TY - JOUR AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Codrea, Vlad A. AU - Trif, Nicolae TI - Eocene gavialoid teeth from southern Transylvania with notes on the diversity of Paleogene crocodilians from Romania JF - NORTH-WESTERN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY J2 - NORTH-WEST J ZOOL VL - 19 PY - 2023 IS - 1 SP - 71 EP - 79 PG - 9 SN - 1584-9074 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/34119862 ID - 34119862 AB - Herein, we report a small collection of isolated crocodilian teeth recovered from shallow marine Eocene deposits of Turnu Rosu (Porcesti), Romania. The teeth probably represent an attritional assemblage that could have belonged to several individuals of various sizes and ages, provided with heterodont dentition of at least five morphotypes (slender caniniform, triangular-lanceolate shaped, enlarged conical, slender conical, and low crowned). We assigned the isolated teeth to Gavialoidea based on a number of morphological characters shared with representatives of early gavialoids, known from the early-middle Eocene of western Europe or North Africa. The gavialoids from Turnu Rosu represent a new group for the Paleogene of Romania that probably reached the territory of southern Transylvania in the Middle Eocene. Possible scenarios for the origin of southern Transylvanian gavialoids imagine an existence of a western-eastern European route or a migration route direct from North Africa and an ancestor close to the morphology of Maroccosuchus from the region of western Tethys. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Solomon, Alexandru AU - Codrea, Vlad A. AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Bordeianu, Marian AU - Trif, Nicolae AU - Fărcaș, Cristina TI - GOOD OR BAD LUCK? – AN ‘OX-BOW’ DEPOSIT FROM OARDA DE JOS (ALBA COUNTY, ROMANIA) - PRELIMINARY RESULTS JF - ACTA MUSEI BRUKENTHAL J2 - BRUKENTHAL VL - 17 PY - 2022 IS - 3 SP - 447 EP - 464 PG - 18 SN - 1842-2691 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33258366 ID - 33258366 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Codrea, Vlad AU - Bordeianu, Marian AU - Venczel, Márton TI - Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Miocene of Fălciu (Eastern Romania) JF - PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA J2 - PALAEONTOL ELECTRON VL - 25 PY - 2022 IS - 2 PG - 23 SN - 1935-3952 DO - 10.26879/1156 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33257241 ID - 33257241 N1 - 2022-06-29 AB - A moderately diverse fossil amphibian and squamate reptile assemblage, consist-ing of various fragmentary cranial bones, vertebrae and appendicular elements, is reported from the late Miocene (Turolian, MN 11-12) of Fălciu-Prut 1 locality. The fossil assemblage represents a lacustrine taphonomic context, where the skeletal remains reached the burial place after a short transport from a terrestrial environment. The amphibians are represented by salamanders (Chelotriton sp., and Triturus sp.) and anurans (Latonia sp., Pelobates sp., Bufotes cf. viridis and Pelophylax sp.), whereas the squamates by lizards (Lacertidae sp. indet. 1 and 2; Anguinae sp. indet. 1 and 2) and snakes (Scolecophidia indet., Natrix sp., Colubridae indet. and Naja cf. romani). The fauna inhabited probably shrubberies and open woodlands amid mild temperate climate conditions; permanent water sources were present in the area. Zoogeographi-cal links were possible along the northern margin of Paratethys for both the European and Asian faunal representatives. Compared to older and coeval faunas from that region the fauna suggests an environmental shift into a more open environment, resulted from climate aridification. The faunal turnover is highlighted by lack of amphib-ian groups permanently linked to large, well-oxygenated rivers (cryptobranchid sala-manders and proteids) or marshlands (palaeobatrachid frogs) that were still present in older faunas. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Codrea, Vlad A. TI - A new late Eocene alligatoroid crocodyliform from Transylvania JF - COMPTES RENDUS PALEVOL J2 - CR PALEVOL VL - 21 PY - 2022 IS - 20 SP - 411 EP - 429 PG - 21 SN - 1631-0683 DO - 10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a20 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33005837 ID - 33005837 AB - Here we describe a new eusuchian crocodyliform, collected 130 years ago from a shallow marine limestone of the late Eocene (Priabonian) fossil locality of Cluj-Manastur, Transylvania, Romania. Diplocynodon kochi n. sp. is represented by a three-dimensionally preserved incomplete skull that may have belonged to a mature individual. The new taxon possesses a relatively narrow and elongated snout and a mediolaterally shallow but anteroposteriorly wide premaxillary-maxillary notch, strengthened by a prominent bony ridge. The nasals are excluded from the naris and the anterior tip of the frontal forms a broad, complex sutural contact with the nasals. Diplocynodon kochi n. sp. possesses, similarly to other members of the genus, 16-17 maxillary alveoli of which the fourth and fifth alveoli are enlarged and confluent; the lacrimal is longer than the prefrontal; the ectopterygoid is situated dose to the posteriormost maxillary tooth alveoli, the dorsal margin of the infratemporal fenestra is bordered by the quadratojugal, preventing the quadrate from reaching the fenestra, and the foramen aereum is situated on the dorsal surface of the quadrate. The occurrence of D. kochi n. sp. in the Priabonian of the eastern part of Central Europe suggests that the genus was still present and probably widespread across the continent that contributed probably to its survival (at least locally) across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Solomon, Alexandru A. AU - Codrea, Vlad A. AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Smith, Thierry TI - New data on Barbatodon oardaensis Codrea, Solomon, Venczel & Smith, 2014, the smallest Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammal from Europe JF - COMPTES RENDUS PALEVOL J2 - CR PALEVOL VL - 21 PY - 2022 IS - 13 SP - 253 EP - 271 PG - 21 SN - 1631-0683 DO - 10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a13 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/32913033 ID - 32913033 N1 - Funding Agency and Grant Number: Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS - UEFISCDI within PNCDI III [PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0723]; Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca [AGC: 30850, 30851, 30852, 31509, 32164] Funding text: The authors are grateful to all the colleagues (too numerous to be mentioned here) involved over a decade in the field missions in the outcrops documenting the "Ha?eg Island". We thank Julien Cillis (RBINS) for assistance with SEM photographs. Also, we thank Cristina Frcas (Cluj-Napoca) and NicolaeTrif (Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca) for producing some of the computer drawings, and Marian Bordeianu (Cluj-Napoca) for photographing some of the specimens. Also, we thank Dr Alexander Averianov and an anonymous reviewer, as well as the Associate Editor Dr Lorenzo Rook, for their useful comments that greatly helped to improve the manuscript. We thank Dr Kevin Padian for some English improvements. This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0723, within PNCDI III (to AAS) . VAC thanks Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca grants AGC: 30850, 30851, 30852, 31509, 32164 that partially supported part of the field-work. AB - Surprisingly, after the Early Cretaceous taxonomic diversity recorded in Europe, which probably is largely an artifact of inadequate taxonomy and inflation of taxa, multituberculate mammals became extremely scarce in the Late Cretaceous in this continent, being reported exclusively from the uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the so-called "Hateg Island" in Transylvania, Romania. Such mammals have been documented from the Hateg and Rusca Montana sedimentary basins, as well as from the southwestern area of the Transylvanian Basin. All these records belong to the endemic family Kogaionidae. The present paper reports additional data related to the smallest Cretaceous kogaionid, Barbatodon oardaensis Codrea, Solomon, Venczel & Smith, 2014 based on a series of new isolated teeth recovered mainly from the type locality, Oarda de Jos (Oarda A). Furthermore, the fossil localities Oarda B and Valioara are other new occurrences for the species. Based on this new material, the intraspecific variability of B. oardaensis is confirmed and its presence is attested in the three basins. Details related to the diversity of the "Hates Island" kogaionids are also provided. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - CODREA, Vlad A. AU - Venczel, Márton AU - SOLOMON, Alexandru A. AU - SABĂU, Izabella AU - BORDEIANU, Marian AU - FĂRCAŞ, Cristina TI - How many Pliocene mastodon species lived in Romania? JF - MARISIA: STUDII SI MATERIALE J2 - MARISIA (1975-1985) VL - 2021 PY - 2021 IS - 1 SP - 65 EP - 82 PG - 18 SN - 1224-2004 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33258677 ID - 33258677 AB - Pliocene formations are cropping out in Romania on extended areas that can be found mainly in the Dacian basin, but also in the Bârsei sedimentary basin, from the inner Carpathian region. Several other mastodon discoveries in the same region, such as the findings in the Pannonian basin and the related sub-basins can also be presumed to be related to Pliocene deposits, but more obvious evidence is needed for these localities. In this kind of deposits numerous mastodon discoveries are recorded. As in other European regions, in Romania the usual findings refer to two mastodon species the Auvergne mastodon Anancus arvernensis and Borson’s mastodon Mammut borsoni. The first one occurred earlier, in the latest Miocene (unit MN 13) at Derşida, in Sălaj County, while for the second such early occurrence is missing in Romania. Both species co-existed in the Pliocene, this being an evidence for specific diets of each of the two, thus they had non-competitive behaviors for access to food. Seemingly, both taxa became extinct at the end of the Pliocene. A third taxon could be Mammut praetypicum, but more consistent evidence on the stratigraphy of the localities where this species is recorded in Romania is still needed. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Sabău, Izabella AU - Codrea, Vlad A. TI - Crocodylian remains from the late Paleocene of Jibou, Romania JF - NYMPHAEA: FOLIA NATURAE BIHARIAE J2 - NYMPH FOL NAT BIHAR VL - 48 PY - 2021 SP - 77 EP - 108 PG - 32 SN - 0253-4649 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33257673 ID - 33257673 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Sabau, Izabella AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Codrea, Vlad A. TI - Diplocynodon: a salt water eocene crocodile from Transylvania? JF - NORTH-WESTERN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY J2 - NORTH-WEST J ZOOL VL - 17 PY - 2021 IS - e211901 SP - 117 EP - 121 PG - 5 SN - 1584-9074 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33257309 ID - 33257309 N1 - WoS:hiba:000700792800019 2023-12-31 12:19 füzet nem egyezik AB - Crocodiles are a conservative group of reptiles regarding their morphology and behaviour. Fossil representatives are hence important to be studied. In the Paleogene sedimentary area of Gilau, from the former Manastur limestone quarry in Cluj-Napoca, a fossil fragmentary crocodile skull was found in Priabonian rocks. This 19th century discovery documents a new species of Diplocynodon. From the Leghia-Tabara limestone quarry, another crocodile fossil was unearthed a decade ago. The latter specimen, representing a crocodile mandible, may be associated to the same new species. The new discovery provides new characters enhancing our knowledge on that species and on the whole group. Unusual is the Eocene marine environment where the crocodile fossil originated from. As a consequence, the following questions are raising: had it been a marine taxon or a terrestrial representative that managed to get in marine environments during incursions for food, or had it been transported postmortem in the marine basin by fluvial streams? The mentioned genus probably had limited osmoregulatory capabilities, in a similar way to recent alligators, which do not possess osmoregulatory salt glands, which would keep their homeostatic equilibrium under control. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Gardner, James D. AU - Villa, Andrea AU - Colombero, Simone AU - Venczel, Márton AU - Delfino, Massimo TI - A Messinian (latest Miocene) occurrence for Albanerpeton Estes & Hoffstetter, 1976 (Lissamphibia: Albanerpetontidae) at Moncucco Torinese, Piedmont Basin, northwestern Italy, and a review of the European Cenozoic record for albanerpetontids JF - GEODIVERSITAS J2 - GEODIVERSITAS VL - 43 PY - 2021 IS - 14 SP - 391 EP - 404 PG - 14 SN - 1280-9659 DO - 10.5252/geodiversitas2021v43a14 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/32106197 ID - 32106197 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - BOOK AU - Roček, Z. AU - Rage, J.-C. AU - Venczel, Márton TI - Fossil frogs of the genus Palaeobatrachus (Amphibia: Anura) T3 - Abhandlungen der Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, ISSN 1868-0356 ; 575. PB - Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft CY - Frankfurt am Main PY - 2021 SP - 151 SN - 9783510614202 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/32041043 ID - 32041043 AB - Extinct frogs of the genus Palaeobatrachus are osteologically uniform, apparently because of their permanent life in water, similar to that of pipids. This, together with the fact that some species were based on articulated, mostly compressed skeletons, while others were based on disarticulated, 3D preserved bones, caused problems with their taxonomy. Another source of taxonomic misinterpretations was found in that frontoparietals of Palaeobatrachus have a complex inner structure (upper and basal layers of compact bone separated by a layer of cancellous bone), which can be fossilised separately, leaving morphologically different imprints in matrix. To avoid such inaccuracies, we used in our taxonomic comparisons three standardised osteological units called the character modules (frontoparietal, presacral vertebral column, and synsacrum) which were defined in advance according to a unified scheme and then sought in each specimen. These three modules were assessed as an interrelated complex termed here the morphotype. Comparisons of morphotypes allowed to make reasonable conclusions even if some important diagnostic characters were not preserved. For the same reason, we assessed the development of characters, in order to restrict comparisons to fully-grown individuals. It turned out that some tiny individuals, reaching an SVL length of about 30 mm or even less, may be considered fully-grown adults, based on the complete ossification of carpals, epiphyses of the long bones, and the synsacral wings. Special attention was paid to the synsacrum, which is a complex of two or three vertebrae that fuse with each other to various degrees in different taxa. Except for Palaeobatrachus gigas, the vertebral column of Palaeobatrachus consists of nine vertebrae, the anterior two (V1+2) and posterior two (V8+9) are fused together; and V7 may remain entirely independent of V8+9, or may completely (including the transverse processes) fuse to V8+9. A large number of investigated specimens enabled the statistical evaluation of morphometric data. As a general basis for taxonomic comparisons, we first gathered diagnostic features common to all hitherto recognised species of Palaeobatrachus, in order to differentiate it from other anuran genera. Then, we reviewed all hitherto recognised species, if they were based on reasonably well preserved and accessible type specimens, trying to find those features which differentiate them from the other species. Using the above-mentioned comparisons of morphotypes, 18 species are recognised, two of them introduced as new. Several other taxa (e.g. those from the late Eocene of Kučlín, and from the late Oligocene of Enspel) remain unnamed because of the scarcity of material, or for other reasons. Comparisons of samples extending from the middle Eocene through middle Pleistocene spanning about 40 Ma also made it possible to recognise some evolutionary trends. LA - English DB - MTMT ER -