The present article revises descriptions of Silurian discinoid brachiopods by J. de C. Sowerby and T. Davidson in the mid-nineteenth century, and of old collections from classic palaeontological sites in Britain, currently housed in the Nat-ural History Museum, London. Orbicula forbesii Davidson, 1848, O. rugata J. de C. Sowerby in Murchison, 1839, O. striata J. de C. Sowerby in Murchison, 1839, Discina verneuilii Davidson, 1848 are re-described. The genus Rugadiscina andthespecies Acrosaccuswoolhopensis, Acrosaccuscocksi and Schizotretawalkeri areerected. Discina? cf. rarissima Barrande, 1879 and the genus Lochkothele are documented from the Silurian of Britain for the first time. Although the generic composition of the British Wenlock discinoid fauna is similar to that of the Barrandian area in Bohemia, differences at the species level confirm the separation of these terrains during the Silurian. • Key words: Brachiopoda, Discinida, taxonomy, Silurian, Great Britain, Bohemia.

MERGL, M. 2006. A review of Silurian discinoid brachiopods from historical British localities. Bulletin of Geosciences 81(4), 215–236. Czech Geological Survey, Prague. ISSN 1214-1119. Manuscript received September 21, 2006; accepted in revised form November 5, 2006; issued December 31, 2006.

Michal Mergl, University of West Bohemia at Plzeò, Department of Biology, Klatovská 51, 306 19 Plzeò, Czech Republic; mmergl@kbi.zcu.cz

Middle and Upper Pleistocene bone accumulations in caves of the Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic, are newly classified as several types of hyena dens or hyena bone deposits, and cave bear dens. This new taphonomical and paleoecological interpretation of localities that have been known for decades is based on revision of available bone collections, additional field observations at existing localities, and on comparisons with recent spotted hyenas. The thousands of bones from this region, including about seven hundred Pleistocene hyena remains, are strongly fragmented by having been cracked and chewed, consistent with typical hyena activities. The localities can be subdi-vided chronologically as Middle and Upper Pleistocene, or taphonomically as horizontal and vertical caves and karst depressions. Horizontal and vertical caves show contrasting types of bone accumulations. Several vertical cavities were filled in the Middle Pleistocene and contain the remains of Pachycrocuta brevirostris and its prey. This is the case of the areas of Srbsko–Chlum and Konìprusy–Zlatý Kùò Hill. In the Upper Pleistocene, at least eight caves in the Bohemian Karst were used by hyenas of Crocuta crocuta spelaea as dens and prey storage, some of which were also used by cave bears for hibernating. Upper Pleistocene cave bears were scavenged postmortally by Ice Age spotted hyenas at four cave sites, where they left cracked and chewed Ursus spelaeus bones. Hyenas also stored the remains of their prey in the caves. These remains also include rests of other hyenas, which indicates can-nibalism. Fecal pellets were used for marking the den sites. The Nad Kaèákem Cave near Hostim is shown to have been a frequented hyena den based on the presence of many “nibbling sticks” and the remains of juvenile hyena bones. Many hyena skeletons of C. c. spelaea, including juveniles and adults, their coprolites, and the partly cracked bones of their stored prey, were found in vertical caves such as Srbsko–Chlum–Komín. The most spectacu-lar finds are a nearly complete skeleton of the female steppe lion Panthera leo spelaea and an embryo of the Przewalski horse Equus ferus przewalskii. A nearly complete hyena skeleton in the Konìprusy Caves–Prošek Dome is another remarkable find. The most bone-rich localities at Konìprusy–Zlatý Kùò Hill and Srbsko–Chlum Hill are located on, or close to, exposed hill tops, where hyenas had an overview of the surrounding landscape. Statistical analysis of the remains shows that the main animals preyed upon by Upper Pleistocene hyenas were Equus ferus przewalskii and Coelodonta antiquitatis. Additionally, the hyenas fed on Bison priscus, Rangifer tarandus, Cervus elaphus, Megaloceros giganteus, Equus hydruntinus, the Bohemian alpine fauna including Rupricapra rupricapra and Capra ibex, and even the carnivores Ursus spelaeus, Panthera leo spelaea, Canis lupus and possibly Gulo gulo. The very few remains of the mammoth Mammuthus primigenius seem to indicate its scarcity in the hilly Bohemian Karst. Sediments in the horizontal caves show that, after being used by cave bears or hyenas, they were inhabited by foxes or marmots, and more recently by humans, especially during the Magdalenian period and later in the Holocene. • Key words: Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Upper Pleistocene, prey deposit types, prey bone ac-cumulations, bone taphonomy, hyena paleoecology, Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic.

DIEDRICH, C.G. & ŽÁK, K. 2006. Prey deposits and den sites of the Upper Pleistocene hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1823) in horizontal and vertical caves of the Bohemian Karst (Czech Republic). Bulletin of Geosciences 81(4), 237–276 (25 figures). Czech Geological Survey, Prague. ISSN 1214-1119. Manuscript received July 31, 2006, accepted in revised form November 6, 2006, issued December 31, 2006.

Cajus G. Diedrich, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Geology, Rozvojová 269, 165 02 Praha 6-Lysolaje, Czech Republic; cdiedri@gmx.net • Karel Žák, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Geology, Rozvojová 269, 165 02 Praha 6-Lysolaje, Czech Republic; zak@gli.cas.cz

A revision of ptychopariid trilobites from the Middle Cambrian of central Bohemia is presented. With a few exceptions, they were previously referred only to Ptychoparia striata. Three genera are recently distinguished: Ptychoparia Hawle & Corda, 1847, Ptychoparioides Rùžièka, 1940, and Mikaparia gen. nov. Seven species are described: three are revised, four are new, and two is left in open nomenclature; their stratigraphical ranges and significance are discussed. A new stratigraphical subdivision of the Middle Cambrian of the Skryje-Týøovice area is suggested, including three assemblage zones and three barren zones. Four substrate and bathymetrically controlled trilobite associations are recognized in the Skryje-Týøovice area. • Key words: Bohemia, Middle Cambrian, trilobites, new taxa, biostratigraphy.

KORDULE, V. 2006. Ptychopariid trilobites in the Middle Cambrian of Central Bohemia (taxonomy, biostratigraphy, synecology). Bulletin of Geosciences 81(4), 277–304 (13 figures). Czech Geological Survey, Prague. ISSN 1214-1119. Manuscript received February 17, 2005; accepted in revised form December 4, 2006; issued December 31, 2006.

Vratislav Kordule, Dlouhá 104, 261 01 Pøíbram III, Czech Republic; Vkordule@seznam.cz

The morphology of elements of the paraconodont genus Westergaardodina found in the Early Ordovician deposits of Bohemia resembles that of the Late Cambrian species W. bicu-spidata and W. polymorpha. The presence of Westergaardodina is consistent with the suggested Upper Tremadocian age of its horizon, as reworking of the Upper Cambrian sediment seems unlikely for geological and taphonomic reasons. This is the first report of this genus from the Ordovician in the European part of peri-Gondwana. • Key words: Paraconodonta, Westergaardodina, Ordovician, Tremadocian, Prague Basin, Czech Republic.

MERGL, M. 2006. Paraconodont Westergaardodina in the Lower Ordovician of the Prague Basin, Czech Republic. Bulletin of Geosciences 81(4), 305–308 (2 figures). Czech Geological Sur-vey, Prague. ISSN 1214-1119. Manuscript received January 23, 2006; accepted in revised form October 12, 2006; issued Decem-ber 31, 2006.

Michal Mergl, University of West Bohemia, Department of Biology, Klatovská 51, 306 19 Plzeò, Czech Republic; mmergl@kbi.zcu.cz