This is the first record of Late Jurassic (Volgian) otoliths from the boreal province of Russia. Two new species– Palealbula korchinskyi n. sp. and Palealbula moscoviensis n. sp. – are described representing otoliths of putative stem-albuliform affinities of unresolved familiar position. The phylogeny of Palealbula and the supposedly related genus Protalbula is discussed in the light of the new findings presented in this article. Both genera are shown to represent a common faunal element in the early evolutionary phase of teleosts during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.
Unfortunately, in preparing this article, I forgot that these otoliths have already been depicted in the classic publication of Trautschold in the 19th century (see Trautschold H. 1877. Erganzung zur Fauna der russischen Jura // Verhandl. Russisch-Kaiser. Mineral. Gessel. Ser.2 Т.12. S.79-116, pdf). Because of this, we have not cited this article. However, Trautschold only depicted two specimens without giving them any names or clarification of their belonging to some kind of fish taxa, so the species we have described in this article are undoubtedly valid. Nevertheless, it's a pity that the list of references in our article is incomplete.
Late Jurassic, Russia, Moscow, Volgian, Palealbula, new species