The organodetritic, sandy limestones of the Treskelodden Formation (Late Gzhelian to Early Artinskian) investigated in outcrops at Treskelen Peninsula, Hyrnefjellet mount and Polakkfjellet mount of south Spitsbergen, contain rich foraminiferal assemblages. Fifty eight foraminiferal species of twenty three genera, including two new species (Hemigordius hyrnefjelleti sp. nov. and Midiella arctica sp. nov.) have been identified. Three foraminiferal zones have been defined, with ages of Late Asselian (Pseudofusulinella occidentalis), Sakmarian (Midiella ovata – Calcitornella heathi) and Early Artinskian (Hemigordius hyrnefjelleti – Midiella arctica). Sedimentary features and the biotic history of the studied succession records a Late Paleozoic cooling trend that stays in accordance with Pangaea’s shift to the north.
The new rich collection of fossil fish remains obtained during the Polish Spitsbergen Expedition of 1998 includes many isolated shark teeth, mostly of the genera Lissodus, Hybodus and Acrodus. The shark microfossils from the Hornsund area (South Spitsbergen) described here and the analysis of the histology of Lissodus teeth contribute to a better understanding of the previously described Early Triassic fish fauna from that region (Birkenmajer and Jerzmańska 1979). There is the evidence for coexistence of two types of histology within a single taxon what closes the discussion considering ortho- and osteodentine as a taxonomic factor.
The fusulinid foraminifers of Schellwienia arctica (Schellwien, 1908) have been investigated from Polakkfjellet Mt., south Spitsbergen, and used as biostratigraphic marker for the latest Carboniferous earliest Permian strata of the Treskelodden Formation. A series of thin sections enable to investigate the internal structure and growth pattern of individual specimens. The observed variation of growth suggests dynamic environmental conditions at the investigated location and most likely over one-year long life span of this foraminifer.
Brachiopods from the Chlamys Ledge Member, uppermost part of the Polonez Cove Formation (Oligocene), of King George Island, West Antarctica are represented by the undeterminable Rhynchonellida, one short-looped terebratulide Liothyrella Thomson, and two long-looped terebratellidines: Rhizothyris Thomson and Terebratelloidea gen. et sp. indet. Liothyrella is a well known genus in the Cenozoic strata and Recent waters of the Southern Hemisphere, while Rhizothyris is noted for the second time in the Antarctic region. This is the first record of brachiopods from the Chlamys Ledge Member.