The new fossil micromammal assemblage of Çapak represents a mixture of both Anatolian and European faunal elements. The locality is very important for understanding faunal evolution in the less well-known time interval at the end of the early Miocene of western Anatolia. In Çapak, nine species of rodents and one species of ochotonid were encountered: the hamsters Democricetodon gracilis, Megacricetodon primitivus, Eumyarion aff. E. montanus, Cricetodon cf. C. aliveriensis, Cricetodon sp., and Karydomys cf. K. strati, the mole-rat Debruijnia sp., the squirrel Aliveria luteyni, the dormouse Myomimus tanjuae n. sp., and the pika Albertona balkanica. The assemblage is referable to Anatolian local zone E or MN unit 4. The relative abundance of the various genera is markedly different from that of the older early Miocene assemblages, suggesting that the environment in Anatolia became drier and had a more open landscape.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/75f3276c-dcd8-4090-b2f6-d8fc8d3c3f7c

The trilobite Liostracina has been recognized as important in taxonomic and stratigraphic studies for more than a century. Until now, the genus Liostracina and family Liostracinidae have been known from only incomplete holaspid material, a degree 2 meraspis, and protaspides. A new locality in the Longha Formation (Cambrian: Guzhangian) of southeastern Yunnan, China, yields a rich collection of articulated holaspid exoskeletons and disarticulated sclerites of a new species, Liostracina fuluensis n. sp. These specimens reveal thoracic and ventral morphology that was previously unknown for Liostracina; they demonstrate that it has a rostral plate plus rostral and connective sutures, rather than a ventral median suture on the cephalic doublure. This confirms a natant hypostomal condition for the genus. Holaspid exoskeletal features, combined with evidence of a non-asaphoid-type protaspis, indicate that Liostracina is neither a primitive trinucleoid nor a primitive asaphoid. The family Liostracinidae is excluded from the superfamily Trinucleoidea and the order Trinucleida and reassigned to the order Ptychopariida.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/48dcbe31-e25d-4657-8441-732d5ea2b49d

Actinocamax cobbani, a new belemnitellid species from the middle Coniacian of Montana and Wyoming, is described, including univariate and bivariate biometric analyses. The species is stout and medium sized, lanceolate or strongly lanceolate in ventral view, and has adorally a low cone-shaped alveolar fracture. It may be granulated. It is compared to species of Actinocamax Miller and Gonioteuthis Bayle from the North American and North European paleobiogeographic provinces. The importance of various morphological characters, such as the shape of the guard and the structure of the adoral end, are discussed. The majority of the belemnitellids of the North American Province are endemic and the stratigraphic distribution is punctuated during the Late Cretaceous, suggesting short-lived migrations of populations from the North European Province.

Apparatus-based conodont taxonomy has organized the plethora of generic and specific names of form-based taxonomy into a more biologically and phylogenetically sound taxonomy (Schopf, 1966; Webers, 1966; Bergström and Sweet, 1966; Sweet and Bergström, 1972; Rhodes and Austin, 1981; Sweet, 1981, 1988). In the transition from form-based to apparatus-based taxonomy, some conodonts that are not very common, or that have only one or two element types in their apparatus, have remained in a state of form-based taxonomy limbo. An example of this is Trichonodella? tricurva (Schopf, 1966). This relatively uncommon species was known from only one element type (Schopf, 1966) and has not been used in biostratigraphy. Schopf (1966) questioned the generic assignment of T.? tricurva and noted its distinct morphology. Sweet and Bergström (1972) indicated that the type species of Trichonodella (Branson and Mehl, 1948) is a junior synonym of Plectodina aculeata, or of a closely related Plectodina species. Trichonodella? tricurva does not fit within the apparatus-based generic concept of Plectodina (Sweet, 1981), and it is therefore inappropriate to refer it to Trichonodella or Plectodina. No genus contains a tertiopedate element that is morphologically similar to the holotype of T.? tricurva (Schopf, 1966). Additional material from strata that are in part coeval with the stratum typicum of T.? tricurva supports the idea that T.? tricurva represents a new genus. The new genus Schopfodus is proposed for the conodont elements described by Schopf as T.? tricurva and the associated elements of its apparatus.

Nectocaridids are soft-bodied Cambrian organisms that have been controversially interpreted as primitive cephalopods, at odds with the long-held belief that these mollusks evolved from a shell-bearing ancestor. Here, I document a new nectocaridid from the Whetstone Gulf Formation, extending the group's range into the Late Ordovician. Nectocotis rusmithi n. gen. n. sp. possesses a robust internal element that resembles a non-mineralized phragmocone or gladius. Nectocaridids can be accommodated in the cephalopod total group if the earliest cephalopods (1) inherited a non-mineralized shell field from the ancestral mollusk; and (2) internalized this shell field. This evolutionary scenario would overturn the traditional ectocochleate, Nautilus-like reconstruction of the ancestral cephalopod, and indicate a trend towards increased metabolic efficiency through the course of Cambrian–Ordovician evolution.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/ed594200-37b9-4642-bd8f-4fb72dc544eb

The tricranocladine sponges (now assigned to the suborder Eutaxicladina) are a conservative group consisting of the single family Hindiidae. the genus Hindia Duncan is considered the base of the tricranoclad evolutionary record. A new sponge discovered from the Ordovician limestones of the San Juan Formation in the Argentine Precordillera allows a reexamination of the Hindiid lineage and extends the early history of the tricranocladines back to the Darriwilian. Eoscheiella concava n. gen. and sp. is described and illustrated. It is known from a single chertified, spherical specimen with a central hollow core, a typical character found in several genera of the family. Tricranoclads, megarhizoclones, and radial monaxonic spicules are the main skeletal components of the new genus. the presence of a band of subparalell tangential monaxons on the surface of Eoscheiella can be related to an inferred, small, root tuft that attached the spherical sponge to the substrate. the discovery of Eoscheiella modifies the evolutionary view of the family, for it is the oldest genus now known with simple dipodal and tripodal tricranoclads without a brachyome, radial monaxons, and megarhizoclones. Eoscheiella displaces the genus Hindia from the base of tricranocladine evolutionary history. Variability in spicule form, arrangement, and clasping possibilities observed in Permian representatives are clearly more accentuated in the Ordovician Eoscheiella. All these features appeared earlier than expected in previously proposed evolutionary trends.

Allmon (1996, p. 45) erected the genus Palmerella for a clade of gastropods from the Paleocene and Eocene of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains, almost all of which had formerly been placed in the genus Turritella Lamarck, 1799. The name Palmerella, however, was previously used by Cameron (1908) for a Recent ichneumonid wasp. I therefore here propose the name Kapalmerella new name as a replacement for Palmerella Allmon, 1996, not Cameron, 1908. As was the case for Palmerella Allmon, Kapalmerella is named in honor of Katherine Van Winkle Palmer (1895–1982) in recognition of her contributions to the systematics of coastal plain Paleogene turritellids. The type species of Kapalmerella is Turritella mortoni Conrad, 1830 by original designation (Allmon, 1996).

Lyrischapa Aldrich (1911), originally described from the Eocene of North America, is represented in the Old World Tethyan paleobiotic province by three species that previously have been referred to other genera: L. haimei (d'Archiac), from the late Paleocene or early Eocene upper Ranikot Formation of Pakistan; L. sismondai (d'Archiac), from the upper Ranikot Formation and the late Paleocene Hangu Shales of Pakistan; and L. soudanense (Douvillé), from the late Paleocene Kalambaina Formation in the Republic of Niger. A fourth unnamed species of Lyrischapa may be represented by an internal mold from the middle Eocene Khirtar Formation of Pakistan. Lyrischapa probably originated within the ancient Tethys seaway between Eurasia and the Gondwana continents of Africa and southern India because its oldest known occurrence (late Paleocene) and closest relatives (Indovoluta Eames, 1952; Gosavia Stoliczka, 1865, 1868; possibly also Diconomorpha Wenz, 1943) are in that region. It has no apparent ancestor among described American Paleogene or Cretaceous Volutidae. Because its large protoconch suggests that it lacked a teleplanic larval stage, the trans-Atlantic migration of Lyrischapa to the New World probably resulted from chance dispersal, either by rafting of egg masses attached to floating plant debris or by drift of floating egg capsules.

Llanocystis wilbernsensis n. gen. n. sp. (Eocrinoidea, Echinodermata) is described based on three specimens from the Furongian Point Peak Shale Member of the Wilberns Formation in central Texas. It displays a unique morphology including a very long stem constructed with holomeric columnals, few feeding appendages, and a polyplated theca. The specimens occur in an intraformational conglomerate deposited in a proximal carbonate platform environment and represent an example of the poorly documented “pelmatozoan” radiation that occurred in proximal facies by the end of the Cambrian.

The uppermost Lower Silurian and Upper Silurian Gascons and West Point Formations of the southern Gaspé Peninsula were deposited under a broad range of environmental conditions from deep offshore-shelf to reef facies. Halysitid and auloporid tabulate corals occur in a number of facies and show a high degree of endemism.

Two species of Halysitidae and three species of Auloporida are found in these formations. Both halysitids have been previously described from this region. The auloporids include the new species Syringopora minuta and another species that may represent the first known Silurian occurrence of the fletcheriellid genus Pseudofletcheria. A neotype for the halysitid Cystihalysites amplitubulatus (Lambe) is proposed.

Phragmolites lissoni new species is described from 11 specimens found in the Sandbian Calapuja Formation near Calapuja in Peru. The deposits are part of the Central Andean Basin. This is the hitherto only systematically described Ordovician gastropod from Peru. The species is from a brachiopod-dominated siliciclastic sequence and is associated with bryozoans. Most specimens are preserved as external molds, but latex casts yield excellent details of shell ornamentation and are used as a basis for evaluating this feature in the genus. The characteristic ornamentation of Phragmolites should be called corrugated lamellae, and the individual elements on these should be referred to as flutes. A descriptive terminology for these is suggested. The development and shape of the corrugated lamellae and flutes could be biomechanical process. A second component in lamellar formation is the alternation between regular incremental growth and formation of a lamella. Phragmolites is mainly found in shallow-water carbonate facies from tropical latitudes in the Sandbian and a mid-latitude presence in Peru is unexpected. Brachiopods from the same section in Calapuja show affinities with faunas of the Mediterranean margin of Gondwana but also weak links with Avalonia. Phragmolites is found abundantly in deeper-water facies in Laurentia, and a broad tolerance to facies and temperature and possible planktotrophy might have allowed a wide geographical dispersal of the genus. The scant record of Ordovician gastropods in the Central Andean Basin precludes comparison with the disparate record of the Ordovician gastropod taxa from the Precordillera, which do not include Phragmolites.

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Proetid trilobites are described from three sections in two regions of southern Morocco. the sections are located at Jbel Gara el Zguilma (‘Zguilma’) and a neighboring section (‘near Zguilma’), near Foum Zguid; and at another locality (BD5) in the Ma'der Region, between the villages of bou Dib and Tazoulaït, near the town of Alnif. the trilobites described here are assigned to a proposed new genus, Timsaloproetus, with Cornuproetus (Sculptoproetus) haasi Alberti, 1971 as type species. Timsaloproetus haasi occurs in Eifelian strata of both Germany and Morocco (at BD5, and both of the sections near Foum Zguid). New Moroccan species of this genus are Timsaloproetus dibbanus and Timsaloproetus elguerrouji. the former occurs in upper Emsian strata at Zguilma, and the latter occurs in strata of early Eifelian age, with T. haasi, in both the Zguilma and near Zguilma sections.

A new lamellorthoceratid genus, Plicatoceras, is defined on the basis of Plicatoceras nishidai n. sp. from the early Gedinnian shale of the Fukuji Formation in central Japan. The new genus is the earliest known member of the Lamellorthoceratidae and is the first record of a lamellorthoceratid cephalopod from East Asia.

A new genus and species of turrid neogastropod, Kyllinia parentalis, is described based on three shells from the Pliocene (North Italy) and the Pleistocene (northwestern Peloponnesus) of the central Mediterranean area. the new taxon is compared to the buccinid (sensu lato) genus Metula H. and A. Adams, 1853 with which it shows a few superficial similarities mainly limited to the latticed sculptural pattern of the teleoconch. Kyllinia parentalis is placed in the turrid subfamily Mangeliinae on the basis of teleoconch characters (double sinuosity of the outer lip and the short, forward curved anterior canal) and protoconch (a characteristic pattern formed by narrow axial riblets giving a coronated suture to the larval shell). These taxonomic characters, together with the almost clathrate teleoconch sculpture, form an original combination within the Mangeliinae, thus justifying the description of a new genus. the Recent species Philbertia marchadi Knudsen, 1956 (for which we consider the previous attributions to Philbertia Monterosato, 1884 and Diaugasma, Melvill, 1917 incorrect) from the Republic of Guinea and Angola closely resembles K. parentalis, but differs in having axial folds on early teleoconch whorls, a more slender shell, and a proportionally taller last whorl. Philbertia marchadi fits well with the characteristics of the herein described genus, so that we propose the new combination Kyllinia marchadi (Knudsen, 1956). Kyllinia parentalis, a species originated in the Mediterranean Pliocene, is to be considered as the ancestor of K. marchadi. Kyllinia parentalis should be regarded as a meaningful marker in recognizing warm Mediterranean Pleistocene events.

Aerliceaster nexosus n. gen. n. sp. (Echinodermata), one of the oldest of known asteroids, is based on six specimens from the Floian (Early Ordovician) Garden City Formation of Idaho, and Kolataster perplexus n. gen. n. sp. is based on two specimens from the Sandian (Late Ordovician) Mifflin Formation of Illinois. Although the asterozoan skeleton is subdivided into few ossicular categories, evolutionary derivations of all the categories are not fully established, and therefore published evaluations differ. Beginning with phylogenetic work placing asteroid ancestry within the Somasteroidea together with the new taxa described herein, aspects of early asteroid morphology are evaluated and ambiguities in need of further study identified. Uncertainties are considered to be founded in rapid early asterozoan diversification and the scanty fossil record.

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Species of Baculites are important marker fossils in the Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Western Interior of the United States and provide indices for 20 of the 29 Campanian and Maastrichtian zones recognized by Cobban (in Gill and Cobban, 1966; Cobban, 1977). They often occur in rock-forming proportions (Gill and Cobban, 1966, Pl. 11, fig. 3) and are common up through the lower Maastrichtian Baculites clinolobatus zone. In the type area of the Fox Hills Formation in west-central South Dakota, B. clinolobatus is present in the lower part of the Mobridge Member of the Pierre Shale, but Baculites are rare or absent in the rest of the member as well as in the overlying Elk Butte Member that forms the uppermost part of the Pierre Shale (Waage, 1968, p. 50, 51, fig. 6). Only the diminutive Baculites columna Morton, 1834, has been noted from the succeeding Fox Hills Formation (Waage, 1968). The highest marine Cretaceous rocks of the Western Interior are characterized instead by Sphenodiscus and a range of scaphitid species (Hoploscaphites, Discoscaphites). It is therefore of some interest to describe, for the first time, the baculitids from the very high Cretaceous of the Western Interior. The material described below was collected from the Fox Hills Formation by N. L. Larson, P. L. Larson, and R. A. Farrar of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Hill City, South Dakota. We are grateful to them for allowing us to describe this interesting collection. Specimens cited below are deposited in the collections of the Black Hills Institute (BHI) and in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History (USNM) in Washington, D.C.

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

Strata of the Solvik Formation in the central Oslo region (upper Hirnantian to upper Aeronian) are rich in atrypides that elucidate the evolution of this group. A few athyridide brachiopods are also present. Eleven taxa of smooth spire-bearers are described taxonomically using fossils and peels. Among these occur one new genus, Eisaella, and five new species: Eisaella uniplicata, Thulatrypa huangi, T. vikenensis, ?Becscia pentagona, and Shelvothyris bivittata. Atrypides make up 30% (24 genera) of the total brachiopod genera in the Solvik Formation, more than one third of the known global atrypide fauna during that interval. Most are members of the family Lissatrypidae, illustrating the evolution of this group from upper Hirnantian and lower Silurian strata. These show close affinity to each other attesting to ongoing radiation. The new genus Eisaella is a likely ancestor of Lissatrypa, while Meifodia displays a gradual evolution through the formation. Atrypides were most diverse at the base and top of the Solvik Formation due to heterogony in environments and water depth, but were less diverse in the comparatively constant environmental setting of the late Rhuddanian time. The basal assemblages with few atrypides from shallow facies may be compared to the shallow Cathay Fauna of China. Most of the abundant Norwegian atrypide fauna is found in deeper water with few comparable faunas known globally. The Oslo region may have served as a center for the evolution and spread of atrypides immediately following the end-Ordovician glacial drawdown in sea level.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/508dba95-5501-403d-9a4d-deeb324847c9

Conodonts display higher specific gravity (2.84-3.10) than common minerals in sedimentary rocks. For several decades this property has been exploited to separate these microfossils from sediment residues using density separation techniques. Two heavy liquids commonly used, bromoform and tetra-bromoethane, are toxic (Sax, 1979; HaufTand Airey, 1980) and constitute a danger to human health. Tetrabromoethane is a known carcinogen (Brem et al., 1974). Both of these liquids should be abandoned in favor of nontoxic sodium polytungstate (Callahan, 1987; Merrill, 1987b; Krukowski, 1988). There are, however, some technical problems with its use because of relatively high viscosity and a tendency to recrystallize during separation. Another big disadvantage is also its price at $100 per kilogram. These problems may be considerably overcome by using polytungstate in the way described by Savage (1988).

A remarkable fossil assemblage composed of five gastropod taxa is described from the Early Miocene of Santa Cruz (Patagonia, Argentina) in southernmost South America. The assemblage includes extinct and living genera South America, and on geographic distributions and represent background new information on spatial and across time distributions as well as identification of new taxa. A new taxon, Patagocharopa enigmatica n. gen. n. sp., is tentatively assigned to Charopidae. Gastrocopta patagonica n. sp. (Vertiginidae) represents the oldest record of Gastrocopta in Argentina and the southernmost record for the Americas. Punctum patagonicum n. sp. (Punctidae) represents the first record of Punctum for continental South America, and characterized by a protoconch with traces of axial costulae and a teleoconch with strong radial ribs. Zilchogyra miocenica n. sp. is the first Miocene record of the charopid genus Zilchogyra. Fragments of a possible Scolodonta (Scolodontidae) are recorded. Overall, the assemblage represents an important and useful paleoenvironmental tool. This fauna suggests that a more temperate and humid environment than today—with a more dense vegetation cover—was prevalent at this site during the Early Miocene.