Bees (Anthophila) are one of the major groups of angiosperm-pollinating insects and accordingly are widely studied in both basic and applied research, for which it is essential to have a clear understanding of their phylogeny, and evolutionary history. Direct evidence of bee evolutionary history has been hindered by a dearth of available fossils needed to determine the timing and tempo of their...

The Earth already experienced numerous episodes of global warming and cooling. One of the latest impressive events of temperature rising was the Late Oligocene Warming that occurred around 25 Mya. An increase of the marine temperature of 2 to 4°C has been observed in a short time interval. In Europe, this major climatic event can be correlated to the continental faunal turnover "Microbunodon Ev...

Along the Isthmus of Panama 23 paleomagnetic sites were sampled in order to determine preliminary block rotations and paleolatitudinal movements. The lithology selected for this research corresponds to volcanic and sedimentary rocks with ages ranging from Upper Cretaceous to Pleistocene. Counterclockwise vertical axis rotations were uncovered in Paleocene and Oligocene units separated by a sini...

We use multichannel seismic reflection profiles to determine the seismic stratigraphy of the flexural moat that flanks the Canary Islands. The moat stratigraphy has been divided into 5 units on the basis of internal character and correlation of distinctive reflections. The deepest units, I and II, which well-ties indicate are Eocene and older, thicken towards the east suggesting they are the co...

Fifty-seven samples taken from ten piston cores collected along a transect off the continental margin of the Northern Basin, Ross Sea, Antarctica were analyzed for palynomorphs. Moderately diverse assemblages of marine microplankton and terrestrial palynomorphs were recovered. The palynomorph assemblages have been subdivided into two main groups: the in-situ flora (including acritarchs, dinofla...

The Diomedeoididae are an extinct group of the Procellariiformes (tubenoses), which appears to have been widespread in the epicontinental seas covering parts of Europe in the Oligocene. A fair number of skeletons and isolated bones of these birds are known from Oligocene and early Miocene sediments of Central Europe (Cheneval 1995; Mayr et al. 2002; Fischer 2003). A record from early Oligocene ...

Rapid global cooling at the Eocene - Oligocene Transition (EOT), ~33.9-33.5 Ma, is widely considered to mark the onset of the modern icehouse world. A large and rapid drop in atmospheric pCO2 has been proposed as the driving force behind extinctions in the marine realm and glaciation on Antarctica. However, the global terrestrial response to this cooling is uncertain. Here we present the first ...

Oceanic dispersal has emerged as an important factor contributing to biogeographic patterns in numerous taxa. Chameleons are a clear example of this, as they are primarily found in Africa and Madagascar, but the age of the family is post-Gondwanan break-up. A Malagasy origin for the family has been suggested, yet this hypothesis has not been tested using modern biogeographic methods with a date...

A new fossil leaf impression of Alphonsea Hk. f. & T. of the family Annonaceae is described from the Late Oligocene sediments of Makum Coalfield, Assam, India. This is the first authentic record of the fossil of Alphonsea from the Tertiary rocks of South Asia. The Late Oligocene was the time of the last significant globally warm climate and the fossil locality was at 10°-15°N palaeolatitude. Th...

Toothed mysticetes of the family Aetiocetidae from Oligocene rocks of the North Pacific play a key role in interpretations of cetacean evolution because they are transitional in grade between dorudontine archaeocetes and edentulous mysticetes. The holotype skull of Aetiocetus weltoni from the late Oligocene (28–24 Ma) of Oregon, USA, has been further prepared, revealing additional morphological...