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Borings of Apectoichnus longissimus and Teredolites clavatus are described from wood fragments preserved in sandstone deposits of the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Monos Formation in central Cuba. In addition, palaeobiological, palaeoecological and taphonomic implications of these are inferred. The borings are interpreted as mainly produced by Teredinid marine bivalves, which inhabited driftwood substrates. The taphonomic features such as mode of occurrence, density and position of the borings within the relict log-grounds suggest: (i) post-burial compaction of the xylic substrates by the surrounding sediments during burial, (ii) different ontogenetic stages and colonization episodes of teredinids on the studied wood fragments and (iii) different residence time of the wood fragments floating or near the sediment–water interface. Furthermore, the accumulation of wood fragments with A . longissimus and T . clavatus in the shallow marine deposits of the Monos Formation was probably the result of a marine transgression event in these deposits, thus leaving them exposed to attack by teredinid larvae. This study explores the life histories and taphonomic histories of teredinid bivalves and wood fragments in the Monos Formation, adding to the literature on ichnofossils in this lithostratigraphic unit.

Se da a conocer la presencia de perforaciones realizadas en madera presentes en un megabloque de areniscas y lutitas, que forma parte de la Formación Peñalver, en los depósitos del límite Cretácico–Paleógeno K/Pg. Han sido identificadas dos tipos de perforaciones, atribuidas a dos icnoespecies: Teredolites clavatus y Teredolites longissimus. Ambas se originan por un mecanismo de bioerosión mecánica y se atribuyen a la acción de moluscos bivalvos xilófagos. En la muestra se presentan abundantes restos de bivalvos, sin embargo no parecen ser los productores de las icnoespecies anteriores. Los megabloques como el que contiene las perforaciones tienen tamaños que varían desde unos metros hasta varias decenas, y se emplazaron en la cuenca en forma de olistolitos. Esta secuencia siliciclástica con los Teredolites y moluscos, podría estar relacionada con depósitos de tempestitas; sedimentadas en una cuenca abierta. A esta cuenca, llegarían aportes de la plataforma interna, ya que contiene rocas formadas casi exclusivamente por macroforaminíferos orbitoídidos, en la misma situación facial y secuencial. Los restos vegetales indican la existencia muy probable de tierras emergidas, hipótesis que se ve reforzada por existencia en el mismo afloramiento de conglomerados de composición vulcanomíctica. El origen de estos depósitos pudiera estar relacionado con el colapso del margen de la plataforma cubana maastrichtiense, inducido por el golpe sísmico resultado del impacto meteorítico de Chicxulub (Península de Yucatán).

Fossil coral reef terraces at the northern coast of Cuba in the vicinity of the Bay of Matanzas are forming a prominent flight of terraces. These terraces were already studied by several investigators, but a chronological classification based on numerical dating is still missing. In this study we focus on the lowest unit, the Seboruco terrace, which is assumed to be of MIS 5e age. The morphology of the Seboruco terrace and associated sea-level markers (reef crests and notches) were mapped and their altitude was measured over the whole study area in the field and by using remote sensing. The fossil corals building up the terrace were surveyed in numerous natural outcrops. The species of the fossil coral reefs were determined and subdivided in different facies zones. Fossil corals were taken for numerical dating by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Uranium-series (U-Th) to establish a chronology of the MIS 5e coral reef formation. Both dating techniques yielded age results in good agreement with each other and the stratigraphic context. Corresponding to the field evidence, the age data indicates one MIS 5e sea-level highstand around 126 ka. Some younger ESR ages may be explained by the recrystallization of aragonitic corals and/or by U leaching. At one locality east of Matanzas, the radiometric results for an underlying coral reef body suggest an MIS 7 age. The sea-level markers for the MIS 5e highstand range from 5.5 m a.s.l. (reef crest) to a maximum of 7 m (notches) west of the Bay of Matanzas resulting in relatively low uplift rates of 0.003 m/ka and 0.036 m/ka when applying early MIS 5e sea-level estimates from tectonically stable coasts in the Caribbean between +2.5 m and +6.6 m. Inside the Bay of Matanzas itself, the elevation of sea-level markers increases to more than 10 m a.s.l. indicating a stronger uplift rate of 0.027 m/ka to 0.060 m/ka here.

In general, the “Cuban Fossil Record”, which covers approximately the last 200 million years of life on Earth, is rich in very varied fossils, witnessing a wide diversity of organisms, both animals and plants, that inhabited the Antillean and Caribbean region and constitute the inheritance of the biological diversity exhibited by the current Cuban Archipelago. The most characteristic fossils of Jurassic Period in Cuba are petrified bones of marine reptiles, shells and molds of ammonites, petrified skeletons and molds of ganoid fish, bivalve mollusc shells, fronds and carbonized plant stems, mainly ferns, and very abundant pollen and spores. The fossil record of the Cretaceous Period is characterized by shell varieties of rudist molluscs, ammonites, and aptychus, endoskeletons and radioles of echinoids, gastropod shells such as the acteonellids, nerineids and naticids, ostreids, and others. Other fossils such as corals, ichnofossils, the very diverse planktic and benthic foraminifera, and radiolaria are also common. The fossils that characterize the Paleogene are abundant echinoderms, shark teeth, ichnofossils, shells and molds of turritellid and naticid gastropods, ostreids, and various foraminiferal genera, especially large orbitoids. Neogene rocks contain abundant shells and molds of bivalve and gastropod molluscs, and mineralized endoskeletons of various sea urchins are also common. Corals and frequent skeletons and molds of marine crustaceans can also be commonly found. Among vertebrates, fish are very common, mainly teeth of sharks, rays, and skeletons of bony fish, and a single whale tooth have also been found. The fossil remains of sirenians are relatively common. Very important is the finding of terrestrial mammal vertebrate remains, among them are monkey, rodents, and sloths. The greatest feature exhibited by the fossil record of the Quaternary in the Cuban Archipelago is perhaps the peculiar fossil material produced by the diverse megafauna of terrestrial vertebrates, which inhabited it in the last hundreds of thousands and thousands of years ago. It also highlights the bones and teeth of large sloths, various rodents, the giant predatory birds and gunboats, small and giant insectivorous, numerous bats, reptiles, and amphibians, among other animals that disappeared in the recent past. Fossils are part of the Cuban natural heritage, and as such, they deserve to be studied, conserved and protected, as a legacy to future generations, to contribute to a better understanding of our origins and to the full enjoyment of our island nature. The numerous literature about Cuban fossils allows us to know the varied degree of study exhibited by the different fossil groups reported to this day. The irregular development of the investigations carried out so far reveals the possibilities of study that the Cuban fossil record still needs, and which points out the future path for new researchers interested in different topics on this paleontological richness, where there are many questions to be solved, even waiting to assess correctly, from modern work basis.

Tras el estudio de una amplia muestra de peces fósiles del terciario de Cuba y la Española, hemos identificado restos que corresponden al género Sphyraena, previamente reportado para el plioceno de Cuba. En el presente artículo extendemos la distribución temporal y espacial de barracuda en el Caribe con tres nuevas localidades del neógeno de Cuba y una para la Española.

The fossil record of drill holes in shelled invertebrates is focused primarily on bivalves and gastropods as prey. The still limited reports on drill holes in serpulid polychaetes are principally recorded from Cenozoic deposits and restricted to Europe and Antarctica. This study documents drill holes on the serpulid polychaete Pyrgopolon onyx from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Pepito Tey (central Cuba). The oval-shaped drill holes, attributed to the ichnospecies Oichnus ovalis, were primarily caused by naticid gastropods, probably by individuals of Gyrodes sp. known from the same formation. Using five methods, the study on an assemblage of 53 non-moldic specimens shows that > 17.0 and < 22.2% of the specimens was drilled. This narrow range suggests that these methods can be used successfully for any time period for cylindrical shells including serpulids and scaphopods, if the specimens of the sample are reasonably well-preserved. Drill holes were randomly positioned with respect to the side of the tubes, but drill holes are preferentially located between the ribs and in the middle part to slightly towards the posterior end of the tube, suggesting that naticids selected the drill hole location efficiently on polychaetes with ornamentation already by the Cretaceous. The reasons for drilled tubes of P. onyx are probably related to the withdrawal of their soft body deep inside the tube and/or because of the presence of a calcareous operculum closing off the aperture. The record of drilling predation in Pyrgopolon is restricted to Cretaceous deposits, which may represent a bias in predation research focused only on Cretaceous specimens. More research on drilling predation of serpulids should be performed to better understand the function of ornamentation in deterring drilling, to determine how common drilling was on serpulids in deep time, and to evaluate the paleobiogeography of drilling predation.

Hurricane Wilma produced huge waves that hit the western coast of Cuba. The coast sector located west of the town of Cojimar remained under extremely heavy wave action and unidirectional currents for almost 72 h. Sediment tests provided new knowledge on the sediment processes that took place in the sea–land interphase. The effects of this anomalous event were evident in elements such as detritus, coastal boulders and vegetation, the soil and existing anthropogenic materials. Results make evident important regularities of high methodological value. It is highlighted in this work that the elimination of the coastal vegetation increases the negative effects of storms, increasing vulnerability in the coastal zone in the face of these extreme events.

A new species of raninid crustacean, Vegaranina rivasi sp. nov, is described based on three specimens collected from a Late Cretaceous deposit in central Cuba. Previous studies assigned one of the specimens to Vegaranina precocia (Feldmann, Vega, Tucker, Garcia-Barrera & Avendano, 1996), a species described from the Late Cretaceous of Mexico. However, after collecting the new specimens and recent major revisions of the group, we identified a unique combination of characters in the Cuban specimens that separate them from the other species in the genus.

The Cuban archipelago has an extremely complex geology. In this chapter, an overview on its peculiarities is given. It is also presented a historical sketch of the Cuban geological heritage, and the current menaces to preserve it. Then, the current Cuban policy and practical efforts for geoconservation are described.

The ichnofabrics present in the early Eocene siliciclastic deposits of the Capdevila Formation exposed in the Pinar del Rio area (Los Palacios Basin, western Cuba) are analyzed in this paper and their paleoecological and paleoenvironmental significance are discussed. Nine ichnofabrics were recognized in the dominantly sandy sedimentary succession: Ophiomorpha, Asterosoma, Thalassinoides, Palaeophycus, Scolicia, Bichordites-Thalassinoides, Rhizocorallium, Scolicia-Thalassinoides and rhizobioturbation. Diversity of ichnofauna is low and burrows made by detritus-feeding organisms in well oxygenated and stenohaline waters predominate. Suites of the Cruziana and Skolithos Ichnofacies lacking their archetypical characteristics were recognized, being impoverished in diversity and presenting dominance of echinoderm and decapods crustacean burrows as a response to the environmental stress caused by the high frequency of deposition. The ichnofabric distribution in the studied succession, its recurrence in the sandstone beds and the presence of a Glossifungites Ichnofacies suite with rhizobioturbation associated reflect a shoaling-upward event with subaerial exposure of the substrate. The integrated analysis of the ichnology and the sedimentary facies suggests deposition in a shallow slope frequently impacted by gravitational flows and high-energy events. The evidence of substrate exposure indicates the occurrence of a forced regression and suggests the existence of a sequence boundary at the top of the Capdevila Formation.

Resumen:Los restos fósiles de peces óseos son comunes en los depósitos Terciarios de toda Cuba, a pesar de esto, pocos estudios se han centrado en ellos. En el presente artículo reportamos por primera vez para las Antillas Mayores dos especies pertenecientes al género Sparus (S. cinctus Agassiz, 1843 y S. neogenus Aramboug, 1927), procedentes de diez localidades del occidente cubano. De igual modo se toma en cuenta la implicación de estos taxones para las reconstrucciones paleoambientales de los yacimientos, así como las evidencias tafonómicas que los mismos brindan. Abstract:Osteichthyans fossil remains are common into the Tertiary of Cuba, in spite of its abundance, few studies have treatise them. In this study, we report for the first time for the Great Antilles two species of the genus Sparus (S. cinctus Agassiz, 1843 and S. neogenus Aramboug, 1927) proceedings of ten localities of western Cuba. Beside, some paleoenvironmental and taphonomical inferences, based on the taxa are made.

Teredolites clavatus is described from log fragments preserved in carbonate concretions in the Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) Jagua Formation in western Cuba. The trace fossils are interpreted as borings produced by marine bivalves inhabiting floating wood substrates, probably pholadids belonging to the subfamily Martesiinae. This report constitutes one of the few known occurrences of the ichnogenus in the Jurassic and contributes to a better knowledge of the early history and evolution of wood-boring behavior in bivalves.

Se describe una especie nueva perteneciente al género Eriosachila, hallada en la Formación Colón (Oligoceno - Mioceno), de Cuba. Esta es la segunda especie perteneciente a este género que se encuentra en estratos posteocénicos.

A late Albian ammonite assemblage from the Provincial Formation of Villa Clara Province, Cuba is described. The Provincial Formation is a lithostratigraphic unit of AlbianeCenomanian age extensively exposed in central Cuba and formed within a part of the Caribbean Tethys that was volcanic during the Cretaceous. The formation is mainly composed of calcareous, terrigenous marine, and volcano-sedimentary deposits characterized by a series of micritic limestones intercalated with marls, sandstones, calcareous conglomerates, ash, and tuffaceous material. A rich assemblage of ammonites recovered from the calcareous biomicrites and marls is of late Albian (Stoliczkaia dispar Zone, Mortoniceras rostratum Subzone) age. The ammonite fauna shows a strong Tethyan affinity, and only a single hoplitid ammonite species was recorded. Although scarce, the first Cuban report of this and other boreal ammonite species now allows precise correlations to be made between Cuba and Albian sediments elsewhere in the world.

金沢大学理工研究域自然システム学系, The stable carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) and chain-length distribution [ACL and n-C31/(n-C29+n-C31)] of sedimentary leaf wax n-alkanes were investigated across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary at Loma Capiro, Central Cuba, to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes that are recorded in terrestrial higher plants. The stratigraphic profiles of the n-alkane δ13C values show a negative excursion in the lowermost Paleocene, although its magnitude is much smaller (~0.3‰) than the global signals (1.5 to 2.0‰) in the surface ocean-atmospheric carbon reservoir. Relations between the n-alkane δ13C values and the C31/(C29+C31) ratios exhibit two different trends, suggesting that our δ13C records are likely affected by two types of paleoenvironmental factors in addition to the δ13C variations in the exogenous carbon reservoir. Rare occurrence of terrigenous organic matter that is usually transported by rivers suggests that the n-alkanes at Loma Capiro are likely to have been transported by trade winds, which recorded paleoenvironmental conditions of the northwestern part of the African continent. The n-alkane δ13C values show a parallel decrease with the ACL and C31/(C29+C31) values in the first 37,000yr following the K-Pg boundary. Such decreases are consistent with plant physiological responses to reduced net evaporation, suggesting a possible influence of the impact-induced warm-humid condition in the early Paleocene. In contrast, the n-alkane δ13C values are negatively correlated with the C31/(C29+C31) ratios from 40,000 to 67,000yr after the K-Pg boundary. This time period matches well with that required for the recovery of terrestrial floras from the K-Pg mass extinction to those with diversity equivalent to the late Cretaceous, suggesting that the n-alkane signals are also likely affected by the plant diversification process after the mass extinction. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Este trabajo se enfoca en el estudio tafonómico y paleontológico de invertebrados en la turbidita de edad Paleoceno Superior - Eoceno Inferior, perteneciente a la Fm Vertientes, en Ciego de Ávila, Cuba Central. La sección estratigráfica está constituida por rocas interestratificadas detríticas, con litoclastos y bioclastos heterogéneos. Se identificaron entidades conservadas de moluscos bivalvos, gastrópodos, equinodermos, corales, briozoos, fragmentos de crustáceos e icnofósiles, y abundantes invertebrados pequeños: macroforaminíferos, ostrácodos y radiolarios. Además, la edad del depósito se determinó con la asociación acumulada de foraminíferos planctónicos. La caracterización tafonómica de la asociación conservada permitió identificar procesos de mineralización, recristalización, rellenamiento, desarticulación, fragmentación, encostramiento, y otros, sugiriendo que la mayoría de los elementos registrados son alóctonos y que han sufrido intensos procesos de transporte, reelaboración y resedimentación tafonómica. La secuencia deposicional fue acumulada en un ambiente batial, con influencia de precipitaciones fuertes, en un ambiente cálido, clima tropical a subtropical. This study focuses on the taphonomy, paleontology, and invertebrate diversity of the Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene, turbidite deposits of Vertientes Formation, northwest of Ciego de Ávila, Central Cuba. The section exposed is stratified with detritic rocks, heterogeneous litoclasts and bioclasts. The fossil assemblage includes bivalve mollusks, gastropods, equinoderms, corals, crustaceans, icnofossils, orbitoidal foraminifera, ostracods and radiolarians. Age of the deposit was determined by the accumulated planktonic foraminifera assemblage. The taphonomic characterization of the conserved entities suggests processes such as mineralization, recrystallization, sedimentary infilling, disarticulation, fragmentation, encrustation and others, indicating that these conserved entities are alocthonous and have suffered intense processes of transport, taphonomic reelaboration and resedimentation. The depositional sequence was accumulated in association with a slope, in a bathyal environment, influenced by strong precipitations, typical of tropical to subtropical latitudes.

A thick, calcareous, clastic megabed of late Maastrichtian age has been known for sometime in western and central Cuba. This megabed was formed in association with the bolide impact at Chicxulub, Yucatn, at the K/T boundary, and is composed of a lower gravity-flow unit and an upper homogenite unit. The lower gravity-flow unit is dominantly composed of calcirudite that was formed because of collapses of the Yucatn, Cuban, and Bahamian platform margins and subsequent accumulation in the lower slope to basin margin environment. The gravity flow probably was triggered by a seismic wave induced by the impact, although a ballistic flow may have triggered collapse in the case of proximal sites (Yucatn margin). The upper homogenite unit is composed of massive and normally graded calcarenite to calcilutite that was formed as a result of large tsunamis associated with the impact and deposited in wider areas in the deeper part of Paleo-western Caribbean basin. Slight grain-size oscillations in this unit probably reflect the influence of repeated tsunamis. The large tsunamis were generated either by the movement of water into and out of the crater cavity or by the large-scale slope failure on the eastern margin of the Yucatn platform. In upper slope to shelf environments, gravity-flow deposits and homogenite are absent, and a thin sandstone complex influenced by repeating tsunami waves was deposited.

The Moncada Formation in western Cuba is an 2-m-thick weakly metamorphosed complex characterized by repetition of calcareous sandstone units that show overall upward fining and thinning. The Moncada Formation contains abundant shocked quartz, altered vesicular impact-melt fragments, and altered and deformed greenish grains of possible impact glass origin. In addition, a high iridium (0.8 ppb)