The primitive blastozoan Felbabkacystis luckae n. gen. n. sp. is described from the Drumian Jince Formation, Barrandian area (Czech Republic) from eleven fairly well-preserved specimens. Its unique body plan organization is composed of a relatively long, stalk-like imbricate structure directly connected to the aboral imbricate cup of the test and of an adoral vaulted tessellate test supporting the ambulacral and brachiolar systems. Its bipartite test, called prototheca, highlights the evolution of the body wall among blastozoans. Felbabkacystis n. gen. shows the combination of plesiomorphic (imbricate stalk-like appendage) and derived features (highly domed peristome, elongate epispires). The new genus is interpreted as a transitional form between calyx-bearing and theca-bearing blastozoans, and is attributed to the new family Felbabkacystidae. The lithology, the associated fauna, and the possession of a long stalk suggest that Felbabkacystis was probably a low-level suspension feeder living in relatively deep settings.

The Miocene beds of Kutch in India are well known for their mammalian assemblages, including the extinct ape Sivapithecus, but far less is known about the fossil squamates from this area. Although India with its over 800 reptile species is recognized as one of the global biodiversity hotspots, knowledge of past diversity and paleobiogeography of squamates on this subcontinent is very limited. We here report on new lizard finds, which have been recovered from two stratigraphic levels: the older Palasava locality (dated to the middle Miocene, ca. 14 Ma) and the younger Tapar site (late Miocene, ca. 11–10 Ma). Although fragmentarily preserved, the material described here sheds important light on the composition and paleobiogeography of squamates during the Miocene in South Asia. The older Palasava locality contains cf. Uromastyx s.l. and Varanus sp., the latter representing the oldest record of this taxon in the region of India south of the Himalayas and its occurrence here suggests a mean annual temperature not less than 15°C. The material from the younger Tapar locality consists of an unidentified acrodontan lizard, here questionably placed in agamids, and a skink. The latter shows a resemblance to mabuyines, however, the fragmentary nature of the material does not allow a precise allocation without doubts. The cosmopolitan mabuyines have been suggested to have their origin in Asia, so the potential presence of mabuyines in the Tapar locality might represent the first, but putative, Asian evidence of the occurrence of this group in the Miocene.

An abundant, low diversity, poorly preserved Late Permian ostracode faunule was recovered from residues of dissolved limestone. Collections are from the Corumbataí Formation exposed near Conchas, about 194 km northwest of São Paulo and from a borehole into the upper part of the Corumbataí Formation. Although the Corumbataí Formation has been interpreted mainly as a restricted marine-transitional offshore/shoreface and tidal-flat deposit, the ostracodes represent nonmarine taxa. Steinkerns of Candona, Cypridopsis?, Darwinula?, Gutschickia?, and genus unknown are illustrated in open nomenclature; they indicate freshwater influences. Several Permian marine genera from lower Gondwana (=Carboniferous-Permian), illustrated in open nomenclature, show that their steinkerns would differ from those illustrated here from Brazil. Although the Late Permian drainage from the north into the Paraná Basin has been considered to have been meager, rivers from the north must have supplied sufficient water to freshen the margins of the basin so that immigration of nonmarine ostracodes occurred.

Based on the similarity of the distinctive lateral outline of the Brazilian specimens to the nonmarine living genus Candona, the stratigraphic range of the genus is tentatively extended into the Permian.

Observed diversity of bryozoans within Devonian stages is not significantly different from range-through values for species because very few species have ranges longer than a single stage. Generic diversity differs significantly between observed stadial and stadial range-through values except for the diverse Givetian faunas. Among families, observed stadial and range-through comparisons differ significantly in the lower diversity Early and Late Devonian but are not significant in the taxonomically diverse Middle Devonian. The patterns of Devonian generic and familial diversity are apparently robust proxies for specific diversity.

Givetian specific and generic extinctions, based on generated bootstrap distributions, are significantly higher than the other six Devonian stages even when modifications for different stage durations are considered. Based on present data, we conclude that a major change in Devonian diversity occurred between the Givetian and the Frasnian stages. Givetian specific and generic extinctions are not “smeared” with respect to adjacent stages and should qualify as a mass extinction among bryozoans pending more accurate data on bryozoan ranges and more precision in radiometric dating of Devonian stadial boundaries. Devonian bryozoan familial extinctions are not numerous and do not exhibit a significant number of extinctions for any stage. The Givetian extinction, which for the time being ranks as the largest bryozoan extinction in the Phanerozoic, is a global event with a marked local effect in the Hamilton-Tully fauna of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ontario.

Givetian specific originations are significantly higher than bootstrap distributions for both raw data and data modified for stadial durations. A Givetian generic high in originations for raw data is not significant when modified for stadial durations and only Eifelian familial originations are significantly higher than bootstrapped distributions.

In a recent paper D'Alessandro and Iannone (1993) introduced the new ichnogenus Caudichnus, with one ichnospecies Caudichnus annulatus, for drum-shaped trace fossils. The trace fossil comprises several structural elements and, in order to provide a uniform terminology, these elements are denned in Figure 1.

From the oldest Cretaceous marine sediments of Jamaica, the Copper Limestone within the Devils Racecourse Formation (Benbow Inlier, Clarendon Block), the oldest known coral fauna of the Caribbean is described. the small but diverse fauna encompasses 18 species in 17 genera of the suborders Amphiastraeina, Archeocaeniina, Heterocoeniina, Faviina, Fungiina, Microsolenina, and Stylinina. the fauna contains the first representatives of the suborder Amphiastraeina in the Caribbean and the Americas. One genus of the family Amphiastreidae, Monoaulastrea, and three species—Monoaulastrea rawi, Latusastrea rubrolineata, Camptodocis corralesi—are described as new. the preoccupied coral genus Floria is replaced by the new name Floriastrea. the new fauna shows relationships to faunas from the late Berriasian to late Albian. Most species are shared with the Hauterivian faunas from Georgia in the central Tethys and the Paris Basin in the Boreal, but also with younger faunas such as the Barremian of Central Mexico, the early Aptian of Greece and the early Albian of the Bisbee Basin (Northern Mexico).

The ichnogenus Desmograpton Książkiewicz, 1977, is described for the first time from the Paleozoic. The ichnogenus has previously been noted from strata of Mesozoic age in Europe and North and South America (e.g., D'Alessandro, 1980; Książkiewicz, 1977; Macsotay, 1967; McCann and Pickerill, 1988). This new occurrence is also significant because it extends the geographic range of Desmograpton into Britain.

A stenolaemate bryozoan fauna containing 20 species belonging to 18 genera is described from the Las Plantas and Las Aguaditas formations (Upper Ordovician, Sandbian) in San Juan Province, Precordillera of Western Argentina. One genus with one species is new: Argentinodictya lenticulata n. gen. n. sp. (Cryptostomata, Ptilodictyina). Four species are new: one trepostome Parvohallopora parvula n. sp., two cryptostomes Trigonodictya parvula n. sp. and Ptilodictya intermedia n. sp., and phyloporinine Chasmatopora rossae n. sp. The bryozoan assemblage of the Las Plantas Formation is more diverse than that of the Las Aguaditas Formation. Fourteen species are restricted to the Las Plantas Formation, five species occur in both formations, and one species is restricted to the Las Aguaditas Formation. Erect growth forms are dominant in the studied fauna. The majority of bryozoan taxa display palaeobiogeographic relations to Sandbian–Katian deposits of North America, with two species also known from the Katian of Europe.

Neoplagiaulacid multituberculates are among the most numerous and best represented members of early Cenozoic North American mammal faunas, achieving their greatest diversity during the Paleocene. Despite their relatively dense record in the Torrejonian (middle Paleocene) and Tiffanian (late Paleocene), the study of early Cenozoic neoplagiaulacids has been limited more often than not to isolated teeth or, more rarely, incomplete skull, gnathic, or postcranial remains. The current study reports on new neoplagiaulacid multituberculates from the Paleocene Paskapoo Formation of central Alberta, Canada, at localities along the Blindman River near the City of Red Deer. The exceptionally well-preserved specimens consist of incomplete articulated and associated skull and gnathic remains, and collectively document four new species: Ectypodus elaphus, Neoplagiaulax serrator, Neoplagiaulax paskapooensis, and Neoplagiaulax cimolodontoides. Neoplagiaulax paskapooensis is the most dentally complete neoplagiaulacid so far discovered, with a single specimen documenting for the first time left and right I2 and I3 in situ with the cheek teeth, along with the associated lower dentition. Specimens of Neoplagiaulax cimolodontoides record important details of the rostrum and palate, and provide the first direct evidence of incisor replacement in Neoplagiaulax. The new neoplagiaulacids, together with other multituberculates from the Blindman River localities, document unusually high multituberculate diversity in the latter half of the Tiffanian in western Canada. Despite superficial similarity to some European species of Neoplagiaulax, the new taxa from the Paskapoo Formation apparently show no closer relationship to these than do other North American congeners, suggesting parallel evolution in endemic North America and western European clades.

Samples from outcrops of the Miocene Solimões and Barreiras formations from the central and coastal Amazon regions of Brazil were analyzed palynologically. Assemblages of fossil fungi were identified, and are described herein, and their relevance to paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic studies in tropical regions discussed. The fungal assemblage comprises four spore groups, 19 species belonging to 12 genera. Additionally, two new species are proposed. The samples from the Solimões Formation contain the following taxa: Mediaverrunites elsikii, Mediaverrunites mulleri, Monoporisporites sp., Fusiformisporites crabbii, and Multicellites cingulatus. The presence of these suggests river channel margins colonized by freshwater vegetation, where seasonal fluctuations of water table and rainfall produce wetter substrates. The samples from the Barreiras Formation showed higher species and generic diversity than those from the Solimões Formation with Hypoxylonites minutus, Hypoxylonsporites ater, Hypoxylonites sp., the new species Inapertisporites multiporus n. sp., Pluricellaesporites regularis, Lacrimasporonites levis, Monoporisporites annulatus, Spirotremesporites simplex, Dyadosporites novus, Dyadosporites sp., and Multicellaesporites attenuates. All of these correspond to parasitic fungi from a range of from tropical wetlands. Spegazzinites sp. and Dicellaesporites aculeolatus, good indicators of marine influence and mangrove presence, were also identified in the samples from the Barreiras Formation. Furthermore, the fungal spore taxa Inapertisporites multiporus, Mediaverrunites elsikii, Mediaverrunites mulleri, Pluricellaesporites regularis, and Spirotremesporites simplex serve as stratigraphic indicators when combined with miospore index taxa such as Crassoretitriletes vanraadshooveni, Grimsdalea magnaclavata and Fenestrites longispinosus indicating a Miocene age for these sediments in the Amazon region.

Gondolella pohli new species assemblages, from the Desmoinesian of Illinois, confirm that the initial apparatus reconstruction of the conodont genus Gondolella was incomplete and support later reconstructions based on discrete elements.

Gondolella pohli is the first species of a biostratigraphically important conodont genus to be based primarily on assemblages and to be placed within a known phylogeny. The 43 assemblages confirm the presence of seven distinct element types in the Gondolella apparatus and permit the reconstruction of each of these to a greater degree than previously possible. Because the assemblages are probably all fecal, the apparatus of the closely related Neogondolella is used to interpret the apparatus plan—the position and identity of the 15 elements—single pairs of Pa, Pb, M, Sb1, and Sb2 elements, two pairs of Sc elements, and an unpaired bilaterally symmetrical Sa element in the Gondolella apparatus. Using the similarity of the latter to the apparatuses of the better known ozarkodinids, we infer a three-dimensional fanlike apparatus architecture for the prioniodinid Gondolella. Gondolella is apparently restricted to the Pennsylvanian and probably evolved in the Early Pennsylvanian from the Idioprioniodus-Embsaygnathus lineage by loss of the Pa element posterior process and by remodelling of the other apparatus elements. Some species in the Idioprioniodus-Gondolella lineage are atypical among prioniodinids in having developed a Pa element platform; the lineage is also noteworthy because both ancestor and descendant inhabited low-energy, low pH environments during the Pennsylvanian.

The Tribes Hill Formation (upper Skullrockian) of New York records the earliest Ordovician diversification of cephalopods, in particular ellesmerocerids, on the east Laurentian, shallow carbonate platform. Revision of this cephalopod fauna on the basis of approximately 430 specimens collected across eastern New York has led to new information on inter- and intraspecific variation of the taxa and extensive synonymization of species-level taxa. The Ellesmeroceratidae and Protocycloceratidae, Ellesmeroceras, and Eremoceras are emended, Eorudolfoceras n. gen. and Dakeoceras champlainense n. sp. are erected. A rank abundance plot of the 342 specimens at a locality in the Lake Champlain lowlands provides information on the community structure of the nautiloid fauna, where small orthoconic taxa are shown to dominate strongly. The small orthocone Ectenolites was the most common genus in terms of total occurrences, was the most paleogeographically widespread genus, and was the only genus to cross the Cambrian-Ordovician boundary.

Twenty-nine conodont species are represented in formations comprising the upper part of the Clinton Group and the Lockport Group at four localities in Niagara County, New York, and adjacent Ontario, Canada. Four previously unrecognized species of Ozarkodina represented in two samples from the Oak Orchard Formation are described. Ozarkodina sagitta rhenana (Walliser) and O. sagitta sagitta (Walliser) appear to form an evolutionary lineage in which the latter evolved from the former during the late early Wenlockian by slight modification of the Pa element. Elements in the other corresponding positions in their respective apparatuses are virtually identical.

The Williamson Shale, Irondequoit Limestone, Rochester Shale, and DeCew Formation of the Clinton Group belong in the upper part of the Pterospathodus amorphognathoides to the middle part of the Ozarkodina sagitta sagitta Chronozone, and are early to early middle Wenlockian in age. The Gasport, Goat Island, Eramosa, and Oak Orchard Formations of the Lockport Group belong in the middle part of the O. sagitta sagitta to the lower part of the Ancoradella ploeckensis Chronozone, and are early middle to late Wenlockian in age.

The eurypterid Strobilopterus princetonii from the Lower Devonian Beartooth Butte Formation of Wyoming is redescribed, and previously unknown morphological features, including shape and position of eyes and ocelli are identified, and the prosomal appendages are described in more detail. The monotypic Erieopterus latus, based on a much smaller specimen from the same locality, shares a large number of characters with S. princetonii, and must be interpreted as belonging to the genus Strobilopterus. It is here interpreted as a juvenile S. princetonii, but exhibits extreme ontogenetic variation in the morphology of the swimming leg. The other monotypic eurypterid from the locality, Dorfopterus angusticollis, remains mysterious. It might be a S. princetonii telson, but evidence is inconclusive. The name of the Devonian eurypterid genus Syntomopterus is preoccupied for a beetle (Coleoptera: Insecta) and the replacement name Syntomopterella is proposed. The phylogenetic position of S. princetonii is problematic since it lacks unequivocal synapomorphies with other eurypterids, but the genus is showing more similarities to Syntomopterella, Erieopterus and Buffalopterus than it does to Dolichopterus, contrary to earlier suggestions.

The late Ediacaran (Nama) Fossil Assemblage from the Kushk Series in the Kushk and Chahmir areas of Central Iran highlights a diverse community of globally distributed, soft-bodied (non-skeletonized) Ediacara biota coexisting with skeletonized tubular forms of likely metazoan affinities. Several biostratigraphically and biogeographically important taxa are reported (i.e., erniettomorphs, rangeomorphs, cloudinomorphs, kimberellomorphs, Chuaria, Corumbella), including Convolutubus dargazinensis new genus new species, a new organic-walled tubular organism, allowing for paleoecological studies to be performed. This study highlights the need for continued investigations into the late Ediacaran of Iran, and suggests a biosphere in transition, with a shift in diversity and abundance from large Ediacara biota to organic-walled and skeletonized tubular organisms at the dawn of the Cambrian Explosion.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/350bb98c-5322-488d-a9a5-22c911ab7e53

The Cambrian-Ordovician Diversity Plateau, between the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation, is punctuated by a series of well-documented Laurentian trilobite extinction events. These events define the bounding surfaces of trilobite ‘biomeres’ that correspond to North American stages, including those of the Sunwaptan and Skullrockian. Trilobites show a consistent pattern of recovery across these boundaries, and commonly each extinction and replacement of taxa is interpreted as a single event as changing environmental conditions spurred shoreward migration of shelf or oceanic faunas that displaced established cratonic faunas. Linguliform brachiopods are also abundant in strata of this interval, and we investigate their stratigraphic distribution across the Sunwaptan–Skullrockian Stage boundary in Texas through high-resolution stratigraphic sampling of subtidal sediments. We document complete genus- and species-level turnover of the linguliform brachiopod fauna coincident with trilobite extinction events, suggesting that these brachiopods were affected by the same factors that affected trilobites. The Skullrockian replacement fauna was cosmopolitan, with ties to Gondwana and Kazakhstan and to the Laurentian shelf environment. The timing of appearances of taxa suggests that the faunal migration onto the Laurentian shelf came from elsewhere during a transgression. The disappearance of the Sunwaptan fauna and the arrival of the Skullrockian fauna are distinct events. We suggest that ‘biomere’ events may be complex, and the cause of the extinction is not necessarily the same event that facilitates the appearance of a replacement fauna. We describe one new species, Schizambon langei.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/f6a5c11f-cd3d-4c16-b184-d808d3a5285f

The fossil record of early deuterostome history largely depends on soft-bodied material that is generally rare and often of controversial status. Banffiids and vetulicystids exemplify these problems. From the Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah, we describe specimens of Banffia episoma n. sp. (from the Spence Shale) and Thylacocercus ignota n. gen. n. sp. (from the Wheeler Formation). The new species of Banffia Walcott, 1911 shows significant differences to the type species (B. constricta Walcott, 1911) from the Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) Burgess Shale, notably in possessing a prominent posterior unit but diminished anterior section. Not only does this point to a greater diversity of form among the banffiids, but also B. episoma indicates that the diagnostic median constriction and crossover of either side of the body are unlikely to be the result of taphonomic twisting but are original features. Comparisons extend also to the Cambrian (Series 2) Heteromorphus Luo and Hu in Luo et al., 1999 and, collectively, these observations support an assignment of the banffiids to the vetulicolians. The new taxon T. ignota represents the first discovery of a vetulicystid from beyond China and also significantly extends its stratigraphic range from Series 2 Cambrian into Series 3 Cambrian. Despite overall similarities in bodyplan, T. ignota differs from other vetulicystids in a number of respects, notably the possession of an anterior zone with broad tentacle-like structures. This new discovery is consistent with the vetulicystids representing stem-group ambulacrarians.

Ceratodontid lungfishes are generally rare, poorly represented elements of North America’s Mesozoic ecosystems, with previously known maximum diversity in the Late Jurassic. Herein we describe four new species of the form genus Ceratodus, from the Cretaceous of the Western Interior, considerably expanding fossil representation of post-Triassic dipnoans in North America. To model taxonomic and morphologic diversity, we adopt a four-fold system of phenetically based species groups, named for exemplars from the Morrison Formation. Ceratodus kirklandi n. sp. (Potamoceratodus guentheri group) and C. kempae n. sp. (C. frazieri group) represent a hitherto unsampled time interval, the Valanginian. Ceratodus nirumbee n. sp. and C. molossus n. sp. extend the temporal ranges of the C. fossanovum and C. robustus groups upward to the Albian and Cenomanian, respectively. These new occurrences show that ceratodontids maintained their highest diversity from the Late Jurassic through the mid-Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian), an interval of ~60 Myr. The existing record suggests that some of the later (mid-Cretaceous) ceratodontids may have been tolerant of salt water; to date, there is no evidence that they aestivated. Only a few occurrences are known from horizons younger than Cenomanian. Demise of ceratodontids appears to be part of a broader pattern of turnover that occurred at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary in North America.

Mobergellans are a distinctive group of Lower Cambrian breviconic shells with a prominent set of internal scars, presumably representing sites of former muscle attachment. Shells grew by accretion and appear to have secreted primary phosphate. Here a redescription is given of mobergellans, assigned to Hippoklosma new genus, from the Khairkhan Formation (Botomian-age equivalent) of southwest Mongolia. Hippoklosma mongolica (Missarzhevsky) is bilaterally symmetrical, with five pairs of radiating structures. These are presumably homologous with the muscle scars of other mobergellans, but in contrast consist of a series of disks (herein fibroplacodes) each containing a characteristic fibrous structure capped externally by a smooth lid. The apical region of the shell is domelike with transverse segmentation. A review of other mobergellans, including new data on Mobergella holsti from Sweden and Discinella micans from New York, and possibly related taxa concludes that although their affinities are problematic, a relationship with the Mollusca may be the most plausible hypothesis on existing evidence.

A comprehensive treatment of Ordovician crinoids from southwestern Europe is presented, including taxa based on articulated crowns and stems. This summary incorporates new material, new localities, and a revision of some southwestern Europe occurrences. The first record of an Ordovician crinoid from Portugal, Delgadocrinus oportovinum n. gen. and sp., is reported, and this is the oldest known crinoid from the Iberian Peninsula (Arenigian/Oretanian boundary, early Darriwilian). Geographic and temporal ranges of several crinoids are revised from peri-Gondwanan areas in southwestern Europe and northern Africa or modified with new Iberian material. The Spanish range of Heviacrinus melendezi Gil Cid et al., 1996 is extended down into the lower upper Oretanian, and Merocrinus millanae Ausich et al., 2002 is restricted to the upper lower Dobrotivian. The stratigraphic position of Ortsaecrinus cocae Gil Cid et al., 1999b is restricted to the early middle Berounian, and the range of Visocrinus castelli Ausich et al., 2002 is restricted to the late middle Berounian (see Fig. 2). New topotype material of Morenacrinus silvani Ausich et al., 2002 is reported that furthers understanding of the occurrence this taxon, which was previously only positively known from the holotype.