202 Abstracts

osts), no cranial kinesis was possible in the Gerrothorax skull, and therefore suction feeding in Gerrothorax was not as elaborate as in these extant forms.

S7 The use of -CT in the investigation of teratologies and bauplan modifications in Larger Benthic Foraminifera

Wger J.1*, E. Wolfgring1, A. Briguglio1, C. Ferrndez Caadell2 & J. Hohenegger1

*E-mail: julia.woeger@univie.ac. at

1Institut fr Palontologie, Universitt Wien, Althahnstr. 14, A-1090 Wien, Austria2Dept. Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geocincies Ma-rines, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Mart i Franqus, s/n 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Teratologies and extremely aberrant forms of Larger Ben-thic Foraminifera, observed in loose sediments or in thin sections, have been documented ever since the begin-ning of the studies of Foraminifera. Growth deviations, multispiral growth, conjoined tests, and double (or triple) contemporary equatorial layers are rare evidences but known facts. Although these deviations from the bauplan are known since the 19th century, very few studies have been undertaken to better understand the occurrence of such bizarre geometries. One problem lies in the broad use of thin sections in the investigation of Foraminifera, which can only lead to a partial understanding of the phenomenon because these bauplan modifications are either missed, found by chance or misunderstood due to the fact that only one random - possibly very mislead-ing - cross section of the structure is visible. The second problem with thin sections is the destruction of some-times rare specimens precluding further investigation.

It is only very recently that new technologies such as the -CT and modern 3D-image processing software allow the detailed study of these phenomena. In the search for causes and consequences of these peculiar morphologies, the first important step is to characterize them and to find links connecting the deviations to bio-logical and/or ecological factors. While according to recent research the phenomenon of multispiral growth in nummulitids is assumed to be linked to the incom-patibility between the Archimedean geometry of the test and the exponential growth of the protoplasm, very little speculations have arisen so far concerning the underly-ing causes of conjoined twins in nummulitids.

Conjoined tests have been observed in Recent as well as in fossil Foraminifera, both in smaller benthic genera, such as Ammonia and larger benthic forms such as Num-mulites. These so-called conjoined tests are individuals that seem to have a normal individual development un-til a rather advanced stage in their ontogeny when they

fuse their tests. Several conjoined tests of Nummulites have been scanned so far, joined at different ontogenetic stages, (e.g. chamber 33 to chamber 52). After the fu-sion of their tests, they form new chambers from a com-mon outer lamellae sharing the marginal chord. None of these conjoined individuals seems to be affected in the continuation of their ontogenetic growth.

S5 Multispiral growth in nummulitids: a three-dimensional approach

Wolfgring E.1*, J. Wger1, A. Briguglio1, C. Ferrndez Caadell2 & J. Hohenegger1

*E-mail: erik.wolfgring@univie.ac.at

1Institut fr Palontologie, Universitt Wien, Althanstr. 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria2Dept. Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geocincies Ma-rines, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Mart i Franqus, s/n 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Like most Larger Benthic Foraminifera, nummulitids fol-low very strict morphogenetic rules. Multispiral growth is a common phenomenon among larger species of Nummulites. This work tries to quantify this growing strategy, its occur-rence in this group and its consequences in the test architec-ture and how it influences the palaeobiology of the cell.

The use of micro CT scans permits the measurement of any morphological detail, allows the quantification of the lumina of chambers and chamberlets, and may provide an exact tridimensional model of the specimen including all details often missed by thin sections.

These models might shed light on the cell ontogeny in multispiral coiled nummulitids. Observing chamber volume sequences, it seems that even taking alar prolongations into account, chambers arranged in a single Archimedean spi-ral cannot provide the cell with the exponential increase in accommodation space which is commonly found in larger forams. In Archimedean spirals the increase of chamber vol-ume is defined by a linear function. The alar prolongations add progressively to the chamber's volume but the increase is also linear. Therefore, the addition of a secondary spiral is the logical consequence of increasing the accommodation space without changing the bauplan morphology.

Cyclic and abrupt variations along the chamber vol-ume sequence have been found in several specimens. Cyclic variation can be linked to the environmental in-fluence affecting the cell during its growth and can help to understand the lifetime of the cell, whereas abrupt changes, such as a sudden increase in chamber dimen-sions, are probably related to internal factors.

This study, which matches the longevity of such pro-tists with the quantitative approach here proposed, might be the only way to tackle the ontogeny of such giant cells. Furthermore, the investigation of cyclic variations within

203Abstracts

such large tests provides a record of Eocene environmen-tal changes over a several years.

S8 Fluorescent shell colour patterns in bivalves from the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk

Wolkenstein K.

E-mail: klaus.wolkenstein@geo.uni-goettingen.de

Geoscience Centre, University of Gttingen, Gold-schmidtstr.3, 37077 Gttingen, Germany

UV-light-induced fluorescence has been widely used to reveal or to enhance residual shell colour patterns of Neogene and Paleogene molluscs. However, very few examples of fluorescent colour patterns are known from Mesozoic marine shells. Here, the widespread occur-rence of fluorescence in colour patterns of the pectinid Pleuronectites laevigatus and other bivalves from the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk of Germany is reported.

The scallop P. laevigatus represents one of the most common fossils of the Upper Muschelkalk. This species is well known for the preservation of colour patterns, which in general consist of radial brownish colour bands and less common zigzag patterns. By using UV-light, obscure or weak colour patterns can be revealed, illustrating that colour patterns are more abundant and much more diverse in P. laevigatus than previously known. In addition to patterns com-posed of radial lines and bands, numerous variations of zigzag and chevron patterns, as well as uniform colouration can be found. The diversity of colour pat-terns in P. laevigatus is similar throughout the Up-per Muschelkalk, and shows no biogeographic bias within the Germanic Basin.

A remarkable feature of the colour patterns of P. laevi-gatus is the presence of different fluorescence colours. UV-light-induced colours range from yellow through orange to red with examples of almost all transition colours. Some specimens show no fluorescence at all. Because fluorescence properties, in contrast to colour pattern diversity, correlate with specific geographic areas, and present-day pectinids show no fluorescence of colour patterns, the fluorescence of P. laevigatus is interpreted as a diagenetic feature.

Fluorescent colour patterns could also be detected in the epifaunal bivalves Entolium discites, Leptochondria alberti and Placunopsis ostracina.

The results demonstrate that fossil invertebrates contain valuable information beyond morphology. In addition to the investigated specimens from the Muschelkalk, fluorescent colour patterns may be ob-served in other Mesozoic or even Palaeozoic marine shells and may provide information on the diversity of species and on the diagenetic history of fossils.

S3 Widespread occurrence of boron-containing organic pigments in the Jurassic red alga Solenopora

Wolkenstein K.

E-mail: klaus.wolkenstein@geo.uni-goettingen.de

Geoscience Centre, University of Gttingen, Gold-schmidtstr. 3, 37077 Gttingen, Germany

Recently, an exceptional group of boron-containing or-ganic pigments has been discovered in pink coloured specimens of the Jurassic calcareous red alga Solenopora jurassica. By modern analytical chemistry the fossil pig-ments, named borolithochromes, have been characterized as boric acid esters with two phenolic moieties. The pig-ments are highly unusual because of the presence of the element boron, which is rarely found in natural products and has been never found in fossil organic compounds. The borolithochromes represent the first specific pig-ments from a fossil red alga, however, no analogy with present-day red algal pigments or other known biomol-ecules of living organisms was found.

Pink colouration of Solenopora specimens has been re-ported from a number of localities in Europe. In order to determine the wider occurrence of the borolithochromes, organic extracts of a set of distinctly pink to reddish col-oured specimens representing different localities, strati-graphic horizons and species were analysed by high-per-formance liquid chromatographymass spectrometry.

Preliminary results indicate that the borolithochromes are common pigments of Solenopora specimens from the Jurassic of Europe. The characteristic pigments were detected in specimens from localities in France, Great Britain, Swit-zerland, Poland and Spain from Bathonian to Kimmeridgian strata. In addition to S. jurassica, the borolithochromes could be determined in S. helvetica and S. condensata.

S1 Towards adaptable, interactive and quantitative paleogeographic maps

Wright N.1*, S. Zahirovic1, R. D. Mller1 & M. Seton1

*E-mail: nwri5277@uni.sydney.edu.au

1EarthByte Group, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

A variety of paleogeographic atlases have been con-structed, with applications from paleoclimate, ocean cir-culation and faunal radiation models to resource explo-ration; yet their uncertainties remain difficult to assess, as they are generally presented as low-resolution static maps. We present a methodology for ground-truthing paleogeographic maps, by linking the GPlates plate re-construction tool to the global Paleobiology Database

TERRA NOSTRASchriften der GeoUnion Alfred-Wegener-Stiftung 2012/3

Centenary Meeting of the Palontologische

GesellschaftProgramme, Abstracts, and Field Guides

24.09. 29.09.2012Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin

Edited by Florian Witzmann & Martin Aberhan

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