Abstract A revised amphibian zonation for the European Pennsylvanian and Cisuralian (Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian) with nine amphibian zones is presented. The index fossils belong to species-chronoclines with two or three closely related species. The time resolution of these amphibian zones is about 1.5–3.0 Ma. Biostratigraphical correlations with amphibian zones are applicable to 16 basins in the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Italy and Germany. The biostratigraphical potential of other tetrapods is discussed.

Abstract: Hitherto undescribed medium-sized burrows are recognized as a common element of Late Carboniferous to Early Permian alluvial-plain deposits. The simply constructed trace fossils consist of unornamented to longitudinally striated tunnels terminating in ovoid chambers. Tunnel segments may be 1 to 26 mm in diameter and up to 2.5 m long. They run predominantly horizontally or subhorizontally without branching. Mud-lined walls and a passive burrow fill indicate a dwelling trace probably excavated in subaerially exposed sediments. Size, architecture, and surface morphology, as well as habitat constraints of the trace fossils, are most similar to burrows of extant insects living partially or permanently underground. The wide distribution of the fossil traces is indicative of fossorial organisms, being significant for late Paleozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Records come from seven different basins from the Western United States to Eastern Europe, all situated in the tropical belt of the Pangea supercontinent during Permo-Carboniferous times. The featured burrows are not only a stimulus to search for ichnofossils in well-drained late Paleozoic continental deposits, but also evidence for ecospace utilization by rapidly radiating insects in that period.

Abstract: Conchostracans are one of the most common fossil animal groups of continental deposits from late Palaeozoic to modern times. Their habitats have ranged from perennial lakes of the Carboniferous and Early Permian to seasonal playa lakes and temporary ponds from the late Early Permian into the Triassic, where they could form mass occurrences. This, together with relatively high speciation rates, makes them ideal guide fossils, especially in otherwise fossil-poor wet and dry red beds. Based on material and data collected since the 1980s from both surface outcrops and well cores in central Europe, a preliminary conchostracan zonation is proposed. We used a conservative approach, erecting assemblage zones comprising two or three species instead of species-range zones with only one or, sometimes, two forms. Assemblage zones are more robust and provide more reliability for each delineated time interval. Isotopically dated occurrences of conchostracan zone species, or co-occurrences of conchostracans, insect zone species and marine index fossils such as conodonts and fusulinids, allow us to correlate our assemblage zones with the marine Standard Global Chronostratigraphic Scale.