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Here, we report on 33 molluscan species from Miocene ’Calcari a Lucina’ hydrocarbon-seep deposits in northern Italy. Three new species are described: the chilodontaid gastropod Putzeysia diversii sp. nov., the lucinid bivalve Miltha (sensu lato) romaniae sp. nov., and Sisonia ultimoi sp. nov., a heterodont bivalve of uncertain taxonomic affinity. Fourteen species are described in open nomenclature. The common but enigmatic gastropod species Phasianema taurocrassa is here suggested to belong to the seguenzioid genus Cataegis. Most gastropod species are inhabitants of the deep-sea floor in general, and are not restricted (obligate) to sites of hydrocarbon-seepage. The gastropod Putzeysia diversii sp. nov. and the bivalve Sisonia ultimoi sp. nov. are the geologically oldest members of their genera known to date. While the genus Putzeysia is geographically restricted to the NE Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Sisonia ultimoi sp. nov. represents another link of the Miocene Mediterranean seep fauna to that of the central Indo-West Pacific Ocean.
Neogene (Siwalik-aged) deposits from India and Pakistan have yielded many vertebrate fossils, of which most were named during the 19th century, including numerous geoemydid turtles. In contrast to many other faunal components from the Siwaliks, geoemydids have not undergone taxonomic revision for more than a century and most fossils have therefore been believed to correspond to recent taxa. In this study, we conduct a taxonomic revision of all previously described geoemydid material from the Siwalik-age. We propose that all specimens of 'Clemmys' from the Siwaliks of Punjab, Pakistan should be identified as Melanochelys sivalensis comb. nov.; that Melanochelys tricarinata var. sivalensis represents a valid species, for which we propose the replacement name Melanochelys tapani to avoid homonymy; that specimens originally identified as Batagur cautleyi and Pangshura flaviventer cannot be identified beyond the generic level; and that many fragmentary palatochelydians cannot be identified to any particular species or genus due to the lack of preserved diagnostic osteological characters. With a few exceptions, the Siwalik fauna mostly corresponds in its distribution to that of the recent fauna, indicating a certain amount of geographic stasis. However, as the stratigraphic provenance of most material is poor, it is not possible to discern meaningful temporal patterns.
Microporella Hincks, 1877 is one of the most diverse genera of cheilostome bryozoans, containing more than 150 named species. Distributed globally since the early Miocene, the majority of species of Microporella have sheet-like colonies encrusting hard and / or ephemeral substrates, while a limited number of species have erect bifoliate colonies starting from an encrusting base. Herein, the four nominal species of erect bifoliate Microporella (M. bifoliata, M. hastigera, M. hyadesi and M. ordo) are revised, and one new Pliocene (M. tanyae sp. nov.) and three new Recent species (M. ordoides sp. nov., M. lingulata sp. nov. and M. modesta sp. nov.) are formally described. Furthermore, the lectotype and paralectotypes were designated for M. bifoliata and M. hastigera. An additional Recent species, Microporella sp. 1, is also described and illustrated but left in open nomenclature owing to the absence of ovicells in the single available fragment. Although the molecular phylogeny of Microporella has yet to be resolved, the diversity of character states present among the erect bifoliate species described here suggests that this colony growth-form is not monophyletic but has evolved on multiple occasions.