Vlad A. Codrea | Babes-Bolyai University (original) (raw)
Papers by Vlad A. Codrea
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2007
The Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) turtle remains belonging to the genus Trionyx have not been studie... more The Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) turtle remains belonging to the genus Trionyx have not been studied so far in Romania. Some materials originating from the Late Astaracian (a substage of Early Sarmatian) diatomes of Minişu de Sus (Tauţ Commune, Arad District, western Romania) are presented. The three specimens obtained, assigned to T. stiriacus Peters, 1855, in different stages of ontogenetic development made it possible to point out the morphological and dimensional changes during growth. Paleoecological, taphonomic and paleogeographical remarks are made.
Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) continental deposits in the Transylvanian region of western ... more Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) continental deposits in the Transylvanian region of western Romania contain a diverse and important assemblage of fossil vertebrates, including lissamphibians. Bones of anurans (frogs) and
albanerpetontids are abundantly represented at multiple vertebrate microfossil localities in the region, but there continues to be no evidence for urodeles (salamanders) at any locality. Using previously reported and new collections of isolated bones, here we provide an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the anuran component of the Romanian assemblage, with particular emphasis on new specimens exhibiting features that are informative for differentiating species and resolving their higher level
affinities.We recognise at least five species belonging to two or three families of moderately primitive (i.e. non-neobatrachian), crown-clade anurans: the alytids Paralatonia transylvanica, cf. Bakonybatrachus sp. and cf. Eodiscoglossus sp.; the bombinatorid Hatzegobatrachus grigorescui; and an indeterminate, possible pelobatid. Ilia previously reported as cf. Paradiscoglossus (a monotypic alytid genus reliably known only from the Maastrichtian of western North America) are here referred to Paralatonia. Also present are indeterminate alytids and at least two potentially distinctive, but indeterminate, taxa of uncertain family affinities. New specimens allow Hatzegobatrachus, formerly regarded as incertae sedis, to be assigned to Bombinatoridae as the geologically oldest member of that family. The Romanian Maastrichtian anuran assemblage is the most diverse yet documented for the European Late
Cretaceous. It contains a mix of endemic taxa (Paralatonia
and Hatzegobatrachus), a relict taxon (cf. Eodiscoglossus sp.),
and one taxon (cf. Bakonybatrachus) possibly resulting from a
pre-Maastrichtian dispersal from present-day Hungary.
Compared to contemporaneous and older (Santonian–Campanian) anuran assemblages elsewhere in Europe, the
Romanian assemblage is similar in containing alytids and a
pelobatid-like taxon, but differs in having more alytid taxa
(n=3) and a bombinatorid, and in lacking the palaeobatrachids seen in the Campanian–Maastrichtian of Western Europe and the probable ranoid Hungarobatrachus reported from the Santonian of Hungary.
New discoveries of turtle material of Ronella botanica in Jibou (Rona Member, Jibou Formation, Ro... more New discoveries of turtle material of Ronella botanica in Jibou (Rona Member, Jibou Formation, Romania) allow giving emended diagnosis at the level of the family and the genera and some indications on the specific characters of Dortoka. Hypothesis on the phyletic origin of the family are made, owing to its geographic origin and evolutionary stage. Brief comparisons with Cretaceous and Eocene taxa show the endemic nature of the Romanian Dortokidae and the convenient hypothesis of a late Thanetian age for the Rona member.
In the Lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits exposed at Basarabi (Suceava District) on the Moldavi... more In the Lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits exposed at Basarabi (Suceava District) on the Moldavian Platform (eastern
Romania), the presence of a small sized dolphin is documented by a fragmentary isolated ulna. The bone was recovered from a
sandstone bed bearing also other indeterminate bone fragments and Volhynian molluscs belonging to the Șomuz Formation, Arghira Member, just under the Arghira II lithological and biostratigraphical level. This specimen is herein assigned to Kentriodontidae indet.
This find documents better the presence of this group of Odontoceti in eastern Romania. Their presence is not surprising, because the Lower Sarmatian palaeogeography in Romania, when the Carpathians were still an archipelago in the Paratethys Sea, allowed marine faunal interchanges with the inner Carpathians area, unconfined by topographic odds.
Keywords: cetaceans, Odontoceti, Middle Miocene, Moldavian Platform, Romania.
Studia Universitatis …, 2002
Three exceptional fossiliferous marl pockets yielding respectively micro-vertebrate, ornithopod a... more Three exceptional fossiliferous marl pockets yielding respectively micro-vertebrate, ornithopod and sauropod concentrated remains have been discovered in the new Maastrichtian Nălaţ-Vad locality (Haţeg Basin, Romania). The facies assemblage indicates a fluvial palaeoenvironment with sandy channel infills and silty and clayey floodplain deposits containing well-developed calcretes. Large megaloolithid-type dinosaur eggs have been found in association with these calcretic palaeosols. In the ornithopod pocket the disconnected bones are abundant and apparently belong to a single specimen referred to as Iguanodontia indet. The most remarkable collected micro-remains are teeth and jaws of multituberculate mammals representing the richest concentration of mammal remains from the Late Cretaceous of Europe.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2002
The Jiu Valley Basin is one of the most important coal mining areas in Romania. Other industries,... more The Jiu Valley Basin is one of the most important coal mining areas in Romania. Other industries, including a power plant, are also well developed in this area. Therefore, pollution is very high. One of the most polluted environmental compounds is the air. High mountains surround the Jiu Valley, which makes difficult the air refreshing. For this reason, it is very important to discuss the air pollution and especially that produced by dust. Since the industrial companies are concentrated in a small area, it is very difficult to identify and prosecute the polluting one. The present paper aims to identify the sources of air pollution, especially among the mining companies, because the power plant is considered the most important polluting agent in this area.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2006
A new Hybodus site from Romania is located at Anina, in the Pliensbachian -Middle Toarcian succes... more A new Hybodus site from Romania is located at Anina, in the Pliensbachian -Middle Toarcian succession from Ponor quarry (Caraş-Severin district). The paper refers to a short description of the Hybodus teeth recently collected, followed by some considerations on hybodonts phylogeny and palaeoecology.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2006
The middle Badenian Ocnele Mari evaporitic formation from Slănic Prahova represents one of the mo... more The middle Badenian Ocnele Mari evaporitic formation from Slănic Prahova represents one of the most important salt deposits from the outer Carpathians (Prahova district). The salt deposit is located in the sedimentary succession of the Slanic syncline belonging to the post-tectogenetic cover of Tarcău Nappe. The sedimentary environment of the Ocnele Mari Formation was dominated by evaporitic condition covering the interval from the last stage of carbonates precipitation to halite, however, without reaching the stage of K and Mg salt precipitation. During evaporitic condition, authigenic minerals precipitated: carbonates, sulfates (anhydrite, gypsum and polyhalite) and halite (predominant). Simultaneously with the precipitation processes, an important input of sediments from the adjacent areas into the basin took place. Thus, minerals of allogenic origin (quartz, plagioclase feldspars, and clay minerals) are also present, sometime as interbedded layers in the salt formation.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2002
An Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) site exposing dinosaur footprints is reported from the Se... more An Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) site exposing dinosaur footprints is reported from the Sebe¿ area (Transylvanian Depression). This is the first dinoturbated layer discovered in our country, containing also numerous bones belonging to various dinosaurs. The track-site is located near Lancr¾ m village and provides only two quite well preserved footprints (one track). The medium sized (FL = 23,3 cm; FW
PLOS ONE, 2015
Mammals that inhabit islands are characterized by peculiar morphologies in comparison to their ma... more Mammals that inhabit islands are characterized by peculiar morphologies in comparison to their mainland relatives. Here we report the discovery of a partial skull associated with the lower jaws of a Late Cretaceous (70 Ma) multituberculate mammal from the Carpathian "Haţeg Island" of Transylvania, Romania. The mammal belongs to the Kogaionidae, one of the rare families that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Europe. The excellent preservation of this specimen allows for the first time description of the complete dentition of a kogaionid and demonstration that the enigmatic Barbatodon transylvanicus presents a mosaic of primitive and derived characters, and that it is phylogenetically basal among the Cimolodonta. Another peculiarity is the presence of red pigmentation in its tooth enamel. The red coloration is present on the anterior side of the incisors and on the cusps of most of the teeth. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) analysis reveals that the pigmented enamel contains iron, as in living placentals. Such a red pigmentation is known in living soricine shrews and many families of rodents, where it is thought to increase the resistance of the enamel to the abrasion that occurs during "grinding" mastication. The extended pattern of red pigment distribution in Barbatodon is more similar to that in eulipotyplan insectivores than to that in rodents and suggests a very hard diet and, importantly, demonstrates that its grasping incisors were not ever-growing. As inferred for other endemic Transylvanian vertebrates such as dwarf herbivorous dinosaurs and unusual theropod dinosaurs, insularity was probably the main factor of survival of such a primitive mammalian lineage relative to other mainland contemporaries of the Northern hemisphere.
Two incomplete dolphin skeletons and four ear bones from Sarmatian layers (Late Volhynian) of the... more Two incomplete dolphin skeletons and four ear bones from Sarmatian layers (Late Volhynian) of the Iris Quarry in Cluj-Napoca were investigated. The fossil remains represent three individuals of the same species. The humeri of both partial skeletons match the morphology of the holotype humerus of Champsodelphis fuchsii BRANDT, 1873, a species in need of further taxonomic reconsideration. On the basis
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
Since the end of the 19th century the notorious palaeontologist Baron Nopcsa reported several Lat... more Since the end of the 19th century the notorious palaeontologist Baron Nopcsa reported several Late Cretaceous small-sized dinosaurs in the Haţeg Basin. He explained their sizes as the consequence of unusual evolution on an island he named the "Haţeg Island". He found similar dinosaurs outside Haţeg in other regions of Transylvania, near Alba Iulia, or nearby Jibou. Recent surveys carried out in these areas support Nopcsa's presumptions, even adding several new outcrops with dinosaur remains. In Sălaj and Cluj Counties, the dinosaur fossils are rather scarce, but still obvious in the Jibou Formation. In Alba County, the main outcrops are located between Vurpăr and Şard on the right bank of the Mureş River, but also between Petreşti and Oarda de Jos along the Sebeş Valley. The majority of the taxa from Haţeg are also documented in these areas. During the Palaeogene and early Miocene, several of these Mesozoic reptile bones were reworked to younger deposits. Another area with high potential for finding Maastrichtian vertebrates is the Rusca Montană Basin.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin (SW Romania) have yielded a high... more The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin (SW Romania) have yielded a highdiversity vertebrate assemblage, including the "dwarf" insular dinosaurs of Nopcsa. In 1902, Franz Nopcsa was the first to comment on the preservation patterns of vertebrate fossils, suggesting that the most important fossil accumulations, which he simply referred to as "fossiliferous pockets", were the result of the predatory activity of crocodilians ("crocodilian feeding grounds"). Recent investigations of the fossil occurrences within the Haţeg Basin revealed a much wider range of taphonomic modes, from microfossil bonebeds to isolated, partially articulated skeletons, than previously believed. The survey of the vertebrate accumulation types and their sedimentary context documents a wide range of processes responsible for their genesis, operating within a fluvial-dominated upland setting. Study of the individual fossil accumulations yields important information on the palaeoecology (composition of local biocenoses, trophic interactions) and palaeobiology (social behaviour, habitat preferences) of the Haţeg fossil assemblage.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
Four localities in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Haţeg Basin (in order of discovery... more Four localities in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Haţeg Basin (in order of discovery, Tuştea, Toteşti-baraj, Nălaţ-Vad and Livezi) have yielded clutches of megaloolithid eggs. Egg morphology and size, eggshell thickness, external ornamentation and internal microstructure, pore density and geometry, as well as morphology of the clutches (where this could be observed) are all similar among the four localities, allowing the assignment of the eggs to Megaloolithus cf. siruguei. Most egg occurrences are related to paleosols of variable chemical composition and maturity, developed within different parts of the floodplain. The nesting horizon from Tuştea was partially reconstructed on a 160 m 2 surface, allowing a thorough analysis of the taphonomy of the eggs and clutches. It has also yielded hatchling remains at different ontogenetic developmental stages, and even, more rarely, embryo remains as well. The bones occur in the vicinity of or even within the clutches; in a single case, incompletely ossified embryonic skeletal remains, including a dentary tooth, were found inside an incomplete egg. Without exception, the neonate remains belong to the basal hadrosaurid Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, one of the common dinosaur species in the faunal assemblage. No sauropod neonate remains were found in the nesting horizon from Tuştea; only a fragmentary pelvic girdle and caudal vertebrae of an adult titanosaurian were unearthed recently 20 cm above the nesting horizon. None of the other three megaloolithid localities in the Haţeg Basin provided neonatal remains of any dinosaur species. Despite the general consensus that the Megaloolithus oogenus belongs exclusively to titanosaurian sauropods, the co-occurrence of megaloolithid eggs and hadrosaurid neonatal remains at Tuştea seems to contradict this view. Previous cladistic analyses of dinosauroid ootaxa might offer an explanation of this controversial issue. These analyses have revealed that Megaloolithidae appears to be the sister group of Spheroolithidae, usually regarded as a hadrosaurid egg family. Perhaps a significant amount of homoplasy is present in the evolution of dinosaurian eggs, whose structure depends on incubation environment as well as biology and physiology of the reproductive system itself, and that the oospecies of Megaloolithus might have been laid by different higher-level taxa, including both titanosaurian sauropods and (basal) hadrosaurids. Understanding the significance of this paraphyletic distribution requires further study.
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2008
In 1905, Nopcsa tentatively identified a fragmentary rib from the Jibou Formation at Someş Odorhe... more In 1905, Nopcsa tentatively identified a fragmentary rib from the Jibou Formation at Someş Odorhei as belonging to an ornithopod dinosaur. Therefore, he concluded that the base of this formation is Late Cretaceous, but this hypothesis was subsequently ignored or rejected by other authors. New dinosaur bones discovered in this locality by new excavations are here interpreted as belonging to the euornithopod Zalmoxes shqiperorum Weishampel, Jianu, Csiki and Norman, 2003. The base of the Jibou Formation can therefore be regarded as Maastrichtian, correlative to the Sânpetru Formation and to the middle member of the Densuş Ciula Formation from the Haţeg Basin, as well as the base of the Ş ard Formation in the southwestern Basin of Transylvania, in the Alba Iulia area. The presence of Zalmoxes at Someş Odorhei also confirms the northeastern extension for the 'Haţeg Island' in Transylvania. To cite this article: V.A. Codrea, P. Godefroit, C. R. Palevol 7 (2008).
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2007
The Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) turtle remains belonging to the genus Trionyx have not been studie... more The Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) turtle remains belonging to the genus Trionyx have not been studied so far in Romania. Some materials originating from the Late Astaracian (a substage of Early Sarmatian) diatomes of Minişu de Sus (Tauţ Commune, Arad District, western Romania) are presented. The three specimens obtained, assigned to T. stiriacus Peters, 1855, in different stages of ontogenetic development made it possible to point out the morphological and dimensional changes during growth. Paleoecological, taphonomic and paleogeographical remarks are made.
Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) continental deposits in the Transylvanian region of western ... more Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) continental deposits in the Transylvanian region of western Romania contain a diverse and important assemblage of fossil vertebrates, including lissamphibians. Bones of anurans (frogs) and
albanerpetontids are abundantly represented at multiple vertebrate microfossil localities in the region, but there continues to be no evidence for urodeles (salamanders) at any locality. Using previously reported and new collections of isolated bones, here we provide an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the anuran component of the Romanian assemblage, with particular emphasis on new specimens exhibiting features that are informative for differentiating species and resolving their higher level
affinities.We recognise at least five species belonging to two or three families of moderately primitive (i.e. non-neobatrachian), crown-clade anurans: the alytids Paralatonia transylvanica, cf. Bakonybatrachus sp. and cf. Eodiscoglossus sp.; the bombinatorid Hatzegobatrachus grigorescui; and an indeterminate, possible pelobatid. Ilia previously reported as cf. Paradiscoglossus (a monotypic alytid genus reliably known only from the Maastrichtian of western North America) are here referred to Paralatonia. Also present are indeterminate alytids and at least two potentially distinctive, but indeterminate, taxa of uncertain family affinities. New specimens allow Hatzegobatrachus, formerly regarded as incertae sedis, to be assigned to Bombinatoridae as the geologically oldest member of that family. The Romanian Maastrichtian anuran assemblage is the most diverse yet documented for the European Late
Cretaceous. It contains a mix of endemic taxa (Paralatonia
and Hatzegobatrachus), a relict taxon (cf. Eodiscoglossus sp.),
and one taxon (cf. Bakonybatrachus) possibly resulting from a
pre-Maastrichtian dispersal from present-day Hungary.
Compared to contemporaneous and older (Santonian–Campanian) anuran assemblages elsewhere in Europe, the
Romanian assemblage is similar in containing alytids and a
pelobatid-like taxon, but differs in having more alytid taxa
(n=3) and a bombinatorid, and in lacking the palaeobatrachids seen in the Campanian–Maastrichtian of Western Europe and the probable ranoid Hungarobatrachus reported from the Santonian of Hungary.
New discoveries of turtle material of Ronella botanica in Jibou (Rona Member, Jibou Formation, Ro... more New discoveries of turtle material of Ronella botanica in Jibou (Rona Member, Jibou Formation, Romania) allow giving emended diagnosis at the level of the family and the genera and some indications on the specific characters of Dortoka. Hypothesis on the phyletic origin of the family are made, owing to its geographic origin and evolutionary stage. Brief comparisons with Cretaceous and Eocene taxa show the endemic nature of the Romanian Dortokidae and the convenient hypothesis of a late Thanetian age for the Rona member.
In the Lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits exposed at Basarabi (Suceava District) on the Moldavi... more In the Lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits exposed at Basarabi (Suceava District) on the Moldavian Platform (eastern
Romania), the presence of a small sized dolphin is documented by a fragmentary isolated ulna. The bone was recovered from a
sandstone bed bearing also other indeterminate bone fragments and Volhynian molluscs belonging to the Șomuz Formation, Arghira Member, just under the Arghira II lithological and biostratigraphical level. This specimen is herein assigned to Kentriodontidae indet.
This find documents better the presence of this group of Odontoceti in eastern Romania. Their presence is not surprising, because the Lower Sarmatian palaeogeography in Romania, when the Carpathians were still an archipelago in the Paratethys Sea, allowed marine faunal interchanges with the inner Carpathians area, unconfined by topographic odds.
Keywords: cetaceans, Odontoceti, Middle Miocene, Moldavian Platform, Romania.
Studia Universitatis …, 2002
Three exceptional fossiliferous marl pockets yielding respectively micro-vertebrate, ornithopod a... more Three exceptional fossiliferous marl pockets yielding respectively micro-vertebrate, ornithopod and sauropod concentrated remains have been discovered in the new Maastrichtian Nălaţ-Vad locality (Haţeg Basin, Romania). The facies assemblage indicates a fluvial palaeoenvironment with sandy channel infills and silty and clayey floodplain deposits containing well-developed calcretes. Large megaloolithid-type dinosaur eggs have been found in association with these calcretic palaeosols. In the ornithopod pocket the disconnected bones are abundant and apparently belong to a single specimen referred to as Iguanodontia indet. The most remarkable collected micro-remains are teeth and jaws of multituberculate mammals representing the richest concentration of mammal remains from the Late Cretaceous of Europe.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2002
The Jiu Valley Basin is one of the most important coal mining areas in Romania. Other industries,... more The Jiu Valley Basin is one of the most important coal mining areas in Romania. Other industries, including a power plant, are also well developed in this area. Therefore, pollution is very high. One of the most polluted environmental compounds is the air. High mountains surround the Jiu Valley, which makes difficult the air refreshing. For this reason, it is very important to discuss the air pollution and especially that produced by dust. Since the industrial companies are concentrated in a small area, it is very difficult to identify and prosecute the polluting one. The present paper aims to identify the sources of air pollution, especially among the mining companies, because the power plant is considered the most important polluting agent in this area.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2006
A new Hybodus site from Romania is located at Anina, in the Pliensbachian -Middle Toarcian succes... more A new Hybodus site from Romania is located at Anina, in the Pliensbachian -Middle Toarcian succession from Ponor quarry (Caraş-Severin district). The paper refers to a short description of the Hybodus teeth recently collected, followed by some considerations on hybodonts phylogeny and palaeoecology.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2006
The middle Badenian Ocnele Mari evaporitic formation from Slănic Prahova represents one of the mo... more The middle Badenian Ocnele Mari evaporitic formation from Slănic Prahova represents one of the most important salt deposits from the outer Carpathians (Prahova district). The salt deposit is located in the sedimentary succession of the Slanic syncline belonging to the post-tectogenetic cover of Tarcău Nappe. The sedimentary environment of the Ocnele Mari Formation was dominated by evaporitic condition covering the interval from the last stage of carbonates precipitation to halite, however, without reaching the stage of K and Mg salt precipitation. During evaporitic condition, authigenic minerals precipitated: carbonates, sulfates (anhydrite, gypsum and polyhalite) and halite (predominant). Simultaneously with the precipitation processes, an important input of sediments from the adjacent areas into the basin took place. Thus, minerals of allogenic origin (quartz, plagioclase feldspars, and clay minerals) are also present, sometime as interbedded layers in the salt formation.
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2002
An Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) site exposing dinosaur footprints is reported from the Se... more An Uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) site exposing dinosaur footprints is reported from the Sebe¿ area (Transylvanian Depression). This is the first dinoturbated layer discovered in our country, containing also numerous bones belonging to various dinosaurs. The track-site is located near Lancr¾ m village and provides only two quite well preserved footprints (one track). The medium sized (FL = 23,3 cm; FW
PLOS ONE, 2015
Mammals that inhabit islands are characterized by peculiar morphologies in comparison to their ma... more Mammals that inhabit islands are characterized by peculiar morphologies in comparison to their mainland relatives. Here we report the discovery of a partial skull associated with the lower jaws of a Late Cretaceous (70 Ma) multituberculate mammal from the Carpathian "Haţeg Island" of Transylvania, Romania. The mammal belongs to the Kogaionidae, one of the rare families that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Europe. The excellent preservation of this specimen allows for the first time description of the complete dentition of a kogaionid and demonstration that the enigmatic Barbatodon transylvanicus presents a mosaic of primitive and derived characters, and that it is phylogenetically basal among the Cimolodonta. Another peculiarity is the presence of red pigmentation in its tooth enamel. The red coloration is present on the anterior side of the incisors and on the cusps of most of the teeth. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) analysis reveals that the pigmented enamel contains iron, as in living placentals. Such a red pigmentation is known in living soricine shrews and many families of rodents, where it is thought to increase the resistance of the enamel to the abrasion that occurs during "grinding" mastication. The extended pattern of red pigment distribution in Barbatodon is more similar to that in eulipotyplan insectivores than to that in rodents and suggests a very hard diet and, importantly, demonstrates that its grasping incisors were not ever-growing. As inferred for other endemic Transylvanian vertebrates such as dwarf herbivorous dinosaurs and unusual theropod dinosaurs, insularity was probably the main factor of survival of such a primitive mammalian lineage relative to other mainland contemporaries of the Northern hemisphere.
Two incomplete dolphin skeletons and four ear bones from Sarmatian layers (Late Volhynian) of the... more Two incomplete dolphin skeletons and four ear bones from Sarmatian layers (Late Volhynian) of the Iris Quarry in Cluj-Napoca were investigated. The fossil remains represent three individuals of the same species. The humeri of both partial skeletons match the morphology of the holotype humerus of Champsodelphis fuchsii BRANDT, 1873, a species in need of further taxonomic reconsideration. On the basis
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
Since the end of the 19th century the notorious palaeontologist Baron Nopcsa reported several Lat... more Since the end of the 19th century the notorious palaeontologist Baron Nopcsa reported several Late Cretaceous small-sized dinosaurs in the Haţeg Basin. He explained their sizes as the consequence of unusual evolution on an island he named the "Haţeg Island". He found similar dinosaurs outside Haţeg in other regions of Transylvania, near Alba Iulia, or nearby Jibou. Recent surveys carried out in these areas support Nopcsa's presumptions, even adding several new outcrops with dinosaur remains. In Sălaj and Cluj Counties, the dinosaur fossils are rather scarce, but still obvious in the Jibou Formation. In Alba County, the main outcrops are located between Vurpăr and Şard on the right bank of the Mureş River, but also between Petreşti and Oarda de Jos along the Sebeş Valley. The majority of the taxa from Haţeg are also documented in these areas. During the Palaeogene and early Miocene, several of these Mesozoic reptile bones were reworked to younger deposits. Another area with high potential for finding Maastrichtian vertebrates is the Rusca Montană Basin.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin (SW Romania) have yielded a high... more The uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin (SW Romania) have yielded a highdiversity vertebrate assemblage, including the "dwarf" insular dinosaurs of Nopcsa. In 1902, Franz Nopcsa was the first to comment on the preservation patterns of vertebrate fossils, suggesting that the most important fossil accumulations, which he simply referred to as "fossiliferous pockets", were the result of the predatory activity of crocodilians ("crocodilian feeding grounds"). Recent investigations of the fossil occurrences within the Haţeg Basin revealed a much wider range of taphonomic modes, from microfossil bonebeds to isolated, partially articulated skeletons, than previously believed. The survey of the vertebrate accumulation types and their sedimentary context documents a wide range of processes responsible for their genesis, operating within a fluvial-dominated upland setting. Study of the individual fossil accumulations yields important information on the palaeoecology (composition of local biocenoses, trophic interactions) and palaeobiology (social behaviour, habitat preferences) of the Haţeg fossil assemblage.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2010
Four localities in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Haţeg Basin (in order of discovery... more Four localities in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Haţeg Basin (in order of discovery, Tuştea, Toteşti-baraj, Nălaţ-Vad and Livezi) have yielded clutches of megaloolithid eggs. Egg morphology and size, eggshell thickness, external ornamentation and internal microstructure, pore density and geometry, as well as morphology of the clutches (where this could be observed) are all similar among the four localities, allowing the assignment of the eggs to Megaloolithus cf. siruguei. Most egg occurrences are related to paleosols of variable chemical composition and maturity, developed within different parts of the floodplain. The nesting horizon from Tuştea was partially reconstructed on a 160 m 2 surface, allowing a thorough analysis of the taphonomy of the eggs and clutches. It has also yielded hatchling remains at different ontogenetic developmental stages, and even, more rarely, embryo remains as well. The bones occur in the vicinity of or even within the clutches; in a single case, incompletely ossified embryonic skeletal remains, including a dentary tooth, were found inside an incomplete egg. Without exception, the neonate remains belong to the basal hadrosaurid Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, one of the common dinosaur species in the faunal assemblage. No sauropod neonate remains were found in the nesting horizon from Tuştea; only a fragmentary pelvic girdle and caudal vertebrae of an adult titanosaurian were unearthed recently 20 cm above the nesting horizon. None of the other three megaloolithid localities in the Haţeg Basin provided neonatal remains of any dinosaur species. Despite the general consensus that the Megaloolithus oogenus belongs exclusively to titanosaurian sauropods, the co-occurrence of megaloolithid eggs and hadrosaurid neonatal remains at Tuştea seems to contradict this view. Previous cladistic analyses of dinosauroid ootaxa might offer an explanation of this controversial issue. These analyses have revealed that Megaloolithidae appears to be the sister group of Spheroolithidae, usually regarded as a hadrosaurid egg family. Perhaps a significant amount of homoplasy is present in the evolution of dinosaurian eggs, whose structure depends on incubation environment as well as biology and physiology of the reproductive system itself, and that the oospecies of Megaloolithus might have been laid by different higher-level taxa, including both titanosaurian sauropods and (basal) hadrosaurids. Understanding the significance of this paraphyletic distribution requires further study.
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2008
In 1905, Nopcsa tentatively identified a fragmentary rib from the Jibou Formation at Someş Odorhe... more In 1905, Nopcsa tentatively identified a fragmentary rib from the Jibou Formation at Someş Odorhei as belonging to an ornithopod dinosaur. Therefore, he concluded that the base of this formation is Late Cretaceous, but this hypothesis was subsequently ignored or rejected by other authors. New dinosaur bones discovered in this locality by new excavations are here interpreted as belonging to the euornithopod Zalmoxes shqiperorum Weishampel, Jianu, Csiki and Norman, 2003. The base of the Jibou Formation can therefore be regarded as Maastrichtian, correlative to the Sânpetru Formation and to the middle member of the Densuş Ciula Formation from the Haţeg Basin, as well as the base of the Ş ard Formation in the southwestern Basin of Transylvania, in the Alba Iulia area. The presence of Zalmoxes at Someş Odorhei also confirms the northeastern extension for the 'Haţeg Island' in Transylvania. To cite this article: V.A. Codrea, P. Godefroit, C. R. Palevol 7 (2008).