Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia volume 109 no.2 PP. l-rr June 2003 FORE\TORD DEMIR ALTINER Guest Editor One of the most spectacular groups in the fossil record is the Class Foraminifera, which first drew the at- tention of scientists in the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. The evolution of this magnificient group, wideiy used in stratigraphical, paleogeographical and depositional environment interpretations, occurred basically in three steps in the Phanerozoic Eon. The Paleozoic Era is the first major interval during which Foraminifera flourished and expanded across the wide continental shelves as the sea transgressed toward the continental interiors. A recent meeting, 'International Conference on Paleozoic Benthic Foraminifera, PaleoForams 2OO1', was a gathering of Paleozoic foraminiferal specialists held in August, 2001 in Ankara, Turkey. The specialists who at- tended this meeting discussed current inrerprerarions, ideas and data on Paleozoic Foraminifera. Diverse roo- ics focused mainly on raxonomy, biostratigraphy, phyl- ogeny, paleoecology, interpretation of depositional envi- ronments, sequence stratigraphy involving foraminiferal studies, and paleo geography. This special issue of the Rivista Italiana di Paleon- tologia e Stratigrafia consisrs of 14 papers presented at the PaleoForams 2001 meeting. The papers are grouped into two categories. The latest Devonian-Carboniferous papers are mainly based on data from Asia (Kazakhstan, lJz- bekistan), European Russia (Urals and Russian Platform), Turkey, Central Europe, \(estern Europe (Ireiand, Spain) and South America (Brazil). Brenckle Er Milkina presenr a time-stratigraphic framework based on Foraminif erafor the Late Devonian (Famennian) through Middle Penn- sylvanian (Bashkirian) carbonates of the Tengiz platform, Kazakhstan. Twelve foraminiferal assemblages that they discovered are expressed in terms of Russian horizons containing several quasiendothyrid, endothyrid, tour- nayellid, eostaffellid, archaediscid, bradyinid, lasiodiscid, biseriamminid, ozawaineliid and fusulinid foraminifera as- sociated with algae. Based on breaks in the foraminiferal record, they recognize three major depositional hiatuses in the platform corresponding to the Kosvinsky Horizon (Late Tournasian), Mississipian-Pennsylvanian boundary and Bashkirian (cessation of platform deposition). Ac- cording to the authors, the platform growth occurred ba- sically in trÀ/o major intervals of time: from the Tourna- sian to the late Visean, and in the Bashkirian. Gallagher & Somerville correlate several upper Visean successions in southern Ireland using high resolution foraminiferal/ algal bios trat igraphy and detailed lithos trati graphic analy- sis. They recognize two strarigraphic intervals, rhe lower Asbian characterized by platform mudbank and intrabank facies deposited on a rimmed ramp, and the upper Asbian to Brigantian consisting of well bedded carbonates depos- ited on a shallow, unrimmed platform showing prograda- tion through a series of shallowing-upward minor cycles. These cycles are meter-scale and capped by paleokarst sur- faces and paleosols. Three distinctive foraminiferal bio- facies recognizedin the cycles occur in the lower trans- gressive phase, in the middle deepest transgressive phase corresponding to deep subtidal paleoenvironmenrs, and in the shallow water deposits appearing rou'ard the top of cycles. Kulagina et al. describe the zonal subdivisions of the Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian, Visean, Serpukho- vian) in Russia and correlate their revised foraminiferal scale to conodont zones and equivalent zones in \festern Europe and North America. The Lower Carbonifeorus subdivisions are based on the evolution ofvarious groups of Foraminifera including Tournayellidae, Loeblichiidae, Endothyridae, Pseudoendothyridae, Endothyranopsidae, Archaediscidae, Eostaffellidae, Janischewskinidae, Bradyi- nidae and Howchiniidae. One new conodont species is de- scribed, C lydagratbus burli en sis. Orlov-Labkoìsky, based on the data obtained from measured secrions from the Middle Tien-Shan basin (Uzbekistan), studies the species similarity in five Serpukhovian and two Lower Bashkirian zones characterized by different facies. The diversity and number of species of the foraminifers attarn a maximum during Early Bashkirian times. Altiner et al., based on the material obtained from the Amazonas and Solimóes basins (Brazil), demonstrate rhar Hemigord.iws harltoni is a polytypic species with several morphorypes. These Department of Geological Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara - Turkey D. Abiner morphotypes are grouped into two main assemblages, and dominant morphotypes are represented by narrow- ly discoidal to discoidal forms. Lenticular to subglobu- lar morphotypes are rare, sporadic and atypical and con- sidered unsuccessful generations which could not breeil. They state that if one introduces a species in a typological sense, and such a taxon belongs to an atypical and unsuc- cessful generation, the recognition of the taxon becomes highly subjective and useless. Most of the Carboniferous and Permian hemigordiopsid taxa are poorly described, and type definitions are based on few specimens. Con- sidering morphologic variations and the polytypic na- ture of H. harhoni, the authors question the validity of most of these species. Kulagina & Sinitsyna discuss the origin and evolution of the family Pseudostaffellidae on the basis of the fauna from the stratotype and reference sections of the Bashkirian Stage of the southern lJrals (Russia). They distinguish two lineages in the Bashkri- an, Ple cto staffella- S em istffi lla- Ps ewdo stffi lla and P le cto - staffella-Variostaffella, n. gen. The Syuranian Substage is marked by the ^ppearance of Semistffilla, whereas the base of Akavassian is defined by the appearances of Vari- ostaffella and Pseudostaffella. The lower boundary of the Askybashian Substage is defined by the appearance of P praegorskyi and Stffillaeformis.The base of the Arkhan- gelskian is marked by the first appearance of P gorskyi. Baranova & Kabanov describe the facies distribution of fusulinoid genera from an Upper Moscovian (Myachko- vian) cyclic shallow marine carbonate succession of the southern Moscow region (Russia). Three main paleoenvi- ronmental assemblages of fusulinoids are distinguished in a gentle ramp setting of a vast epiric sea. Biofacies 1 con- tains the most tolerant genera, Fwsiella and Schwbertella, that lived in restricted peritidal conditions. The highest diversity of fusulinoids occurs in normal shallow marine settings where Fuswlinella, Fwsulina and Schwbertella are most abundant. Biofacies 3, recognized in distal tempes- tites and skeletal mudstones, represents the deepest de- positonai environment and is charaterizedby the domi- nance of Hemifwsulina bocbi assocìated with less com- mon other fusulinoids. The authors indicate that some of infrequent fusulinoids may be allochthonous, and the original diversity might have been even lower. Villa et al. report that the youngest fusulinacean faunas of the Cantabrian Zone (NW Spain) are recorded in the Puen- tellés Formation, which is subdivided into two members. The lower member is late Kasimovian in age and contains Ferganites which sometimes occur wrth Scbwbertella and Stffilk. The upper member of early Gzhelian age con- tains Raws erite s, Twm efactws, J igulites, Quasfus wlina, as well as certain Ferganites species. According to the au- thors, the composition of fusulinaceans shows the bioge- ographic affinity of the CantabrianZone with the Carnic Alps and Central Asian regions, but not with the Russian Platform and the Donets Basin, suggesting that these ar- eas were not well connected with the Paleo-Tethys. The abundance o{ Tumefactws species provides information for reconstructing the geometry and understanding the function of phrenothecal wall structure. The absence of Triticites in the Cantabrian Zone and most Eurasian ar- eas suggests that American and Eurasian Triticites may not have derived from a common ancestor. Kalvoda dis- tinguishes four foraminiferal paleobiogeographic realms in the Carbonifeorus. Based on foraminiferal faunas, he states that both the Istanbul and Anatolide-Tauride zones distinctly differ from Cimmerian terranes and the Per- igondwana domain and show close affinity to the North Paleotethyan Realm. According to the modei that he presents, the Anatolide-Tauride Zone was either a part or located close to Laurasia whereas the Istanbul Zone represented an equivalent of the Rhenohercynian Zone of the Central Europe. He further suggests that the Ana- tolide-Tauride Zone may have been separated from the Eurasian mainland by the Karakaya back-arc ocean. AI- though the conclusions of this paper seem to be original both referees and the editor of the journal do not share the author's view and the author alone is responsible for the views proposed in this paper. The Permian papers in this special issue deal with data coming from Tethys in general, including lran, Tur- key, Greece and United States. Leven explains that the diversity curve of Permian fusulinacean genera shows two peaks corresponding to the Asselian-Sakmarian and Midian times. He recognizès two subsystems on the ba- sis of significant genus-group appearance and extinction events: the Cisuralian, corresponding to Asselian-Bolo- rian; and Tethysian, comprising Kubergandian-Dorasha- mian. Moreover, he proposes four series, Uralian, Darva- sian, Yanghsingian and Lopingian, which correspond to the Asselian-Sakmarian, Yakhtashian-Bolorian, Kubergan- dian-Midian, and Dzulfian-Dorashamian stages, respec- tively. These subdivisions are related to extensive trans- gressive and regressive events in the Tethys that control- led the distribution of marine biota. Leven's scheme dif- fers from the recently adopted Standard Global Chron- ostratigraphic Scale. Ross & Ross analyse the fusulinid sequence evolution and sequence extinction in the Per- mian Wolfcampian and Leonardian Series of West Texas in the United States. The Nealian and Lenoxian stages of the Wolfcampian, and the Hessian and Cathedralian stages of the Leonardian consist of several third-order and fourth-order depositional sequences with different fusulinid species diversity and abundance. Although manr- provincial faunal differences exist between the late Pale- ozoic Tethyan belts of Asia @arvas, Pamirs) and Vesr Texas, a few distinct genera and similar species seem to be common to both and suggest that correlation with the Tethys Lower Permian is possible. This correlation places the Nealian as equivalent to the Asselian and Sakmarian. The Lenoxian is probably equivalent to the lower and middle parts of the Yakhtashian. 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