Bivalves from the Late Devonian pelagic or Hercynian Facies of classical regions such as eastern North America and Europe have not been investigated for almost a century.

A group of small, radially ribbed bivalves frequently occurs in association with ammonoids and conodonts in pelagic cephalopod limestones and shales of the latest Frasnian and early Famennian. These bivalves have traditionally been assigned to the Late Silurian genus Praecardium Barrande, 1881. Re-studying the types of the Late Devonian taxa, Cardium? vetustum Hall, 1843, Cardiola duplicata Münster, 1840, Praecardium clymeniae Beushausen, 1895, Praecardium melletes Clarke, 1904, and Praecardium multicostatum Clarke, 1904 shows that they differ significantly from Praecardium.

As a result, two new genera, Vetupraeca n. gen. and Mucopraeca n. gen, are established. Furthermore, neotypes are designated for Cardiola nehdensis, Kayser, 1873 and Vetupraeca clymeniae (Beushausen, 1895), and lectotypes are chosen for Mucopraeca multicostata (Clarke, 1904) and Vetupraeca duplicata (Münster, 1840). These bivalve taxa were widely distributed in the subtropical to tropical, latest Frasnian/early Famennian outer shelf habitats of Laurussia and Gondwana.

Cymatograptus bidextro sp. nov. from the Floian “Baltograptus deflexus” Biozone of northwest Argentina represents the oldest expansograptid with an artus type proximal development and a prosicular origin of the first theca. The species bears a variably dextral or sinistral proximal development, previously known exclusively from Tremadocian members of the Anisograptidae, but not from the Dichograptidae. The proximal development types of the Dichograptacea are shown to consist of several independently changing characters and cannot be used as phylogenetically useful descriptors. Proximal developments are more variable than expected and several independent origins of an artus type proximal development can be recognized in the Lower to Middle Ordovician.

Two Permian fusulinid faunas, including nine species belonging to six genera, from the northern Tengchong Block, Southwest China, are studied and compared with the coeval fusulinid faunas from other blocks with Gondwana-affinity and South China. in the Kongshuhe section, the fauna is dominated by Eoparafusulina in the lower part of the Dadongchang Formation and possibly suggests an age of Sakmarian, while in the Shanmutang section, the fauna from the middle of the Dadongchang Formation mainly consists of Chusenella mingguangensis n. sp. and Monodiexodina gigas n. sp., indicating a Wordian to Capitanian age. Study has also demonstrated that fusulinid faunas from the Tengchong Block shared similar features with the contemporary faunas from the Baoshan Block and Sibumasu Block in the low generic and specific diversities and the absence of the taxa commonly found in Cathaysia Tethys areas, such as the Pseudoschwagerinidae, Verbeekinidae, and Neoschwagerinidae. However, visible differences in species composition still exist between the faunas of the Tengchong Block and those of the other two blocks, revealing an apparent regional feature in the faunas of the Tengchong Block.

Pectinifrons abyssalis new genus and species is an early Ediacaran (ca. 565 Ma) rangeomorph from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. It is known from more than 200 specimens from the Mistaken Point and Trepassey formations, and is typically preserved as a comb-shaped ridge on the top of mudstone beds beneath volcanic ashfall tuffs. Morphologic and taphonomic features suggest that the living organism consisted of two parallel series of soft rangeomorph fronds, alternately branching in an opposite arrangement from an elongate, tubular pedicle rod. the pedicle rod and the struts that represent the central stalks of the fronds were originally composed of resistant material that did not decompose until after lithification of the overlying ash bed. the fronds themselves were originally composed of a soft, non-resistant material that readily degraded, resulting in their extremely rare preservation as impressions on the bedding surface. Biometric analysis implies that Pectinifrons grew primarily by strut/frond addition, with later inflation of these elements. Pectinifrons is one of the first rangeomorph taxa to display evidence of possible age cohorts comparable to those observed in modern macrobenthic organisms.

Based on a thorough examination of field and museum Climactichnites specimens, two species of this trace are recognized, each representing a unique behavioral variant produced by a soft-bodied animal in Late Cambrian intertidal environments. C. wilsoni represents surface-produced trails, whereas C. youngi is re-erected for burrows produced below the surface. Burrowing behavior is supported by: 1) the presence of C. youngi within, rather than on, the surface of beds; 2) the orientation of some burrows inclined to bedding; and 3) the occasional presence of distinct burrow fills. Burrows can also be distinguished morphologically from surface traces by the absence of lateral ridges and the presence of fine, mm-scale striations or grooves superimposed on the transverse bars and furrows. Burrowing behavior for the Climactichnites trailmaker was previously unknown and thus represents a new, although not entirely unexpected, behavior for this mollusk or mollusk-like animal. The body impression of the sedentary animal is removed to Musculopodus sedentarius n. igen. and isp. In the future, Musculopodus may be expanded to include the resting traces of other soft-bodied animals known from the fossil record. Currently, Climactichnites is known only from very shallow to emergent strata of North America; reports of this fossil in other parts of the world are misidentified trails produced by other animals.

Two types of evidence for insect ovipositional activity (i.e., actual egg chorions and ovipositional damage) occur on Nilssoniopteris (bennettitalean foliage) leaf cuticles from the Carnian of Austria and provide a rare direct insight into insect egg morphology and oviposition in the Late Triassic. the egg chorions have exclusively been found on N. haidingeri leaves, where they are attached to the outer surface of the abaxial cuticle; one specimen suggests that the eggs were arranged in circles. It is impossible at present to determine the affinities of the eggs; possible producers may be beetles, dragonflies, sawflies, or other allied basal Hymenoptera. Ovipositional damage occurs on N. angustior leaves in the form of lenticular egg impressions surrounded by a narrow, elevated margin. the impressions are visible on the ad- and abaxial cuticle, and coincide when both cuticles are superimposed, which indicates that the eggs producing these impressions were injected into the interior of the leaf. Producers of eggs that may have caused these damages are perhaps dragonflies or damselflies. the restricted occurrence of the two types of ovipositional activity suggests that some kind of host specificity existed, perhaps related to specific preferences in larval diet.

New material from the Famennian of Morocco in the southern Maider comprises chondrichthyan teeth (Thrinacodus, Cobelodus, Denaea, Stethacanthus), actinopterygian remains (scales, teeth and hemilepidotrichium) and one acanthodian scale. The absence of crushing teeth suggests deeper water environments for the Maider Basin than the Tafilalt Basin. Vertebrate microremains from the Famennian of Sardinia, including Siamodus and Jalodus teeth, are illustrated and described. Ichthyofaunal relationships of the North Gondwanan platform during the Famennian are examined.

A new form of Xenungulata Paula Couto, 1952 from red levels of the Peñas Coloradas Formation in a locality near Puerto Visser (45°17'S, 67°01'W), Chubut province, Argentina, is represented by a fragmentary left jaw with the m3 (MPEF-PV 1871). Notoetayoa gargantuai n. gen. and n. sp. is the first ever found in direct association with Carodnia feruglioi Simpson, 1935a which characterizes the incompletely known homonymous zone of the late Paleocene of Patagonia. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis, including representatives of “Condylarthra,” Litopterna, Notoungulata, Pyrotheria, Xenungulata and Astrapotheria, plus the characters that could be scored in the new taxon, was performed using TNT software. A single most parsimonious tree was obtained. Notoetayoa gargantuai has a closer phylogenetic relationship with the Xenungulate Etayoa bacatensis Villarroel, 1987 from the ?middle Paleocene of Colombia than with any other Tertiary ungulate group of South America. Notoetayoa gargantuai fills an important gap in the knowledge of the mammalian faunas from the Paleocene of Patagonia, particularly of the poorly known pre-Itaborian times.

The penguin skeleton studied here constitutes the fourth partial skeleton found in Patagonia, and the third one with an associated humerus and tarsometatarsus. The finding of this partial skeleton identified with certainty as Palaeospheniscus patagonicus Moreno and Mercerat, 1891 (Aves, Sphenisciformes) allows the first description of elements other than the tarsometatarsus. The material comes from the basal sector of the Gaiman Formation (Early Miocene), located along the Atlantic coast of Chubut Province, south of Rawson city. This unit comprises a succession of shales, fine tuffs, sandstones, tuffaceous sandstones, and coquinas deposited in a shallow marine environment. These beds contain abundant marine vertebrates (sharks, dolphins, rays, birds), mollusk casts, and oyster beds. The skeleton includes: rostrum, two thoracic vertebrae, right coracoid without the distal end, left humerus, right femur, right tarsometatarsus, left fragmentary scapula, left coracoid, left radius without the distal end, proximal portion of left ulna, proximal end of left femur, and preacetabular part of the synsacrum. P. patagonicus would have been a medium-sized penguin weighing about 5 kg that inhabited the breeding colonies established in the nearby Bryn Gwyn area during the early Miocene. Despite the abundance of penguin remains known for Argentina, and the fact that they are among the birds with a better fossil record, this skeleton is an exceptional case. This finding allows a readjustment of the taxonomic criteria applicable to fossil and living species.

Most species of the middle and late Hettangian psiloceratid genus Sunrisites are endemic to the eastern Pacific, where they are common members of ammonoid assemblages. the Taseko Lakes map area in British Columbia yields diverse and well-preserved Sunrisites faunas which are formally described here for the first time. Three new species are recognized, S. brimblecombei, S. chilcotinensis, and S. senililevis. the new species require an extension of the morphological range of the genus to include forms that become moderately involute at large shell diameters. Signs of sexual dimorphism are apparent within all three new species of Sunrisites. This work extends the stratigraphic range of Sunrisites to include the latest Hettangian Rursicostatum Zone in North America. The distribution of Sunrisites suggests that the Hispanic Corridor, which linked the western Tethyan Ocean and the eastern Pacific, may have been open during the Hettangian. Furthermore, occurrences of the genus constrain the Hettangian position of several allochthonous terranes to the northeastern Pacific.

Three crinoids are known from the Upper Ordovician Hatter Limestone at Union Furnace in central Pennsylvania, i.e., Haptocrinus buttsi n. sp., an unknown crinoid with a lichenocrinid holdfast, and an indeterminate columnal that probably belongs to a crinoid. Two crowns enable H. buttsi n. sp. to be reconstructed. The animal lived about 70 cm above the seafloor and was attached to a strophomenid brachiopod with a lichenocrinid holdfast. Its endotomous arms formed an efficient filtration net that covered much of the water within its planar filtration fan. The application of filtration theory indicates that H. buttsi n. sp. could begin to feed at a comparatively low ambient current velocity and balance its energy budget. Like many other ramulate disparids, H. buttsi n. sp. mainly collected moderately small food particles. As a member of the Tornatilicrinidae, H. buttsi n. sp. is a relatively primitive disparid. Another crinoid taxon bears a longer and thinner stem and a different type of lichenocrinid holdfast cemented to the same strophomenid shell. A third species, most likely a crinoid, is represented by a single columnal. The fauna lived in a quiet water lagoonal area, which is an unusual habitat for Paleozoic crinoids.

Genus Crocodylus is considered to have originated in Africa during the Early Miocene but it is only in the Late Miocene that there are evidences of dispersal toward Europe, where tomistomines and the alligatoroid Diplocynodon were widespread since the Paleogene. Revision of the type material of Crocodylus bambolii Ristori, 1890, a Tortonian crocodylian from the renowned Oreopithecus localities in central Italy, excludes it from Diplocynodon. The morphology of the remains, combined with chronology and biogeography, confirms its identity as cf. Crocodylus. The validity of the species Crocodylus bambolii is however not supported by the available morphological characters so that a solid differential diagnosis cannot be realized. It is therefore here proposed to consider Crocodylus bambolii as a nomen dubium. The European Late Miocene distribution of short-snouted crocodylians sees only alligatoroids in western Europe and, curiously, only crocodylids in the Central Mediterranean area. The Tusco-Sardinian and the Apulo-Abruzzi paleobioprovinces, whose lands are nowadays part of the Italian peninsula, are apparently the only European areas inhabited by short-snouted crocodylids, which are at the same time among the last crocodylians of the continent. The isolated teeth from Fiume Santo and Scontrone, two localities of these palebioprovinces, are also not Diplocynodon-like, but further material is needed to identify their owners with confidence.

The taxonomic status of the Lower Cretaceous non-marine ostracode genera Hourcqia Krömmelbein and Pattersoncypris Bate is discussed. From a detailed analysis of the type species of these genera, and several other species attributed to them, it was possible to conclude that both genera are invalid. Hourcqia africana Krömmelbein, the type species of this genus, has an antero-ventral beak, and it is in all other respects identical to Cypridea Bosquet, and therefore should be transferred to this genus. the subspecies originally referred to as Hourcqia africana confluens Krömmellbein and Weber, 1971 is subsumed within Cypridea africana. Secondly, the genus Pattersoncypris, as the result of a study of its type species, P. micropapillosa Bate, is shown to be a junior synonym of Harbinia Tsao. Both, Hourcqia and Pattersoncypris must therefore be suppressed. Cypridea africana (Krömmelbein) occurs in Brazil, Congo, and Gabon in strata deposited during the rift stage, restricted to the late Barremian to early Aptian interval. Harbinia micropapillosa (Bate) occurs in Brazil and Liberia, but it is restricted to the gulf stage, i.e. the late Aptian to early Albian interval. Amended diagnoses for the genus Cypridea and species Cypridea africana and H. micropapillosa are given.

Two new Mesozoic gastropod species, provisionally attributed to the minute (height < 5 mm) coiled neomphalid genus Retiskenea?, are described from three geographically isolated, Early Cretaceous, hydrocarbon seep-carbonate sites at Wilbur Springs, Rice Valley, and Cold Fork of Cottonwood Creek, northern California (USA). A fourth paleo-seep locality at Paskenta, of probable Upper Jurassic age, also yielded a single specimen of a morphologically similar microgastropod that may be a neomphalid with affinities to the Lower Cretaceous specimens described herein. the limestone lenses are ~2-260 m in length, ~1-5 m in diameter, and surrounded by forearc siliciclastics of bathyal turbidites or sedimentary serpentinites in the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous (Tithonian-Albian) Great Valley Group and its equivalents. the Lower Cretaceous microgastropods are tentatively placed in Retiskenea? based on similar shell characters: size, globose shape, inflated reticulate protoconch, number and distinct inflation of the body whorls, and fine, prosocline sculpture of the final body whorl. the fossils occur in carbonate microbialites that formed in seafloor sediments during archaeal anaerobic oxidation of methane in the zone of bacterial sulfate reduction, associated with H2S- and CH4-rich fluid seepage. the California Retiskenea? fossils commonly are found in gregarious clusters, or closely affiliated with thin worm tubes or, in one case, a larger gastropod.

These Mesozoic records increase the total known species attributable to this cold-seep endemic genus from two to four. Its spatial and temporal distribution thus may have spanned ~9,000 km around the Pacific Rim from at least ~133 m.y. to the present in 10 subduction-related seep sites from California (possibly Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous), Washington (middle Eocene-Upper Oligocene), and modern offshore Oregon, the eastern Aleutians, and the Japan Trench. If the generic placement of these microgastropod fossils is correct, the California records are the oldest-known occurrences of Retiskenea, consistent with an estimated minimum Mesozoic origin for the 'hot vent' Neomphalidae, as inferred from molecular analyses published on other living members of the family.

Three fossil taxa of megapodagrionid damselflies are described and figured from the Paleogene localities in Europe on the basis of isolated wings. Eckfeldia superstes (Wappler, 2003) gen. nov. is described from the laminated mudstones of middle Eocene age from Eckfeld Maar, Germany. Furagrion jutlandicus (Henriksen, 1922) gen. nov. is recorded from the laminated claystones of lowermost Eocene age from the Ølst and Fur-Formation, Denmark, and an undetermined megapodagrionid damselfly is recognized from middle Eocene strata. Taphonomy and color preservation in the fossils are briefly considered. Characters used for phylogenetic analyses in extant and fossil Megapodagrionidae are discussed. The biogeographic and paleoecological implications of the new European fossils are briefly discussed.

Fossil ceratioid anglerfishes are described from the Upper Miocene (upper Mohnian) deposits of the Puente Formation, Los Angeles Basin, California. The specimens were collected from the laminated turbiditic deposits of the Yorba Member in the eastern sector of the Los Angeles Basin during the construction of a new metro rail line. Five taxa (Borophryne cf. apogon; Chaenophryne aff. melanorhabdus; Leptacanthichthys cf. gracilispinis; Linophryne cf. indica; Oneirodes sp.) belonging to two families, Linophrynidae and Oneirodidae, are described based on nine metamorphosed females. A detailed osteological analysis of the fossils has revealed that they can be tentatively assigned to extant species, suggesting that little or no relevant morphological change has characterized these taxa at least since the Late Miocene. Biogeographic considerations suggest that the Late Miocene ceratioid assemblages of the Los Angeles Basin are strikingly similar to those that currently inhabit the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific region. From a paleoenvironmental point of view, the excellent preservation of the specimens suggests a reduced turbulence and velocity of the turbidity fluxes. Finally, the comparative study of the bathymetric ranges of the ceratioid taxa recognized in the fossil assemblage described in this paper suggests that the minimum depth of the depositional environment might be estimated at approximately 1,000 m.

A large number of well-preserved immature exoskeletons enable the first detailed quantitative description of the ontogeny of the trinucleid Marrolithus bureaui (Oehlert, 1895) from the Lower Caradoc of the Armorican Massif (Armorica, northwest France). For the accurate description of cephalic features, a landmark-based approach was adopted in order to recognize ontogenetic instars and to establish the patterns of size increase and shape change during ontogenetic development. The quantitative analysis permitted the demonstration of a progressive shape change in agreement with ontogenetic ordination and a comparison of the timing of size and shape changes. Changes that took place during the meraspid period included, in particular, the development of a more pronounced sub-quadrangular cephalic outline, a compression (sag.) of the glabella and a size decrease until disappearance of the alae in late stages. This quantitative ontogenetic reconstitution of Marrolithus bureaui might be considered as a reference for the better understanding of phylogenetic affinities between other trinucleid species.

This paper describes the first silicified Upper Triassic (Early Norian) hypercalcified sponges known from the Alexander terrane, southeast Alaska. Sponges consist of five taxa from the Cornwallis Limestone of Keku Strait, southeast Alaska: Amblysiphonella Steinmann, Parauvanella Senowbari-Daryan and Di Stefano, Nevadathalamia cylindrica (Seilacher), N. minima n. sp., and Stellispongia (S. cf. subsphaerica Dieci, Antonacci, and Zardini). The hypercalcified sponges of the Alexander terrane as described in this paper provide paleogeographic linkage with other far-flung terranes of western North America, namely the Western Great Basin of Nevada, Stikinia of the Yukon, as well as the Antimonio terrane of northwestern Mexico. In addition, Parauvanella cf. ferdowensis is known from the Upper Triassic Nayband Formation, Iran. Finally Stellispongia cf. subsphaerica is known from the Upper Carnian Cassian Formation of the Dolomite Alps.

Sponges (particularly hypercalcified inozoans, sphinctozoans, chaetetids, and sponge-like organisms) are known worldwide from many Upper Triassic reef and nonreef sites. Although Upper Triassic deposits within the Cordilleran terranes and cratonal North America do not typically contain reeflike buildups, hypercalcifying sponge-like organisms were noted as occurring as part of the intricate paleoecological structure within a biostrome along the western shoreline of Gravina Island, southeast Alaska (southern Alexander terrane). This is in contrast to Keku Strait, southeast Alaska (central Alexander terrane), where hypercalcified sponges were identified from limestone beds within nonreef deposits.

The Cambrian fossil record of the Arachnomorpha is rich and diverse and includes trilobites, chelicerates, and many taxa known from various soft-bodied faunas including the Burgess Shale and the Chengjiang. Exceptionally well-preserved arthropod fossils are also known from Middle Cambrian strata in Utah. Recently, two new arachnomorphs (Dicranocaris Briggs, Lieberman, Hendricks, Halgedahl, and Jarrard, 2008 and Nettapezoura Briggs, Lieberman, Hendricks, Halgedahl, and Jarrard, 2008) were described from the Wheeler and Marjum formations of Utah. Cladistic analysis is undertaken to investigate arachnomorph relationships in light of these two new genera. The character matrix of Edgecombe and Ramsköld (1999) serves as the foundation for this study, augmented by new characters and taxa. The results of our cladistic analysis suggest that at least three distinct arachnomorph clades had diverged by the Middle Cambrian, and perhaps much earlier; the Utah genera can be referred to groups within one of these clades.

Crowns of four crinoid species, Talarocrinus planus Weller, 1920, Phacelocrinus longidactylus (McChesney, 1860), Ampelocrinus mundus? Kirk, 1942, and Phanocrinus maniformis (Yandell and Shumard, 1847) are reported from the limestones of the Wymps Gap Member of the Greenbrier Formation in northern West Virginia. Collectively these species indicate an early Chesterian age for the Wymps Gap Member, with the occurrence of T. planus indicating correlation with the Ridenhower (Paint Creek) Formation of the Illinois Basin. A review of the 17 species currently placed in Talarocrinus suggests that the Talarocrinus zone ranges no higher than the Ridenhower Formation in the Upper Gnathodus bilineatus conodont zone of the late Visean. The new occurrence of A. mundus extends its range upwards from the Genevievian substage of the Chesterian.

Previous studies have used sequence stratigraphy to correlate the Wymps Gap Member with the lower part of the Union Limestone Formation of the Greenbrier Group in southern West Virginia, which in turn has been correlated with the Ridenhower Formation. The occurrence of T. planus in the Wymps Gap Member provides independent confirmation of the correlations based on sequence stratigraphy between the Appalachian and Illinois basins. Correlation of the overlying Reynolds Member of the Mauch Chunk Formation with the Glen Dean Formation of the Illinois Basin suggests a significant unconformity between the Greenbrier Formation and Mauch Chunk Formation in northern West Virginia.