Palaeobiological study of marine fossil fishes from the Oligocene of the Hermanowa locality (Poland)

Numerous fish fossil have been found in the Oligocene-Miocene deposits of the Carpathian Basins over the last decades. These findings have been taxonomically studied but especially juvenile and larval specimens gained only a minor attention. The goal of the present study is to fill the gap in this research by choosing the exceptional fish collection from the Hermanowa locality represented by several hundreds of specimens of different ontogenetic levels. Study of these specimens brings an opportunity of recognition of ontogenetic processes, one of key issues in these days. Information on ontogeny together with a detailed taxonomical study will serve as a basis for re-evaluation of the studied fish taxa from the systematic points of view. Furthermore, the complex description and analysis of the collection will provide palaeoecological data, which, in larger context of other localities in Carpathian Basins, can reveal new aspects of fish fauna changes during the Oligocene-Miocene time interval.