Using biometric analysis, a new species, Similiscutum giganteum, has been described. Given its distinctive morphology and its stratigraphic range restricted to upper Pliensbachian and Toarcian, the potential stratigraphic use of this new species has to be explored. A method for biometry is also described in detail. This paper proves the value of biometric analysis in taxonomic description.

Planktonic gastropods (pteropods and heteropods) have been investigated in cores collected in the eastern Mediterranean along the Israeli coast in coral, pockmark, and channel areas. The sediment spans the last 5300 years. Our study reveals that neglecting the smaller fraction (> 63 µm) may result in a misinterpretation of the palaeoceanography. The presence of tropical and subtropical species reveals that the eastern Mediterranean acted as a refugium for these organisms.

Dinoflagellate cysts can be used to infer past oceanographic conditions in the Southern Ocean. This requires knowledge of their present-day ecologic affinities. We add 66 Antarctic-proximal surface sediment samples to the Southern Ocean data and derive oceanographic conditions at those stations. Dinoflagellate cysts are clearly biogeographically separated along latitudinal gradients of temperature, sea ice, nutrients, and salinity, which allows us to reconstruct these parameters for the past.