Pachytraga carpathica sp. nov. (Hippuritida, Caprinidae) from the Barremian of the Carpatho-Balkanic region, Romania. Evolutionary and biogeographic implications for the genus Pachytraga Paquier

Untitled

“…Our work shows that the Lower Cretaceous genus Matheronia which has been ignored (Masse et al,1999) or misinterpreted (Masse et al, 2023), i.e. erroneously regarded as Requienia, is actually well represented in Romania.…”

“…The presence in Romania of four species distinct from their three subcontemporaneous West European counterparts show that the two faunal assemblages belong to two distinct paleobiogeographical entities i.e. the West European and Carpatho-Cimmerian rudist bioprovinces defined earlier (see Masse et al, 2023), hence the specificity of the two bioprovinces is enhanced. But the pre-Barremian evolutionary history of the genus in Eastern Europe remains unknown and the timing of its last occurrence as well.…”

“…The morphology of the type specimen (housed in the Musée de Marseille) and the configuration of the radial bands, are close to Requienia ammonia and was interpreted as a juvenile of the species in question (Masse, 1976). Therefore, specimens of Matheronia affinis from Bulgaria and the Ukrainian Carpathes are hardly acceptable (Masse et al, 2023). The second example deals with the taxonomic revision of some Matheronia from the Ukrainian Carpathes and Bulgaria, subsequently assigned to the genus Lovetchenia (see Masse, 1993).…”

“…2a) includes the Valea Nerei Limestone Member, which consists of bioclastic limestone, sometimes with corals, chaetetids and rudists, i.e. Pachytraga carpathica Masse et al (Masse et al, 2023) and Matheronia dacica sp. nov.…”

“…Moreover, the genus Lovetchenia was proposed by Masse (1993) to accommodate the former "Matheronia" Urgonian species described by Paquier (1903), Atanassova Deltcheva (1978 and Yanin and Tchernov (1979) from the sub-alpine region of SE France, Bulgaria, and the Ukrainian Carpathes, respectively. The objectives of the present paper deal with the description of a set of new species of Matheronia, a genus poorly known hitherto in the Balkans, partly misinterpreted, or ignored by many palaeontologists, including a recent publication of Masse et al (2023). This investigation aims at revising former publications (e.g.…”