Thalassinoides paradoxicus (Woodward, 1830) is a prevalent and frequently reported ichnotaxon, but given its early erection and subsequent revisions, it now is poorly understood and lumps together three different kinds of trace fossils having distinct characteristics. A clear definition (i.e., diagnosis) of each individual component is crucial for ichnotaxonomic stability and the application of these

Elasmobranch remains are quite common in Miocene deposits and were the subject of numerous studies since the middle of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the taxonomic diversity of the Marine Molasse sharks, rays and skates is still largely unknown. Here, we describe 37 taxa from the lower Miocene of the Molasse Basin: 21 taxa could be identified at species level, whereas 15 taxa could only be assigned

Many aspects of the paleobiology and biomineralization of belemnites, the most common fossil coleoid cephalopods of the Mesozoic, are still unclear. Here, we describe a pearl from an Early Cretaceous belemnite rostrum (Duvalia emerici) using high-resolution micro-CT imaging. After initial formation of a free pearl within the soft tissue, the pearl was fused to the rostrum and later overgrown by rostrum

This paper deals with new finds from the Upper Paleozoic Santa Elena Formation that crops out to the east of Uspallata, western Argentina. Current studies reveal the existence in these rocks of a faunal assemblage characterized by the bivalve Myonia aparicioi sp. nov, fossil guide of a new biozone. This fauna is regarded as the youngest of the Pennsylvanian, age confirmed by its relationships with

The scleractinian coral genus Stephanocoenia was previously only known from the Western Atlantic with two Pliocene and two extant species, of which two are considered synonymous. Systematic sampling and examination of collection material revealed that the genus occurs from the Hauterivian to extant with gaps in the fossil record during the Campanian, Paleocene and Eocene. During this time the genus

The trace fossil Sulcolithos variabilis igen. et isp. nov. is described from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) Muschelkalk Group of Germany. The groove-like structures occur on the surface of limestone beds that provided firm to hard substrate to the burrowing and/or boring organisms. The grooves have an elongate, straight or curved course and can be compound with subsurface burrow systems of Balanoglossites

The early Miocene charadriiform bird Becassius charadriioides De Pietri and Mayr, 2012, from the Saint-Gérand-le-Puy area in France, was originally described as a member of uncertain affinities within the shorebird clade Scolopaci (jacanas, seedsnipe, painted-snipe, sandpipers, and allies). Following a re-assessment of the material attributed to this taxon and in the context of a larger comparative

The study of the bovid assemblage from the primate-bearing site of Xirochori-1 in Axios Valley, Northern Greece, reveals the presence of four taxa, namely Gazella sp., Ouzocerus cf. pentalophosi, Helladorcas sp. and ‘Protoryx’ sp., and allows updating the faunal list of the Xirochori-1 Vallesian mammal fauna, dated at around 9.6 Ma. Gazella sp. from Xirochori-1 is distinct from Gazella sp. from the

The colonization of deserts by tetrapods occurred for the first time in the late Paleozoic. In spite of amniotes being the most abundant and diverse taxon in such environments, fossil tracks indicate that anamniotes also inhabited late Paleozoic deserts. In this paper, the presence of the tetrapod-footprint ichnotaxa Ichniotherium sphaerodactylum and cf. Ichniotherium is documented in the eolian Coconino

Six bryozoan species are described from the Lower Roadian (Guadalupian) of the eastern part of the East European Platform. The studied fauna is abundant and represented by various growth habits (branching, massive, encrusting, reticulate), developed in local bioherms. The studied bryozoan assemblage consists of trepostomes (three species), fenestrates (two species) and one cryptostome species with

A recent discovery from the Carboniferous–Permian transition of the southwest German Saar–Nahe Basin has revealed a medium-sized edaphosaurid skeleton. It is described as Remigiomontanus robustus gen. et sp. nov. Apart from a largely complete dorsal column, showing the typical hyper-elongated spines with lateral tuberculation, few other elements are preserved. Although lacking certain autapomorphies

Preservation of a fragment of an arthropod from starved trough sediments of the Bøggild Fjord Formation (Ordovician, Floian) of Johannes V. Jensen Land in north Peary Land, North Greenland, recalls that of the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of extreme north-west Peary Land and may suggest a second locality for exceptional preservation in North Greenland. A prominent petaloid pattern on the

Since the end of the Miocene, South American Dinomyidae rodents have declined in diversity, and are now represented by a single species—Dinomys branickii. The Quaternary fossils of Dinomyidae rodents are very rare, limited to some records from the tropical region of Brazil. One of them is a peculiar taxon described during the 1950s: Tetrastylus walteri. Here, we review the holotype (a dentary with

An exceptionally large and well-preserved drepanophycalean lycophyte specimen from the Early Emsian Hunsrück Slate exhibits branching morphology and architecture that suggest previously unrecognized diversity of drepanophycalean lycophytes in the German Early Devonian. The specimen shows long prostrate axes giving rise to both rooting axes and erect leafy, unbranched axes via K-branching. Rhizomatous

Based on a 3D reconstruction, a partial “symmetrodontan” skull from the Yixian Formation, Lujatun Member (Jehol Group) in northeastern China, is assigned to Maotherium sinense. The skull is preserved three-dimensionally including the right mandible, and parts of the maxilla, as well as two upper and eight lower teeth. The dental formula of the studied specimen is ?I, C, 2P, 4M/?i, c, 3p, 5m, and it

A new silicified Middle Permian gastropod fauna is reported from Central Thailand. It is the first diverse Permian gastropod assemblage described from the Sibumasu terrane. The gastropod fauna comes from fore-reef shallow water carbonates of the Middle Permian (Wordian) limestones of the Ratburi Group exposed at Khao Phrik, Ratchaburi Province. Thirty-four gastropod species are reported, 17 nominate

A new species of early actinopterygians, Burguklia minichorum sp. nov., is described based on the occurrence of numerous isolated scales from freshwater deposits of the Urzhumian and Severodvinian regional stages (Wordian–Capitanian) of the East European Platform. The type and only hitherto known species of the genus, Burguklia gdali Kazantseva-Selezneva, 1980, comes from the Early Permian of Siberia

The middle Cambrian (Miaolingian Series; Wuliuan Stage) Spence Shale of Utah and Idaho preserves a diverse assemblage of biomineralized and soft-bodied taxa. Among the rarest specimens of this fauna are palaeoscolecid worms. Until recently, only one specimen was known from the Spence Shale, the holotype specimen of Palaeoscolex ratcliffei Robison, 1969, later included in the genus Wronascolex. This

The new ellipsocephaloid trilobite species Kingaspidoides spinirecurvatus has a spectacular morphology because of a unique set of two long and anteriorly recurved spines on the occipital ring and the axial ring of thoracic segment 8. Together with the long genal spines this whimsical dorsally directed spine arrangement is thought to act as a non-standard protective device against predators. This is

The information of diet, habitat and geographic location of animals obtained from fossil deposits is important to understand the environmental changes of a place that occurred through time. Most of the paleoecological research in Mexico is centered on large mammal taxa. A minimal research effort is allocated to small vertebrates which due to their relative brief longevity and small territories, provide

A few lower cheek teeth of rhinocerotid, probably belonging to the same individual, from the upper Pliocene Tsubusagawa Formation in Ajimu, Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, are described. Morphologically, the Ajimu specimen is obviously distinguished from the subtribe Teleoceratina (Brachypotherium), Elasmotheriina (Elasmotherium) and a species of subtribe Rhinocerotina, Coelodonta, but it is similar

A new collection provided some brachiopods assigned to Lacunosella hoheneggeri, Pygope diphya and P. janitor from the lower Tithonian (Micracanthoceras ponti Zone) and lower Berriasian (Calpionella Zone), and from the limestone succession at Zengővárkony, Mecsek Mountains, Hungary. This is the first taxonomic description and photographic documentation of these fossils. We provide reliable documentation

This paper critically reviews the Lopingian (Late Permian) to Early Triassic palaeofloral successions on both the South and North China blocks. From the Late Cisuralian (Early Permian) to the middle of the Lopingian, North and South China, both located in the equatorial domain, sheltered a homogeneous ‘Cathaysian Palaeoflora’ resulting from a Cisuralian southern extension and diversification from the

Eight species in six genera of cheilostome bryozoans are described from an early Maastrichtian outcrop located in the Saratov Region, middle Volga River region, southern Russia. The studied bryozoan assemblage includes a new species, Cheethamia volgaensis sp. nov., as well as Dionella sp., Cheethamia aktolagayensis Koromyslova et al., Rhagasostoma cf. saltans (Brydone), and Luganella goldfussi (von

Lingulids and siphonotretids (Lingulata) are described from the Ordovician (Floian–Dapingian) Suri Formation of the Famatina Basin in western Argentina. This is the first record of lingulate brachiopods from the arc-related volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Famatina Range. The fauna includes the new obolids Famatinobolus cancellatum gen. et sp. nov. and Lithobolus limbatum sp. nov., and the new siphonotretid

Sauropterygian vertebrate remains from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of the proximity of Calasparra (Murcia, Spain) are described here. They represent the first documented Triassic vertebrate remains found in the Province of Murcia, and the first in the Subbetic domain of the Betic Cordillera (Southeastern Spain). These new remains consist of incomplete vertebrae, some fragmented neural spine apophyses

The Late Miocene fossil locality Pécs-Danitzpuszta (Mecsek Mts., Hungary) has yielded cranial and postcranial bones of giant salamanders. Based on taxonomical studies, these relatively well-preserved, isolated bones belong to the cryptobranchid species Andrias scheuchzeri. Whereas the species is well documented from Neogene of Central Europe, this is the first record of the genus Andrias from Hungary

The majority of cornuproetine taxa known from articulated specimens have ten thoracic segments. Here we record rare, well-preserved specimens with nine segments in the Early and Middle Devonian of Morocco, Germany and the Czech Republic. These encompass the genera Lepidoproetus Erben, Sculptoproetus Erben, Macroblepharum Alberti, Koneprusites Přibyl, Paralepidoproetus Alberti, Timsaloproetus Gibb and

The first fossil leaf-mimicking katydids from the eastern Palaearctic are described and attributed to the genus Archepseudophylla under the names Archepseudophylla nanzhaoica sp. nov. and Archepseudophylla wenshanensis sp. nov., both from the Early to Middle Miocene strata in Wenshan, Yunnan, southwestern China, which is the core of the southwestern China karst region. This pseudophylline genus was

Characteristics of the postcranial skeleton of Arvernoceros ardei and Cervus perrieri from Perrier (France, late Pliocene, 2.78 ± 0.01 Ma BP, MNQ 16b) are described and distinguished. This was made possible by using the skeletal remains of A. ardei from Kaltensundheim (Germany, Thuringia, late Pliocene age) as identification keys. C. perrieri did not occur in Kaltensundheim. Twenty-five skeletal differences

A new polypore fungus beetle species Allostrophus Hsiao, Ślipiński, Yu, Deng and Pang embedded in Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber (Cenomanian, ca. 99 Ma) is described: A. yangi sp. nov.; this new species can be differentiated from its only congener based on its antennomere 11 and fusiform, elongate body. Morphological characters preserved in the inclusion compared to A. cretaceus Hsiao, Ślipiński, Yu

An exceptionally rich occurrence of pelmatozoan holdfasts from the Early Devonian Heckelmann Mill Lagerstätte in the Lahn Syncline is documented. Two distinct holdfast morphotypes are described, a larger one with clearly separated radicles and a smaller one showing interpenetration of radicles. Both types served to anchor the animals on soft substrates and are designated as terminal dendritic radice

Miaolingian rocks of the Delitzsch–Torgau–Doberlug Syncline yield Helcionelloida and Hyolitha that are otherwise poorly known from this stratigraphical interval in Central Europe. The two faunal intervals from the lower part of the Wuliuan and the lower part of the Drumian Stage include the helcionelloid genera Helcionella, Marocella and Leptostega, and at least nine different species of hyoliths,

A new conodont species Tortodus dodoensis sp. nov. from the lower part of the Givetian (Middle Devonian) of the Mackenzie Mountains (NW Canada) is described. This paper also reports the lowest stratigraphic occurrence of a Givetian fauna containing a.o. Polygnathus amphora, P. denisbriceae, P. xylus ensensis, P. pseudoeiflius, P. linguiformis klapperi s.l., P. l. weddigei, P. parawebbi and P. pseudofoliatus

We establish a neotype in the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (Hungary) for Crocidura obtusa (Mammalia, Soricidae). The species was originally described by M. Kretzoi as a new species from the Early Pleistocene locality of Gombaszög (now Gombasek, Slovakia) in 1938, but the holotype was lost in 1956. The neotype is a complete left mandible from the Osztramos 8 site (Hungary