engleski

A short history of investigations on fossil algae in Croatia

Investigations on fossil algae in Croatia dated since 1907 and the very first description of a Permian dasyclad from Mt. Velebit by Austrian geologist and paleontologist Richard Johann Schubert. He undertook in the year 1905 a scientific trip to south Velebit from Mala Paklenica torrent to Velika Paklenica, where he found numerous small fossils, that he recognised as dasycladacean algae and gave them the name Mizzia velebitana. This was followed by investigations by Julius Pia (1920, 1925) on Triassic alga Diplopora annulata var. dolomitica, also from Velebit, that was given to him by Schubert. The first Croatian researcher on fossil algae was Milan Herak, Pia's PhD student on the topic of Triassic sponge (one of them - Oligoplagia ended as gymnocodiacean alga). His first paper on Ladinian Dasycladaceae was published in 1950. Soon he was followed by his colleague from the Geological-Paleontological Department of the Faculty of Science Vanda Kochansky-Devidé. She published her first paper together with Herak on Permian and Carboniferous Dasycladaceae in 1960. While Herak was focused on Triassic algae, Kochansky-Devidé investigated Paleozoic algae and fusulinid foraminifera. From the same department came Ivan Gušić, whose first paper was from 1966 on the subgenus Pianella. Three mentioned authors published work " The Development of the Dasyclad Algae through the Ages" in the book edited by Erik Flügel, that resulted from the first symposium on fossil algae. Kochansky-Devidé published her second paper with Momčilo Milanović in 1962. He was working in the Institute of Geology (today Croatian Geological Survey) and published papers mainly on Permian algae. Branko Sokač also came from the Institute of Geology and, as Schubert, Pia, Herak, Kochansky-Devidé and Milanović, started his investigations in Velebit Mt. His first papers are from 1964, and the last one is in press, since he is still active. During many years he cooperate with Ivo Velić, who investigate benthic foraminifera. The author of this text is also working in the Institute, where he started to study fossil algae under supervision of Branko Sokač. During the years, papers coming from "Zagreb Algological School" become distinct after rich and well illustrated fossil material, and numerous contributions on the knowledge on fossil algae from younger Paleozoic and Mezozoic, that is to be thanked, not only to the authors, but also to the very thick and nicely exposed carbonate sequence of the Croatian Dinarides Mountains. Besides mentioned authors that devote part of their careers to fossil algae, many others used fossil algae in their investigations, mostly as a guide fossils. Unfortunately, all of them can not be mentioned this short text, but some of this contributions are listed in the reference list. Rajka Radoičić from Beograd (Serbia) also described some taxa from Croatia. Almost all research refer to dasycladal alge, while other algae are only rarely investigated. Although red algae Corallinaceae are abundant in the Miocene deposits, they have not usually been investigated in details, but hopefully it will change in the future.

Croatia; fossil algae

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