0000000000925967
AUTHOR
René H.b. Fraaije
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 …
Latest Cretaceous storm-generated sea grass accumulations in the Maastrichtian type area, the Netherlands – preliminary observations
Abstract Ever since the first description of fossil material during the mid-nineteenth century, sea grass has been shown to be quite commonly preserved in ‘pockets’ or ‘clumps’ at certain levels within the Gulpen, Maastricht and Kunrade formations in southern Limburg (the Netherlands) and contiguous areas in northeast Belgium. In those places where silicification occurred during early diagenesis, even completely silicified and three-dimensionally preserved stems and roots can be found, mostly of Thalassocharis bosquetii, in association with fully marine molluscs such as dentaliid scaphopods and a range of larger foraminifera, bivalves, gastropods and ammonites. Such occurrences are best kno…
Comment on the letter of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) dated April 21, 2020 regarding “Fossils from conflict zones and reproducibility of fossil-based scientific data”: Myanmar amber
Motivation for this comment Recently, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) has sent around a letter, dated 21st April, 2020 to more than 300 palaeontological journals, signed by the President, Vice President and a former President of the society (Rayfield et al. 2020). The signatories of this letter request significant changes to the common practices in palaeontology. With our present, multi-authored comment, we aim to argue why these suggestions will not lead to improvement of both practice and ethics of palaeontological research but, conversely, hamper its further development. Although we disagree with most contents of the SVP letter, we appreciate this initiative to discuss scien…
Comment on the letter of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) dated April 21, 2020 regarding “Fossils from conflict zones and reproducibility of fossil-based scientific data”: the importance of private collections
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