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First Mesozoic record of the scleractinian Madrepora from the Maastrichtian siliceous limestones of Poland

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Abstract

The objective of the present article is to document the first stratigraphic occurrence of the colonial oculinid Madrepora, known from the modern seas as an azooxanthellate taxon that contributes to the formation of deep-water coral reefs. The Upper Cretaceous specimens of Madrepora sp. reported herein from Poland were recovered from Upper Maastrichtian (Nasiłów and Bochotnica localities) and Lower Maastrichtian (Bliżów locality) siliceous limestones. The corals are preserved as imprints of the branch fragments and molds of the calices. Despite their moldic preservation, the coral remains exhibit key generic features of the genus Madrepora; including (1) sympodial colony growth form with calices arranged in opposite and alternating rows in one plane of the branch, and (2) imprints of the granular coenosteum texture, occasionally showing peculiar reticulate patterns. Some features of the Cretaceous Madrepora sp., such as the reticulate coenosteum texture, the range of the corallite diameter (2.8–4 mm), and the arrangement of the septa in three regular cycles resemble the skeletal features of the modern, typically constructional, species M. oculata (type species). The lack of any evidence of coral buildups and related debris in the whole Upper Cretaceous/Paleogene sequences from Poland and the sparse occurrence of colony fragments, suggests that the Cretaceous Madrepora sp. formed small, isolated colonies.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Krzysztof Dembicz (Faculty of Geology, Warsaw University) and Marcin Machalski (Institute of Paleobiology, Warsaw) for making available coral material from Nasiłów and Bliżów quarries, respectively, and for discussion during preparation of the manuscript. Ewa Roniewicz (Institute of Paleobiology, Warsaw) and André Freiwald (Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Erlangen) and Antonietta Rosso (Geology Department, Catania) provided useful comments on the manuscript. Michaela Bernecker (Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Erlangen) and Marco Taviani (Istituto di Scienze Marine, CNR Bologna) reviewed the manuscript and provided many helpful suggestions for its improvement. This research has been financially supported by the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences and the EURODOM (European Deep Ocean Margins) project HPRN-CT-2002-00212, to JS and AV, respectively.

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  1. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warszawa, Poland

    Jarosław Stolarski

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, University of Catania, Corso Italia 55, 95129, Catania, Italy

    Agostina Vertino

  3. Institut fuer Palaeontologie, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Agostina Vertino

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  1. Jarosław Stolarski
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Correspondence to Jarosław Stolarski.

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Stolarski, J., Vertino, A. First Mesozoic record of the scleractinian Madrepora from the Maastrichtian siliceous limestones of Poland. Facies 53, 67–78 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-006-0089-6

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