Fishes from the Miocene lacustrine sequence of Bełchatów (Poland)

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with results of the study of freshwater fish remains obtained from the Miocene deposits of Bełchatów open-cast brown coal mine in 1984 and 1986. These fossils are represented mainly by numerous disarticulated bones which are assumed as belonging to cyprinid (Tinca sp.) and esocids (Esox sibiricus, Esox sp.), as well as to indeterminate bony fishes (Teleostei indet.). The find of the Siberian pike described herein is the oldest occurrence of this species in Europe, and allows extending its previously known range to the west. Some aspects of the palaeogeography and palaeoecology of the late early Miocene fish assemblage of Bełchatów with reference to the distribution of E. sibiricus are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyprinidae
• Esocidae
• morphology
• range dynamics
• brown coal mine
• Ottnangian-Karpatian

Acknowledgments

The research of the first author (O.K.) was supported by a grant for a visit to Poland within the framework of cooperation between the Polish Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. W. Gornig is acknowledged for making the photos of some studied specimens. We are sincerely thankful to J. Divay and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments and advice. We also express our thanks to the editor Gareth Dyke for his effective management of our submission.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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