Palynological and paleobotanical investigation of bonebeds and other strata of the Csehbánya Formation from the vertebrate locality at Iharkút (Bakony Mts, Hungary) reveals well-preserved Santonian palynological assemblages dominated by the Normapolles group, with a minor component consisting of other angiosperm pollen, some gymnosperm pollen, and spores. Eleven species of Normapolles-type pollen grains belonging to seven genera and fruit remains of a new taxon, Sphaeracostata barbackae gen. et sp. nov., are described. The new species is very abundant in the material, represented by ca. 1000 specimens. The genus Caryanthus Friis and an unnamed form previously reported from Haţeg by Lindfors et al. (2010) are also present.
Plants producing Normapolles-type pollen grains diversified during the Late Cretaceous, with a bloom in the Santonian. The palynostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous terrestrial sediments in the studied region is based on Normapolles-related species. The studied assemblage is assigned to the Oculopollis zaklinskaiae-Tetracolporopollenites (Brecolpites) globosus Zone (or Zone C) indicating a late Santonian age. Comparison of the Iharkút palynoflora with other known Upper Cretaceous palynofloras of Central Europe shows diachronous occurrence of Normapolles taxa at different geographic localities and warrants further investigation.
The ecological requirements of the amphibian fauna reflect azonal conditions controlled by the availability of water, which is in agreement with the inferred ecological conditions based on the paleobotanical investigations. The fauna is of entirely non-marine character, further supported by isotope studies, in line with our data showing that the palynological samples contain no marine forms.
D Andrusov P Snopková 1976 Trouvaille d'une palynoflore Sénonienne dans le Membre A Conglomérats Rouges de Dobšinska Jadová Jaskyna (Slovaquie Centrale) Geologica Carpathica 27 231 245.
DJ Batten 1981 Stratigraphic, palaeogeographic and evolutionary significance of Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary Normapolles pollen Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 35 125 137.
DJ Batten 1982 Note on the European-Turonian part of the Normapolles province Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 36 379 380.
DJ Batten RA Christopher 1981 Key to the recognition of Normapolles and some morphologically similar pollen genera Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 35 359 383.
ER Bodor V Baranyi Z Hermanová 2012 The earliest Sabiaceae fruit remains of Hungary Hantkeniana 7 11 18.
I Bodrogi A Fogarasi EA Yazikova O Sztanó M Báldi-Beke 1998 Upper Cretaceous of the Bakony Mts. (Hungary): sedimentology, biostratigraphy, correlation Zbl. Geol. Paläont. Teil I 11 12 1179 1194.
M Böhme A Ilg A Ossig H Küchenhoff 2006 A new method to estimate paleoprecipitation using fossil amphibians and reptiles and the Middle and Late Miocene precipitation gradients in Europe Geology 34 425 428.
PR Crane PS Herendeen 1996 Cretaceous floras containing angiosperm flowers and fruits from eastern North America Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 90 319 337.
Crane, P.R., J.A. Doyle, M.J. Donoghue, E.M. Friis 1989: Angiosperm origins. — Nature, 342, 131 p.
L Csontos A Vörös 2004 Mesozoic plate tectonic reconstruction of the Carpathian region Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 210 1 56.
Dyke, G. A., Ősi Late Cretaceous birds from Hungary: implications for avian biogeography at the close of the Mesozoic. — Geological Journal. (In press.).
EM Friis 1983 Upper Cretaceous (Senonian) floral structures of Juglandalean affinity containing Normapolles pollen Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 39 161 188.
EM Friis 1984 Preliminary report of Upper Cretaceous angiosperm reproductive organs from Sweden and their level of organization Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 71 403 418.
EM Friis K Raunsgaard Pedersen PR Crane 1999 Early Angiosperm diversification: the diversity of pollen associated with Angiosperm reproductive structures in Early Cretaceous floras from Portugal Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 86 259 296.
EM Friis K Raunsgaard Pedersen J Schönenberger 2003 Endressianthus, a new Normapolles-producing plant genus of Fagalean affinity from the Late Cretaceous of Portugal Int. J. Plant Sci. 164 201 223.
EM Friis K Raunsgaard Pedersen J Schönenberger 2006 Normapolles plants: a prominent component of the Cretaceous rosid diversification Plant Systematics and Evolution 260 107 140.
F Góczán 1963 Outlines of the Upper Cretaceous floral evolution in the Bakony Mts. A M. Áll. Földtani Intézet Évi Jelentése Az 1963. Évrol 85 93.
F Góczán 1964 Stratigraphic palynology of the Hungarian Upper Cretaceous Acta Geologica Hungarica 8 229 264.
F Góczán Siegl-Farkas 1990 Palynostratigraphical zonation of Senonian sediments in Hungary Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 66 361 377.
F Góczán JJ Groot W Krutzsch B Pacltová 1967 Die Gattungen des “Stemma Normapolles Pflug 1953b” (Angiospermae) Neubeschreibung und Revision europäischer Formen (Oberkreide bis Eozän) Paläontologische Abhandlungen Abteilung B II 3 427 633.
L Hradecká H Lobitzer F Ottner RF Sachsenhofer Siegl-Farkas L Švábenická I Zorn 1999 Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment of the marly transgression of Weißenbachalm Lower Gosau-Subgroup (Upper Turonian-Lower Santonian Grabenbach-Formation, Northern Calcareous Alps, Styria) Abhandlungen der Geologischen Bundesanstalt 56 2 475 517.
E Jocha-Edelényi 1988 History of evolution of the Upper Cretaceous Basin in the Bakony Mts. at the time of formation of the terrestrial Csehbánya Formation Acta Geologica Hungarica 31 1–2 19 31.
E Jocha-Edelényi 1997 Csehbánya Formation G Császár Basic litostratigraphic units of Hungary. Charts and short descriptions The Geological Institute of Hungary Budapest.
S Juggins 2007 C2 Version 1.5 User guide. Software for ecological and palaeoecological data analysis and visualisation Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
H Karsten 1891 Abbildungen zur Deutschen flora Friedlander und Sohn. Berlin.
M Kedves F Diniz 1983 Les Normapolles du Crétacé Supérieur en Europe: implication paléobiogéographiques Geobios 16 329 345.
E Knobloch 1964 Neue Pflanzenfunde aus dem südböhmischen Senon Jahrbuch des Staatlichen Museums für Mineralogie und Geologie zu Dresden 133 201.
E Knobloch 1977 Paläokarpologische Charakteristik der Flyschzone der mährischen Karpaten Palaeontologie 19 79 135.
E Knobloch 1985 Paläobotanisch-biostratigraphische Charakteristik der Klikov-Schichtenfolge (Oberturon — Santon) in Südböhmen Sborník Geologických Vyd, Geologie 40 101 145.
E Knobloch DH Mai 1983 Carbonized seeds and fruits from the Cretaceous of Bohemia and Moravia and their stratigraphical significance Knihovnicka Zemný'ho Plynu a Nafty 4 305 332.
E Knobloch DH Mai 1984 Neue Gattungen nach Früchten und Samen aus dem Cenoman bis Maastricht (Kreide) von Mitteleuropa Feddes Repertorium 95 3 41.
E Knobloch DH Mai 1986 Monographie der Früchte und Samen in der Kreide von Mitteleuropa Vydal Ústøední ústav geologicky v Academii, nakladatelství Ceskoslovenské akademie vyd Praha.
L Kocsis A Ősi T Vennemann CN Trueman MR Palmer 2009 Geochemical study of vertebrate fossils from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation (Hungary): Evidence for a freshwater habitat of mosasaurs and pycnodont fish Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 280 532 542.
W Krutsch 1959 Einige neue Formgattungen und —arten von Sporen und Pollen aus der mitteleuropäischen Oberkreide und dem Tertiär Palaeontographica Abteilung B 105 125 157.
M Lantos M Wagreich Siegl-Farkas E Bodnár G Császár 1996 Integrated stratigraphic correlation of the Upper Cretaceous sequences in the borehole Bakonyjákó 528 ADVANCES in Austrian-Hungarian Joint Geological Research, Budapest 97 117.
SM Lindfors Z Csiki D Grigorescu EM Friis 2010 Preliminary account on plant mesofossils from the Maastrichtian Budurone microvertebrate site of Haţeg Basin, Romania Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 293 353 359.
L Makádi 2006 Bicuspidon aff. hatzegiensis (Squamata: Scincomorpha: Teiidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation (Hungary, Bakony Mts) Acta Geologica Hungarica 49 373 385.
L Makádi G Botfalvai A Ősi 2006 Késő-kréta kontinentális gerinces fauna a Bakonyből I: halak, kétéltűek, teknősök, gyíkok Földtani közlöny 136 1 25 (The Late Cretaceous continental vertebrate fauna from the Bakony Mountains I: fishes, amphibians, turtles, squamates).
L Makádi MW Caldwell A Ősi 2012 The First Freshwater Mesosaurid (Upper Cretaceous, Hungary) and a New Clade of Basal Mosasauroids PLoS ONE 7 1 16.
J Médus 1972 Palynological zonation of the Upper Cretaceous in Southern France and Northeastern Spain Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 14 287 295.
AP Mogoş 1992 Palynology of an Upper Cretaceous section in the Borod Basin (north-west Romania) Cretaceous Research 13 325 330.
A Ősi 2005 Hungarosaurus tormai, a new ankylosaur (Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Hungary Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 370 383.
A Ősi 2008 Enantiornithine bird remains from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary Oryctos 7 55 60.
A Ősi A Mindszenty 2009 Iharkút, Dinosaur-bearing alluvial complex of the Csehbánya Formation Cretaceous sediments of the Transdanubian Central Range, Field guide of the geological excursion organized by the Sedimentological Subcommission of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Geological Society, 14–16 May 2009 51 62.
A Ősi M Rabi 2006 Egy késő-kréta kontinentális gerinces fauna a Bakonyból: krokodilok, dinoszauruszok, pteroszauruszok és madarak Földtani Közlöny 136 503 526 (The Late Cretaceous continental vertebrate fauna from the Bakony Mountains II: crocodiles, dinosaurs (Theropoda, Aves, Ornithischia), pterosaurs).
A Ősi DB Weishampel CM Jianu 2005 An azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary Acta Paleontologica Polonica 50 4 777 787.
A Ősi JM Clark DB Weishampel 2007 First report on a new basal eusuchian crocodyliform with multi-cusped teeth from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paleontologie 243 2 169 177.
A Ősi RJ Butler DB Weishampel 2010 A Late Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaur from Europe with Asian affinities Nature 465 466 468.
A Ősi L Makádi M Rabi Z Szentesi G Botfalvai P Gulyás 2012 The Late Cretaceous continental vertebrate fauna from Iharkút, western Hungary: a review. Tribute to Charles Darwin and Bernissart Iguanodons J Farlow New perspectives on Vertebrate Evolution and Early Cretaceous Ecosystems, Life of the Past.
B Pacltová 1977 Cretaceous Angiosperms of Bohemia — Central Europe The Botanical Review 43 1 128 141.
B Pacltová 1981 The evolution and distribution of Normapolles pollen during the Cenophytic Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 35 175 208.
P Pavlishina 1999 Palynology of three Santonian-Campanian sections in Northern Bulgaria Geologica Carpathica 50 2 199 202.
P Pavlishina R Verreussel H Leerveld H Summesberger M Wagreich 2004 Palynological study of Gosau group deposits (Upper Cretaceous) of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria) Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 106 67 90.
X Pereda-Suberbiola 2009 Biogeographical affinities of Late Cretaceous continental tetrapods of Europe: a review Bulletin of Geological Society of France 180 57 71.
J Podani 2001 Syntax 2000. Computer program for data analysis in ecology and systematics. User's manual Scientia Publishing Budapest.
LA Portniagina 1971 Stratigraphy and palynology of the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Flysch of the Skale Zone of the Carpathians Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 11 55 64.
M Rabi H Tong G Botfalvai 2011 A new species of the side-necked turtle Foxemys (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary and the historical biogeography of the Bothremydini Geological Magazine 149 662 674.
L Rákosi 1991 Paleokarpológiai vizsgálatok a Magyarországi Krétából és Harmadkorból Discussiones Palaeontologicae 36–37 127 133 (Paleocarpological studies of the hungarian Cretaceous and Tertiary).
L Rákosi M Barbacka 1999 Upper Cretaceous flora from Ajka (W Hungary). I. Thallophyta Studia Botanica Hungarica 30–31 27 55.
WPh Schimper 1874 Traité de paléontologie végétale. III J.B. Baillière et fils Paris.
J Schönenberger EM Friis ML Matthews PK Endress 2001 Cunoniaceae in the Cretaceous of Europe: evidence from fossil flowers Annals of Botany 88 423 437.
Siegl-Farkas 1985 Palynostratigraphy of the Senonian in the Zalagyömrő-Gyepűkaján area W Hungary MÁFI Évi Jelentése az 1983 213 218.
Siegl-Farkas 1986 Palynostratigraphy of the Senonian from borehole Bácsalmás-1 (S Great Hungarian plain) MÁFI Évi Jelentése az 1984 425 460.
Siegl-Farkas 1987 Palynozones in the Senonian of borehole Zalaszentlászló Zl. 1 and Zl. 3 MÁFI Évi Jelentése az 1985 433 448.
Siegl-Farkas 1988 Palynostratigraphy and evolution history of the Ajka Coal Formation, W Hungary MÁFI Évi Jelentése az 1986 179 210.
Siegl-Farkas 1991 Bauxite deposits and Senonian formations in Hungary (Palynological analysis) Acta Geologica Hungarica 34 4 345 350.
Siegl-Farkas 1993 Palynostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous in Hungary Cretaceous Research 14 663 668.
Siegl-Farkas 1994 Palynologische Untersuchungen an ausgewählten Vorkommen der Gosauschichten Österreichs H Lobitzer G Császár A Daurer Jubiläumsschrift 20 Jahre Geologische Zusammenarbeit Österreich-Ungarn 107 122.
Siegl-Farkas 1997 Dinoflagellate stratigraphy of the Senonian formations of the Transdanubian Range Acta Geologica Hungarica 40 1 73 100.
Siegl-Farkas 1999 Comparative palynology of the Senonian Formations in the Pelso and Tisza Units (Hungary) Acta Palaeobot. 195 198.
Siegl-Farkas J Haas 2002 Stratigraphic and sedimentological analysis of the Upper Cretaceous sequence of the Zala Basin on the basis of the investigation of the Szilvágy-33 well Acta Geologica Hungarica 45 2 153 174.
Siegl-Farkas M Wagreich 1996 Correlation of palyno- (spores, pollen, dinoflagellates) and calcareous nannofossil zones in the Late Cretaceous of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria) and the Transdanubian Central Range (Hungary) ADVANCES in Austrian-Hungarian Joint Geological Research, Budapest 127 135.
H J Sims PS Herendeen R Lupia RA Christopher PR Crane 1999 Fossil flowers with Normapolles pollen from the Upper Cretaceous of southeastern North America Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 106 131 151.
A Skarby 1986 Normapolles anthers from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Sweden Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 46 235 256.
EA Stanley M Kedves 1975 Electronmicroscopical investigations of the Normapolles group and some other selected European and North American angiosperm pollen I Pollen et Spores 17 233 271.
Z Szentesi M Venczel 2010 An advanced anuran from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie — Abhandlungen 256 291 302.
Z Szentesi M Venczel 2012 A new discoglossid frog from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) of Hungary Cretaceous Research 34 327 333.
M Takahashi 1997 Fossil spores and pollen grains of Cretaceous (Upper Campanian) from Sakhalin, Russia Journal of Plant Research 110 1098 283 298.
RH Tschudy 1975 Normapolles pollen from the Mississippi embayment U.S. Geological Survey Prof. Paper 865 1 42.
Gy Tuba P Kiss M Pósfai A Mindszenty 2006 Preliminary data on the diagenesis of Cretaceous bones from the Bakony Mts, Hungary Földtani Közlöny 136 1 1 24.
ED Zaklinskaya 1967 Palynological studies on Late Cretaceous-Paleogene floral history and stratigraphy Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 2 141 146.
ED Zaklinskaya 1981 Phylogeny and classification of the Normapolles Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 35 139 147.