Records of diagenetically mineralized, filamentous, cavity-dwelling microorganisms extend back to strata from the early Paleoproterozoic (2400 Ma). In North Greenland (Laurentia), they are first known from the Ediacaran (Neoproterozoic; ca. 600 Ma) Portfjeld Formation of southern Peary Land, in association with a biota similar to that of the Doushantuo Formation of China. The Portfjeld Formation cavity dwellers are compared with more widespread occurrences in Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4, Miaolingian Series) strata from the same region in which assemblages in postmortal shelter structures within articulated acrotretoid brachiopods and other invertebrates are common. All specimens were recovered by digestion of carbonate samples in weak acids. The described fossils are preserved as mineral encrusted threads but this diagenetic phosphatization unfortunately obscures their biological identity.

The Ediacaran tubular fossils Cloudina, Sinotubulites, and Conotubus are taxonomically revised with type materials. It is proposed that Aulophycus lucianoi Beurlen and Sommer, 1957, is not a senior synonym of Cloudina hartmannae Germs, 1972. Instead, most of its syntypes may be assigned to Sinotubulites or other taxa. Lectotypes of Sinotubulites baimatuoensis Chen et al., 1981, and Conotubus hemiannulatus Zhang and Lin in Lin et al., 1986, are designated from rediscovered syntypes. Sinotubulites baimatuoensis Chen et al., 1981, is reported from the Mooifontein Member of Nama Group at Aar Farm, Namibia. Cloudina waldei Hahn and Pflug, 1985, is assigned to Sinotubulites baimatuoensis, and thus its occurrence range is extended to Brazil. The lectotype of Conotubus hemiannulatus shows corrugations and annulations on the surface distinguishing it from Cloudina and other collared Ediacaran tubular fossils. Based on the taxonomic revision, we propose a Cloudina hartmannae Interval Zone for the terminal Ediacaran with the upper boundary defined by the first appearance datum of Protohertzina anabarica (i.e., the index fossil of the early Cambrian Anabarites trisulcatus-Protohertzina anabarica Assemblage Zone).

Bryozoans are common and diverse in fossil and modern coral reefs. However, studies of bryozoans in ancient reefs are generally limited, and even less is known about fossil bryozoan faunas associated with coral reefs in the Caribbean region. This is the second contribution describing the bryozoan assemblage from the early Miocene (Aquitanian) reefs of the Siamaná Formation in the La Guajira Peninsula, southern Caribbean. Here, we describe and illustrate 17 species of ascophoran-grade cheilostomes, including one new genus and three new species, Ditaxiporina colombiana n. sp., Poricella paulae n. sp., and Cycloavicularia parva n. gen. n. sp. Of the remaining fourteen taxa left in open nomenclature, one is considered confer and three affinis to species previously described, one is identified at family level, and nine at genus level. The Siamaná bryozoan fauna differs in species and colony-form composition from those associated with other paleoenvironments from Oligocene and Miocene localities of North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/043eadcf-0e39-4c1b-b207-f7628d6b5c84

Borings and bite marks on fossil turtle carapaces and plastra from the Miocene Moghra Formation, northern Egypt, are herein described. All fossil turtle material from Moghra exhibits ichnofossils. The positions of invertebrate borings on external surfaces of tortoise and turtle shell material at Moghra are consistent with the activities of ectoparasites or mesoparasites.

A single invertebrate ichnotaxon, Karethraichnus lakkos Zonneveld et al., 2016, occurs on Moghra tortoise fossils. This trace fossil was likely emplaced by ixodid arthropods (ticks). Bite marks assigned to Nihilichnus occur on a carapace peripheral and are interpreted to reflect postmortem scavenging. An abundant and moderately diverse assemblage of invertebrate borings characterizes Moghra aquatic turtle shells. Karethraichnus lakkos and Thatchtelithichnus holmani Zonneveld et al., 2016 traces on aquatic turtles are interpreted to reflect leech and/or trematode parasitism. Gunnellichnus moghraensis (new ichnogenus new ichnospecies) and G. akolouthiste (n. isp.) likely reflect bacterial and/or fungal infections on aquatic turtle shells that rarely dried out.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/f0a3977d-deff-4954-b196-536adc405854

Herein is reported the first occurrence of ostracodes from the Iapó Formation, an uppermost Ordovician unit of the Rio Ivaí Group in the Paraná basin, Brazil. Two ostracode species were identified in the Três Barras Farm section: Harpabollia harparum (Troedsson, 1918) and Satiellina paranaensis Adôrno and Salas in Adôrno et al., 2016 were recovered from dropstone-bearing shale overlying glaciogenic diamictites, a feature typical of Hirnantian (uppermost Ordovician) strata throughout Gondwana. The taxonomy of the Genus Harpabollia, as well as its type species Harpabollia harparum, was reviewed, and emended and new diagnoses were respectively proposed for each taxon. Occurrences of Harpabollia harparum and Satiellina species were common in areas influenced by cold waters. Additionally, the occurrence of Harpabollia harparum, an index species to the uppermost Ordovician of several stratigraphic units in Baltica and southern Gondwana, allowed us to infer a Hirnantian age for the deposits of the Iapó Formation. Other than being associated with Harpabollia harparum in Iapó Formation of the Paraná basin, Satiellina paranaensis is also found in lower levels of the Vila Maria Formation; therefore, these are also considered Hirnantian in age. Above these lower levels of the Vila Maria Formation, a well-dated Rhuddanian (lowermost Llandovery, Silurian) palynomorph assemblage is observed within the formation. These occurrences are evidence of a continuous process of sedimentary deposition during the Ordovician–Silurian transition in the Paraná basin.

The spider crabs Willinachoides santanai n. gen. n. sp. from the early-middle Miocene of north Brazil and Paradasygyius rodriguezi n. sp. from the late Miocene of Venezuela are described and illustrated. Additionally, Eoinachoides senni Van Straelen, 1933, from the late Oligocene–early Miocene of Venezuela, is redescribed based on photographs of the holotype, and the diagnosis of Eoinachoides latispinosus Carriol, Muizon, and Secretan, 1987, from the late Miocene of Peru, is emended also on the basis of photographs of the holotype. The past distribution points to a Tethyan background for the current amphi-American Inachoididae, with the oldest fossil species known from the early Eocene Tethyan regions (Pakistan and Italy), and from the late Eocene–late Pliocene of the Americas. The high number of monotypic genera in Inachoididae could be the result of rapid dispersion followed by diversification during the Neogene of the tropical America, facilitated by global and regional events (e.g., eustatic sea level changes, the Mi-1 Oligocene-Miocene boundary global cooling, the global warming period of the Middle Miocene Climate maximum, closure of the Panama Isthmus, and marine incursions into the Amazon Basin). The shoaling and final closure of the Central American Seaway are thought to have critically affected the evolution of the inachoidids and shaped their current distribution patterns.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/6275fdc4-4bfa-4873-9320-3143d4915172.

New fossil insect specimens from two new localities in Germany, namely Sperbersbach and Cabarz (Goldlauter Formation; early Permian), belonging to the Grylloblattida, are described. Abundant material is assigned to Pictoborella clara n. gen. n. sp., regarded as closely related to Pictoborella germanica (Prokop et al., 2012) n. comb., from the Saar-Nahe Basin (Germany; early Permian). Liomopterum fuscatum n. sp., represented by fewer specimens, is delimited based on previously published and new data on various Liomopterum spp. Two other Liomopteridae, Uralioma thuringiensis n. sp. and Liomopterites sperbersbachensis n. sp., each known from a single forewing, are also described. Finally, Cabarzopterum magnificus n. gen. n. sp., with unclear familial affinities, is described based on three forewings. The assemblages of grylloblattidan insects at Sperbersbach and Cabarz are generally similar, with differences probably related to different depositional environments and local paleoclimatic conditions.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/25ae125c-6a17-415f-8cf0-4c0507e4f89d

Molecular dating estimates the appearance of the family Oedemeridae in the Early Cretaceous. Several fossil representatives are known from Spanish (105 Ma) and Myanmar (99 Ma) ambers. The family also has been mentioned by several authors to occur in Eocene Baltic amber, but virtually no species was described until now. Here, we provide a description of the first fossil oedemerid species from Eocene Baltic amber, which is classified within subfamily Oedemerinae, in the extant genus Oedemera Olivier as Oedemera (s. str.) girulskii n. sp. The presence of appendiculate pretarsal claws and relatively large eyes separate the new species from its extant congeners.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/24b0b919-8684-4908-b002-9521b071dcc8.

The beetle Ceutorhynchus is used as a proxy for Eocene core Brassicaceae. The age of Brassicaceae has been strongly debated because their fossil record is scanty. There are four species of Ceutorhynchus inaffectatus species-group known in the Priabonian: Ceutorhynchus zerovae new species in Rovno amber and three in Baltic amber. There are numerous extant members of the group, all of which feed on core Brassicaceae. Together with differentiation of Brassicaceae-feeding Pierinae (Lepidoptera) in the Priabonian, the strong presence of Ceutorhynchus indicates at least an early Priabonian age of core Brassicaceae. The oldest fossil Brassicaceae is not known in the late Eocene of Europe, but was recorded in Montana, dated in some studies as late Oligocene, but recently as Priabonian (34 Ma). Ceutorhynchus zerovae n. sp. is very close to C. electrinus from Baltic amber.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/7f10761f-463d-44c5-9eef-bb4697bfb116.

A new species of drywood termite (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) is described from a nearly complete alate specimen preserved in early Miocene Ethiopian amber. Glyptotermes abyssinicus new species is distinguished by its U-shaped head with 12-segmented antennae, the ocelli separated from the eye margin, the right mandible with an obtuse angle between the apical and first marginal teeth, the left mandible with an obtuse angle between the apical and first + second marginal teeth, and the wing venation. This is the first termite reported from Ethiopian amber, and the fourth Miocene species of the extant genus Glyptotermes Froggatt, 1897, together with species previously described from diatomites of China and amber from the Dominican Republic. As the oldest report of the genus known from Africa, G. abyssinicus n. sp. constitutes an interesting new record for the biogeographical history of the kalotermitid lineage.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/7670b045-fb31-4809-8116-4d14c4dd275b

Two new genera and six new species of trilobites are systematically documented herein: Sinagnostus mirabilis new genus new species, Yanpingia punctata n. gen. n. sp., Illaenus taoyuanensis n. sp., Panderia striolatus n. sp., Nileus yichongqiaoensis n. sp., and Paratiresias peculiaris n. sp. The materials were collected from the Darriwilian (late Middle Ordovician) strata in the Upper Yangtze Region, South China. Also provided is an emended diagnosis of the genus Paratiresias based on the new species Paratiresias peculiaris, which is the oldest known species of this genus with an extremely narrow (sag. and exsag.) preglabellar field. Those Chinese species previously referred to Nanillaenus are reassigned to Illaenus sensu lato. These trilobites add new data for the Darriwilian trilobite macroevolution and show highly endemic to South China and the faunal exchanges between South China and Tarim, Kazakhstan, Alborz, as well as Sibumasu and North China.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/ec3be9be-b003-4367-910d-7a0ac4edc982

The Ladinian–Carnian transition in the Tethys domain was accompanied by an important environmental change representing a milestone in the climate evolution of the Triassic. However, estimations on paleodiversity composition and paleoenvironmental conditions across this interval are scarce in marine settings due to the lack of fossil-bearing successions. In this work, a refined paleontological and sedimentological study has allowed us to better characterize a well-preserved marine ?Ladinian–Carnian carbonate succession in the South Central Pyrenees (Odèn site, Catalonia, NE Spain). Vertebrate faunas include numerous actinopterygian specimens, forming an assemblage composed of at least four taxa: Peltopleurus cf. P. nuptialis Lombardo, 1999, Saurichthys sp., Colobodus giganteus (Beltan, 1972), and an indeterminate halecomorph. Specimens belonging to the genus Peltopleurus are dominant; the long-snouted Saurichthys, the halecomorph, and the large-bodied Colobodus giganteus are less abundant. Tetrapod remains are scarcely present and are assigned to sauropterygians. Invertebrate faunas include bivalves (Pseudocorbula gregaria [Münster in Goldfuss, 1838]) and brachiopods (Lingula sp.). The fossil assemblage was recovered from organic-rich laminated silty mudstone layers. Sedimentological and textural analyses suggest that fossil biotas were deposited below the fair-weather wave base in shallow subtidal coastal settings. These environments were sporadically sourced by silt/clay. The age of the Odèn site, on the basis of the recovered fauna, is assigned to the ?late Ladinian–middle Carnian (Middle–Late Triassic), which is in agreement with previously published ages based on palynomorph data.

The refined integration of paleontological, sedimentological, and biostratigraphic data from the Odèn site and other vertebrate-bearing localities in the Tethys domain can help better constrain the paleoenvironmental conditions and paleogeographical configuration impacting ecosystem diversity during the late Ladinian–Carnian interval.

The fossil record of Early Triassic diapsids is very important to understand how the end-Permian mass extinction affected ecosystems and the patterns and processes involved in the subsequent biotic recovery. Vertebrate fossil assemblages of continental deposits in current-day South Africa, China, and Russia are the best source of information of this clade during the aftermath of the extinction event. Although considerably less sampled, the Induan continental rocks of the Panchet Formation of the Damodar Basin (eastern India) have also yielded a relatively diverse vertebrate assemblage composed of fishes, temnospondyls, synapsids, and a single proterosuchid taxon. Here, we report on a small isolated diapsid partial ilium (ISIR 1132) from the upper Panchet Formation. This specimen has a distinct morphology compared to other tetrapods that we know, including a shallow emargination on the dorsal margin of the anterior portion of the iliac blade, and ratio between height of iliac blade versus maximum height of iliac acetabulum at level of the dorsalmost extension of supraacetabular crest ≤0.45. Comparisons and a quantitative phylogenetic analysis found ISIR 1132 as a non-archosauromorph neodiapsid. This new specimen expands the reptile diversity in the Panchet Formation as well as for the rest of Gondwana, where Early Triassic non-archosauromorph neodiapsid species are extremely scarce.

A new specimen of Basilosaurus cetoides was discovered on the banks of the Flint River in Albany, Georgia, USA, in 2010. This fossil, which was the most complete specimen of the species from Georgia to date, consisted of five nearly complete and two partial post-thoracic vertebrae, tentatively identified as S4 through Ca6. During excavation, however, the site was looted and most of the specimen was lost to science. Nonetheless, we use this discovery as an opportunity to update the current state of knowledge on the stratigraphic, biogeographic, and environmental distribution of Basilosaurus in North America, as well as the position of the late Eocene shoreline in the southeastern United States. The results show that Basilosaurus was most abundant across the southeastern coastal plain during the early to middle Priabonian, coincident with the late Eocene maximum marine transgression. The decline in Basilosaurus localities is associated with the retreating shoreline of the terminal Eocene. The majority of Basilosaurus localities fall well south of the position of the late Eocene shoreline hypothesized in this study, suggesting the genus favored middle to outer neritic zones of the epicontinental sea. The comparatively low number of Priabonian specimens in the Atlantic Coastal Plain versus the Gulf Coastal Plain, then, suggests the presence of shallow zones in the Atlantic Coastal Plain that may have limited the distribution of Basilosaurus across the region. The hypothesized shoreline of this study ultimately differs from earlier reconstructions by extending the Mississippi embayment at the Bartonian/Priabonian boundary farther north than previously noted.

With differentiated tissues and organs, a high-level eukaryotic macroalga Lanceaphyton xiaojiangensis n. gen. n. sp. lived on the middle–late Ediacaran (ca. 560–551 Ma) seafloor in South China. Its body had a pith (perhaps mechanical tissue) and outer tissue (perhaps epidermis and/or cortex). The lance-like macroalga consists of an unbranching thallus that grew over the sediment surface for sunlight and a holdfast grown into sediments to keep the thallus fixed on the seafloor. The pithy stipe (lower thallus) might have served to support the upper pithless thallus for photosynthesis. The holdfast is composed of a tapering pithy rhizome growing down into the sediments, with many filamentous pithless rhizoids dispersedly growing within the sediments. With the differentiated tissues and organs, especially the pith accounting for about half of the width of the rhizome and stipe, Lanceaphyton n. gen. was a high-level eukaryotic macroalga, similar to phaeophytes in morphological features, but further research is needed on its microstructural details. The pithy macroalga shows that the macroalgal pith had emerged in the Ediacaran.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/bc924c5c-84e4-4170-9ca1-caee0d56c6d5.

The Silurian and Devonian plant fossil record is the basis for our understanding of the early evolution of land plants, yet our appreciation of early global phytogeographic evolution has been constrained by the focus of most studies on deposits from Europe, North America, and, more recently, South China. Devonian plants have been recorded rarely from northeastern China, and among previous records, few plants have been illustrated and formally described. In this article, megafossil plants representing a Late Devonian-aged (probably Famennian) flora are described from a locality at northern Sonid Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia, NE China. The flora includes Melvillipteris sonidia new species, Archaeopteris sp., and fragments of some other plants. The new plant shows main axes and two orders of lateral branches. The first-order branches of this plant show a typical zigzag appearance and are borne in pairs on main axes. Second-order branches are straight or slightly flexed, and are borne helically or alternately on first-order branches. Sterile ultimate appendages and fertile structures of M. sonidia n. sp. are borne alternately on second-order branches. An associated palynological assemblage, as well as U-Pb ages of detrital zircon grains from adjacent horizons, are also reported, indicating a Late Devonian age in accord with the megafossil plants. The present study contributes to our appreciation of the Devonian floristic diversity of the Xing'an Block, and, through our review of the record of early vascular plants from NE China, more broadly to the understanding of the mid-latitude vegetation of the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Devonian.

The fusuline genera Thailandina Toriyama and Kanmera, 1968 and Neothailandina Toriyama and Kanmera, 1968 were established by Toriyama and Kanmera (1968) based on material from the Khao Phlong Phrab section of the Permian Rat Buri Limestone in central Thailand that is currently assigned to the Khao Khad Formation of the Saraburi Group (Ueno and Charoentitirat, 2011). These fusuline genera are peculiar in having parachomata and replaced tests by secondary mineralization. Moreover, Neothailandina was described to have a test with transverse septula, considered to be characteristic for Neoschwagerinidae. Based on these remarkable test features, Toriyama and Kanmera (1968) newly introduced the subfamily Thailandininae to accommodate these two new genera and assigned it to the Neoschwagerinidae, despite the lack of septula in Thailandina. Later, Kobayashi et al. (2010) argued that Thailandina and Neothailandina are just a mixed grouping of several known genera of schwagerinids, verbeekinids, and neoschwagerinids that are too altered by recrystallization to be recognizable, and rejected the taxonomic validity of these two genera as well as Thailandininae.

The Khao Phlong Phrab section represents one of the standard late Cisuralian−Guadalupian (late early−middle Permian) fusuline successions in the eastern Paleotethys (Zhang and Wang, 2018) and contains not only Thailandina and Neothailandina but also abundant schwagerinid, verbeekinid, and neoschwagerinid fusulines (Toriyama, 1975; Fig. 1). I investigated the original specimens described by Toriyama and Kanmera (1968) and Toriyama (1975) from the section that are housed in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences of Kyushu University, Japan. I found that most of the grounds for Kobayashi et al.'s (2010) arguments to regard the thailandinin genera as taxonomically invalid are not supported by observations on these specimens as explained in the account that follows. In this taxonomic note, I propose that Thailandina and Neothailandina, and their family Thailandinidae, should be retained as valid taxonomic groups.