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Palaeoecological aspects and evolution of the Late Cretaceous oyster assemblages
Rantuch, Jakub ; Košťák, Martin (advisor) ; Mergl, Michal (referee) ; Reháková, Daniela (referee)
The presented thesis explores the palaeoecological aspects of the evolution of the well-known fossil oyster genus Rhynchostreon Bayle, 1874, a significant representative of Cretaceous fauna. The study integrates sedimentological (quartz grain size), geochemical (concentration of major oxides) and palaeobiological (taphonomy) proxies to categorise five oyster-bearing localities in the Bohemian Massif and the Pieniny Klippen Belt (Western Carpathians) into three environments with differing substrate characteristics, environmental energy levels and salinity regimes. Subsequently, the five specific palaeopopulations of Rhynchostreon suborbiculatum (Lamarck, 1801), occupying these habitats (including the dynamic Cenomanian nearshore, the quiet environment of the Turonian hemipelagic sea and the Cenomanian-Turonian marginal marine system influenced by variable fluvial activity), underwent a series of morphological and population studies. These studies involved the analyses of size-frequency distributions, morphotype structure, and shell thickness. Results from this multidisciplinary approach suggest that the salinity tolerance of R. suborbiculatum may be higher than commonly assumed, and its ecological response to climatic changes (i.e. the fluctuation of salinity, level of eutrophism, etc.) aligns with...
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Scientific reconstruction of theropod dinosaurs
Cettl, Karel ; Mazuch, Martin (advisor) ; Marek, Jaroslav (referee)
To create a good scientific reconstruction is important artistic skills and knowledge of history painting of prehistoric animals, and also knowlages in the anatomy, zoology, palaeontology, palaeoecology. Reconstruction of theropods dinosaurs became the royal discipline of professional illustration. It stands on the borderline between art and science. Our view on theropod dinosaurs has changed over time with advancing skeletal findings, and also changed a scientific reconstruction. Keywords: theropods, scientific reconstruction, anatomy structure, palaeoecology, Carnotaurus sastrei.
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Holocene Succession of Mollusc Assemblages in the Southern Part of Kokořínsko Area
Oravec, Jan ; Juřičková, Lucie (advisor) ; Beran, Luboš (referee)
The sandstone rock cities of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin are traditionally considered floristically and faunistically impoverished areas, because the environment of acidic quartz sandstones complicates the development of developed biocenoses. The unfavourable abiotic conditions are compensated for geomorphological diversity of the landscape, which creates a wide range of locations providing habitats for many biological species with different ecological requirements. However, the current appearance of the sandstone areas is due to the extensive transformation of the environment in the late Holocene, as evidenced by the rich subfossil communities of terrestrial gastropods. In the presented study, the succession of postglacial malacocenoses was processed from five sites in the southern part of the Kokořínsko area, demonstrating the continuous development of species-rich forest habitats during the early and middle Holocene. The presence of calcareous encrustations on the surface of acidic sandstone walls, which allowed the continuous occurrence of calciphilous mollusc species, is also documented from this wet period. The gradual transformation of the natural environment is related to the beginning of the late Holocene and was caused by the leaching of nutrients from the soil horizons and the...
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Relationship between recent and Holocene mollusc fauna diversity of the Veľká Fatra Mts.
Kubíková, Kateřina ; Juřičková, Lucie (advisor) ; Horáček, Ivan (referee)
Quaternary molluscs assemblages are one of the most important sources of information used for palaeoecology and biogeography reconstructions, yet little attention has been paid to the informative value of quaternary profiles on a landscape spatial scale. In the area of Velka Fatra Mts., a large number of existing records concerning both recent and quaternary land snails enable us to compare Holocene and recent species diversity to estimate how many profiles are needed to evaluate species richness of such geomorphologically diverse area. In this study, available data are supplemented with samples from additional recent sites and quantitative analysis of material from quaternary profiles Stankovany and Skamenelá skala. In recent sites, 129 species of terrestrial molluscs were recorded (more than 72 % of land snail species occurring in Slovakia). Samples from all seven Holocene profiles yielded 93 species, covering more than 85 % of recent land snails diversity. On the other hand, only about 50 % of recent land snail species were recorded in a single profile, thus highlighting the importance of multiple profiles evaluation in palaeoecological studies.
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Crustacea (Decapoda, Cirripedia) from the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin
Kočová Veselská, Martina ; Košťák, Martin (advisor) ; Krobicki, Michal (referee) ; Schweigert, Guenter (referee)
This thesis deals with systematic revision, evolutionary trends, palaeoecology and migration patterns of crustaceans (Cirripedia and Decapoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. Thesis is presented as a compilation of 9 papers that were published in scientific peer-reviewed journals and includes not only old museum material, but also numerous crustacean specimens which have been recovered in the last decade. Besides, short remarks on fossil crustaceans currently under study or in the process of being published (Paraclythia, Oncopareia, Acrothoracica) are also included in this thesis. In view of the fact that the fossil crustaceans from the BCB were most recently recorded in the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries (and partially revised in the first half of the 20th century) and since the systematics and taxonomy have changed significantly, all papers presented here focus primarily on systematic revision and modern description. The essential part of the thesis thus deals with taphonomy and its bearing on the identification of fossil material. Thanks to a modern description, new species of Ctenocheles fritschi (axiidean shrimp), Archaeochionelasmus nekvasilovae (acorn barnacle), Myolepas reussi and Capitulum sklenari (pedunculate barnacles) were erected. C. fritschi is...
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Quaternary insects and their significance for zoogeography, paleoclimatology and paleoecology
Moudrý, Jakub ; Prokop, Jakub (advisor) ; Říhová, Dagmar (referee)
The present thesis is a review of available published data on Quaternary insects. Research focused on Quaternary insects has been so far overlooked by the Czech scientists, even though there is potential to provide additional data for complex reconstruction of Quaternary deposits. Insect faunas allow to trace the dynamic development of areas across continents and serve for example as proof of migration routes. It is especially true for the Pleistocene, well known for prominent climatic oscillations. Thus, the insect species served as climatic indicators allowing estimations of average temperatures by application of the MCR method. Finally, these faunal changes reflect dynamic development of palaeoenvironments. The fact that the subfossil taxa correspond to the recent species allows broader reconstruction of the Quaternary deposits.
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Relationship between pollen diversity and floristic diversity - utilization for study of the past
Koďousková, Lucie ; Kuneš, Petr (advisor) ; Prach, Jindřich (referee)
This thesis deals with the relationship between palynological diversity and floristic diversity. Diversity is complex quantity, which consists of a number of species, the number of individuals and relative frequency of species known as evenness. It characterizes the diversity at the species level, genetic level or within communities. Its relationship with palynological diversity is problematic, especially because of lack of taxonomic precision in palynology, species-specific differences in pollen production and dispersal and sample size, since the number of taxa increases with sample size. The thesis also focuses on the studies which tried to prove positive correlation between palynological and floristic diversity, including techniques used. The second part describes methodology of collecting vegetational and palynological data and the treatment of sampes.
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Upper Turonian and lower Coniacian calcareous nannoplankton stratigraphy in the borehole V 800 Střeleč, Bohemian Cretaceous Basin
Svobodová, Andrea ; Švábenická, Lilian (advisor) ; Ozdínová, Silvia (referee)
Upper Turonian and Lower Coniacian calcareous nannoplankton stratigraphy in the borehole V 800 Střeleč, Bohemian Cretaceous Basin Number of biostratigraphic studies has been performed within the Upper Cretaceous platform sediments of the NW Europe, however, the problem of Turonian-Coniacan boundary has not yet been satisfactorily resolved using available methods in the field of micropaleontology. The proposed thesis has described the species composition of calcareous nannoplankton assemblages in the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, across the Upper Turonian- Lower Coniacian interval, focusing on the stratigraphically and paleoecologically important species. Seventy-three taxa of calcareous nannofossils in the studied material have been determined and signifiant species have been discussed (Marthasterites furcatus, Kamptnerius magnificus, Lucianorhabdus sp., Braarudosphaera sp., Nannoconus sp., Watznaueria barnesae, Uniplanarius gothicus, Quadrum gartneri, Thoracosphaera operculata). For purposes of this thesis, a suitable material from the V 800 Střeleč borehole, one of the key cretaceous profil in the Český ráj area, was obtained.
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Selected cephalopods from the Ordovician of the Prague Basin (Bohemia) and Baltica (Estonia and Sweden): taxonomy, paleobiogeography and paleoecology
Aubrechtová, Martina ; Košťák, Martin (advisor) ; Klug, Christian (referee) ; King, Andrew H. (referee)
This dissertation thesis is a summary of five studies published in peer- reviewed, impacted scientific journals. All of the publications are taxonomic revisions of previously unknown or little known collections of fossil cephalopods from the Early Paleozoic strata of Bohemia, Estonia and Sweden. Paleogeogra- phical and stratigraphical distributions of the respective taxa were summarized, refined and compared with contemporary fossil assemblages known from other regions. Implications on the paleoecology of the cephalopods and original envi- ronmental conditions were made. The text of the thesis is divided into three main parts. In the first part, the morphology of cephalopods is explained, stressing out the most important diagnostic characters used for their descriptions. The current systematics of the Cephalopoda is overviewed and the main cephalopod groups during the Ordovician are briefly introduced. The second part of the thesis describes the geological development and settings of the regions, from which the studied fossil cephalopods originate. The third and final part of the thesis provides a discussion and interpretation of the results of the published studies in the context of the previously published research. The genus Bactroceras Holm, 1898 and some members of the order Litui- tida were studied...
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Analysis of selected fish coprolites from the Loučka locality (Moravia; Oligocene, "menilitic Formation")
Vala, Vladimír ; Přikryl, Tomáš (advisor) ; Zajíc, Jaroslav (referee)
The submitted thesis deals with the analysis of selected fish coprolites found in the Loučka site (Moravia; Menilite Fm.). Eleven specimens was selected (provisionally numbered I-XI) of which two were macerated (specimens I and II). The remaining nine specimens were examined at the surface of the sedimentary layers. Recognizable elements were classified to the following taxa: Keasius parvus, Alopias exigua, Squalus cf. alsaticus, Sardinella sardinites, Anenchelum glarisianum, Palimphyes sp., Palaeogadus sp., Gonostomatidae (gen. et. sp. indet.), Perciformes (gen. et sp. indet.), and Teleostei (gen. et sp. indet.). Composition of the studied coprolites I, II and IV suggest that these were produced by shark species Alopias exigua and Squalus cf. alsaticus. Studied coprolites V, VIII, X and XI were produced by some type of undetermined predatory fish (probably piscivore predator). For coprolites III, VI, VII and IX producer can not be determined.
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