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 an unhindered connection between the Visean paleobasin of the Dnipro-Donets Depression and the paleobasins of modern Western Europe. Keywords: Visean, Carboniferous, paleoecology, taphonomy.