Rugose corals are thought to have evolved from an ancestral anthozoan during the Middle Ordovician Epoch even though there is a lack of fossil evidence for the early evolutionary history of the Rugosa. Previously documented species of early rugose corals are all assigned to the main orders Calostylina, Streptelasmatina, Cystiphyllina and Stauriina, which had all evolved by the late Sandbian. Lambelasma? sp., a new rugose coral, was recovered from the upper Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) part of the Shirgesht Formation of Central Iran. One of the fossils, partly embedded in rock matrix, was examined using synchrotron X-ray tomography, which is here demonstrated to be a useful tool in palaeontological taxonomic studies. The new fossils form part of a mid-latitude Gondwana fauna and are the earliest record of rugose corals to date. The specimens combine features of both the Streptelasmatina and Calostylina, but are here assigned to the Lambelasmatidae (Calostylina) on the grounds of a very deep calice, the pinnate arrangement of the septa and a lack of synapticulae and tabulae.

The Guzhangian Weeks Formation preserves a diverse, yet virtually unstudied, non-trilobite arthropod fauna. Here we describe Tremaglaspis vanroyi sp. nov., the oldest representative of an enigmatic group of extinct arthropods, the Aglaspidida. Tremaglaspis was previously known from the Lower Ordovician and its morphology was regarded as particularly derived within the clade. Its occurrence in the Cambrian of Utah suggests that much of the early evolutionary history of the Aglaspidida remains unknown. A review of the environmental settings of previous aglaspidid findings suggests that these arthropods preferentially inhabited shallow-water environments, which may partially explain their limited fossil record.

The Scaglia Rossa of central and northern Italy yields a late Cretaceous bathyal echinoid fauna. Comparison with Jurassic and Cenozoic bathyal faunas highlights that (i) there have been at least three phases of colonization of bathyal settings from the continental shelves, with successive faunas replacing the earlier; and (ii) bathyal echinoid faunas encompass an increasing range of feeding strategies and greater diversity of taxa through time, paralleling increasing nutrification of the oceans. A new Santonian deep-sea spatangoid, Bathyovulaster disjunctus gen. et sp. nov., is described from sediments deposited at > 1500 m water depth at Gubbio, Umbria–Marche region, Italy.

Aglaspidids represent an obscure group of lower Palaeozoic arthropods with a patchy biogeographic distribution. Before the recent description of a representative from Tasmania, these arthropods were exclusively known from Laurentia during the late Cambrian. Here we describe a new species, Aglaspella sanduensis sp. nov., from the Furongian of China, confirming that aglaspidids sensu stricto were already widely distributed worldwide by the late Cambrian; this demonstrates that some aglaspidids had great dispersal capabilities. A new diagnosis of the genus Aglaspella is proposed and the species formerly known as Aglaspella eatoni is assigned to a new taxon, Hesselbonia gen. nov.

The opening of the Arctic oceanic basins in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic proceeded in steps, with episodes of magmatism and sedimentation marking specific stages in this development. In addition to the stratigraphic record provided by sediments and fossils, the intrusive and extrusive rocks yield important information on this evolution. This study has determined the ages of mafic sills and a felsic tuff in Svalbard and Franz Josef Land using the isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) U–Pb method on zircon, baddeleyite, titanite and rutile. The results indicate crystallization of the Diabasodden sill at 124.5 ± 0.2 Ma and the Linnévatn sill at 124.7 ± 0.3 Ma, the latter also containing slightly younger secondary titanite with an age of 123.9 ± 0.3 Ma. A bentonite in the Helvetiafjellet Formation, also on Svalbard, has an age of 123.3 ± 0.2 Ma. Zircon in mafic sills intersected by drill cores in Franz Josef Land indicate an age of 122.7 Ma for a thick sill on Severnaya Island and a single grain age of ≥122.2 ± 1.1 Ma for a thinner sill on Nagurskaya Island. These data emphasize the importance and relatively short-lived nature of the Cretaceous magmatic event in the region.

Eight volcanic ash layers, linked to large explosive events caused by subduction-related volcanism from the Vardar Ocean back-arc, interbedded with marine limestones and cherts, have been identified in the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (northeastern Italy). The thickest ash layer, attributed to the Gregoryceras transversarium ammonite Biozone (Oxfordian Stage), yields a precise and reliable 40Ar–39Ar date of 156.1 ± 0.89 Ma, which is in better agreement with GTS2004 boundaries than with the current GTS2012. This first biostratigraphically well-constrained Oxfordian date is proposed as a new radiometric tie-point to improve the Geologic Time Scale for the Late Jurassic, where ammonite-calibrated radiometric dates are particularly scarce.

The volcano of Tallante (Pliocene) in the Betic Cordillera (Spain) exhumed a heterogeneous xenolith association, including ultramafic mantle rocks and diverse crustal lithologies. The latter include metagabbroids and felsic rocks characterized by quartz-rich parageneses containing spinel ± garnet ± sillimanite ± feldspars. Pressure–temperature estimates for felsic xenoliths overlap (at 0.7–0.8 GPa) those recorded by the mantle-derived peridotite xenoliths. Therefore, we propose that an intimate association of interlayered crust and mantle lithologies characterizes the crust–mantle boundary in this area. This scenario conforms to evidence provided by the neighbouring massifs of Ronda and Beni Bousera (and by other peri-Mediterranean deep crust/mantle sections) where exhumation of fossil crust–mantle boundary reveals that this boundary is not sharp. The results are discussed on the basis of recent geophysical and petrological studies emphasizing that in non-cratonic regions the crust–mantle boundary is often characterized by a gradational nature showing inter-fingering of heterogeneous lithologies. Silica-rich melts formed within the crustal domains intruded the surrounding mantle and induced metasomatism. The resulting hybrid crust–mantle domains thus provide suitable sources for exotic magma types such as the Mediterranean lamproites.

Detrital zircon U-Pb ages for 30 Late Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones from the Eastern Province of eastern New Zealand, combined with previously-published geochronological and palaeontological data, constrain the time of deposition in the Pahau and Waioeka terranes of the Cretaceous accretionary margin of Zealandia, and their adjacent cover strata. The zircon age patterns also constrain possible sediment source areas and mid-Cretaceous geodynamic models of the transition from basement accretionary wedge to passive-margin cover successions. Pahau Terrane deposition was mainly Barremian to Aptian but continued locally through to late Albian time, with major source areas in the adjacent Kaweka and Waipapa terranes and minor inputs from the inboard Median Batholith. Waioeka Terrane deposition was mainly Albian, with distinctive and exclusive sediment sources, principally from the Median Batholith but with minor inputs from the Western Province. Alternative tectonic models to deliver such exclusive Median Batholith and Western Province-derived sediment to the mid-Cretaceous Zealandia continental margin are: (1) the creation of a rift depression across Zealandia or (2) sinistral displacement of South Zealandia with respect to North Zealandia, to expose Western Province rocks directly at the Zealandia margin. Detrital zircon age patterns of Cretaceous cover successions of the Eastern Province of eastern New Zealand demonstrate purely local sources in the adjacent Kaweka and Waipapa terranes. Cretaceous zircon components show a decline in successions of late Early Cretaceous age and disappear by late Late Cretaceous time, suggesting the abandonment or loss of access to both the Median Batholith and Western Province as sediment sources.

Two distinct Pleistocene assemblages from SE Santiago Island are comparable to modern analogues elsewhere in the Cape Verde Islands. A low-diversity Siderastrea radians assemblage lived atop basalt knobs surrounded by sand on a slope below a cliff. A Millepora alcicornis–Megabalanus azoricus assemblage occupied the cliff. The latter was a typical rocky-shore assemblage from a high-energy setting below the tidal zone. Bioerosion structures in basalt produced by Circolites kotoncensis and Gastrochaenolites isp. also occur there. Despite extensive studies on local limestone deposits in 1832 and 1836, lack of exposure prevented Darwin from seeing these fossils.

Fossilized hackberry (Celtis) seeds were found within the shells of two Stylemys individuals excavated from Oligocene sediments from South Dakota. The presence of in situ skeletal elements indicates that the tortoises were buried without extensive disarticulation. Abiotic transport of the seeds into the carcasses is unlikely given the anatomically correct placement of both skeletal elements and seeds and the comparative settling velocities of the encasing sediment versus modern Celtis seeds. Ecological evidence from modern Celtis and Stylemys analogues suggests that tortoises are commonly seed dispersal agents. The fossils are therefore interpreted as enterolites, providing the oldest reliable evidence of tortoise frugivory.

The first ever list of the regional Öland Series (Tremadocian to mid Darriwilian) trilobites and agnostids from the whole of Baltoscandia is compiled. The study includes revision of systematics as well as vertical and horizontal distribution. This is necessary because of the uneven state of knowledge, some faunas having being studied recently, others not for more than a century. Three successive faunal types are recognized: the Olenid Fauna surviving from the Cambrian in black bituminous shale facies, the immigrating Ceratopyge Fauna, and the stabilized Asaphid Fauna. The latter fauna collapsed in the middle of Darriwilian and gave way to a set of new post-Ölandian faunas.