A LOW-DIVERSE VISEAN (MISSISSIPPIAN) CEPHALOPOD ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE DNIPRO-DONETS DEPRESSION (UKRAINE)

A small Visean cephalopod faunule from the Dnipro-Donets Depression (NE Ukraine) consisting of the nautiloids Brachycycloceras scalare, , Br. . cf. normale, , ? Phacoceras sp., Catastroboceras sp., and the ammonoid Anthracoceras sp. is described. The surfaces of some cephalopod conchs examined bear the trace fossils Cyclopuncta girtyi and Talpina isp., as well as a possible ventral bite mark. Macroborings may indicate a prolonged postmortem exposure of cephalopod conchs on the seafloor surface as a hard substrate or, more likely, in a drifting state. The similar taxonomic composition of the Visean cephalopod assemblage indicates a unhindered connection between the Visean paleobasin of the Dnipro-Donets Depression and the paleobasins of modern Western Europe.