An associated incomplete skeleton of a ceratopsid dinosaur from the Campanian deposits of the Allison Member of the Menefee Formation in New Mexico, USA is described. Although it was originally described over two decades ago, newly prepared portions of the Menefee Formation skeleton and reinterpretations of previously known morphology, in addition to newly described specimens have provided new information

Whip spiders (Amblypygi), as their name suggests, resemble spiders (Araneae) in some aspects, but differ from them by their heart-shaped (prosomal) dorsal shield, their prominent grasping pedipalps, and their subsequent elongate pair of feeler appendages. The oldest possible occurrences of whip spiders, represented by cuticle fragments, date back to the Devonian (c. 385 mya), but (almost) complete

Multiple calcareous worm-like boring casts occur on the inner surface of the calcitic external layer of the bivalve Leptodesma sp. from the Kaugatuma Formation (lower Přídolí, Upper Silurian) of Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Most of the boring casts are oriented with their apertures towards the posterior margin of Leptodesma sp. The worm-like casts were originally borings in the aragonitic layer of the

Newfoundland’s Mistaken Point is home to some of the world’s oldest known complex body fossils. Detailed observation of newly discovered specimens has led to a reconsideration of Hapsidophyllas flexibilis, which is diagnosed as being a complex epifaunal multifoliate rangeomorph with a basal stolon. This study has revealed that published material of H. flexibilis includes a cryptic epifaunal recliner

Remains of at least three species of large aegypiine vultures from early Palaeolithic and Iberomaurusian of Ifri n’Ammar, Morocco are the first substantial fossil record of these taxa in the Maghreb. They can be tentatively referred to the two extant species Aegypius monachus (Cinereous Vulture) and Gyps fulvus (Griffon Vulture), and to the extinct Gyps melitensis. Few fragments of remarkably large

A river otter hemimandible has been rediscovered during the revision of the historical collections of G.A. Blanc from Grotta Romanelli, complementing the ongoing multidisciplinary research fieldwork on the site. The specimen, recovered from the level G (“terre rosse”; early Late Pleistocene or late Middle Pleistocene), is here assigned to Lutra lutra. Indeed, morphological and morphometric comparisons

A new cornuproetine trilobite with nine thorax segments from upper Emsian strata in the NE Draa Valley (southern Morocco) is described as Timsaloproetus alissae sp. nov. Morphological evidence is reviewed to suggest a semi-endobenthic life mode, possibly with a carnivorous feeding habit.

Osteoderms of Hoplophorus euphractus are historically mistaken by other glyptodonts osteoderms, such as Glyptodon, Glyptotherium and Neosclerocalyptus, which has created confusion regarding the proper identification of the remains. Recent revisions have granted a better taxonomic understanding of these taxa. In this work, we present a morphological description of a carapace fragment with four articulated

The Tielugou section, Shennongjia Anticline, Hubei Province (China) includes a relatively complete succession of Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) to basal Telychian (Llandovery, early Silurian) graptolite faunas. The section shows the first record of a fauna of the late Aeronian Stimulograptus halli Biozone from South China, even though the index species was not reported. The Stimulograptus sedgwickii

Here we report on four highly peculiar skate teeth from Arcille and Certaldo, two Pliocene localities of Tuscany (central Italy). While being attributable to Rajiformes and somewhat reminiscent of Dipturus and Rostroraja, these specimens display an unusual multicuspid tooth design that does not match any extinct or extant skate taxon known to date. The studied teeth are thus referred to a new genus

Tynskya eocaena is an early Eocene bird with a raptor-like skull and semi-zygodactyl feet, whose description is based on a skeleton from the North American Green River Formation. In the present study, three-dimensionally preserved bones of a new species of Tynskya, T. waltonensis, are reported from the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). The fossils belong to a single individual and provide

Low magnification dental microwear analysis is a widespread dietary proxy for palaeoenvironmental analyses. The limitations of the method, such as observer bias or variation of microwear scars between different tooth positions, are still not quite understood. This study aims to reveal that reproducibility and variability of low magnification dental microwear is better, than it was previously thought

UV-light-induced fluorescence is widely used in the study of coal macerals and palynological samples, but to date has not been described in great detail for plant macrofossils. Here, we report the characteristics of bright UV-light-induced fluorescence of various fossil angiosperm leaf taxa from the Upper Pliocene of Willershausen, Lower Saxony, Germany. The fluorescence is exceptional, since different

The first Cambrian (Miaolingian to Furongian) rhynchonelliform brachiopods are described from the Chingiz–Tarbagatai early Palaeozoic island arc system in eastern Central Kazakhstan. The Miaolingian (Wuliuan) assemblage from the volcano-sedimentary Athei Formation includes the kutorginide Bellistrophia askarensis sp. nov. Popov and Nikitina, protorthide Psiloria karasuensis sp. nov. Popov and Nikitina

Reasonably well preserved rhinocaridid archaeostracan phyllocarids from the late Emsian Heckelmann Mill Lagerstätte in the Lahn Syncline are described and figured. For comparison, the holotype specimen of Nahecaris lata is re-figured along with a new specimen assigned here to Nahecaris cf. frankei. The Heckelmann Mill specimens clearly fit the concept of the genus Nahecaris, but differ slightly from

A conulariid preserved in three dimensions from Ordovician fluvioglacial erratics of the Northern European Lowlands (North German Plain) is described under open nomenclature. It is assigned to the genus Conularia with similarities to Baltoscandian conulariids. The lithology of the erratic boulder and fauna contained in it provide important information on the origin and transport direction of the sediment

A single terebratulide brachiopod valve found in a middle Eocene limestone deposit in the Humptulips Formation in western Washington State is the first record of a megathyridid brachiopod in a hydrocarbon seep deposit, the first fossil record of the genus Argyrotheca in western North America, and the northernmost record for Argyrotheca from the north-eastern Pacific Ocean.

Elements of the jaw apparatuses of the ammonite genus Kepplerites (Ammonoidea: Stephanoceratoidea, Kosmoceratidae, Keppleritinae) are described from two Upper Bathonian and one Lower Callovian localities of the Russian Platform. The lower jaws (aptychi), based on their size and shape can be assigned to two groups and certainly belonged to the co-occurring macroconchs K. (Kepplerites) and theirs microconchs

The Permian–Triassic mass extinction included a potentially catastrophic decline of biodiversity, but ecosystem change across this event remains poorly characterized. Here we reconstruct sedimentary factories and ecosystem change across the Permian–Triassic Critical Interval (P–TrCI) in the Xiakou area (South China). Six microfacies (MF) were classified. The succession begins with a eukaryote-controlled

The enigmatic microfossil Triskelia scotlandica from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert is an acritarch-like, usually spheroidal to ovoid vesicle with a surface ornamentation comprised of isolated triradiate and meandering, high membranous ridges. The form has been formally described based on dispersed specimens preserved inside the remains of a land plant axis, and interpreted as the resting stage of

Halitherium antillense Matthew, 1916 was established on a left mandibular fragment and two vertebrae from late Oligocene deposits of Puerto Rico. This species was only provisionally referred to the genus Halitherium and its taxonomic status and systematic affinities remained doubtful. In the course of the revision of the Halitherium-species complex and the meanwhile invalid generic name “Halitherium”

An unusual dicynodont specimen from the historical collection of von Huene and Stahlecker (1928/1929) is described from the Middle Triassic Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Santa Maria Formation of Chiniquá, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Hitherto only two dicynodont species, the stahleckeriid Stahleckeria potens and the more basal kannemeyeriiform Dinodontosaurus turpior, were recorded from this

We present a list of Ostracoda (Crustacea) from stratigraphic sections of Mio–Pleistocene lacustrine deposits from Zhada Basin, western Tibetan Plateau. In this area, almost no taxonomical studies were carried out so far, and, aiming to a future use of ostracods as palaeoenvironmental proxy for this sector of the Tibetan Plateau, a documentation of several species was performed. The taxa Leucocytherella

A new eurypterid specimen from the Early Devonian of Willwerath is described. The character combination seen in this fossil suggests that it is probably an adelophthalmoid eurypterid morphologically not unlike the co-occurring Parahughmilleria. However, it differs in many respects and a new genus and species, Pruemopterus salgadoi gen. et sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate this fossil. This finding

A large new edrioasteroid genus from the Seifen Formation (Lower Devonian, Germany), Seifenia gen. nov., is introduced. The type species, S. ostara sp. nov., is described and figured, and its systematic position is discussed. Seifenia shows a highly derived evolutionary position in comparison with other Lower Devonian genera. With a diameter up to 57 mm, it is the largest known domal genus of the Agelacrinitidae

The remarkable holometabolan larva, Trialarva coburgensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Upper Triassic Hassberge Formation in Lower Franconia, southern Germany. It is the second described fossil larva of so-called “Sialidae-type” after the Middle Permian Kargalarva permosialis Prokin et al., to which it is morphologically close. The overall morphology of the new larva is best compatible with

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 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

Swimming tetrapods may leave their traces under water if their digits or limbs stir the bottom sediment. Resulting trace fossils are evidence of a swim behavior. Tetrapods swim techniques depend on the functional morphology of the swimmers. Examination of swim trace fossils may reveal the swim techniques employed and swimmers’ functional morphologies behind the behaviors. The present paper analyzes

The recent demonstrations that widespread mid-Palaeozoic Prototaxites and other nematophytes had fungal affinities indicate that terrestrial fungi were important elements in carbon cycling in the Early Devonian. Here, we provide evidence for their participation in the recycling of nutrients by early terrestrial invertebrates. Evidence is in the form of coprolites, both those associated with nematophytes

A fossil specimen of the jumping plant-louse genus Cacopsylla (Insecta, Hemiptera, Psylloidea) is described from lacustrine sediments of the middle Pleistocene Miyajima Formation of the Shiobara Group in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan. It is the first report of a psylloid fossil from Japan. The specimen is a compression fossil of almost whole insect body, and the superb preservation of forewings

Four bryozoan species were identified from the Mississippian (Viséan) Mobarak Formation of northern Iran: the cystoporates Fistulipora longituba Yang and Lu, Fistulipora djebaglinica Nikiforova, Fistulipora sp., and the trepostome Hinaclema sakagamii Schastlivtseva. The cystoporates are represented by large massive, mainly multilayered colonies, whereas Hinaclema sakagamii encrusts (often also multilayered)

Rhizocorallites articularis Müller, 1955 are string-shaped sediment aggregates with a homogeneous fill and transverse segmentation, known from marginal-marine deposits of the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of the Germanic Basin. They preferably occur as winding and bent strings at the base of thin storm layers (tempestites). Originally interpreted as the dwellings of a tubiculous annelid or a backfilled

Four bryozoan species are described from the Siliciclastic Imagh Formation of the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) succession at the Imagh section, Posht-e-Badam Block, Kalmard area in central Iran. Three species are new: two trepostomes Dyscritella multiporata sp. nov., Dyscritella kalmardensis sp. nov., and a rhabdomesine cryptostome Rhombopora aryani sp. nov. The species Nikiforovella ambigua Xia and

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

Disarticulated stem remains of the crinoid genera Holocrinus, Tollmannicrinus, and Eckicrinus of the order Holocrinida from Anisian (early Middle Triassic) strata of the eastern and north-eastern outskirts of Qingyan, Guizhou Province, south-western China, are described. Holocrinus qingyanensis sp. nov. (family Holocrinidae) occurs in early early to middle middle Anisian deposits. Tollmannicrinus leidapoensis

The Late Devonian ammonoid species Acrimeroceras falcisulcatum and A. stella have similar-shaped discoidal adult conchs. Their conch morphology and its ontogenetic development are described and analysed. Despite great similarities in their adult conch morphology, they can be clearly distinguished by differences in the shape of their juvenile whorl profile and by the growth trajectories of their cardinal

The paper deals with the description of a new species Soligorskopterus shpinevi, which was found in Upper Devonian deposits cropped out in the Mikhailovsky quarry (the City of Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia). The new species is based on the single although practically complete specimen visible from its abdominal side. The new species is characterized by following features: (1) widest part of the

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

New collection work in Mount Flora, Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, has confirmed the presence of bivalve moulds in the Jurassic Mount Flora Formation. In contrast to a twenty-first century article claiming to report the first discovery of fossil freshwater molluscs in Antarctica, evidence of these molluscs was first reported for Antarctica more than 110 years ago by J. Gunnar Andersson. The bivalve

The Lower Devonian Rhynie and Windyfield cherts from Scotland contain a remarkable diversity of microscopic fungal propagules and reproductive units; however, only relatively few of these fossils are described. One of them is Windipila spinifera, an unusual reproductive unit from the Windyfield chert that consists of a walled spheroid (~ 100 µm in diam.) surrounded by a mantle of interlaced hyphae;

The Lower Clayton Limestone Unit (LCLU) of the Midway Group (Paleocene) near Malvern, Arkansas, USA contains an assemblage of chondrichthyans recently exposed by excavation for highway stabilization. Chondrichthyan teeth in this assemblage belong to at least 12 taxa including: Ginglymostoma subafricanum, Carcharias cf. whitei, Carcharias sp., Odontaspis winkleri, Palaeohypotodus rutori, Palaeogaleus

The recognition of taphonomic alterations is an important step previously to any paleopathological analysis, as some taphonomic features can simulate pathological change on bones. This is a difficult task, but there are some diagnostic criteria that can be used to differentiate them. Here we demonstrate how these features can be macroscopically distinguished using skeletal remains of Quaternary mammals

The putative xiphosuran Kiaeria Størmer, 1934, from the Late Silurian (Ludlow) of Ringerike, Norway, is redescribed from the holotype and only known specimen as a chasmataspidid chelicerate arthropod. Morphological features such as the presence of a fused buckler of three opisthosomal segments clearly indicate a chasmataspidid affinity, while the size of Kiaeria, along with the occurrence of a raised

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

Fossil floras have been recovered from a unique deposit of early Permian age in North-Central Texas. The site, Kola Switch, preserves three distinct floras in different lithofacies, in a succession from a single outcrop. The sedimentary environment appears to be a floodplain channel fill of primarily siltstones and claystones. The lowermost flora, preserved in a kaolinitic siltstone, indicates active

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

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 morphology and anatomy of a new zygopterid fern are described from the Middle Pennsylvanian (Bolsovian) of Flöha, SE Germany. The fossils occur as allochthonous remains within the basal Schweddey Ignimbrite, which preserves a diverse wetland plant community of cordaitaleans, ferns, pteridosperms, calamitaleans, and lycophytes. Pinnae of Alloiopteris loecsei sp. nov. exhibit a combined carbonized

Cyclocystoids are a poorly known, rare, extinct class of bi-facially flattened, disc shaped echinoderms, ranging from the Middle Ordovician to the Early Carboniferous. Articulated cyclocystoids are relatively common in the Ordovician but are rarer in younger strata. Here we describe Perforocycloides nathaliae new genus and species, from the early Silurian of Anticosti Island, Québec, Canada, the first