Kaszab Zoltán (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 64. (Budapest 1972)
Jánossy, D.: Middle Pliocene microvertebrate fauna from the Osztramos Loc. 1. (Northern Hungary)
ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Tomus 64 1972. Middle Pliocene Microvertebrate Fauna from the Osztramos Loc. 1. (Northern Hungary) By D. JÁxossY, Budapest In recent years a series of new vertebrate-bearing fissures and oaves were discovered in Northern Hungary, as mentioned in my previous papers (J ÁNOSSY, 1969, 1970). The localities lie on the hill Osztramos, consisting of Ladinian (Middle Triassic) limestone in the neighbourhood of the villages Bódvaszilas and Tornaszentandrás, about 45 km north of the town Miskolc. Up to the present there were explored in the large quarry system ten distinct bonebearing localities — nearly all originating from different levels of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. One of the largest among the fissures extends over more than 400 m, about 3-4 m in diameter, and with the hitherto accessible part reaching a depth of about 50 m. The direction of the fissure is rougly NW-SE; it is filled up with dark red (nearly black) stone-bearing loam. We have searched for organic remains in different plots of this sediment of immense quantity yet without result. In 1970, my colleague and friend GY. TOPÁL at last found a pocket of microfauna below a large calcite-block. In the next year, we found agglomerations of also small bones between calcite layers. We marked this large fissure as No. 1, assuming that the first bone remains listed from the locality-complex Osztramos (see KRETZOI, 1956, p. 222) originate —at least partially — from this fissure. We designated the different ,,bone-pockets" of the fissure bv distinct letters (Loc. 1/a, 1/b, 1/c). By washing through screens (mesh-size of 0.5-0.8 mm) a larger cpuantity of reel clay from the places of agglomerations of bones we found a rich microvertebrate assemblage consisting chiefly of isolated teeth of small mammals. I wish to thank in this place, for assistance rendered to the field parties in every possible way, Dr. W. H. DIETRICH (Humboldt Mus., Berlin), Dr. GY. TOPÁÉ (Nat. Hist. Mus., Budapest), Dr. E. KROLOPP (Geol. Inst., Budapest), L. KORDOS, K. VIXCZE (Nat. Hist. Mus., Budapest) and some secondary schools and university students. Although further excavations are considered to be made in the locality , the faunistical-stratigraphical significance of this assemblage merits a preliminary discussion. The heretofore collected material is in itself sufficient to form a true picture for evaluation. I propose to discuss the fossil remains of two localities of the fissure. The first, labeled "1/b", lies in the neighbourhood of the southern side of the fissure and consists of a freestanding calcite block, blowed up from the fissure material and containing some terra rossa rich in fossil remains. The other one, labelled "1 /c", originates from the northern side —during quarry operations abandoned as "dead rock" —of the wall of terra rossa, saturated with vertical calcite-layers. Fossil remains The faunistical picture of the two localities agree so far with each other that joint discussion is permissible. The two localities yielded the following organic remains :
