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The first archaeological findings from the 10th– 11th centuries in Cluj were uncovered in 1911, on no. 78 in Zápolya street (the current Gen. Traian Moşoiu street) (graves 1– 8) and followed in 1942 (graves 9– 11). Till now only one drawing has been published about the most frequently quoted from the age of the Hungarian conquest. Our study aims to present the finds and analyze it anthropologically and pale zoologically and tries to contribute with some actual questions to the research of Hungarian conquest in Transylvania. The finds of the grave : mounds, 10 arrowheads, quiver fragments, sabre, quiver suspender, pear-shaped stirrups, snaffle. The simply furnished grave arouses attention with the quiver suspender. On the basis of its typological parallels two questions emerge : 1. Did it come to Transylvanian basin through commercial relations ? 2. Is it a sign of population migration ie. can it be related to the “ first generation” of Hungarian conquerors ? The authors do not exclude this possibility on the basis of the finds of some other graves as well, trying to arouse attention to a bit confused archeological interpretation of the notion “ first generation”. What does it really mean ? At the first sight, it might seem as an easy thing to establish. The classic answer was the first generation consists of those members of the communities in late 9th century born in the Atelcuzu area, mentioned by Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porfirogenet, already buried in the Carpathian basin. It is or it should be obvious that in the year 895 or 896 several age categories must have reached the Carpathian basin, ranging from infants to seniors, namely people who could expired in any year, be it 900 or 945– 950. It is obvious that in this interval their material culture could have changed profoundly, totally or not at all, yet biologically all members belong to the same first generation. In this respect, this generation needs to be differentiated from the biologic and the cultural point of view. The bone material from Zapolya Street is in bad condition, although we could made morphological measurements for age and sex determination, stature, demography and pathological investigation. In analyzing the human skeleton we applied for the methods of Martin-Saller, Miles, J. Nemeskéri, K. Éry, Alekszejev-Debets e. g. Using classic anthropological approaches we analyzed ecto-and end cranial sutures, situation of teeth, measurements on skull and hypostasis phases of the epiphysis ends. The characters of the skull (glabellas occipital bone, mandible e. g.) and dimensions of long bones show a man (+ 1 after K. Éry). The ecto-and end cranial sutures of the skull and situation of teeth present signs of and adult person (35– 40 years old). In one case I found pathological alteration : recovered fracture of the right tibia (this type of fracture is happening often). In conclusions, the human skeleton from 10th grave has similar characters with the 44th grave from Hunedoara „ Kincseshegy”. In both cases the skull is dolichocranic according to the Nordic and Riazan anthropological type. The deceased had medium stature and are epigenetically marks on the skull (Worm bones) in both cases. The examination of the men-and animal-bones found in the 10– 11th century graves in the Transylvanian Basin, in Partium and in Banat is on a very elementary level even after more than a century research. The horse bones of the 10th grave excavated in 1942 were found in anatomical position. On the basis of the denture and the morph metrical features it could be a middle-aged, 7– 8 year-old stallion which sustained injury on its shin, probably during jumping. A bone of a presumably juvenile sheep also belonged to the furniture

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A Late Cretaceous-aged multi-taxon nesting site from Romania preserved in three dimensions reveals the earliest example of nest site sharing yet known from the vertebrate fossil record. Eggshell and osteological evidence combined in this single accumulation demonstrate that at least four vertebrate taxa including enantiornithine birds and another avian of indeterminate affinities as well as crocodylomorphs and gekkotan squamates nested together in the same place. Colonial nesting in enantiornithines was previously described from this site; here, we present the first fossil evidence that other vertebrates also nested in the same place, perhaps exploiting the presence of the large bird colony. We describe four distinct eggshell morphotypes that have been collected from this site and draw palaeoecological inferences based on this unique multi-taxon nesting association.

The island effect is a well-known evolutionary phenomenon, in which island-dwelling species isolated in a resource-limited environment often modify their size, anatomy, and behaviors compared with mainland relatives. This has been well documented in modern and Cenozoic mammals, but it remains unclear whether older, more primitive Mesozoic mammals responded in similar ways to island habitats. We describe a reasonably complete and well-preserved skeleton of a kogaionid, an enigmatic radiation of Cretaceous island-dwelling multituberculate mammals previously represented by fragmentary fossils. This skeleton, from the latest Cretaceous of Romania, belongs to a previously unreported genus and species that possesses several aberrant features, including an autapomorphically domed skull and one of the smallest brains relative to body size of any advanced mammaliaform, which nonetheless retains enlarged olfactory bulbs and paraflocculi for sensory processing. Drawing on parallels with more recent island mammals, we interpret these unusual neurosensory features as related to the island effect. This indicates that the ability to adapt to insular environments developed early in mammalian history, before the advent of therian mammals, and mammals with insular-related modifications were key components of well-known dwarfed dinosaur faunas. Furthermore, the specimen suggests that brain size reduction, in association with heightened sensory acuity but without marked body size change, is a novel expression of the island effect in mammals., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

We describe a new taxon of medium-sized (wing span ca. 3 m) azhdarchid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Transylvanian Basin (Sebeş Formation) of Romania. This specimen is the most complete European azhdarchid yet reported, comprising a partially articulated series of vertebrae and associated forelimb bones. The new taxon is most similar to the Central Asian Azhdarcho lancicollis Nessov but possesses a suite of autapomorphies in its vertebrae that include the relative proportions of cervicals three and four and the presence of elongated prezygapophyseal pedicles. The new taxon is interesting in that it lived contemporaneously with gigantic forms, comparable in size to the famous Romanian Hatzegopteryx thambema. The presence of two distinct azhdarchid size classes in a continental depositional environment further strengthens suggestions that these pterosaurs were strongly linked to terrestrial floodplain and wooded environments. To support this discussion, we outline the geological context and taphonomy of our new specimen and place it in context with other known records for this widespread and important Late Cretaceous pterosaurian lineage.

Despite a rapidly improving fossil record, the reproductive biology of Mesozoic birds remains poorly known: only a handful of undisputed, isolated Cretaceous eggs (some containing embryonic remains) are known. We report here the first fossil evidence for a breeding colony of Mesozoic birds, preserved at the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Oarda de Jos (Od) site in the Sebeş area of Transylvania, Romania. A lens of calcareous mudstone with minimum dimensions of 80 cm length, 50 cm width and 20 cm depth contains thousands of tightly packed, morphologically homogenous eggshell fragments, seven near-complete eggs and neonatal and adult avialan skeletal elements. Eggshell forms 70-80 % of the matrix, and other fossils are entirely absent. The bones exhibit clear characters of the Cretaceous avialan clade Enantiornithes, and the eggshell morphology is also consistent with this identification. Both taphonomy and lithology show that the components of this lens were deposited in a single flood event, and we conclude that it represents the drowned remains of a larger enantiornithine breeding colony, swamped by rising water, washed a short distance and deposited in a shallow, low-energy pond. The same fate often befalls modern bird colonies. Such a large concentration of breeding birds suggests aquatic feeding in this species, augments our understanding of enantiornithine biology and shows that colonial nesting was not unique to crown birds.

Islands are noted for the occurrence of aberrant, endemic, and dwarfed taxa (the "island effect"). Late Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages of Romania and elsewhere in Europe are classic examples of island faunas in the fossil record, and are characterized by dwarfed herbivorous dinosaurs and other endemic taxa that are noticeably primitive relative to their mainland contemporaries. Fossils of the predators inhabiting the European paleoislands, however, are exceptionally rare and fragmentary. We describe a new dromaeosaurid theropod, based on an articulated skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Romania, which represents the most complete predatory dinosaur from the middle to Late Cretaceous of Europe. This taxon is characterized by a peculiar body plan, most notably extensive fusion in the hand and distal hindlimb, a highly retroverted pelvis with enlarged femoral muscle attachments, and a pair of hyperextensive pedal claws. However, unlike the island-dwelling herbivorous dinosaurs, its closest relatives are contemporary similar-sized Laurasian taxa, indicating faunal connections between Asia and the European islands late into the Cretaceous. This theropod provides support for the aberrant nature of the Late Cretaceous European island-dwelling dinosaurs, but indicates that predators on these islands were not necessarily small, geographically endemic, or primitive.