Science News
Miocene ascidians from Bosnia and Herzegovina
PUBLICATION — Magdalena Łukowiak, Oleg Mandic, Anna Omalecka, Mădălina-Elena Kallanxhi, Stjepan Ćorić, Patrick Grunert, 2024. Illuminating the richness of the ascidian fossil record: a new exceptionally diverse assemblage of ascidian spicules from the Middle Miocene of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Papers in Palaeontology, 10 (5), e1586. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1586
The study uncovers the world’s most diverse collection of fossilized ascidian spicules, found in Bogutovo Selo near Ugljevik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and dating back to the Middle Miocene. These ancient sea squirts share a closer resemblance to species from the distant Eocene epoch in Australia than to those from the Miocene Eastern Paratethys region. This finding suggests that a once-widespread group of ascidians persisted well into the Miocene within isolated refugia in the Mediterranean Sea.