The revision of the Triassic ammonoids of the Gemmellaro collections: taxonomic and biostratigraphic implication

Paleogeographic and palaeontologic event across the Tethys, in the Submediterranean and Mediterranean platforms at the Callovian-Oxfordian transition.

New biostratigraphic data on the Oxfordian from Roccapalumba (Western Sicily).

The Gemmellaro Collection: first record of an anomuran from the Tithonian of Sicily, Italy

A recent field trip to Sicily and an examination of decapod crustacean collections at the Museo Geologico G.G. Gemmellaro in the centre of Palermo, Sicily (Italy), has demonstrated that most of the anomuran and brachyuran material described by Gemmellaro (Gemmellaro GG. 1869. Studi paleontologici sulla fauna del Calcare àTerebratula janitordel nord di Sicilia. Palermo: Lao, vol. 1, pp. 11–18) from the Tithonian of that island is still present. Interestingly, a single specimen in this lot was never mentioned, described or illustrated by that author. The species to which this particular individual is here shown to belong,Gastrosacus tuberosus, was first described and named 26 years later, in …

Middle and Upper Jurassic record in the Western Sicily successions

Middle-Upper Jurassic successions cropping out in western Sicily have been the subject of detailed sedimentological, stratigraphic and palaeontological studies over the last 15 years based on the analysis of ammonite associations. Studies are preferentially focused on the Bathonian-Tithonian chronostratigraphic interval. Some studied successions represent the type-locality of many ammonite species defined by G.G. Gemmellaro, while others have been known only in Sicilian geological literature. The examined sequences were sedimented in different depositional environments (moderately deep external carbonate platform) called Domains, more precisely, the Trapanese and Saccense Domains (TP, Trapa…

The occurrence of the extinct shark genus Sphenodus in the Jurassic of Sicily

During the systematic revision of some historical collections containing Mesozoic ammonites, housed at the "G.G. Gemmellaro" Geological Museum of the Palermo University, a fossil shark’s tooth has been discovered. This specimen, indicated as Lamna in the original catalogue, can be attributed to the genus Sphenodus, an extinct cosmopolitan shark ranging from Lower Jurassic rocks to the Paleocene. The specimen is part of the Mariano Gemmellaro Collection which mainly consists of Middle-Upper Jurassic ammonites coming from Tardàra Mountain, between Menfi and Sambuca di Sicilia (Agrigento Province, Southwestern Sicily). Some of the ammonite specimens were listed, but not illustrated, by M. Gemm…

Biostratigraphical study of the Middle-Upper Jurassic ammonite association of Stretta Arancio’s section (Southern Sicily, Italy).

This stratigraphical study is part of the revision work that has been carried out for the last ten years on some Jurassic successions outcropping in Southwestern Sicily. For this purpose, a synthesis of the data on the Middle-Upper Jurassic sequence from Stretta Arancio, near Sambuca di Sicilia (Agrigento Province) have been described in this paper. The deposits, constituting the succession of this area, are part of the Monte Magaggiaro-Pizzo Telegrafo Unit that belongs to a large tectonic unit located in the outer part of the Apennine-Maghrebide chain. During the Mesozoic Era, this Unit was part of the Saccense Domain, an area palaeogeographically located along the southern margin of Tethy…

New data on Middle and Upper Jurassic ammonite successions from the Sciacca area in Southern Sicily.

Taxonomic revision of two Mesozoic ammonites collections housed at the "G.G. Gemmellaro" Museum (Palermo, Sicily).

Two historical collections of Mesozoic ammonites from the Tardàra Mountain (SO Sicily), housed in the “Gaetano Giorgio Gemmellaro” Museum of the University of Palermo, have been revised in this paper. The former and the older collection, studied by Mariano Gemmellaro in the 1919, it is composed of 27 specimens, attributed to 5 genera. All the taxa studied by the Author were referred to the Middle Jurassic, Macrocephalites macrocephalus Zone (early Callovian stage). The second collection, studied by Francesco Bruno in the 1954, consists of 46 specimens attributed to 13 genera. The species identified by Bruno were referred to a chronostratigraphic range spanning from Callovian to Tithonian (M…

Studio delle associazioni ad ammoniti dell'Oxfordiano della Sicilia occidentale

Sicilia nord-occidentale: dai Monti di Palermo al trapanese

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AMMONOID EVOLUTION TRIGGERED BY PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC CHANGES: ORIGIN OF OXFORDIAN SUBFAMILY PASSENDORFERIINAE (SOUTHERN TETHYS)

The comparison of Middle-Upper Jurassic ammonite successions in SW Sicily (Sciacca) and Iberia shows that, during the Middle Jurassic, besides some typical Mediterranean taxa, in Sicily as well as in the Betic Ranges (S Spain) ammonoid successions contain a higher share of typical Submediterranean taxa of Ammonitina, entirely comparable to those recorded in Epicontinental areas of Eastern Iberia. From middle Oxfordian onwards instead, ammonite successions show a clear taxonomic differentiation, being dominated in Sicily by typically Mediterranean taxa (Passendorferiinae) whilst typical Submeditrerranean groups (Perisphinctinae, Oppeliidae) clearly dominant in the Iberian Range, are testimon…

JURASSIC AMMONITE ASSOCIATIONS FROM A SECTION NEAR SAMBUCA DI SICILIA (SCIACCA, SICILY).

Geoscience Teaching and Student Interest in Secondary Schools-Preliminary Results from an Interest Research in Greece, Spain and Italy.

The results of a topic-interest study on geosciences among 14- to 17-year-old school students are reported. The research was organized in the framework of the European project Geoschools to investigate the interest of students in the context of teaching strategies for geosciences in secondary schools. A questionnaire was designed as the main data-collection tool, based on the results of a comparison on geosciences curricula among the five European countries (Austria, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) which are the partners in the GEOschools project. The present study focuses on results from Greece and Spain but also includes preliminary results from Italy, for comparison purposes. Questio…

Oxfordian paleobiogeographic perturbation between the Iberian and Sicilian regions: the role of the Panormide Carbonate Platform.

Il servizio civile: un'esperienza lavorativa e un'opportunità per acquisire competenze reali

Il ruolo diversificato che i Musei scientifici hanno assunto, ha comportato un ampliamento delle attività che si svolgono sia al suo interno che nel territorio. Se da un lato le attività museali richiedono sempre più professionalità, specializzazione, interdisciplinarietà, trasversalità e lavoro di gruppo, dall’altro lato il numero di operatori presenti nei Musei, almeno quelli universitari, è sempre più ridotto. In questo complesso quadro, negli ultimi anni il Museo Geologico Gemmellaro è diventato sede di servizio civile nazionale. Questa opportunità oltre a costituire un insostituibile aiuto alle attività del museo rappresenta per i giovani un’esperienza lavorativa ed un’opportunità per …

New data on the Bathonian-Kimmeridgian section of Stretta Arancio and the historical ammonites collections from the Tardàra Mountain (Sambuca di Sicilia, Southern Sicily)

A GEOSITE TO BE SAVED: THE TYRRHENIAN FOSSIL DEPOSIT ON THE ISLAND OF USTICA

During the 1960s, fossil beds characterized by a tropical-sea malacofauna were discovered by G. Ruggieri and G. Buccheri in the Island of Ustica, on the southern slope of Falconiera hill, 32 m asl. Thanks to the presence of Strombus bubonius and other Senegalese guests, the authors estimated that the molluscan fauna had lived around 125,000 years ago, during the Tyrrhenian stage. Recently on the initiative of the “Centro Studi e Documentazione Isola di Ustica”, a research has been initiated to verify the persistence of sand-layers mixed up with Tyrrhenian fossils, even though, in the last 50 years, that area has undergone great changes, because of earthworks which have sealed the deposit. T…

Gli ammonoidi della collezione Gemmellaro. La catalogazione informatizzata come base per la revisione sistematica.

The revision of Pinacoceras (Ammonoidea, Upper triassic) of the Gemmellaro Collection.

Sicilian Palaentological geosites: Knowledege, protection and exploitation of the palaentological heritage

Nel volto di Thea: isole scomparse ed elefanti nani.

Callovian to lower Kimmeridgian ammonite successions from West Sicily (Roccapalumba) and Northeast Iberian Range (Ariño, Teruel): A key for palaeogeographical reconstruction.

La comparacion de las sucesiones de ammonites en el intervalo comprendido entre el Calloviense y el Kimmeridgiense inferior en la region de Sicilia occidental (Roccapalumba-Sciacca) y la Cordillera Iberica nororiental (Sierra de Arcos) muestra una clara similitud y paralelismo en el desarrollo estratigrafico. Esto incluye el registro incompleto del Calloviense inferior, una amplia laguna estratigrafica (Calloviense inferior-Oxfordiense medio) y un registro mas completo del Oxfordiense medio-superior (biozonas Transversarium-Bifurcatus) y Kimmeridgiense inferior. Esto permite inferir una evolucion paleogeografica paralela en ambas regiones del Tethys. Las asociaciones registradas de ammonite…