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First occurrence of family Clavatoraceae (fossil Charophyta) in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of France Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-03-15 Khaled Trabelsi, Benjamin Sames, Carles Martín‐Closas
A rich and diverse charophyte flora is described from the Bathonian marginal marine beds of southern France. It includes nine species that belong to the families Porocharaceae, Characeae and Clavatoraceae: Porochara gr. fusca, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. kimmeridgensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. westerbeckensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. douzensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. obovata, Auerbachichara
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Ostracods from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary at El Matuasto Section, Neuquén Basin, Argentina: taxonomy, palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical inferences Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Daiane Ceolin, Marcos Antonio B. Santos Filho, Andrea Concheyro, Gerson Fauth
This work presents a taxonomic, palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical study of the ostracod fauna around the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary from the El Matuasto section, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The analysis of 64 samples resulted in the recovery of 82 marine ostracod species, of which four are new: Hemiparacytheridea condilomata, Paramunseyella stictus, Hysterocythereis acuminata and Aleisocythereis
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The first unique‐headed bug (Hemiptera, Enicocephalomorpha) from Cretaceous Iberian amber, and the Gondwanan connections of its palaeoentomological fauna Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Leonidas‐Romanos Davranoglou, Ricardo Pérez‐de la Fuente, Petr Baňař, Enrique Peñalver
Enicocephalomorpha, also known as unique‐headed bugs, are a seldom‐collected infraorder of heteropteran insects whose evolutionary relationships have puzzled entomologists for more than a century. Unique‐headed bugs are exceptionally rare in the fossil record, which hinders our understanding of the morphological transformations of the lineage across time and also affects the calibration of molecular
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Pleurotomariida (Gastropoda) from the upper Anisian platform carbonates of the Dolomites (Southern Alps, Italy): systematics, palaeobiogeography and Triassic recovery Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Stefano Monari, Elio Dellantonio
A very rich gastropod fauna from the upper Anisian (Nevadites secedensis Zone) platform carbonates of the Dolomites, represented by more than 200 species, was collected over recent decades. Its study contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of the recovery after the end‐Permian mass extinction. This paper deals with the Pleurotomariida. A total of 35 species, 22 genera and 9 families have
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Earliest Danian outer neritic elasmobranch assemblages reveal an environmentally controlled faunal turnover at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary in the northern Tethyan Realm (Austria) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-30 Iris Feichtinger, Jürgen Pollerspöck, Mathias Harzhauser, Gerald Auer, Stjepan Ćorić, Matthias Kranner, Bernhard Beaury, Guillaume Guinot
This study reports elasmobranch remains from two fossil-rich horizons in the earliest Danian Olching Formation at Waidach, Austria. These outer neritic assemblages complement previous fine-scale bulk-sampling of latest Maastrichtian horizons at Waidach and document a regional elasmobranch faunal turnover across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) boundary. The Danian assemblages show homogeneity in species
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Late Ordovician and early Silurian virgianid and stricklandioid brachiopods from North Greenland: implications for a warm-water faunal province Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Jisuo Jin, Christian M. Ø. Rasmussen, Peter M. Sheehan, David A. T. Harper
An unusually rich and diverse suite of virgianid brachiopods, hitherto poorly known, is systematically described here for the first time from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary interval (late Katian – Aeronian) of North Greenland. The Late Ordovician virgianids comprise typical taxa of the warm-water Tcherskidium fauna (e.g. Tcherskidium tenuicostatum, Proconchidium schleyi, Holorhynchus giganteus and
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Archaeichnium haughtoni: a robust burrow lining from the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition of Namibia Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-22 Katherine A. Turk, Mikaela A. Pulsipher, Eugene Bergh, Marc Laflamme, Simon A. F. Darroch
Following various assignments to Archaeocyatha, worm tubes, and finally incertae sedis, the enigmatic Ediacaran–Cambrian taxon Archaeichnium haughtoni has in recent years come to represent somewhat of a wastebasket taxon to which the indeterminate tapering tubular forms common across this interval are assigned. This ‘catch-all’ status has been aided in part by both suboptimal specimen photography and
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A new early water frog (Telmatobius) from the Miocene of the Bolivian Altiplano Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Raúl O. Gómez, Tomás Ventura, Guillermo F. Turazzini, Laurent Marivaux, Rubén Andrade Flores, Alberto Boscaini, Marcos Fernández-Monescillo, Bernardino Mamani Quispe, Mercedes B. Prámparo, Séverine Fauquette, Céline Martin, Philippe Münch, François Pujos, Pierre-Olivier Antoine
We describe the new frog Telmatobius achachila sp. nov. from the late Middle to earliest Late Miocene of Achiri, based on a partial skeleton found at 3960 m above sealevel in the Bolivian Altiplano. This skeleton, attributed to a male adult, constitutes the first documented fossil record of the speciose living genus Telmatobius, endemic to the Andean Cordillera and the Altiplano. Phylogenetic analysis
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Macroflora from Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Hicks Creek, southern Talkeetna Mountains, south-central Alaska Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-27 Maria Barbacka, Artur Górecki, Christian Pott, Jadwiga Ziaja, Robert B. Blodgett, Curvin Metzler, Andrew H. Caruthers, Geethanalje Edirisooriya, Grzegorz Pacyna
A recently discovered Early Jurassic locality at Hicks Creek, Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska, yielded a macrofossil plant assemblage comprising predominantly bennettitaleans and ferns, accompanied by horsetails, seed ferns, cycads and conifers. Single species from different plant groups dominate the assemblage (e.g. Cladophlebis alata, Otozamites pterophylloides; less frequent Rhaphidopteris sp. and Pagiophyllum
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Early eukaryotic microfossils of the late Palaeoproterozoic Limbunya Group, Birrindudu Basin, northern Australia Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-25 Leigh Anne Riedman, Susannah M. Porter, Maxwell A. Lechte, Angelo dos Santos, Galen P. Halverson
Fine-grained, siliciclastic units of the >1642 ± 3.9 Ma late Palaeoproterozoic Limbunya Group, Birrindudu Basin host rich, well-preserved organic-walled microfossil assemblages that include members of total-group eukaryotes. These assemblages include taxa characteristic of this interval such as Tappania plana and Satka favosa, as well as less common taxa such as Gigantosphaeridium fibratum, Gigantosphaeridium
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First Eocene–Miocene anuran fossils from Peruvian Amazonia: insights into neotropical frog evolution and diversity Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Olivier Jansen, Raúl Orencio Gómez, Antoine Fouquet, Laurent Marivaux, Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, Pierre-Olivier Antoine
Anurans are one of the most diverse vertebrate groups, particularly in Amazonia, where species richness exceeds that of anywhere else. Amazonian frogs belong to three main lineages (Hyloidea, Microhylidae and Pipidae), each of which diversified during the Cenozoic. However, due to the virtual absence of an anuran fossil record in that area, the evolutionary history of modern lineages has so far remained
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Redefining the Huayquerian Stage (Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene) of the South American chronostratigraphic scale based on biostratigraphical analyses and geochronological dating Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Cristo O. Romano, Alberto C. Garrido, David L. Barbeau, Rocío B. Vera, Ricardo Bonini, Alberto Boscaini, Esperanza Cerdeño, Laura E. Cruz, Graciela I. Esteban, Marcelo S. de la Fuente, Marcos Fernández-Monescillo, Juan C. Fernicola, Verónica Krapovickas, M. Carolina Madozzo-Jaén, M. Encarnación Pérez, François Pujos, Luciano Rasia, Guillermo F. Turazzini, Bárbara Vera, Ross D. E. MacPhee, Analía M
The Huayquerian Stage of the South American chronostratigraphic scheme (named for the Huayquerías del Este, Argentina) was originally based on a poorly known mammal association of six taxa from the Huayquerías Formation. We studied the geology, age and fauna of the Neogene sequence in this area, including the Huayquerías, Tunuyán and Bajada Grande formations. The sequence comprises a monotonous succession
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A unique Late Cretaceous fossil wood assemblage from Chilean Patagonia provides clues to a high-latitude continental environment Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Leandro C. A. Martínez, Marcelo Leppe, Leslie M. E. Manríquez, Juan Pablo Pino, Cristine Trevisan, Joseline Manfroi, Héctor Mansilla
Fossil plants, including large trunks, stems, some branches, and twigs, were collected from the Maastrichtian (68.9 Ma), upper Dorotea Formation in the Magallanes–Austral Basin, 16 km north of the Cerro Guido–Las Chinas complex in the southern Chilean Magallanes region. These fossil trunks range from 0.2 to 2.2 m in length. Petrographic slides were made in three sections (transverse, radial and tangential)
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Evidence for the evolutionary history and diversity of fossil sweetgums: leaves and associated capitate reproductive structures of Liquidambar from the Eocene of Hainan Island, South China Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-12-14 Natalia P. Maslova, Tatiana M. Kodrul, Vasilisa V. Kachkina, Christa-Charlotte Hofmann, Sheng-Lan Xu, Xiao-Yan Liu, Jian-Hua Jin
Extant species of Liquidambar L. exhibit a disjunct distribution between western and eastern Asia and eastern North America to Central America, with the highest species diversity being in China. In this study, two new species of Liquidambar are described from the Eocene of Hainan Island, South China: L. hainanensis on basis of the leaf fossils, and L. ovoidea based on compressions of infructescences
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An enigmatic structure in the tail of vetulicolians from the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-30 Yang Yang, Bi’ang Su, Qiang Ou, Meirong Cheng, Jian Han, Degan Shu
Cambrian vetulicolians have mosaic characteristics of both deuterostomes and protostomes, which has important implications for the origin and early evolution of the Deuterostomia. They are intriguing in their bizarre body plan with a series of pharyngeal gill slits. The anterior section is characterized by five pairs of gill pouches, while the paddle-like posterior part is composed of seven or more
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A taxonomic revision and cranial description of Terrestrisuchus gracilis (Archosauria, Crocodylomorpha) from the Upper Triassic of Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry (southern Wales) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-27 Stephan N. F. Spiekman, Vincent Fernandez, Richard J. Butler, Kathleen N. Dollman, Susannah C. R. Maidment
Non-crocodyliform crocodylomorphs, formerly referred to the informal group ‘Sphenosuchia’, are the earliest known crocodylomorph precursors of extant crocodylians. They are therefore crucial for our understanding of early crocodylian evolution and the origin of typical crocodylian characteristics, such as the formation of a secondary palate, complex cranial pneumaticity, and a reinforced braincase
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Two new species of small-bodied pachycephalosaurine (Dinosauria, Marginocephalia) from the uppermost Cretaceous of North America suggest hidden diversity in well-sampled formations Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 D. Cary Woodruff, Ryan K. Schott, David C. Evans
Here we report two new small-bodied pachycephalosaurines: one from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta and the other from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, each represented by an isolated squamosal. These two new specimens are approximately the same size as squamosals of Sphaerotholus buchholtzae, and possess several overlapping morphologies with the genus (such as a strongly posteroventrally
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The early Paleocene (Danian) climate of Svalbard based on palaeobotanical data Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-15 Lina B. Golovneva, Аnastasia А. Zolina, Robert A. Spicer
The early Paleocene (Danian) Barentsburg flora from the Firkanten Formation, Svalbard, provides a valuable insight into the environment and climate of the Arctic early in the warm Palaeogene prior to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event. The flora includes c. 50 species of ferns, ginkgos, conifers and angiosperms. Angiosperms predominate and are represented by the families Platanaceae
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Katian (Late Ordovician) trilobites of the North Qilian Mountains and their palaeogeographical implications for the Proto-Tethys Archipelagic Ocean Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-12 Xin Wei, Xiaocong Luan, Yuchen Zhang, Guanzhou Yan, Renbin Zhan
Trilobites from the middle Koumenzi Formation (Katian, Upper Ordovician) of the North Qilian Mountains, Menyuan, northeastern Qinghai Province are systematically documented for the first time. The fauna consists of five families, seven genera and seven species, one of which is new (Remopleurides zhangi), showing a close relationship to those of the Kazakh terranes (such as the Chu-Ili terrane, Chingiz-Tarbagatai
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Three-dimensional reconstruction, taphonomic and petrological data suggest that the oldest record of bioturbation is a body fossil coquina Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-12 Christos Psarras, Philip C.J. Donoghue, Russell J. Garwood, Dmitriy V. Grazhdankin, Luke A. Parry, Vladimir I. Rogov, Alexander G. Liu
Fossil material assigned to Nenoxites from the late Ediacaran Khatyspyt Formation of Arctic Siberia (550–544 Ma) has been presented as evidence for bioturbation prior to the basal Cambrian boundary. However, that ichnological interpretation has been challenged, and descriptions of similar material from other global localities support a body fossil origin. Here we combine x-ray computed tomography,
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Elucidating the morphology and ecology of Eoandromeda octobrachiata from the Ediacaran of South Australia Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-11-03 Tory L. Botha, Emma Sherratt, Mary L. Droser, Jim G. Gehling, Diego C. García-Bellido
Eoandromeda octobrachiata is a poorly understood Ediacaran organism, with spiral octoradial arms, found in South Australia and South China. The informal Nilpena member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, Flinders Ranges in South Australia preserves more than 200 specimens of Eoandromeda. Here we use the novel application of rotational geometric morphometrics together with palaeoenvironmental information to
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Evaluating growth in Macrospondylus bollensis (Crocodylomorpha, Teleosauroidea) in the Toarcian Posidonia Shale, Germany Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-10-11 Michela M. Johnson, Eli Amson, Erin E. Maxwell
The study of how organisms grow is a fundamental aspect of palaeontology. Growth in teleosauroids is poorly understood and little studied, especially in an ontogenetic sense. We investigate growth rates of the most common and abundant teleosauroid, Macrospondylus bollensis, in which a large sample of multiple body sizes is available from the Posidonienschiefer Formation (Posidonia Shale) of southwestern
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The Late Miocene mammals from the Humahuaca Basin (northwestern Argentina) provide new evidence on the initial stages of the Great American Biotic Interchange Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Adriana M. Candela, María A. Abello, Marcelo A. Reguero, César M. García Esponda, Ulyses F.J. Pardiñas, Alfredo A. Zurita, Francois Pujos, Ángel Miño-Boilini, Sofía Quiñones, Claudia I. Galli, Carlos Luna, Damián Voglino, Martín De Los Reyes, Pedro Cuaranta
We describe new Late Miocene mammalian specimens from the Maimará Formation (Late Miocene to Early Pliocene) exposed at Humahuaca Basin (23°–24°S), northwestern Argentina (NWA), and analyse their taxonomy and relevance for our understanding of the initial stages of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). The stratigraphical and geochronological control of the studied specimens indicates a time
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Trilobites of Thailand's Cambrian–Ordovician Tarutao Group and their geological setting Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-10-04 Shelly J. Wernette, Nigel C. Hughes, Paul M. Myrow, Apsorn Sardsud
Tuff-bearing upper Cambrian to lowermost Ordovician strata on Ko Tarutao island, Satun province, southernmost peninsular Thailand, contain a rich trilobite fauna relevant to global biostratigraphy, peri-Gondwanan palaeogeography and shifting evolutionary mode. This area of Sibumasu, a lower Palaeozoic marginal Gondwanan terrane, is shown to have been closely associated with Australia, North China (Sino-Korea)
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The last Baru (Crocodylia, Mekosuchinae): a new species of ‘cleaver-headed crocodile’ from central Australia and the turnover of crocodylians during the Late Miocene in Australia Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-24 Adam M. Yates, Jorgo Ristevski, Steven W. Salisbury
Baru is a genus that includes several large mekosuchine crocodylians from the Oligo-Miocene of Australia. Here we describe Baru iylwenpeny sp. nov. from a large sample of cranial bones from the Upper Miocene Alcoota Local Fauna of the Northern Territory. Baru iylwenpeny can be diagnosed by several autapomorphies that include, but are not limited to: extreme reduction of the pneumatic foramina associated
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Newly discovered morphology of the Silurian sea spider Haliestes and its implications Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-27 Derek J. Siveter, Romain Sabroux, Derek E. G. Briggs, David J. Siveter, Mark D. Sutton
The three-dimensionally preserved Haliestes dasos from the Silurian (Wenlock) Lagerstätte is the most complete fossil sea spider and the oldest unambiguous pycnogonid known from the fossil record. The discovery of two new specimens to add to the holotype reveals new features including proximal annulations of the appendages and segmentation of the trunk end, critical details for comparison with pycnogonids
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Evolutionary process of extremely twisted heteromorph ammonites from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Akihiro Misaki, Takashi Okamoto, Haruyoshi Maeda
The heteromorph ammonite Pravitoceras sigmoidale with extremely twisted retroversal hook and its probable ancestors, Didymoceras awajiense and D. morozumii, occur mainly in the Upper Cretaceous Izumi and Sotoizumi groups in southwest Japan. Their morphological characteristics were investigated in this study. Morphotypes I–II were recognized in D. morozumii. Morphotypes III–V were recognized in D. awajiense
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A review of the glacial environment arthropod trace fossils Umfolozia and Warvichnium with the description of new ichnotaxa Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Gabriel E. B. de Barros, Bernardo de C. P. e M. Peixoto, João H. D. Lima, Nicholas J. Minter, Daniel Sedorko
Trace fossils are important records of the presence and behaviour of animals in the past, especially in deposits where few body fossils are preserved. They tend to provide the main palaeobiological record for past glacial environments, and are thus very important for understanding the ecology of these palaeoenvironments. Two ichnogenera are common in glacial sediments: Umfolozia and Warvichnium. Both
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First report of silicified wood from a late Pennsylvanian intramontane basin in the Pyrenees: systematic affinities and palaeoecological implications Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-11 Aixa Tosal, Anne-Laure Decombeix, Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud, Jean Galtier, Carles Martín-Closas
The first anatomically preserved wood specimens of an upland Carboniferous flora from the Iberian Peninsula are reported from the Erillcastell Basin (Eastern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain). Two taxa are described, a calamitacean Equisetales (Arthropitys sp.) and a Cordaitales (Dadoxylon sp.). The Arthropitys specimen has fusiform multiseriate rays composed of square parenchyma cells with conspicuous uniseriate
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Cover Image Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-03
Cover: Silicified phylloporinid bryozoan from the Ordovician Edinburg Formation of Virginia, USA. NHMUK PD5424; SEM image taken by P.D. Taylor. View approximately 2 mm.
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A description of the palate and mandible of Youngina capensis (Sauropsida, Diapsida) based on synchrotron tomography, and the phylogenetic implications Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-03 Annabel K. Hunt, David P. Ford, Vincent Fernandez, Jonah N. Choiniere, Roger B. J. Benson
The late Permian reptile Youngina capensis (c. 254 Ma) is a non-saurian neodiapsid whose anatomy has been used to represent the reptilian condition prior to the divergence of Sauria (crown-group reptiles). However, despite being first described over 100 years ago, the anatomy of Youngina remains incompletely documented. Here we use synchrotron x-ray micro-computed tomography to document new features
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A micromorphological analysis of Bolonia lata Meunier from the Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin (Patagonia, Argentina): new insights into the tracemaker Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-03 Luciana M. Giachetti, Diana E. Fernández, Marcos Comerio, Carolina Gutiérrez, Pablo J. Pazos
Polychaetes, echinoids and gastropods have been proposed as tracemakers for Bolonia Meunier, an elongate positive epirelief trace fossil characterized by two lobes composed of biserial, subtriangular pads and a mostly heart-shaped cross-section. Here, the internal structure and micromorphology of Bolonia are described for the first time using serial thin sections from shallow-marine Lower Cretaceous
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Healed injuries, ontogeny and scleritome construction in a Late Ordovician machaeridian (Annelida, Aphroditiformia) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-08-25 Luke A. Parry, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Jana Bruthansová, Jakob Vinther
Machaeridians are armoured annelids that were morphologically diverse during the Palaeozoic. The scleritome developed from fleshy protrusions at the base of each parapodium, with alternating segments giving rise to differentiated inner and outer shell plates. The elytra-like anatomy of the shell-bearing soft tissues and distinctive jaw apparatus support an affinity of machaeridians with aphroditacean
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The siphonotretide brachiopod Schizambon from the Early Ordovician of South China: ontogeny and affinity Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-31 Hadi Jahangir, Zhiliang Zhang, Leonid E. Popov, Lars E. Holmer, Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour, Renbin Zhan
Schizambon is one of the earliest and most distinctive genera in the Order Siphonotretida. However, current knowledge of siphonotretide phylogeny and early evolution requires understanding of their earliest ontogeny. In this study, the new species Schizambon tongziensis from the Tungtzu Formation at Honghuayuan section in Guizhou Province, South China is described; it is also the first record of Schizambon
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Eucera bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Eucerini) preserved in their brood cells from late Holocene (middle Neoglacial) palaeosols of southwest Portugal Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-27 Carlos Neto de Carvalho, Andrea Baucon, Davide Badano, Pedro Proença Cunha, Cristiana Ferreira, Silvério Figueiredo, Fernando Muñiz, João Belo, Federico Bernardini, Mário Cachão
The c. 100 myr extensive fossil record of bee brood nests and cells (calichnia) in siliciclastic sedimentary deposits, or palaeosols, is virtually devoid of the presence of their producers. The absence of a more specific assignment to a producer of the different ichnogenera of the ichnofamily Celliformidae precludes their use in phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographic studies. Omission surfaces developed
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Cryptic moulting behaviour of some Carboniferous Ostracoda Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-27 Ewa Olempska, David J.C. Mundy, Michał Zatoń
Monospecific accumulations of ostracods, represented by spine-bearing Janischewskya? sp. and a smooth-shelled Cavellina? sp., were detected inside the body chamber, siphuncle and camerae of three cephalopod specimens (a nautiloid and two goniatites) from the Carboniferous (Mississippian) Cracoean reefs of North Yorkshire, UK. The ostracods occur as isolated valves packed together and are well-preserved
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New insights into the sea spider fauna (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, France (Jurassic, Callovian) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-25 Romain Sabroux, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Davide Pisani, Russell J. Garwood
Three species of sea spider (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) have been described from the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Konservat-Lagerstätte of La Voulte-sur-Rhône: Palaeopycnogonides gracilis, Colossopantopodus boissinensis and Palaeoendeis elmii. These fossils were initially attributed to three extant families or superfamilies, justifying their use as calibration points in a recent tree-dating analysis.
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The dental system of †Kazanichthys viatkensis (Actinopterygii, Acrolepididae) from the middle Permian of European Russia: palaeobiological and palaeoecological inferences Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-19 Aleksandr S. Bakaev, Zerina Johanson, Aaron LeBlanc
Among ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), the crushing, durophagous feeding strategy first evolved in the early Carboniferous period, with the †Eurynotiformes possessing dentitions with single layers of partially to fully fused blunt teeth. In the †‘Platysomidae’ (Permian), a new form of crushing dentition evolved (phyllodonty), in which multiple layers of superimposed crushing teeth developed intraosseously
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The last horned armadillos: phylogeny and decline of Peltephilidae (Xenarthra, Cingulata) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-13 Daniel Barasoain, Darin A. Croft, Alfredo E. Zurita, Victor H. Contreras, Rodrigo L. Tomassini
Peltephilidae (Xenarthra, Cingulata) is an ancient lineage of medium–large-sized ‘armadillos’ from South America, characterized by chisel-shaped molariforms, a U-shaped dental arcade, and cephalic osteoderms modified into hornlike structures. Although the biochron of the group extends from the early Eocene to the Late Miocene, the most abundant and complete records come from the Early Miocene of Patagonia
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Adult branchiosaurid temnospondyls: the life cycle of Xerodromeus gracilis Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-11 Rainer R. Schoch, Ralf Werneburg
The Branchiosauridae form a clade of tiny newt-like, extinct amphibians of overall larval appearance. Although their status as neotenic (perennibranchiate) forms had long been universally accepted, adult specimens are known from only one taxon that was hitherto referred to as Melanerpeton (Apateon) gracile. Here we study this life cycle in depth, which includes the only well-documented metamorphosis-like
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Influence of abiotic and biotic factors on benthic marine community composition, structure and stability: a multidisciplinary approach to molluscan assemblages from the Miocene of northern Germany Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Daria Carobene, Robert Bussert, Ulrich Struck, Carl J. Reddin, Martin Aberhan
The Miocene mica-clay deposits of Groß Pampau (northern Germany) are well known for their diverse assemblages of marine mammals. Despite numerous systematic and biostratigraphic studies, an in-depth palaeoecological analysis of its molluscan assemblages and a comprehensive palaeoenvironmental reconstruction are lacking. Here, we integrate new faunal, sedimentological and geochemical data to reconstruct
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The oldest dairoidid crab (Decapoda, Brachyura, Parthenopoidea) from the Eocene of Spain Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-06-07 Fernando A. Ferratges, Javier Luque, José Luis Domínguez, Àlex Ossó, Marcos Aurell, Samuel Zamora
Eubrachyurans, or ‘higher’ true crabs, are the most speciose group of decapod crustaceans and have a rich fossil record extending into the Early Cretaceous. However, most extant families are first found in the fossil record in the Palaeogene, and particularly in the Eocene. Unfortunately, fossils of many early eubrachyuran groups are often fragmentary, and only a few studies have combined extinct and
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The oldest evidence of brooding in a Devonian blastoid reveals the evolution of new reproductive strategies in early echinoderms Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-05-18 Nidia Álvarez-Armada, Jennifer E. Bauer, Johnny A. Waters, Imran A. Rahman
Brooding of young is a reproductive strategy observed in many extant echinoderms, but the evolutionary history of this behaviour is largely unknown due to the scarcity of examples preserved in the fossil record. Here, synchrotron x-ray tomography is used to describe an exceptionally preserved specimen of the Devonian blastoid echinoderm Hyperoblastus reimanni. The coelomic cavity appears completely
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Two almost-forgotten Trypanites ichnospecies names for the most common Palaeozoic macroboring Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-05-07 Dirk Knaust, Andrei V. Dronov, Ursula Toom
Trypanites is the most common macroboring with a global occurrence throughout the Phanerozoic and is the eponym of the Trypanites ichnofacies. It has great value for the recognition of discontinuity and hiatal surfaces on top of carbonate hardgrounds. Four ichnospecies of this ichnogenus are currently regarded as valid, while a characteristic fifth form from the early Palaeozoic is frequently reported
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Astogenetic morphological variation in the bryozoan Prophyllodictya gracilis from the Middle Ordovician of Russia and inferred colony-wide feeding currents Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-05-07 Marcus M. Key, Patrick N. Wyse Jackson, Madelaine S. McDowell, Merlynd K. Nestell
The discovery of a relatively large and complete ptilodictyid bryozoan colony enabled morphometric analysis of astogenetic change from the colony base to the periphery. This enabled us to test the hypothesis that the relative area of feeding and non-feeding zooids must be relatively constant across astogenetic growth in this colony. The colony is a stenolaemate cryptostome belonging to the cribrate
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Bivalves from the Changhsingian (upper Permian) Bellerophon Formation of the Dolomites (Italy): ancestors of Lower Triassic post-extinction benthic communities Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-04-24 Herwig Prinoth, Renato Posenato
Diverse shallow marine fossil assemblages from the Changhsingian Bellerophon Formation (Dolomites) record late Palaeozoic marine life immediately before the end-Permian mass extinction. We classified c. 6500 bivalves from western Dolomites localities, identifying 26 species including one new family (Ladinomyidae), three new genera (Ladinomya, Lovaralucina, Gardenapecten) and 10 new species: Acharax
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On the occurrence of rare nannoliths (calcareous nannofossils) in the Early Jurassic and their implications for the end-Triassic mass extinction Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-04-20 Maria Paulsen, Nicolas Thibault
A peculiar record of previously undescribed and/or rarely described nannoliths from the Hettangian to lower Pliensbachian of the Llanbdr (Mochras Farm) core, Wales (UK) is documented here. Some of the observed morphotypes are assigned to didemnid ascidians, commonly observed in the upper Rhaetian, as evidence of the resilience of ascidian tunicates during the end-Triassic mass extinction. One newly
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Burrows provided shelter for tetrapods in a Permo-Triassic desert Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Heitor Francischini, Paula Dentzien-Dias, Francesco Battista, Gabriel S. Sipp, Tomaz P. Melo, Claiton M. S. Scherer, Cesar L. Schultz
We describe for the first time the presence of straight, curved and quasi-helical burrows preserved in plan, oblique and transversal views in the aeolian strata of the Permo-Triassic Buena Vista Formation (Paraná Basin), Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The morphology of the burrows is similar to that of others found in Guadalupian to Early Triassic-aged deposits in several parts of the world. Of
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Machine learning confirms new records of maniraptoran theropods in Middle Jurassic UK microvertebrate faunas Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-04-13 Simon Wills, Charlie J. Underwood, Paul M. Barrett
Current research suggests that the initial radiation of maniraptoran theropods occurred in the Middle Jurassic, although their fossil record is known almost exclusively from the Cretaceous. However, fossils of Jurassic maniraptorans are scarce, usually consisting solely of isolated teeth, and their identifications are often disputed. Here, we apply different machine learning models, in conjunction
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A peirosaurid mandible from the Albian–Cenomanian (Lower Cretaceous) of Algeria and the taxonomic content of Hamadasuchus (Crocodylomorpha, Peirosauridae) Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-29 Yohan Pochat-Cottilloux, Vincent Perrier, Romain Amiot, Jeremy E. Martin
Peirosaurids form an extinct clade of terrestrial crocodylomorphs from the Cretaceous of Africa and South America. Here, we describe a new mandibular ramus attributable to Hamadasuchus cf. rebouli from the Albian–Cenomanian of La Gara Samani (Algeria). We propose an emended diagnosis for this taxon, originally described from a left dentary fragment from the Kem Kem Group of Morocco and discuss the
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Silurian freshwater arthropod from northwest China Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-29 Ruiwen Zong, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Bingcai Liu, Yi Wang, Jiayi Yin, Juan Ma, Honghe Xu
Animals breaking away from the sea was a revolutionary event in the evolution of life. Arthropods were the earliest metazoans to move onto land, and although a few Silurian freshwater and/or terrestrial arthropods have been found so far, these records are all from Laurussia. Here, we describe a new freshwater arthropod, Maldybulakia saierensis sp. nov., from the western Junggar, northwest China. Evidence
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Putative hydroid symbionts recorded by bioclaustrations in fossil molluscan shells: a revision and reinterpretation of the cecidogenus Rodocanalis Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-09 Max Wisshak, Simon Schneider, Radek Mikuláš, Sebastián Richiano, Fran Ramil, Mark A. Wilson
The fossil record yields a peculiar phenomenon in different kinds of molluscan shells: bioclaustrations formed around (epi)symbionts during growth of the hosts' shell margin. Four morphologies, two of them formerly considered bioerosion traces, are here united in the parataxonomy of bioclaustration structures under the revised cecidogenus Rodocanalis. These are: (1) simple linear grooves (Rodocanalis
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An abundant sea anemone from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek Lagerstӓtte, USA Pap. Palaeontol. (IF 2.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-08 Roy E. Plotnick, Graham A. Young, James W. Hagadorn
Sea anemones (Actiniaria) are among the rarest of recognized fossil organisms, even rarer than jellyfish. Here we demonstrate that the most abundant fossil in the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek Lagerstätte of Illinois, Essexella asherae, is an infaunal or semi-infaunal anemone. Essexella is redescribed based on a taphonomic analysis of thousands of specimens, as well as associated medusae and trace fossils
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