A long hiatus encompassing most of the Eocene (end of the Ypresian to the early Priabonian) breaks up the proboscidean evolutionary history, which is otherwise documented by a rich fossil record. Only two post-Ypresian localities from West Africa (Mali and Senegal) have yielded scarce Moeritherium-like dental remains. Here, we study one of these remains from Senegal and name a new genus and species, Saloumia gorodiskii. This taxon, confidently mid-Lutetian in age, evokes Moeritherium and elephantiforms with its wrinkled enamel, lack of centrocrista, and strong lingual cingulum. However, due to its pronounced bunodonty, which departs from the bunolophodonty of both Moeritherium and elephantiforms, we cannot exclude the possibility that Saloumia documents an early experiment in dental diversity among Paleocene–Eocene proboscideans, without direct relationships with later proboscideans.

UUID: http://www.zoobank.org/0b6b83f8-817d-498c-a672-8ffa8f81a978

Squat lobsters within Galatheoidea are very diverse with over 1,300 extant species that live in all marine ecosystems, but their fossil record, starting in the Middle Jurassic, consists of only ~200 species. Consequently, much remains to be learned about their biodiversity, phylogeny, and paleobiogeography. We describe five new species (Galatheites sforum n. sp., Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic, Germany; Vasconilia zapotitlanensis n. sp., Barremian, Early Cretaceous, Mexico; Eomunidopsis texcalaensis n. sp., Barremian, Early Cretaceous, Mexico; Protomunida bennickei n. sp., Danian, Paleocene, Denmark; and Protomunida eurekantha n. sp., Danian, Paleocene, Denmark) and one new genus (Tethysgalathea n. gen., Ypresian, Eocene, Italy). We further reassign Munida cretacea (Albian, Early Cretaceous, Texas, USA) to Galathea?, return Eomunidopsis? cobbani (Campanian, Late Cretaceous, Colorado, USA) to its original genus, report on the second occurrence of Vetoplautus latimarginus Robins et al., 2013 (Tithonian, Late Jurassic, Czech Republic), and reinstate Palaeomunidopsis moutieri (middle Bathonian, Middle Jurassic, France) as the oldest galatheoid known to date. The five new species, all found in limestones containing corals, increase galatheoid diversity in the fossil record by 2.5%. Finally, the common yet hitherto unrecognized Protomunida eurekantha was discovered by making casts of external molds, revealing distinct spines on the posterior margin that are more difficult to see in internal molds and specimens with cuticle due to breakage. Collecting and studying the external molds for galatheoids and other fossil decapods could yield additional cryptic species.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/68a25381-65c6-4773-a4f2-71d9b0a25304

A moderately diverse assemblage of brachiopods from the Latham Shale Lagerstätte (Cambrian Series 2, upper Stage 4) and the upper Cadiz Formation (Miaolingian, Wuliuan), California is described in detail for the first time. The fauna includes both linguliform and rhynchonelliform brachiopods—Hadrotreta primaea (Walcott, 1902), Paterina prospectensis (Walcott, 1884), Dictyonina pannula (White, 1874), and Mickwitzia occidens Walcott, 1908; and Nisusia fulleri Mount, 1981 and Wimanella highlandensis (Walcott, 1886), respectively—together with olenellid trilobites and hyolithids. The fauna differs from other Cambrian Konservat-Lagerstätten (notably Cambrian Series 2 Chengjiang and Guanshan Lagerstätten, eastern Yunnan) in that the brachiopod shell valves in many cases are still preserved with their original mineralization. Moreover, the excellently preserved shale-hosted valves even include cases with exquisite epithelial cell molds, otherwise only seen in acid-etched material from carbonate rocks. The pitted ornamentation in D. pannula closely resembles that described from Ordovician linguliforms. The unusual preservation of N. fulleri provides important clues for ancestral composition of the brachiopod shell. The two articulated rhynchonelliform species probably represent the oldest records of this group from the west Laurentia. The fauna could also represent the earliest onset of the transition from the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna (CEF) to the Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna (PEF).

Tetraoninae (grouse) and Meleagridinae (turkeys) are conspicuous representatives of the modern North American avifauna. The pre-Pleistocene fossil record of these clades has historically been limited to fragmentary remains, in some cases contributing to confusion rather than improving our understanding of how these charismatic landfowl evolved. We report an exquisitely preserved partial skeleton representing a new species of Late Miocene phasianid from the Ash Hollow Formation of Nebraska. Centuriavis lioae n. gen. n. sp. is a phasianid species close in size to modern sage-grouse that diverged prior to the grouse-turkey split, and thus offers insight into the early history of this radiation. The cranial endocast resembles other North American phasianids and differs from odontophorids in exhibiting a strongly projected Wulst bordered by a well-defined vallecula. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that Centuriavis lioae forms a clade with Tetraoninae, Meleagridinae, and Pucrasia macrolopha (Koklass pheasant). The new fossil species provides a Late Miocene minimum calibration for the divergence of these extant taxa from other Galliformes and supports the hypothesis of a single dispersal from Asia to North America by a lineage that later gave rise to grouse and turkeys.

UUID: https://zoobank.org/34ecda2f-f2f2-4c92-a82f-292e23cf2da1

The dispersal of Crocodylus from Africa to Europe during the Miocene is not well understood. A small collection of cranial fragments and postcranial elements from the latest Miocene (6.2 Ma) site of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain) have previously been referred to Crocodylus cf. C. checchiai Maccagno, 1947 without accompanying descriptions. Here we describe and figure for the first time the crocodylian remains from Venta del Moro, which represent at least two individuals. Our comparisons indicate that this material clearly does not belong to Diplocynodon or Tomistoma—the only two other crocodylians described so far for the European late Miocene. The material is only tentatively referred to cf. Crocodylus sp. because the apomorphies of this genus are not preserved and a referral to C. checchiai cannot be supported on a morphological basis. However, it is likely that this late Miocene species, originally described from Libya (As Sahabi) and later identified also in Kenya, could have dispersed across the Mediterranean Basin multiple times and colonized the southern areas of Mediterranean Europe, as evidenced by several Crocodylus or Crocodylus-like remains described during the past years.

The definition of the Cretaceous shark genus Cretodus Sokolov, 1965 is primarily based on isolated teeth. This genus includes five species. Among these, Cretodus houghtonorum Shimada and Everhart, 2019 is the only species based on a partially preserved skeleton. Here, the taxonomic attribution of a virtually complete skeleton of Cretodus from the Turonian of northeastern Italy is discussed, together with a few specimens from the Turonian of England. One of the latter is investigated through micropaleontological analysis to determine its stratigraphic position. The material is referred to Cretodus crassidens (Dixon, 1850), the diagnosis of which is emended herein. The dentition is tentatively reconstructed, exhibiting strong similarities with congeneric species, although it differs in having strong vertical folds on the main cusp labial face, a mesiodistally broad tooth aspect, weak and well-spaced ‘costulae’ at crown base, and a different dental formula in the number of parasymphyseal and lateral rows. Some tooth malformations are interpreted as feeding-related or senile characters. The Italian specimen suggests that Cretodus crassidens had a wide and laterally expanded mouth and head, a stout body, and attained a gigantic size. Cretodus crassidens was a moderate-speed swimming shark ecologically like the extant tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier (Péron and Lesueur in Lesueur, 1822). The age estimate from vertebral-band counting suggests that the Italian individual was at least 23 years old and the growth model indicates a longevity of 64 years and a maximum attainable total length of 9–11 m. Cretodus crassidens occurs both in Boreal and Tethyan domains, implying a broad paleobiogeographic distribution and a preference toward offshore settings.

The Cambrian successions at the Chihuarruita Hill outcrop, Sonora, Mexico, have yielded two successive linguliform brachiopod assemblages that are transitional between Cambrian Stage 4 and the newly recognized global Wuliuan Stage. The lowermost assemblage includes Dictyonina sp., Paterina sp., Eothele sp., Hadrotreta rara? (Cooper), and Linnarssonia arellanoi? (Cooper), coming from the upper part of the Buelna Formation. The younger, recently named El Gavilán Formation contains a more diverse linguliform brachiopod assemblage, including Acrothele concava Cooper, Batenevotreta? mexicana n. sp., Dictyonina minutipuncta Cooper, Eothele sp., Eoobolus sp., Hadrotreta rara? (Cooper), Linnarssonia arellanoi? (Cooper), Micromitra sp., Paterina sp., and Prototreta sp. The El Gavilán Formation contains a diverse trilobite fauna suggesting Delamaran age in terms of the Laurentian regional stratigraphical scheme. The base of the global Wuliuan Stage and Miaolingian Series is defined by the first occurrence of Oryctocephalus indicus; in the absence of the index species, the base should be provisionally placed at the base of the El Gavilán Formation. The Wuliuan age of the brachiopod assemblage recovered from the El Gavilán Formation is supported by the occurrence of Acrothele in the Cambrian biostratigraphical succession of Himalaya, where the genus makes its first appearance in the Kaotaia prachina Zone. In addition, the co-occurrences of Acrothele and Eothele can be taken as an indication of the Wuliuan age of the fauna. A new biogeographic analysis confirms that the Eothele Fauna first appeared at the end of Cambrian Stage 4, as a result of increased faunal migration within the southern tropical latitudes directed from Australasian Gondwana to Laurentia.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/6598f51f-cb07-4df3-bd1f-025a13e64edf

Gonatocaris decora (Clarke, 1901) is an unusual, highly ornamented Silurian phyllocarid from the Pittsford Shale Member of the Vernon Formation, Salina Group of New York, that has been allied with Emmelezoe in the past due to the possession of an ‘optic tubercle.’ The systematic positions of Gonatocaris and Emmelezoe have been difficult to assess due to the lack of complete remains, attributions based on spurious characters, and missing and unfigured specimens. Relatively recent collections of Gonatocaris decora, along with a relocation of the original type material of Emmelezoe, have allowed a reexamination of all relevant genera and a more robust systematic placement for G. decora. Characters of generic importance for Gonatocaris include a greatly elongated abdomen; an acute angle of the ventral carapace margin separating distinct anteroventral and posteroventral margins from each other; and distinctive, multiscale horizontal ridge-like ornament of the carapace valves. Growth was found to be isometric. Experimental work done using a model of the scale-like ornament and multiple grain sizes of substrate indicates that cuticle ornament may have served to increase friction between the animal and a fine sand substrate, although resistance to predation is the currently favored hypothesis. Because Gonatocaris species are currently known only from the eastern margin of Laurentia and northern South China, it is likely that this genus was nektonic. Accumulations of similarly sized carapaces and other disarticulated sclerites in shallow-water settings may indicate spawning events following molting en masse.

Zygochlamys Ihering, 1907 is revised and three new genera of tribe Chlamydini are named: the monospecific early Miocene genera Pixiechlamys new genus (type species: Pecten quemadensis Ihering, 1897) and Chokekenia n. gen. (type species: Zygochlamys nicolasi Morra, 1985), and the late Miocene–early Pliocene Moirechlamys n. gen., containing Pecten actinodes Sowerby, 1846 (type species) and Chlamys aurorae Feruglio, 1954. Zygochlamys is restricted to include Z. geminata (Sowerby, 1846) (type species), Z. jorgensis Ihering, 1907, and Z. sebastiani Morra, 1985. The present analysis increases the biostratigraphic usefulness of the group and improves taxonomic knowledge of the Neogene molluscan assemblages defined previously for Patagonia. Zygochlamys geminata is confined to the latest Oligocene–early Miocene interval of the Austral Basin of Patagonia (Argentina) and to the early Miocene of Chile, Z. jorgensis is restricted to the early to middle Miocene of the Golfo San Jorge and northern Austral Basins, and Moirechlamys n. gen., the most widespread genus, occurs in the late Miocene–early Pliocene of the Austral, Golfo San Jorge, Valdés, and Colorado basins. All these genera are endemic to southern South America; Zygochlamys is not related to other circumpolar genera such as Austrochlamys Jonkers, 2003 or Psychrochlamys Jonkers, 2003, rejecting its dispersal in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, as has been proposed previously.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/55d7ea85-5ec5-477a-9ede-5d3d795b75b5

Foraminifera are important components of tropical marine benthic ecosystems and their recovery pattern from the end-Permian mass extinction can yield insights into the Mesozoic history of this group. Here we report the calcareous and agglutinated foraminifera recovered from five measured stratigraphic sections on the Great Bank of Guizhou, an uppermost Permian to Upper Triassic isolated carbonate platform in the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China. The material contains >100 Triassic species, including three that are newly described (Arenovidalina weii n. sp., Meandrospira? enosi n. sp., and Spinoendotebanella lehrmanni n. gen., n. sp.), ranging from Griesbachian (Induan) to Cordevolian (Carnian) age. The species belong to the classes Miliolata, Textulariata, Fusulinata, Nodosariata, and to an unknown class housing all aragonitic forms of the orders Involutinida and Robertinida. Based on previously established conodont zones and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy, the Griesbachian (early Induan) through Illyrian (late Anisian) interval has been subdivided into 12 foraminiferal zones and two unnamed intervals devoid of foraminifera. Following the extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary, habitable ecological niches of Griesbachian age were invaded by disaster taxa that subsequently became extinct during the Dienerian (late Induan) and left no younger descendants. The disaster taxa were replaced by Lazarus taxa with Permian origins, which were then decimated by the Smithian-Spathian (mid-Olenekian) boundary crisis. The tempo of recovery appears to have been modulated by environmental changes during the Griesbachian through Smithian that involved both climate change and expansion of anoxic ocean bottom waters. Uninterrupted and lasting recovery of benthic foraminifera did not begin until the Spathian.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/2a6e9061-b163-402a-9098-8765a80576b3

In addition to ammonoids and conodonts, the enigmatic and poorly understood “flat clams” belonging to the genera Enteropleura Kittl, 1912, Daonella Mojsisovics, 1874, Halobia Bronn, 1830, and Monotis Bronn, 1830 have proven to be of biochronologic value through the Middle and Upper Triassic (e.g., Silberling and Nichols, 1982; Brack and Rieber, 1993; Campbell, 1994; McRoberts, 1997). These “flat clams,” many belonging to the family Halobiidae, can be extremely abundant in the marine Triassic rocks of the former Panthalassic Ocean and especially the Tethyan Seaway, where many of these species were first described. Their widespread nature and high speciation rates make these bivalves exceptional biochronologic indicators, especially when integrated with the temporal distribution of other, more conventional indices such as ammonoids and/or conodonts. We describe and name a poorly documented halobiid species, Enteropleura jenksi n. sp., from the latest middle Anisian and therefore provide a robust correlation datum for the Shoshonensis Zone.

The first sedimentary rocks from Batavia Knoll, on the western edge of the Perth Abyssal Plain, eastern Indian Ocean, have been recovered, yielding an assemblage of invertebrate fossils hitherto undocumented from this part of the world. The fauna consists of 22 species of Mollusca, including new gastropods, a calliotropid Planolateralus acanthanodus n. sp.; a margaritid Igonoia levimargarita n. sp.; a procerithiid Procerithium arenacollicola n. sp.; and aporrhaids Drepanocheilus bataviensis n. sp. and Anchura pelsaerti n. sp. In addition, pleurotomariid, ringiculid, and architectonicid gastropod taxa were recovered. Bivalves are represented by members of the Nuculanidae, Inoceramidae, Pinnidae, Buchiidae, Lucinidae, Veneridae, and Hiatellidae. Scaphopods (Dentaliidae) and ammonites (two taxa, of Desmoceratidae and Hamitidae) are also present. Further recovered were one species of Serpulidae (Polychaeta), two of Trachyleberididae (Ostracoda), and a probable echinoid fragment. The fossil assemblage was dominated by shallow marine suspension-feeding taxa (39% of the suite). Detritivorous and herbivorous taxa comprised 22% and 9%, respectively, with nektic and epifaunal carnivores amounting to 30%. Taphonomic analyses of these fossils and their host sedimentary facies revealed the Batavia Knoll sandstone was deposited in a shallow marine environment during a mass-flow event. Biostratigraphic range data of the preserved macro- and microfossil assemblages imply an age of latest Albian, contemporaneous with the rifting of Batavia Knoll from Greater India during the broader India–Australia–Antarctica breakup in the mid-Cretaceous.

Several specimens of a pollen organ containing Monoletes pollen occur in a single coal ball collected from the Herrin No. 6 Coal at the Sahara Coal Company Mine in southern Illinois. Specimens are 3–4 cm long, up to 1 cm wide, and are either bilobed or trilobed; 5–7 pollen sacs are arranged along each side of a discontinuously sclerified ground tissue plate extending into each lobe. The vascular supply from the peduncle breaks up by repeated dichotomies and one bundle descends along the outer side of each pollen sac. The mode of dehiscence and the structure of the tip of the organ remain unknown. Each lobe (and contained sporangia) is hypothesized to be derived from an ancestral fertile frond segment bearing pendulous sporangia.

Amia? chauliodeia, a new amiid fish from the Late Cretaceous Fruitland Formation of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, is described from material that includes vertebral centra, elements of the mandibular arch, dermal skull roof, palatal complex, hyoid arch, pectoral girdle, branchial apparatus, ribs, and both pelvic basipterygia. The new form differs from previously described amiiforms in the length of the dentary tooth row, in the anterior thickness of the dentary, and in the apparent lack of internal sensory canals in the dentary and angular. The New Mexico amiid also retains a primitive metapterygoid. Although the new form shares several features in common with the Late Cretaceous amiid Melvius thomasi described by Bryant (1987), it is unquestionably distinct from this form. Material from the Fruitland and Kirtland Formations of New Mexico referred by Bryant (1987) to M. thomasi is now included within Amia? chauliodeia.

The crown of an erect plant (probable juvenile tree/shrub) has been recovered from Lower Pennsylvanian strata of the southern Appalachian basin. It is preserved in three dimensions and provides the first confirmatory evidence for the compact helical arrangement of leaves in early Late Carboniferous plants. The crown is partially cast and partially compressed and is comprised of 11 leaves disposed in a 3/5 phyllotaxis. Substantiation of tight helical leaf development restricted to the crown of an Early Pennsylvanian plant provides evidence for greater architectural diversification in growth habit than presently documented at this time in tree ferns or pteridosperms.

Four new venerid species from the Cretaceous of the North American Pacific Slope are described and four previously described species are reassigned. Of the new species, two are allotted to new genera: Rhaiphiale based upon Rhaiphiale pharota n. sp. and Egrona based upon Egrona fallax n. sp., both Turonian in age and from southern California. The other new species are Loxo quintense n. sp., of late Maastrichtian age from California, and Paraesa cedrina n. sp., late Albian in age from Baja California, Mexico. The previously described species “Meretrix” arata Gabb, 1864, Turonian, and “?Meretrix” fragilis Gabb, 1869, late Maastrichtian, are placed in the new genus Callistalox; “Meretrix” lens (Gabb, 1864), Campanian age, and Flaventia zeta Popenoe, 1937, Turonian, are provisionally assigned to Paraesa Casey, 1952. This is the first identification of Paraesa from the Pacific Slope of North America. No species of Flaventia Jukes-Brown, 1908, is now known in Pacific Slope faunas.

Presence of palynomorph assemblages that display exquisite preservation in evaporite deposits makes them invaluable as age indicators, as often no other fossils are present. However, such use of palynomorphs has been extremely limited because of complications in extraction from the surrounding rock material. Palynomorphs found in evaporites frequently cannot be removed by conventional uses of hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids, or by modifications of these techniques (Sittler, 1955; Freudenthal, 1964; and Visscher, 1966), as neither acid is capable of removing significant quantities of sulfate minerals. Inadequate removal of these minerals prevents a good concentration of spores and pollen and hinders the preparation of useful microscope slide mounts.

Ten newly recovered Dunbarites specimens significantly extend the known stratigraphic range of Dunbarites. These include the first documented Midcontinent Basin records of the Missourian type species Dunbarites rectilateralis (Miller, 1930) from north-central Oklahoma. Additional species of Dunbarites from south-central Oklahoma and north-central and West Texas are described as Dunbarites wewokensis n. sp. and Dunbarites boardmani n. sp. Although Dunbarites is an extremely rare component (~0.025 percent) of Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian ammonoid assemblages, Ruzhencev and Bogoslovskaya (1971, 1978) suggested that Dunbarites and Parashumardites Ruzhencev, 1939 be used as genozone markers for the Kasimovian [Zhigulevian] Stage (Missourian in North America). As demonstrated by this report, the range of Dunbarites is not confined to the Kasimovian, thereby precluding its use as a Kasimovian Stage indicator.