Ali A.M. Eisawi,^1,*,** Awad B. Ibrahim,^2,*** Omer Babiker A. Rahim,^2,**** Eckart Schrank<sup>3,*****

1</sup>aFaculty of Petroleum and Minerals, Al Neelain University, PO Box 12702, Khartoum, Sudan
²bCentral Petroleum Laboratory (CPL), PO Box 2986, Khartoum, Sudan
³cInstitut für Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Technische Universität Berlin, Sekr. EB 10, Strasse des

^*Corresponding author. Email: eisawia@yahoo.com
^**ALI A.M. EISAWI is an assistant professor at Al Neelain University in Khartoum, Sudan. He received BSc (Honours) and MSc degrees in geology from the University of Khartoum in 1994 and 1999, respectively. He was awarded a doctoral degree of natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Technical University Berlin (TUB) in 2007 for a dissertation on palynology. He joined Al Neelain University in 1995 as a teaching assistant and was recently promoted to his present position.
^***AWAD B. IBRAHIM graduated from the University of Baghdad in 1982, and in October 1982 joined the Geological Research Authority of Sudan as a geologist within the Geological Survey. In 1985 he joined the Petroleum Section within the Geological Research Authority of Sudan as a petroleum geologist. He commenced an MSc in palynology at the University of Sheffield, UK, in 1989 and received his Ph.D. in palynology in 1997. From 1997–2002 he was a visiting researcher at the Centre for Palynology, University of Sheffield. From 2002–2011 he was Consultant Geologist, Research & Development Unit Director, at the Central Petroleum Laboratories (CPL), in Khartoum, Sudan. He is currently Upstream Research Manager within the Research and Technology Department of Sudapet Co. Ltd., in Khartoum, Sudan.
^****OMER BABIKER A. RAHIM graduated from Damascus University in 1994 with a B.Sc in applied geology. In 1999 he was awarded his M.Sc in Palynology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. He joined the Geological Research Authority of the Sudan (GRAS) as Mineral Exploretionist from 1997–1999, then moved to the Central Petroleum Laboratories (CPL), Ministry of Energy and Mining, Sudan where he helped to establish the Biostratigraphy/Sedimentology Laboratory. Currently Mr Omer is doing his Ph.D. at the University Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.
^*****ECKART SCHRANK is a palaeontologist and palynologist at the Technical University Berlin (TUB), Germany. He studied geology at the Humboldt University Berlin, where he also received a doctorate degree for a paleozoological thesis. For over 25 years his research interests have centered on the Mesozoic palynology of northeast Africa. Eckart's career in palynology started in the early 1980s when he joined the Special Research Project (Sonderforschungsbereich) “Geoscientific Problems in Arid Areas” at TUB. Within this large and multidisciplinary project, he contributed a series of papers to the biostratigraphical subdivision of sedimentary basins in the desert regions of Egypt and Sudan. Later he extended these activities to other regions of Africa such as Somalia and Tanzania. Recently his research has focussed on palynological aspects of the biostratigraphy and palaeoecology of the dinosaur-bearing Tendaguru Beds in southeast Tanzania. He served two consecutive terms (1992–2000) as a Councillor for the International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS), representing APP (Arbeitskreis für Paläobotanik und Palynologie).