The concept of “land-mammal age” as developed in South America is examined. The “Uquian Land-mammal age” is used as a study case. “Land-mammal age” parataxonomy is here considered methodologically but not conceptually different from chronostratigraphic taxonomy. “Land-mammal ages” in South America are based on stages. However, we consider that accurate biostratigraphic studies must be done in South America for establishing the biostratigraphy and precise boundary stratotypes of most stages-ages. The Uquia outcrops are here considered inadequate as a stratotype. A new South American continental stage-age is proposed. This stage is based on a biostratigraphic scheme. The stratotypes of the stage and biozones are located in the fossiliferous southeastern Buenos Aires Province marine cliffs. The lower boundary stratotype is proposed. The stage-age is probably correlated with the Gauss Chron and the lower Matuyama Chron. Additionally, some major units of Ameghino are validated and a different timing for the arrival of North American mammals to southern South America is presented.

Posterolateral markings, appearing as short, rectilinear grooves projecting from the posterior margins of digit IV, occur on tracks in five of 34 trackways at the Cameron Dinosaur Tracksite in the Dinosaur Canyon Member of the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation, northeastern Arizona. A new ichnospecies, Grallator (Anchisauripus) madseni, is described from these five trackways made by bipedal, tridactyl dinosaurs. The size and morphology of the tracks suggest that they may represent trackmakers similar to Coelophysis and Syntarsus, two dinosaurs described from Triassic and Jurassic deposits in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico.

Among the working hypotheses cited as possible causes of the posterolateral markings are: 1) they were made by the dragging of digit III or of the metatarsus; 2) they are marks produced by a feature similar to a horny excrescence or cornified ridge on digitometatarsal pad IV; and 3) they are related to a peculiarity that may have resulted from sexual dimorphism.

Rediscovery of Branson and Mehl's (1933b) classical outcrop of the Middle Ordovician Joachim Dolomite near Holstein in eastern Missouri, from which they described 32 new species and four new genera of conodonts, makes it possible to obtain the large topotype collections needed to interpret their taxa in terms of modern multielement taxonomy. Of special interest in their Holstein fauna is Phragmodus primus Branson and Mehl, 1933, by original designation the type species of Phragmodus Branson and Mehl, 1933, whose morphology and relationships have been very poorly understood. Study of topotype collections, as well as of Branson and Mehl's syntypes, has failed to reveal any notable morphological differences between the elements of P. primus and those of P. undatus Branson and Mehl, 1933, a very well known and widely distributed species in the Middle and Upper Ordovician Midcontinent Realm faunas. These species are herein considered to be synonymous. Because the original descriptions of P. primus and P. undatus were published simultaneously, neither name has priority over the other. However, P. undatus has figured far more prominently in the taxonomic and biostratigraphic conodont literature than P. primus and therefore we favor use of the former designation for this species. The recognition that P. primus and P. undatus are the same species extends the stratigraphic range of P. undatus downward to considerably below the Deicke K-bentonite, that is, well into the Blackriveran.

Camptocrinus alabamensis Strimple and Moore, from the Gasperian (Mississippian: Chesterian) part of the Monteagle Limestone and overlying Bangor Limestone in northern Alabama, is the only species of Camptocrinus known to have more than 10 arms. Camptocrinus alabamensis exhibits morphological features (basals that are taller on their posterior ends than on their anterior ends, flattened primanal, shorter posteriormost secundibrachs on C ray and D ray) indicative of a tightly coiled life position, with most of the stem lying along the sediment. Unlike other coiled crinoids, Camptocrinus alabamensis had a double-folded stem and more than 10 arms, which we interpret to have been compromise solutions to the problems of protection from high current energy and predation pressure coupled with the need to lift the animal into a feeding posture. In addition, C. alabamensis is the only dichocrinid exhibiting highly modified pinnules, which may have been used as rheo/chemosensory organs. Camptocrinus alabamensis was a leeward passive suspension feeder that, in times of danger, could fold in its arms and coil tightly against the sediment.

Camptocrinus alabamensis is removed from synonymy with C. cirrifer and the diagnosis of Camptocrinus is modified. Species of the genera Camptocrinus and Neocamptocrinus should be used only for specimens in which calyces are known; therefore, the plethora of stem-species erected over the years should all be assigned to stem genera unless adequate calyx descriptions are available.

Early Devonian (Lochkovian; eurekaensis Zone) conodonts occur in discontinuous limestone beds in the Caballos Novaculite at five localities in the northwestern half of the Marathon uplift, west Texas. Similar conodont faunas at all five localities indicate that the limestone beds lie at one biostratigraphic horizon within the Caballos. The upper novaculite member directly overlies the limestone horizon at one locality, giving the upper novaculite a maximum age of Lochkovian. The limestone beds are dominantly skeletal calcarenites that represent shallow-water carbonate material transported into a deeper water setting by gravity processes. Restriction of the limestones to the northwestern margin of the uplift and provenance of reworked clasts and redeposited Ordovician and Silurian conodonts suggest a North American shelf source and are evidence of the close proximity of some strata exposed in the Marathon uplift to North America in the Early Devonian. Icriodus gravesi n. sp. is described from the limestone fauna.

The nominal Eucrossorhinus microcuspidatus and Cretorectolobus olsoni from the Campanian Judith River Formation of Montana, correspond to teeth from juvenile and adult individuals of one single species of orectoloboid shark. The type series of the latter is heterogeneous and includes, besides the holotype, a tooth belonging to a different orectoloboid of a new generic type named Cederstroemia. This genus is unique among Orectolobiformes by comprising sharks with dental adaptations towards a strict cutting dentition. Two new species of Cederstroemia are described: C. triangulata from the Judith River Formation of Montana and C. nilsi from the early Campanian of the Kristianstad Basin, Skåne, Sweden. An emended diagnosis is provided for Cretorectolobus, clarifying the dental characteristics of its members.

The Plum Brook Shale of north-central Ohio lies disconformably between the Eifelian (lower Middle Devonian) Delaware Limestone and the middle Givetian (upper Middle Devonian) Prout Dolomite. Its diverse conodont fauna indicates that it represents a transgression into the area in earliest Givetian time accompanied by the products of a notable adaptive radiation within two lineages of Icriodus. One of these (I. expansus Group) includes I. expansus, I. arkonensis and I. brevis, and complete intergradation of forms suggests that the group at this level involves conspecific ecotypes. A more extensive radiation involved descendants of I. regularicrescens (I. regularicrescens Group), including three new species, I. eriensis, I. janeae and I. ohioensis. Other representatives of this lineage occur here as well as in strata of comparable age in the type region of the Givet Limestone as described by Bultynck (1987). A third lineage is represented by I. excavatus in both areas, but evidence of radiation within this branch is limited to the Givet Limestone. Remarkable diversity also occurs among forms considered herein to involve Polygnathus pseudofoliatus and its descendants. The existence of intermediate forms and shared characteristics between and among the various species, including some that first appeared well before the end of the Eifelian, implies that they may be conspecific ecotypic variants at this level. New morphotypes within this group are treated informally. The greatest overall diversity occurs just above the basal Plum Brook, in strata interpreted to reflect inner-sublittoral conditions. The entire Plum Brook belongs to the upper ensensis Zone. A considerable part of the type Givetian placed in the Lower varcus Subzone by Bultynck (1987) lies below the lowest occurrence of its index species (P. timorensis); it contains some of the species found in the Plum Brook, and much of this section may also belong to the ensensis Zone.

Preservation of relict color patterns on fossil nautiloid cephalopods is a relatively rare phenomenon. Reports of this phenomenon as summarized by Kobluck and Mapes (1989, table 2) for the Paleozoic indicate that perhaps as many as 32 genera with coiled, orthoconic, and cyrtoconic conchs have been described with relict color patterns. However, reports of Mesozoic occurrences are limited to only Ophionautilus? in the Jurassic (Shimanski, 1962) and Eutrephoceras in the Cretaceous (Shimanski, 1962; Landman, 1982). Cenozoic reports are limited to Aturia in the Tertiary (Foerste, 1930; Shimanski, 1962; Teichert, 1964) and modern Nautilus (see Saunders and Landman, 1987, for an extensive treatment). The reports on both Mesozoic occurrences are limited to description of external conch morphology, detailed appearance of the color patterns, and the relationship of the remnant color pattern to the conch morphology. Indeed, the specimen discussed herein was originally illustrated by Landman (1982, fig. 8), with a caption indicating the presence of possible color banding. Analysis of this Cretaceous specimen allows comparison to Nautilus and provides a suggestion as to the evolution of certain mature color patterns in coiled cephalopods from the late Mesozoic to Recent.

Alluvial fan and braided fluvial redbeds of the Triassic Lepreau Formation of southern New Brunswick, eastern Canada, contain a moderately diverse and abundant invertebrate ichnofauna. Fourteen formal ichnotaxa are recognized: Ancorichnus coronus, Ancorichnus cf. A. ancorichnus, Aulichnites isp., Cruziana problematica, Fuersichnus isp., Gordia marina, Palaeophycus striatus, Palaeophycus isp., Planolites isp., Rusophycus isp., Skolithos linearis, cf. Skolithos isp., and Taenidium isp. Two vernacular ichnotaxa, “inclined meniscate burrows” and “surface pit structures,” also occur. All these ichnotaxa are figured and briefly described. Collectively, the entire assemblage can confidently be assigned to the Scoyenia ichnofacies that, in the Lepreau Formation, represents a fluvial channel ichnocoenose.

Specimens have been subject to marked taphonomic effects due to weathering and preservation in lithologies showing either insufficient variation in grain size or a grain size too coarse to preserve subtle morphological variations; as a consequence, ichno-taxobases are commonly obscured or obliterated. This may have influenced the apparent diversity of the assemblage, especially with regard to meniscate and simple horizontal burrows. It is proposed that application of “taphoseries,” theoretical series including ichnotaxa that may potentially be mistaken for each other with increasing taphonomic overprint, provides a safeguard against ichnotaxonomic misidentifications.

Aldebarania arenitea (Astropectinidae; Asteroidea; Echinodermata) is described from the Rocky Point Member of the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Peedee Formation of North Carolina. A turbulent, shallow-water environment is suggested by sedimentary features, a diverse marine fauna, and the morphology of Aldebarania. Aldebarania appears to be a partial ecological equivalent of living Astropecten and Luidia; however, phylogenetic relationships within the Astropectinidae are unstudied and the origin of similarities is unknown.

A new species of Megacerops, M. kuwagatarhinus, is described from deposits belonging to the White River Group in southeastern Montana. Megacerops kuwagatarhinus is distinguished from all other species of Megacerops by the peculiar morphology of the horns, which are bifurcated distally into two well-developed branches. Two specimens from the Hunter Quarry of Saskatchewan, Canada, also share this horn morphology and are referred to the species.

Species of Ivanovia (Codiaceae or Udoteaceae, Chlorophyta) have traditionally been characterized as phylloid or leaf-like. Extraordinarily well preserved specimens of I. tebagaensis in limestone from the Upper Permian of southern Tunisia indicate that the thallus was cyathiform or cup-shaped, similar to the broadly conical codiacean Calcipatera and to living Udotea cyathiformis. Ivanovia also shared with Calcipatera the same general membrane structure consisting of bilateral cortices with palisades of utricles, now filled with micrite, and a medulla of tubular coenocytes, now filled with sparry calcite mosaic. A cyathiform thallus would have had an inner and an outer cortex and those of I. tebagaensis were dimorphic. The utricular structure as usually seen in thin sections using transmitted light is much clearer when viewed on polished surfaces of hand specimens using reflected light. Commonly occurring fused membranes suggest that the thalli reproduced vegetatively by budding. The complexity and regularity of the I. tebagaensis membrane structure strongly suggest that a model which proposes that Ivanovia is simply a diagenetic stage in the fossilization of the red alga, Archeolithophyllum, is invalid.

Cores dating back to deglaciation were taken from three lakes in Atlantic Canada and analyzed for arcellaceans and pollen. Paleotemperatures and paleo-precipitation were calculated from the pollen data using transfer functions. A sudden warming is recorded by the pollen around 10,000 years B.P., followed by a general warming to the mid Holocene Hypsithermal, then by a decrease in temperature and increase in effective precipitation to the present. The three lakes, two in western Newfoundland and one in eastern Nova Scotia, contain similar late glacial (13-10 ka), early Holocene (10-8 ka), mid Holocene (8-4 ka), and late Holocene (4-0 ka) arcellacean assemblages. Immediately following retreat of the ice sheets, Centropyxis aculeata, Centropyxis constricta, Difflugia oblonga, Difflugia urceolata, and Difflugia corona were common. The latter part of the late glacial is characterized by sparse assemblages dominated by C. aculeata. The arcellacean record thus suggests a climatic reversal in Atlantic Canada between 11,500 and 10,000 years B.P., analogous to the Younger Dryas, although this is not recorded by the pollen. Species diversity increased sharply at the beginning of the Holocene, and D. oblonga is the dominant taxon in early Holocene sediments. Difflugia oblonga remained common through the mid Holocene, but percentages of C. aculeata were very low, and Pontigulasia compressa and Difflugia bacillifera peaked in abundance during the Hypsithermal. The late Holocene is characterized by a resurgence in C. aculeata at the expense of other taxa. The increase in Heleopera sphagni and Nebella collaris since 5,000 years B.P. at the two sites in southwestern Newfoundland reflects paludification in response to increased precipitation since the Hypsithermal. Because the changes in arcellacean assemblages are regionally synchronous in all three lakes and coincide with climatically driven vegetational successions indicated by the pollen record, arcellaceans appear to respond to climatic change, and thus may be useful paleoecological and paleolimnological indicators. With their quicker generation time, these protists may be better suited than pollen to recording short-lived phenomena, like the mid-Holocene Hypsithermal and the Younger Dryas reversal.

The Upper Missourian to lower Wolfcampian sequence (middle Kansas City through lower Council Grove Groups) of the Midcontinent U.S.A. (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri) is divided into seven biostratigraphic zones defined chiefly upon first occurrences of Streptognathodus species. In ascending order, these are the: 1) Streptognathodus gracilis Zone; 2) Streptognathodus firmus Zone; 3) Streptognathodus pawhuskaensis deflectus Zone; 4) Streptognathodus virgilicus Zone; 5) Streptognathodus brownvillensis Zone; 6) Streptognathodus wabaunsensis s.l. Zone; and 7) Streptognathodus aff. barskovi Zone. The diagnostic Permian genus Sweetognathus first appears in the lower part of the S. aff. S. barskovi Zone. These zones coincide generally with Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian conodont zones of Russia. Streptognathodus virgilicus, a new species common in the upper Shawnee and Wabaunsee Groups, is described.

Colonial rugose corals are uncommon in Pennsylvanian rocks in North America and until now the only massive form known from rocks of this age south of the Arctic is an undescribed species of Petalaxis reported by Sutherland (1985) from Morrowan rocks in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. This report concerns a second species of Petalaxis recovered from Desmoinesian rocks immediately west of Death Valley, California. Although only a single colony has been found, it is profoundly different from all other described species of this genus and is significant from the standpoint of its presence during a very long time span when there was an apparent dearth of massive rugose corals in most of North America.

Small holes of irregular outline and mainly 0.2 to 1.5 mm in diameter are present in the exteriors of molluscan shells obtained from the latest Quaternary transgressive sequence on the Orange Shelf, Benguela region, off southwestern Africa. In shell interiors, the shell surrounding the holes is broken out to form flaring, conical spalls. The holes are clearly not borings, but are punctures caused by a small, pointed object having been forcefully driven into the shell. The holes in bivalves occur preferentially in small, thin-shelled tellinids and are nonrandomly placed in the central portions of valves. It is proposed that the holes are praedichnia produced by the rapid, ballistic-like raptorial strikes of spearing stomatopods, the pointed dactyl tips having penetrated the shells. Associated evidence of shell smashing, consisting of large holes in valves and gastropod whorls, supports the suggestion of stomatopod activity. The only stomatopod that inhabits the Benguela ecosystem, the spearer Pterygosquilla armata capensis Manning, 1969, is the probable tracemaker. Although shell nearly 1 mm thick has been pierced, the apparent selection of thin-shelled tellinids (0.14 to 0.34 mm thick) may reflect the requirement of shelling smashing in order to access the tissues. Nevertheless, the spearing of shelled prey is atypical for stomatopods and therefore confirmatory zoological observations are required, particularly to clarify the context of shell spearing. The ichnogenus Belichnus is proposed to accommodate these unique traces of pointed impacts, with ichnospecies B. monos (single punctures) and B. dusos (combined punctures) to accommodate the main morphological varieties observed.

Formic acid must be buffered with both calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate to be suitable for extraction of conodont elements and other phosphatic fossils from dolomites. All unbuffered solutions and those buffered with only calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate destroy the phosphatic fossils. Experimental effects using different concentrations and different combinations of phosphate and calcium carbonate are diagrammatically illustrated. A 10 percent formic acid solution with 20 g calcium carbonate and 1.2 g tricalcium phosphate per liter leaves conodont elements undamaged even for a period of 129 days. One liter of this solution dissolves 95 g dolomite.

Two new specimens of Periastron reticulatum Unger emend. Beck have been collected from the Erin Slate, Talladega Slate Belt, southern Appalachians. Preserved anatomical features provide a basis for an expanded understanding of the genus and provide a biostratigraphic basis for dating the uppermost unit of the Talladega Slate Belt.