Ali Soliman,^1,* Hamid Slimani<sup>2,**

1</sup>aDepartment of Geology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
²bGeo-Biodiversity and Natural Patrimony Laboratory (GEOBIO), ‘Geophysics, Natural Patrimony and Gree

^*Ali Soliman graduated in geology from the University of Tanta, Egypt in 1995. In 2000, he finished his Masters studies on the Jurassic palynostratigraphy of the Western Desert, Egypt with Salah El Beialy. In October 2002, he received a Ph.D. scholarship funded by the ÖAD, Austria and he completed his studies on Miocene dinoflagellate cysts from the Gulf of Suez, Egypt in March 2006 under the supervision of W.E. Piller and M.J. Head. In 2006, he is embedded in projects funded by the öAW and FWF (Austria) dealing with the taxonomy and stratigraphy of the Miocene dinoflagellates of the Central Paratethys and the ancient Lake Pannon. Ali's research interests span all aspects of palynology, particularly dinoflagellate cysts of the Jurassic to the late Cenozoic. Currently, Ali is also an Assistance Professor in palynology at the University of Tanta, Egypt.
^**Hamid Slimani is professor of Micropaleontology in the Scientific Institute of the University Mohammed V-Agdal, Rabat, Morocco. He obtained his “Licence” (1986) in Geology from the University Mohammed V-Agdal, his “Maîtrise interuniversitaire” in applied paleontology (1989) from the University of Liège (Belgium) and his “Doctorat és Sciences” (1995) in Geology from the University of Ghent (Belgium). His research interests include systematics, biostratigraphy, paleoenvironments and paleobiogeography of dinoflagellate cysts of the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, and events that mark the Cretaceous–Paleogene, Paleocene–Eocene and Eocene–Oligocene boundaries.