Culturing experiments of the intermediate morphotype of the cosmopolitan coccolithophore Calcidiscus leptoporus, indicate that the size of its coccosphere and of its coccoliths are affected only in a minor way by temperature. The changes observed in clones growing under different temperature and light conditions are within the range defined for this morphotype in the plankton and Holocene sediments. This outcome suggests that the three morphotypes of living C. leptoporus may be reproductively isolated species rather than stages in a life cycle of a single species or ecophenotypic adaptations of a single species with considerable morphological plasticity. Numerous extinct morphotypes of C. leptoporus have been recorded from marine sediments deposited during the last approximately 25 Ma. In the light of our experiments, these may in fact represent genetically distinct species, which experienced rapid evolution.

The Order Lagenida is a monophyletic group of calcareous foraminifers that originated in Middle Pennsylvanian time via acquisition of hyaline-radial wall structure and loss of microgranular wall structure, the latter being characteristic of the close sister group and likely ancestor, the Fusulinida. Early lagenides are delineated into subgroups on the basis of presence or absence of partitioning within their tests, and among partitioned forms, on continuous versus discontinuous growth styles. Partitioned, discontinuously growing forms may be further delineated on the basis of test symmetry and on modifications to chamber shape and apertural complexity. Early lagenides underwent rapid taxonomic differentiation during late Moscovian and early Kasimovian time. Taxonomic differentiation was accompanied by rapid dispersal from the presumed center of origin in the midcontinent-Andean area to tropical and subtropical shelves worldwide. By Early Permian time certain lagenides were adapted to cool water paleoenvironments, as evidenced by their occurrences in high paleolatitudes and even in glaciomarine basins. Early Permian lagenides do not exhibit marked provincialism, but there is evidence for paleolatitudinal control on assemblages. The midcontinent-Andean and present Arctic areas contain similar, diverse faunas from low- to mid paleolatitudes along the western margin of Pangaea. These faunas share many elements in common with faunas from the tropical and subtropical eastern margin of Pangaea (Paleotethys). In contrast, the Europe-Urals, Siberian and Australian areas are characterized by a slightly different faunal association from mid- to high paleolatitudes in both hemispheres. Panthalssan faunas are less well known, but seemingly contain only cosmopolitan taxa.

Four new Early Carboniferous athyridid species in three genera, including one new genus, Bruntonathyris, are described from the Qaidam Basin, northwest China: Lamellosathyris qaidamensis, Bruntonathyris amunikeensis, Bruntonathyris? heijianshanensis, and Lochengia qinghaiensis. Based on the new material and also on published information, we also reviewed the taxonomic composition and the stratigraphic and paleogeographic distributions of the three genera. As a result, Lamellosathyris is considered to be indicative of late Famennian to Viséan age, originating in late Famennian in central North America and Armenia of Russia, respectively. Later, the genus appears to have two migratory directions: one branch rapidly dispersed over Mississippi Valley, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico of central North America in Tournaisian; alternatively, another branch from Armenia migrated westerly to Belgium, France, Spain, Britain, Ireland, via the Moscow Basin and Ural seaway, eastward to the Tienshan Mountains and Qaidam Basin of northwest China during the Tournaisian to Viséan, and easterly along the southern shelves of the Paleo-Tethys to Iran and western Yunnan of southwestern China in Tournaisian. Both Bruntonathyris and Lochengia are restrictedly Tournaisian to Viséan in age, and probably originated in the Qaidam Basin. Later, Bruntonathyris migrated easterly to South China and Japan, and westerly to Urals, Moscow Basin, Donetsk Basin and Britain; Lochengia migrated easterly to South China and westerly to the Urals seaway and the adjoined Russian Platform (i.e., both the Moscow and Donetsk Basins).

The Early Oligocene to Recent genus Lirabuccinum Vermeij, 1991, is a North Pacific clade of rocky-bottom predatory buccinid gastropods. A re-examination of all available material from eastern Asia and comparison of this material with western American species leads us to recognize four northwestern Pacific species: L. fuscolabiatum (Smith, 1875) from the Pliocene to Recent; L. japonicum (Yokoyama, 1926) from the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene; L. branneri (Clark and Arnold, 1923) from the early Middle Miocene, also known from the Oligocene in the eastern Pacific; and Lirabuccinum sp. from the late Middle Miocene. The genus originated in the eastern Pacific and subsequently spread to the western Pacific by late Early Miocene to early Middle Miocene time. Lirabuccinum exemplifies a common pattern among rocky-bottom North Pacific gastropods in that the early species have a thick, internally strongly ribbed or denticulate outer lip. As they adapted to the colder boreal realm during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, Lirabuccinum and such other clades as Nucella, Ceratostoma, and Ocinebrellus (all Muricidae) evolved thinner, less heavily reinforced outer lips.

Small, silicified rostroconchs are present in the late Wolfcampian Bird Spring Formation in Nevada. Hadropipetta nevadaensis new species, Minycardita sectilis new genus and species, and Baiosoma sp. are described.

Intra- and interspecific variation in the early internal shell features of ammonoids has been examined in 14 Late Cretaceous species representing four suborders on the basis of large samples from Hokkaido (Japan) and the U.S. Western Interior Province. Our observations indicate that quantitative characters such as the size of the initial chamber and ammonitella, the length of the prosiphon, and the ammonitella angle exhibit moderate variation within species. The ranges of variation partly overlap among species, indicating that these characters are not suitable for studies of the higher-level systematics of ammonoids, but may sometimes help diagnose species. In contrast, there is much less variation within species with respect to qualitative characters such as the shape of the prosiphon, the presence or absence of accessory threads of the prosiphon, the shape of the caecum, and the initial position of the siphuncle. Examination of these characters shows that they appear to be stable at the superfamily level for the Ammonitina, but variable among species in the Lytoceratina. Thus, these characters are potentially more useful for higher-level phylogenetic analysis.

Brachyuran decapods (crabs) are rarely preserved in coastal environments and have not been documented in close association with dinosaur fossils. A crab referable to the Necrocarcinidae Förster, 1968, is here described from the Cenomanian Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Egypt. The occurrence of a crab in a mangrove setting in association with terrestrial vertebrates is extremely unusual in the fossil record. Review of decapod occurrences from the region has resulted in placement of Portunus sp. of Roger (1946) within the Raninidae de Haan, 1839, and Lophoraninella cretacea (Dames, 1886) into the Galatheoidea Samouelle, 1819. The crabs of the Bahariya Formation were probably scavengers, feeding on vegetation and other organic material and were possibly a food source for fish and other vertebrates and invertebrates in the environment.

Acid-resistant specimens of trilobites were recovered from the dissolved residues of lime mudstone collected from the lower part of the Machari Formation, Yongwol Group, Taebaeksan Basin, Korea. One of the samples yields a trilobite assemblage comprising Lejopyge armata (Linnarsson, 1869), Lisogoragnostus coreanicus n. sp., agnostid genus and species indeterminate, ammagnostid genus and species indeterminate, clavagnostid genus and species indeterminate, Cyclolorenzella sp., and Eoshengia? sp. The stratigraphic interval yielding the trilobite assemblage is herein designated as the Lejopyge armata Zone, which is correlated well with the upper Middle Cambrian biozones established elsewhere. This provides the first biostratigraphic reference point for the upper Middle Cambrian sequence of the Yongwol Group and fills partially the biostratigraphic gap between the Tonkinella (middle Middle Cambrian) and the Glyptagnostus stolidotus (uppermost Middle Cambrian) zones in the Machari Formation.

The Middle Eocene (Lutetian) bee faunas of Eckfeld and Messel, Germany are revised. In addition to the previously known Electrapis electrapoides (Lutz), five additional species are recognized. Four new species of the Electrapini (Apidae: Apinae) are described: Electrapis micheneri Wappler and Engel, E. prolata Engel and Wappler, Protobombus pristinus Wappler and Engel, and P. messelensis Engel and Wappler. In addition, the new genus Pygomelissa Engel and Wappler is proposed for Pygomelissa lutetia Engel and Wappler new species, which cannot presently be classified into any tribe of the Apidae. The tribe Megachilini (Megachilidae: Megachilinae) is also recorded from Eckfeld but in the absence of any body fossil. Megachilines include the leaf-cutter bees (Megachile) and from the occurrence of the distinctive semicircular damage they produce in leaves, we conclude that such bees were also present in the fauna. The bee fauna is compared with that of the contemporaneous Baltic amber. As with Baltic amber, the majority of bee specimens are from the advanced eusocial lineages of the corbiculate Apinae. Lastly, comments are made on the phylogenetic and paleobiological significance of the faunas.

A new diverse Famennian echinoderm fauna (∼600 specimens representing 33 genera and 47 species) dominated by blastoids and cladid, small-calyx camerate, and flexible crinoids is reported from the Hongguleleng Formation, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang-Uygar Autonomous Region, China. Two stratigraphically distinct pelmatozoan faunas were collected: one from the lower member of the Hongguleleng Formation (crepida Zone to marginifera Zone) and one from the upper member of the Hongguleleng Formation (praesulcata Zone). Both faunas are distinctively “Carboniferous” in aspect. The older fauna is dominated by cladids and small-calyx camerates, whereas the younger fauna is dominated by blastoids.

Discovery of these two faunas has more than doubled the number of Famennian echinoderm specimens known in the world and more than quadrupled the number of known taxa. Latest Devonian (Famennian) and earliest Carboniferous stemmed-echinoderm (pelmatozoan) faunas traditionally have been considered to be very low diversity relative to earlier Frasnian and later Early Carboniferous faunas. Furthermore, Carboniferous pelmatozoan faunas seemingly arose suddenly, with unclear ancestral ties to Devonian taxa. The Hongguleleng faunas are critical in understanding pelmatozoan biogeography and evolution in the aftermath of Devonian extinction event(s) prior to the Carboniferous echinoderm diversification, as they indicate that diversification and re-radiation of stemmed echinoderms already were well underway before the close of the Famennian.

Collections from field excursions in 1993 and 1995 include seven new taxa of blastoids and nine new taxa of crinoids among the twenty-four total taxa reported. New blastoid taxa are Emuhablastus planus, Tripoblastus plicatus, Breimeriblastus pyramidalis, B. gracilis, Conoblastus invaginatus, Sinopetaloblastus grabaui, and Hyperoblastus emuhaensis. Together with collections from 1991, we have amassed 333 blastoid specimens, representing 13 genera and 15 species. Emuhablastus planus, new genus and species, is the oldest genus of the Family Codasteridae, extending the familial record back from the Viséan to the Famennian. The hyperoblastid genera, Breimeriblastus, new genus, and Conoblastus, new genus, apparently represent transitional genera between a Pentremitidea-like ancestor and a Pentremites-like descendant. These taxa imply that the fissiculate-spiraculate transition may have occurred in a mosaic fashion during the Middle to Upper Devonian. Hyperoblastus emuhaensis, new species, is the first report of the genus from rocks of Famennian age or from Asia.

New crinoid taxa include Athabascocrinus orientale, Hexacrinites pinnulata, Abactinocrinus devonicus, Euonychocrinus websteri,? Parisocrinus nodosus,? P. conicus, Bridgerocrinus discus, Julieticrinus romeo, and Sostronocrinus quadribrachiatus. In addition, we propose several other taxonomic reassignments based on new collections. Uperocrinus zhaoae is reassigned to the genus Actinocrinus based on the presence of pentagonal or hexagonal primibrachials in the cup, even though the primibrachials have a pseudo-quadrate appearance. Bridgerocrinus delicatulus is reassigned to Logocrinus based on the presence of three, rather than two, primibrachials. Sostronocrinidae, new family, is erected for genera with 20 arms that otherwise might be placed in the Family Scytalocrinidae. Genera included within the Sostronocrinidae, new family, are Sostronocrinus, Hertocrinus, Tundracrinus, and Amadeusicrinus new genus. Bridgerocrinus minutus is reassigned to the genus Sostronocrinus. Pachylocrinus subpentagonalis is reassigned to Amadeusicrinus new genus. “Decadocrinus” xinjiangensis is reassigned to Grabauicrinus new genus, which is erected for decadocrinids with 10 arms, all of which branch on the second primibrachial.

Nicholsodiscus anticostiensis new genus and species (Mill Bay Member, Vauréal Formation, Rawtheyan, Upper Ordovician) is described from Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada. Nicholsodiscus anticostiensis n. gen. and sp. is known from two complete specimens preserved in situ with the cupule-bearing side facing toward the bedding surface. Sedimentological, petrographic, and trace fossil evidence suggest that this bedding surface had the consistency of a hardground during the lifetime of the cyclocystoids. This provides the first unequivocal evidence that cyclocystoids lived with their cupule-bearing side (ventral) toward the substratum. A cupules-down orientation results in the ambulacral grooves facing the substratum. Such an orientation excludes suspension-feeding from being a possible feeding mode of the Cyclocystoidea as discussed by Henderson and Shergold (1971).

A third Anticosti Island cyclocystoid specimen of unknown affinities is described from the same locality. Furthermore, a re-examination of the holotype of “Cyclocystoides” raymondi Foerste for purposes of comparison with Nicholsodiscus anticostiensis n. gen. and sp. provided evidence that it is a member of Zygocycloides, albeit with missing interseptal plates.

A collection of 60,886 conodonts was recovered from 141 samples of the Outram, Skoki and Owen Creek Formations (Lower to Middle Ordovician) that outcrop through the Wilcox Pass section, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. This section representσ the standard reference section for the Lower-Middle Ordovician of the Southern Canadian Cordillera. The well preserved fauna is assigned to 75 species representing 48 genera. The species are representative of both the Midcontinent and Atlantic faunal realms, but dominantly the former. Nine Midcontinent Realm zones are recognized in the upwards shallowing carbonate platform succession including the Scolopodus subrex, Acodus kechikaensis, Oepikodus communis, Jumudontus gananda, Tripodus laevis, Histiodella altifrons, Histiodella sinuosa, Histiodella holodentata, and Phragmodus “pre-flexuosus” zones. Zones recognized that are characteristic of the Atlantic Realm include Paroistodus proteus, Paracordylodus gracilis, Oepikodus evae, Paroistodus originalis, and Microzarkodina flabellum. A new genus, Filodontus, is proposed for elements assigned previously to the form genus “Scolopodus” filosus. A new species, Leptochirognathus wilcoxi, is described and one new species, left in open nomenclature, is assigned to Rossodus?.

The anatomy of the external naris and anterior palate is described in detail for Lycaenodon longiceps, a morphologically conservative member of the primitive therapsid clade Biarmosuchia. Therapsids are distinguished from pelycosaur-grade synapsids by numerous features of the naris and palate. As in most early therapsids, the septomaxilla in Lycaenodon consists of a short intranarial portion and a long, posterodorsal, facial process. The septomaxillary foramen is reduced to a small, longitudinal slit between the septomaxilla and maxilla. On the palate, the unpaired vomer is clasped anteriorly by long palatal processes of the premaxillae. The choanae are elongate structures whose anterior portion housed the lower canine when the jaws were closed. The palatine and maxilla bear a small shelf (crista choanalis) on their medial surface that has been suggested to represent an early stage in the development of a secondary palate. The parallel acquisition of a crista choanalis and a bony secondary palate in several therapsid groups supports the hypothesis that respiration-related changes were an important aspect of early therapsid evolution.

The genus Lycaenodon may be diagnosed by at least three autapomorphies: the premaxilla bears a scroll-like choanal process that roofs the anterior portion of the internal nares, the vomer is widest at the level of the upper canines with its downturned edges beginning more posteriorly, and the dorsal surface of the postfrontal is convex. Another specimen referred to Lycaenodon preserves additional features that might be autapomorphic, but are not preserved in the holotype.

New fossiliferous localities in the Borchers Badlands of southwestern Kansas add to our knowledge of rodent community change across the Plio-Pleistocene and Blancan-Irvingtonian boundaries. We report fossil rodents from ten local faunas in the Badlands that range stratigraphically from beneath the Huckleberry Ridge ash (2.10 Ma [million years ago]) to a level just beneath the Cerro Toledo B ash (1.23–1.47 Ma). The late Blancan Borchers local fauna (l.f.), includes the Meade Basin highest stratigraphic datum (HSD) for the following taxa that characterize or are found in earlier Blancan faunas: Alilepus, Geomys quinni, Sigmodon minor, and Geochelone. Borchers currently also has the HSDs for Reithrodontomys pratincola and Ondatra zibethicus lidahoensis, but the prior temporal distribution of these taxa in the Meade Basin is unknown. The stratigraphically lowest Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) l.f. in the Badlands, Nash 72, includes the lowest stratigraphic datum (LSD) for Cynomys, Reithrodontomys moorei, Microtus, and Mictomys kansasensis, all of which are found above Nash 72 and beneath the Cerro Toledo B ash. Prodipodomys is last seen at Nash 72, and Sigmodon curtisi is first encountered at Short Haul, a locality slightly younger than Nash 72. A preliminary hypothesis of age based on stratigraphic position places the Nash 72 l.f. at about 1.80 Ma, suggesting that this fauna and the genus Microtus may characterize both the Plio-Pleistocene and Blancan-Irvingtonian boundaries in the Borchers Badlands.

During the Late Ordovician, arborescent and frondose trepostome, and cystoporate Bryozoa were frequently bored in a manner distinctly different from Trypanites, Palaeosabella, and Vermiforichnus, domichnia that are commonly associated with these organisms. Maysvillian and Richmondian bryozoan taxa on the Cincinnati Arch were particularly infested by an unidentified organism that used the interior of bryozoan branches as its domicile. The domichnial trace Sanctum laurentiensis is newly described. Dwelling openings range in size from 1.1 mm to 3.2 mm and are located singly on surfaces of colony branches, commonly in a somewhat protected position. The circular opening leads through the exozone into an elongate or saccate chamber representing a variably shaped excavation of the bryozoan endozone. Traces ranging from 3.0 mm to 8.8 mm wide and 9.7 mm to 53 mm long are documented. Thin sections demonstrate that chambers were unlined and had irregular interior walls resulting from organismal mining of zooecial tubes.

Cavity makers likely were multiple individuals of amphipod-like crustaceans (Arthropoda) that fed outside their domicile. Bryozoan colonies were occupied while upright, either entirely or partially live, or in some cases dead and overgrown by other bryozoans. Avoidance of predation and the ability to dwell and feed in a higher tier than that of infaunal tracemakers at the sediment-water interface were potential benefits of this domichnium. Presence of cavities reduced the strength of host branches, thus having a profound effect on colony morphology and growth over its lifetime. Unlike the many epizoans that used trepostomes as substrates with little long-term affect, Sanctum laurentiensis significantly impacted its bryozoan host.

The inoceramid bivalves first appeared in the Permian of Australia (Browne and Newell, 1966; Waterhouse, 1970), thrived during certain intervals in the Jurassic (e.g., the Toarcian; Harries and Little, 1999), and dominated many benthic marine communities globally from the late Early through the Late Cretaceous. Despite excellent preservation (the prismatic, outer calcitic layer is retained in many cases), ubiquitous presence in Late Mesozoic marine deposits, and intense study (e.g., Tröger, 1967; Kauffman et al., 1977; Crampton, 1996; Walaszczyk and Cobban, 2000; Walaszczyk et al., 2001), no evidence of predatory drilling in inoceramids has been reported to date. Indeed, evidence of predation of any sort on inoceramids throughout their evolutionary history is limited (Harries and Ozanne, 1998; though see Ozanne and Harries, 2002, for an exception to this). There have been several documented examples of non-predatory borings in inoceramids likely made post mortem by organisms such as bryozoans (Morris, 1990) and acrothoracian barnacles. Rare instances of potential nondrilling predatory attacks on inoceramids by fish (Speden, 1971) and ptychodid sharks (Kauffman, 1972), also have been described (see summary in Harries and Ozanne, 1998).

The Order Diaphanopterodea Handlirsch, 1919, is a small Paleozoic order of winged insects. For a long time, most of its species have been assigned to the order Megasecoptera. The position of the wings held backward along the abdomen at rest (Handlirsch, 1919, p. 575) is currently used to discriminate Diaphanopterodea from Megasecoptera (Carpenter, 1992). Although these Palaeoptera are frequently preserved with wings connected to the body, the wings resting position is not really suitable for ordinal diagnosis: isolated wings cannot be assigned, and taphonomic bias can render interpretations of wing disposal difficult. Here we redescribe Diaphanoptera munieri Brongniart, 1893, type-species of the Diaphanopteridae, and Diaphanoptera vetusta Brongniart, 1893. New diagnostic venation characters are established, some of which were already used for several others representatives of the order (Kukalová-Peck, 1974; Kukalová-Peck and Sinichenkova, 1992). The implications in the composition of the family and its relationships within the order are discussed.