. 2004–10–22: Three new fossil landbirds from the early Paleogene of Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark. Vol. 51, pp. 77–85, Copenhagen. © 2004 by Geological Society of Denmark. ISSN 0011–6297.

Abstract: Well-preserved remains of fossil modern birds are rare, especially from the earliest stages of their evolution. In this paper we describe three new fossil specimens that can be referred to two of the major clades of extant ‘landbirds’, namely Apodiformes (‘swifts’) and Coliiformes (‘mousebirds’). Because the fossils presented here are from the earliest tertiary of Denmark, they represent some of the oldest certain records for both these major clades of modern birds (Neornithes). This new material, from the Paleocene – Lower Eocene Fur Formation (Isle-of-Mors, Jutland, Denmark) is referred to the fossil apodiform genus Eocypselus Harrison, 1984 and the coliiform genus Chascacocolius Houde & Olson, 1992. Eocypselus has been referred to within the clade Hemiprocnidae (‘tree and crested swifts’) and Chascacocolius to the Sandcoleidae, a clade of stem representatives of extant Coliiformes. The description of Chascacocolius from the Danish early tertiary increases the known diversity of stem-lineage coliiforms (Sandcoleidae) known from European deposits. New fossil material of Eocypselus shows that this taxon was a perching bird as are extant hemiprocnids – the hindlimb and foot of Eocypselus is elongate and anisodactyl, with digit III the longest of the pedal digits. Swifts and mousebirds are known to have been diverse in the earliest tertiary of Europe and North America; both these neornithine clades have a much lower extant diversity in terms of known species than that evidenced by their global fossil records, a temporal effect perhaps related to global cooling throughout the latest Tertiary.

Key words: Fossil birds, swifts, mousebirds, Denmark, Neornithes, Eocene

Address: Gareth J. Dyke [ ], David M. Waterhouse [ ], Department of Zoology, University College Dublin, Belfield Dublin 4, Ireland; Anette V. Kristoffersen, Geological