A new work that continues the paleontological reseach carried out in Fălciu-Prut locality (an area with a Late Miocene freshwater fish-fauna from Romania) has been published in the Open Access Journal Palaeontologia Electronica by Ph.D. student Marian Bordeianu together with Prof. Dr. Vlad Codrea and Dr. Márton Venczel, both affiliated to Babeș-Bolyai University and the Department of Natural History, Țării Crișurilor Museum, Oradea.

The reseach presents a moderatley diverse fossil amphibian and squamate reptile assemblage, consisting of various fragmentary cranial bones, as well as postcranial ones as vertebrae and appendicular bones. The fossils document the Late Miocene (Turolian, MN 11-12, ca. 7 My ago) of the Dacian Basin, Romania, and enrich the faunal list of the locality, but also the ones of the country and Europe. The amphibians refer to newts (two representatives: Chelotriton sp. and Triturus sp.) and frogs (four representatives: Latonia sp., Pelobates sp., Bufotes cf. viridis and Pelophylax sp.). The squamates include lizards (four representatives: Lacertidae sp. indet. 1 and 2; Anguinae sp. indet. 1 and 2) and snakes (four representatives: Scolecophidia indet., Natrix sp., Colubridae indet. and Naja cf. romani). The composition of the FP1 fauna suggests mild temperate climate conditions, a savannah-like landscape with shrubberies and open woodlands, and some water sources in the area. Amongst these fossils, the frog Latonia and the cobra Naja indicate the last occurence of these taxa on the European territory.

All the fossils from this study are housed in the Paleontology-Stratigraphy Museum of the Babeș-Bolyai University.

The full study can be accessed at: https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2022/3639-fossil-herps-from-falciu https://doi.org/10.26879/1156