Studies of Miocene sediments in the Fore-Carpathian Basin, conducted by geologists from the University of Warsaw have provided new insights on the distribution of the facies infilling the basin, particularly in the forebulge and back-bulge zones. The origin of the large-scale sand bodies, evaporitic deposits and large-scale organic buildups is discussed, described and verified. These deposits originated in variable, shallow marine settings, differing in their water chemistry and the dynamics of sedimentary processes, and are unique with regard to the fossil assemblages they yield. Many years of taxonomic, biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic and ecotaphonomic investigations have resulted in the identification of the fossil assemblages of these sediments, their age, sedimentary settings and post-mortem conditions. Detailed studies were focused on corals, polychaetes, most classes of molluscs, crustaceans, echinoderms, and fishes.

Echinoderms from the Badenian (Middle Miocene) of the Fore-Carpathian Basin of western Ukraine are facies restricted. The Mykolaiv Beds, stratigraphically older, yielded the starfish Astropecten forbesi (complete skeletons), two genera of sand dollars (Parascutella, Parmulechinus), and numerous other echinoids of the genera Psammechinus , Echinocyamus, Spatangus, Hemipatagus, Echinocardium, Clypeaster, Echinolampas, and Conolampas. The stratigraphically younger, calcareous Ternopil Beds yielded Eucidaris (complete coronae, isolated spines), Arbacina , Brissus, and Rhabdobrissus. Sixteen species of echinoids are distinguished and/or commented. A new brissid, Rhabdobrissus tarnopolensis sp. nov., is established. A mass occurrence of some species (Psammechinus dubius and Hemipatagus ocellatus) contrasts with that of mass aggregations (sand dollars and Echinocardium leopolitanum) by dynamic events in selected layers of proximal tempestites. Of special note is the occurrence of very small specimens, interpreted as juveniles (‘babies’) having been swept out of their restricted biotopes (‘nurseries’). Some species hitherto regarded as of Early Miocene age, and the problem of their persistence beyond the Fore-Carpathian Basin and/or migration into that basin during the Middle Miocene transgression are discussed.

The Mykolaiv Sands are a huge lithosome of Mid dle Mio cene (Badenian) age, ac com mo dated within the Fore-Carpathian Ba sin in the West ern Ukraine. Typ i cally de vel oped in the area of Opole Mi nor, it spreads across ad ja cent re gions of Opole to cover an area of about 1300 km 2 . The var ied sed i men tary struc tures and ubiq ui tous bur rows, in di cate their de vel op ment as a stack of sand shoals or re lated bod ies, up to a few tens of metres thick, some of which tem po rarily reached sea level. Amidst the shoals, storm scours in ter mit tently formed channel-like infills, some with re sid ual lags at the base. The re versed den sity strat i fi ca tion and/or an in creas ing grav ity gra di ent in volved mass move ments, some of which may have been trig gered by seis mic shocks fo cused at the shore or the ad ja cent hin ter land of Podolia and Volhynia. Spe cial at ten tion is paid to the di verse fos sils, all taphonomically fil tered (ar agon ite shells and chitinous car a paces be ing lost), but which lo cally are mass-ag gre gated. They typ ify par tic u lar sand sets/bod ies, to form allochthonous as sem blages, some mem bers of which (the cirripedes Scalpellum and Creusia, the shark Hemipristis, the ray Myliobatis) are newly rec og nized in the Ukrai nian part of the Fore-Carpathian Ba sin. The oth ers en rich con sid er ably the fau nal con tent of the Mid dle Mio cene (Badenian) Paratethyan bas ins, ei ther in terms of tax o nomic di ver sity, or the eco-taphonomy of se lected taxa (the star fish Astropecten, di verse echinoids). The whole fau nal con tent of the Mykolaiv Sands may owe its pro fuse de vel op ment to the global Mid dle Mio cene Cli ma tic Op ti mum of early Badenian age.

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Monacha claustralis (Rossmässler) and M. cartusiana (O. F. Müller) are frequently confused due to their great shell similarity. The only reliable identification of these species can be based on the genital and molecular characters. Based on sequences of two mitochondrial gene (COI and 16SrDNA) fragments we identified the distribution of these species. M. claustralis was recognised as a species spreading northwards from its typical Turkish and Greek localities since its occurrence was discovered in Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina on the basis of anatomical and molecular evidence. Moreover, its several new localities in Poland are reported. The occurrence of M. cartusiana is for the first time molecularly confirmed in Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia and Kosovo, and some new localities are also reported from Poland, Hungary, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.