bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preserved color pattern of a phylloceratid ammonoid from the Jurassic Chari Formation, Kutch, India, and its functional significance
Authors: Bardhan Subhendu , Jana Sudipta K. , Datta Kalyanbrata
Published: August 2016

Preservation of pristine pigmentation in fossil shells is a rare phenomenon (Teichert, 1964) and fossilization accompanied by recrystallization often renders the primary color bands indiscernible (Shrock and Twenhofel, 1953). Nevertheless, there are reports on color markings in fossil shells ranging from the Middle Cambrian to Holocene (Hoare, 1978; Mapes and Hoare, 1987; Kobluk and Mapes, 1989).
Protocimex: a phyllocarid crustacean, not an Ordovician insect
Authors: Bassett Michael G. , Berg-Madsen Vivianne
Published: August 2016

In 1892 the Swedish paleontologist Johan Christian Moberg described and illustrated what he interpreted as a fossil insect (Hemiptera) from beds of early Ordovician age in the southernmost limestone quarry at Killeröd, Smedstorp Parish in Skåne [Scania], southern Sweden. In a later paper in the same year (Moberg, 1892b), he also made a further passing reference to the presence of the same fossil when describing the accompanying graptolite fauna from Killeröd. One of his main reasons for recording this find was his conclusion (Moberg, 1892a, p. 122) that “it is evidently of great interest with full certainty to be able to prove the presence of airbreathing (terrestrial) animals as far back in time as that during which the oldest strata of the lower Silurian [i.e., Ordovician] were formed” [translation from Swedish].
Occurrence of the spatangid echinoidMaretia arguta(Clark) in the Middle Eocene of Texas
Authors: Zachos Louis G.
Published: August 2016

Echinoid fragments were reported by Zachos (1990) from a Weches Formation (Clairborne) outcrop on Hooker Creek in Burleson County, Texas. Enough fragments have been found at the latter locality to piece together a composite identifiable as a species of the spatangid genusMaretia, most likelyM. arguta.This species has not previously been reported outside of Clarke County, Mississippi. A search of the stratigraphic collections of the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin, Texas, has uncovered several previously unidentified specimens ofM. argutafrom two Weches localities, at Kickapoo Shoals on the Trinity River in Houston County and at Nacogdoches in Nacogdoches County. In addition, spatangoid fragments, some of which are attributable toM. arguta, are common in collections from the Weches and Cook Mountain Formations.
Where is Polypothecia Benett, 1831?
Authors: Spamer Earle E. , Bogan Arthur E.
Published: August 2016

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1990, Op. 1609) ruled that A catalogue of the organic remains of the County of Wilts by Benett (1831b) is an available work for the purposes of taxonomic nomenclature. Prior to the ruling, there was some question about the availability of her privately printed catalogue, in which she erected many validly proposed taxa by name and figure or by indication to previously available works. The ICZN Opinion cited the paper by Spamer et al. (1989) as documentation of the taxonomic nomenclature used by Benett and the disposition of her collection in which there is type material for species proposed by her and by other authors.
A new Silurian retiolitid graptolite from Arctic Canada
Authors: Lenz A. C.
Published: August 2016

Retiolitid graptolites are a very common component in Silurian graptolite faunas of the Canadian Arctic, both in flattened form on shale surfaces and in uncompressed form in limestone concretions found in the enclosing shales (Lenz and Melchin, 1987). Upper Wenlock and Ludlow rocks are particularly prolific, having yielded about 20 species of retiolitids to date. One of the collections made during the summer of 1991 was a single piece of talus-derived shale containing 10 complete and slightly fragmented retiolitids. These specimens are morphologically unique, and their description is the purpose of this note.
Presidential citation
Authors: Kaesler Roger L.
Published: August 2016

At its interim meeting in Iowa City in May 1992, the Paleontological Society Council established the Presidential Citation, which is to be awarded by the President upon approval of the Council. The award is intended to recognize the efforts of people who have gone out of their way to help paleontologists, especially people with little to gain by such assistance.
A guide to the nomenclature of heterochrony
Authors: McNamara Kenneth J.
Published: August 2016

Since Haeckel's Biogenetic Law (‘ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny’) fell into disrepute early in the twentieth century, there has been intermittent debate, particularly in recent years (de Beer, 1958; Gould, 1977; Alberch et al., 1979; Alberch, 1980; Bonner, 1982; McNamara, 1982a), on the nature of the relationship between an individual's development and phylogenetic history. Important questions under discussion include the following: If a strong causal relationship does exist, what is its nature? How does it work? What is its importance in evolution? How can it be recognized in the fossil record?
The heliolitid coralAcidolitesin Ordovician–Silurian rocks of eastern Canada
Authors: Dixon O. A.
Published: August 2016

AcidolitesLang, Smith and Thomas occurs in upper Middle and Upper Ordovician, Lower and lower Middle Silurian rocks of Ontario and Quebec. On Anticosti Island, Quebec, the genus is represented byA. tenuis(Billings) in the Upper Ordovician (Gamachian) Ellis Bay Formation; the new speciesA. arctatus, A. compactusandA. helianthusin the Ordovician–Silurian boundary beds at the top of the Ellis Bay Formation; the new speciesA. arctatus, A. compactusandA. lindströmiin the lower Llandoverian Becscie Formation;A. arctatusin the mid-Llandoverian Gun River Formation; and an unnamed species in the upper Llandoverian Jupiter Formation. The lower Llandoverian Clemville Formation of the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, containsProtaraea clemvillensisParks, now considered to beAcidolites. The upper Middle to lower Upper Ordovician Cobourg Formation near Ottawa, Ontario, containsA. cf.arctatus, formerly included inProtaraea vetusta(Hall). The lower Wenlockian Amabel Formation in southern Ontario contains a species ofAcidolitesas yet unnamed.
Origination, survivorship, and extinction of rudist taxa
Authors: Jones Douglas S. , Nicol David
Published: August 2016

Rudists arose in the Late Jurassic and survived for nearly 100 m.y. before becoming extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Over this interval they diversified gradually during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, rapidly in the mid-Cretaceous, then more slowly in the Late Cretaceous. Total rates of origination and extinction during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous were uniform and comparable to those reported for other groups. The Late Cretaceous, however, was characterized by high and widely fluctuating total origination and extinction rates. Per taxon rates reveal a similar pattern except for high and variable rates in the Jurassic. The number of genera increased from the Oxfordian to a peak in the Cenomanian, decreased in the Turonian and Coniacian coinciding with a minor mass extinction event, and rose to a zenith in the Maastrichtian. Unlike other groups investigated, the rudists were at their highest level of diversity immediately prior to their disappearance.

Rudist genera survived for a mean of 12 m.y., whereas families survived for a mean of 48 m.y. Survivorship curves for generic cohorts, based upon survival of all rudist genera that evolved during each stage, exhibit a concave shape when the effects of mass extinction and variance at low diversities are considered. Causal factors involved in the final disappearance of the rudists remain unclear; however, their tropical provinciality in the Late Cretaceous contributed to their vulnerability to mass extinction.
Late Devonian ammonoids from Ohio and adjacent states
Authors: House M. R. , Gordon Mackenzie , Hlavin W. J.
Published: August 2016

Three late Devonian ammonoid-bearing levels are described from the area of Cleveland, Ohio. These appear to represent the German Platyclymenia, Clymenia and Wocklumeria Stufen, clear evidence for which has been lacking previously in eastern North America. The lowest level, around the base of the Cleveland Shale, yieldsSporadoceras, Cyrtoclymenia, Platyclymeniaand a new species,Pleuroclymenia(?)ohioense. The middle level, near the top of the Cleveland Shale, bearsCymaclymenia, SporadocerasandPrionoceras. The highest level, just above the base of the Bedford Shale, hasPrionoceras quadripartitum. This species, and a fauna of the basal Bedford, have been located also in the area of Columbus, Ohio. AnEpiwocklumeria(?) sp. is recorded from Indiana. Attention is drawn to the international importance of the late Famennian and Lower Carboniferous ammonoid sequence which can now be recognized in Ohio.
The first well-preserved radiolarians from the Ordovician of Australia
Authors: Webby B. D. , Blom W. M.
Published: August 2016

Late Ordovician radiolarians are described from allochthonous limestone breccia deposits of the graptolitic Malongulli Formation of central New South Wales. Included among the forms are the new ‘palaeoactinommid’ genusKalimnasphaerawith new speciesK. maculosa, the new entactiniid species,Entactinia subulata, and the new anakrusid species,Auliela taplowensis. A number of other entactiniids and the first recorded Ordovician ‘rotasphaerids’ are placed in open nomenclature. Graptolite faunas of the Malongulli Formation indicate that the deposits range in age from the Eastonian Zone ofDicranograptus hians kirkito the Bolindian Zone ofClimacograptus uncinatus, that is, from latest Caradoc to early or middle Ashgill in age. This is only the second known well-preserved radiolarian assemblage to be illustrated from Late Ordovician (late Caradoc–Ashgill) successions, and the earliest known from Australia. The radiolarians typically occur in tabularly shaped, laminated lime-mudstone clasts with an abundance of siliceous sponge remains. These clasts appear to be formed from peri-platform ooze of the ‘deeper-water’ slope facies, which became incorporated in debris flows moving into the adjoining basin.
Late Pleistocene vertebrates from Gunnison County, Colorado
Authors: Emslie Steven D.
Published: August 2016

Haystack Cave, Gunnison County, Colorado, has provided the first collection of vertebrate remains from the Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) of western Colorado. Two carbon 14 analyses of bone apatite have produced dates of 14,935 ± 610 and 12,154 ± 1,700 years B.P. for this assemblage. This fauna, in conjunction with pollen studies, indicates the Gunnison Basin was largely unforested grassland/sagebrush shrubland in the lower basin, with open coniferous forests extending to the edges of the basin, during the late Pleistocene. The fauna also extends the known Pleistocene range of Lagurus curtatus, Phenacomys intermedius, Spilogale putorius, and Acinonyx trumani.
Middle Miocene planktonic microfossils and lower bathyal foraminifera from offshore southern California
Authors: Bergen Ted F. W. , Sblendorio-Levy Joanne , Twining John T. , Casey Richard E.
Published: August 2016

Lower bathyal sediments representing portions of the Luisian and Mohnian stages of Kleinpell (1938) occur on a submarine ridge near Tanner Bank, offshore southern California. The presence of abundant and well-preserved calcareous nannofossils, diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians and foraminifera allows accurate correlations with the onshore type sections of these stages. In terms of the calcareous nannofossil zones, the age range is from theSphenolithus heteromorphusZone to theDiscoaster kugleriZone. Although abundant benthic foraminifera indicative of the Luisian and Mohnian are present, they are accompanied by species more characteristic of the Pliocene Repettian Stage of Natland (1952) and the Pliocene-Miocene “Delmontian” Stage of Kleinpell (1938). Many of these latter species live today at lower bathyal depths (below 2,000 m), others occur in lower bathyal sediments as old as Oligocene, but are absent in the onshore type sections of the Luisian and Mohnian stages in coastal California. We ascribe their absence in onshore sequences to deposition at middle bathyal depths. The known chronostratigraphic ranges of several species are extended and five new species and two new subspecies of benthic foraminifera are described.

The following new taxa are described:Bolivina pelitan. sp.,Cassidulinella inflatan. sp.,Globocassidulina undulatan. sp.,Cibicidoides mckannai miocenicusn. subsp.,C. mckannai sigmosuturalisn. subsp.,Pullenia fragilisn. sp.,Parafissurina inornatan. sp.
Paleoenvironmental analysis of Middle Jurassic (Callovian) ammonoids from Poland: trace elements and stable isotopes
Authors: Brand Uwe
Published: August 2016

Mineralogical and microstructural analyses of Quenstedtoceras shells (Callovian, Poland) show that the outer shell material is preserved as nacreous aragonite, while the septal material shows different degrees of alteration. The septa in part are pyritized or show signs of cementation by equant/acicular calcite cement; paleoenvironmental interpretation of the least-altered outer shell material using the Sr/Na ratio suggests that the shell material was deposited in seawater which had a salinity of about 33 ppt and a range of about 32–35 ppt. Other data, such as Mn and Fe, imply that the oxygen level of the seawater was normal. The paleotemperature, using δ18O values with a salinity correction, was calculated to be about 11.0–14.5°C with an average water temperature of about 12.5°C. These paleoenvironmental parameters, in part, account for the faunal character of the Boreal Realm of the Jurassic.
North American Devonian Carydiidae (Bivalvia): systematics, phylogeny, and implications in early diversification of the class
Authors: Bailey J. Bowman
Published: August 2016

Although past authors have regarded the Carydiidae as a European family, six species ofCarydiumare reported here from the Devonian of eastern North America. Two of these belong to a single morphocline common in the Hamilton shales; another (Carydium clarkei) is new. Due to lack of well preserved hinges most of these species were earlier placed inNuculabecause serrations or striations on dental elements were mistaken for a taxodont dentition.

New data require modification of carydiid phylogenies of earlier authors. 1) Two independent pre-Devonian derivations fromLyrodesmaare inferred. 2)Noradonta shergoldi, a carydiid-like lyrodesmatid from the Ordovician of Australia, is recognized as an important phyletic link between the Carydiidae and the Lyrodesmatidae. 3) The previous view of three distinct lineages withinCarydiumis not supported. Anamorphic data suggest as few as two main lineages and show two of the hinge types to be homeomorphic grades appearing separately or within one or the other of the main lineages.

Though too young to be directly involved in the early diversification of the Bivalvia, the actinodont, subheterodont, and pseudotaxodont hinge morphologies ofCarydiumsupply models for the origin of heterodont and taxodont hinges. Anamorphic and other evidence suggests that both are iterative types, and fundamental differences between them may be few. Hence, their preeminence as diagnostic criteria among higher taxa is diminished.
The implications of data base management systems to paleontology: a discussion of Jurassic ammonoid data
Authors: Smith Paul L.
Published: August 2016

Data from current research dealing with Jurassic ammonoids and stratigraphy of western North America are being stored in a computer file called AMMON using a data base management system. Each ammonite is described by up to 94 descriptors divided into the following six categories: taxonomy, quantitative morphology, qualitative morphology, stratigraphy, locality-catalogue information and general remarks. Data entry is facilitated by the use of a template on a video display terminal, the use of code numbers instead of full names and the bulk entry of hierarchic data. The computer can be used to speed fossil identification and retrieve geologic data by matching lists of descriptor states for a given specimen against those stored in the data bank. By interfacing with statistical analytical systems a ‘profile’ of a given taxon can be generated showing ranges of morphologic variation for any stage of ontogeny. Multivariate techniques are readily employed and subtle patterns of covariation more easily assessed. The data base may also be questioned to instantly generate taxonomic lists by zone, geographic area, lithostratigraphic unit, etc. (or any combination thereof) so that its research potential is considerable.

AMMON is a prototype meant to serve as a basis for discussion in developing a globally acceptable ammonoid data base. If code numbers for taxonomic, morphologic and stratigraphic data are standardized, information can be exchanged internationally using magnetic tapes and then decoded by the computer into any language. As data bases proliferate, they will inevitably make paleontological information more readily accessible to the specialist and non-specialist alike.
Fossil worms from the Devonian of North America (Sphenothallus) and Burma (“Vermes”) previously identified as phyllocarid arthropods
Authors: Feldmann Rodney M. , Hannibal Joseph T. , Babcock Loren E.
Published: August 2016

Fragmentary fossils from Late Devonian rocks, previously identified as phyllocarid arthropods, are referable to “Vermes.” Specimens identified as Dithyrocaris (=Mesothyra) sp. from the Chagrin Shale in northeastern Ohio are assigned to Sphenothallus cf. S. carbonarius (M'Coy). Thus, there are no records of rhinocaridid arthropods from the Chagrin. Fossils identified as “cercopods” of the echinocaridid, Echinocaris asiaticus Reed, from the Wetwin shales in Burma, are not arthropod remains, but are tubes produced by a gregarious worm. Echinocaris asiaticus is now represented only by a single partial carapace.
New ostracode genera from the Lower Devonian McMonnigal Limestone of central Nevada
Authors: Berdan Jean M.
Published: August 2016

Five new ostracode genera and their type species are described from among 42 taxa obtained from silicified residues from theQuadrithyrisbrachiopod Zone and the upperpesavisand lowersulcatusconodont Zones of the McMonnigal Limestone at Ikes Canyon, Dianas Punch Bowl quadrangle, Nye County, Nevada. These are the beyrichiaceansPseudomyomphalus spicatusn. gen., n. sp., andDolichoscaphoides copelandin. gen., n. sp., the hollinaceanEurekabolbina torquatan. gen., n. sp., the kloedenellaceanElenamarginia polenovaen. gen., n. sp. and the quasillitaceanProsumia petersenin. gen., n. sp. Three of the five genera also occur in the partially correlative Windmill Limestone of Eureka County, Nevada, and may prove useful for interbasinal correlation.
A new Devonian species of flexible crinoid from the Lost River Range, east-central Idaho
Authors: Webster G. D. , Fox Stephen E.
Published: August 2016

The new flexible crinoid Para clidochirus n. gen. is described, with P. keyserensis (Springer, 1920) as the type species. A new species, P. schultzi, is described from the Late Devonian of Idaho.
Miocene diatoms from Richmond, Virginia
Authors: Andrews George W.
Published: August 2016

In downtown Richmond, Va., a highly diatomaceous deposit contains a diatom assemblage in which 87 taxa have been identified. The diatoms indicate that this sedimentary unit is correlative with Lithologic Unit 19 of the Choptank Formation of middle Miocene age. Also in Richmond, a sedimentary unit correlated with the Eastover Formation overlies the Choptank Formation and contains a sparse diatom assemblage in which 24 taxa have been identified. The diatoms in this upper deposit form an assemblage that is distinctive from that of the Choptank Formation and is of late Miocene age. Both diatom assemblages are dominated by taxa indicating deposition in a littoral or shallow neritic marine environment. Although reasons for differences in diatom diversity and abundance between the two formations are obscure, these differences appear to reflect the greater primary productivity of diatoms in middle Miocene than in later Tertiary time.
The youngest styliolines and nowakiids (Late Devonian) currently known from New York
Authors: Yochelson Ellis L. , Kirchgasser William T.
Published: August 2016

This is the first report of styliolines in the Angola Shale Member of the West Falls Formation in western New York. These specimens are of late Frasnian age and are the youngest individuals known from the Appalachian Region. This upward extension of range places the extinction of styliolines in eastern North America more in accord with their time of extinction in Europe. Nowakiids have also been found in the younger Hanover Shale Member, in the upper part of the Java Formation, also of late Frasnian age. These are the youngest known nowakiids from the Appalachians. Within the limits of preservation, the external characters and wall structure of the Angola styliolines are comparable with those of older specimens. The associated rare small annulated nowakiids and homotcenids have a laminated wall structure fundamentally different from that of the styliolines.
Early Silurian inadunate crinoids (Brassfield Formation, Ohio)
Authors: Ausich William I.
Published: August 2016

Eight Early Silurian inadunate crinoids are described. These include: a pisocrinid, genus and species undetermined; (?)Myelodactylus sp.; Kanabinocrinus thyaros n. gen., n. sp.; Euspirocrinus heliktos n. sp.; (?)Euspirocrinus sp.; Eoparisocrinus siluricus n. comb. (n. gen.); Dendrocrinus daytonensis n. sp.; and dendrocrinid, genus and species undetermined. Parisocrinus siluricus, Parisocrinus mulletensis, and Euspirocrinus obconicus are all reassigned to Eoparisocrinus. Parisocrinus is restricted to members of Devonian and Mississippian age. The genus Parisocrinus is discussed, and its type species P. perplexus is illustrated.

Pisocrinid, genus and species undetermined, (?)Myelodactylus sp., and Kanabinocrinus thyaros represent the oldest member of the family in which each belongs. The phylogenetic relationships of these and other taxa are discussed.
Micromorph crinoid fauna of the McCraney Limestone (Mississippian, Kinderhookian) of western Illinois
Authors: Lane N. Gary , Sevastopulo G. D.
Published: August 2016

A low diversity fauna of microscopic crinoids from the Kinderhookian (Mississippian) McCraney Limestone at Seehorn Hollow, western Illinois, is described and illustrated by stereomicrographs. The crinoids include first record of the camerate crinoid genus Hexacrinites (H. mississippiensis n. sp.) above the Devonian. The other three taxa are all inadunates and include the monocyclic microcrinoid Allagecrinus mccraneyensis n. sp., which has up to 14 arms, and two dicyclic poteriocrinoids, Hypselocrinus maccabei (Miller and Gurley, 1894) and an indeterminate genus of the Scytalocrinidae.
Palaeoniscoid (Actinopterygii, Pisces) vertebrae from the Late Paleozoic of central North America
Authors: Schultze Hans-Peter , Chorn John
Published: August 2016

Actinopterygian vertebral centra are more common in the Pennsylvanian and Early Permian of central North America than was previously known. The oldest record dates from the Early Carboniferous of England. Stratigraphic occurrence, co-occurring vertebrate fauna, histology, and external morphology contradict a previous interpretation as centra of “holosteans.” The centra are assigned here to Palaeoniscoidea indet. Besides centra in haplolepids, these are the only known actinopterygian centra from the Paleozoic. The so-called caudal centra in Pygopterus are the bases of hypurals.
Dinnebitodon amarali, a new tritylodontid (Synapsida) from the Lower Jurassic of western North America
Authors: Sues Hans-Dieter
Published: August 2016

Dinnebitodon amarali, a new genus and species of Tritylodontidae, is described from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of northeastern Arizona. It is distinguished from Kayentatherium wellesi by the possession of three (rather than one) upper incisors and upper postcanine teeth with two (rather than three) lingual cusps.
Microreticulatisporites sacalii (Deák and Combaz) n. comb., a stratigraphically significant miospore from the Cenomanian of the United States
Authors: Ravn Robert L.
Published: August 2016

The Cretaceous miospore Microreticulatisporites sacalii (Deák and Combaz) n. comb. occurs in the Dakota Formation of Iowa and the lower Tuscaloosa Group of Louisiana and Mississippi. These occurrences represent the first reported from North America. The presence of the species in mid-Cretaceous strata of North America is consistent with the upper Albian to Cenomanian interval from which it has been recorded in Europe. Review of the morphology of these spores and the systematics of the genus Vadaszisporites, to which the species originally was assigned, require transfer of the species and suppression of Vadaszisporites as a junior synonym of Microreticulatisporites Knox emend. Potonié and Kremp, 1954.
Lower Middle Devonian Stromatoporoidea from Empire Beach, southern Ontario, Canada
Authors: St. Jean Joseph
Published: August 2016

Seven species belonging to three stromatoporoid genera are described from two localities at Empire Beach, southern Ontario.Stromatoporellais the most diverse genus, to which five species are assigned. The most common species isSyringodictyon tuberculatum(Nicholson), represented by ten of the twenty-four collected specimens. One genus,Syringodictyon, and one species,Stromatoporella megastrorhizifera, are new.Stromatoporellacf.S. compositaYavorsky is unassigned.

The species range in age from Emsian, or possibly Siegenian, to Frasnian. They correlate well with stromatoporoids described from strata equivalent to the lower Detroit River Group, Edgecliff Member (Onondaga Formation), as well as with the Couvinian–Eifelian horizons of Europe.
The distribution and inferred larval dispersion ofRhondellina dorei:a new Cambrian brachiopod (Acrotretida)
Authors: Rowell A. J.
Published: August 2016

Rhondellina dorein. gen., n. sp. is morphologically a very unusual acrotretid in possessing a marginal ventral beak and vestigial ventral pseudointerarea. In common with all other acrotretaceans it has a pitted first-formed shell that is an evolutionary novelty for the clade. By analogy with developmental stages of living lingulids and discinids it is concluded that these pitted first-formed valves are not protegula, but are larval valves developed during a protracted pelagic phase. The distinction is important in considering dispersal of the organisms. Although some acrotretids are endemic and limited to rocks deposited around a single Cambrian continental landmass, others are cosmopolitan. The wide dispersal of such forms supports earlier conclusions that the functional significance of the pits in the larval valves was an adaptation to increase buoyancy and suggests that the larvae were planktotrophic. Because of energy problems inherent with planktotrophic larvae and small parents, it is conceivable that acrotretacean development was mixed and that a relatively small number of lecithotrophic eggs were brooded prior to release of the free-swimming planktotrophs.

Rhondellina doreiwas seemingly endemic to Cambrian North America. Although its larvae apparently were unable to cross oceanic barriers, the species dispersed around the periphery of the craton. It is known from western Utah and eastern Nevada and also occurs in Peary Land, North Greenland, on the opposing side of the continent. In the western United States it occurs only in theCrepicephalusZone (lower Dresbachian, Upper Cambrian), but in Greenland it appears earlier in the upperLejopyge laevigataZone, in beds that are the temporal equivalents of the North AmericanCedariaZone.
Slip-resistant silver-feet: shell form and mode of life in lower PleistoceneArgyropezafrom Fiji
Authors: Kohn Alan J.
Published: August 2016

Asymmetric sculpture in the form of tubercles or ridges on the shells of large (mean shell length ~60 mm) turritelliform gastropods has previously been shown to enhance efficiency of the shell as a penetration anchor in burrowing through coarse sediment. The small (<8 mm) turritelliform shells of all species ofArgyropeza(Family Cerithiidae) have both of these ratchetlike sculptural features. Four lines of evidence from Lower PleistoceneA. divinaandA. schepmanianafrom Fiji support the interpretation that they help resist back-slippage: cross-orientation, frictional asymmetry, allometric shallowing, and allometric densing of sculptural elements. In addition, excellent state of preservation including protoconch sculpture, near coplanarity of aperture and ventral side of shell, and susceptibility to drilling predation by naticids support the conclusion that these gastropods burrowed in the sediment that formed the siltstone in which they are now preserved. A direct relationship is proposed between height of ratchet sculpture on turritelliform gastropod shells of approximate length range 5–100 mm and the grain size of sediments they inhabit ranging from silts to coarse sands.
Triassic notostracans in the Newark Supergroup, Culpeper Basin, northern Virginia
Authors: Gore Pamela J. W. , Traverse Alfred
Published: August 2016

Fossilized notostracan carapaces and abdominal fragments are present in the Upper Triassic (Rhaetian) Bull Run Formation in the Culpeper Basin near Manassas, Virginia. Over 250 notostracan carapaces and carapace fragments and three abdominal fragments with attached caudal rami were collected from light olive-gray, grayish-red, and brownish-gray shales in three on-strike localities. Carapace and abdomen are attached in one specimen. The Culpeper Basin notostracans have a rudimentary supra-anal plate and are identified asTriopscf.cancriformis. Their carapaces are indistinguishable from those of modern forms.

Relatively few notostracan fossils are known and none have been reported previously from the Triassic of North America. Triassic notostracans, however, have been reported from Europe and Africa. Fossil notostracans have been reported from North America only once previously, from the Permian of Oklahoma.

The notostracans are associated with conchostracans(Cyzicussp.), ostracodes(Darwinulasp.), fish scales, insects, plant fragments, and stromatolites.

The notostracan-bearing beds are present at the top of a transgressive-regressive sequence, indicating that the notostracans inhabited shallow water near the edge of a perennial lake. Palynology indicates that these beds are most likely mid- to late-Rhaetian in age.
On Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus, an Upper Triassic lepidosaurian from the Italian Alps
Authors: Pinna Giovanni
Published: August 2016

The functional interpretation of Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus, an Upper Triassic lepidosaurian from the Italian Alps, is given here. The peculiar anatomical structure of the post-cranial skeleton would point to a burrowing animal.
A new species of pantodont, cf. Haplolambda simpsoni (Mammalia) from Utah
Authors: Miller Wade E.
Published: August 2016

North American pantodonts have mostly been recovered from the Rocky Mountain states. However, none has previously been accurately reported from Utah. Reference to Coryphodon was made by Cope in 1872 under the name Bathmodon, to which others (e.g., Marsh, 1876) later referred, but this probably was in error. The reported material apparently came from southwestern Wyoming rather than northeastern Utah. An undescribed coryphodontid jaw, though, has been collected from Eocene deposits in the Uinta Basin.
Benthic auto-mobility in discoidPalaeacisfrom the Pennsylvanian of the Ardmore Basin, Oklahoma?
Authors: Webb Gregory E.
Published: August 2016

The enigmatic tabulate genusPalaeacisis composed primarily of species with wedge-shaped coralla.Palaeacis walcottiMoore and Jeffords, 1945,P. kingiJeffords, 1955, andP.cf.P. walcotti, described below from the Morrowan (Pennsylvanian) Golf Course Formation of the Ardmore Basin, south-central Oklahoma, represent a distinctive morphogroup characterized by a discoid corallum. DiscoidPalaeacisranges from the Morrowan to the Missourian and, so far, is known only from the mid-continent region of North America. The discoid shape, combined with concentric skeletal accretion, large corallite diameters, complex calice floors, and porous skeleton suggest, based on comparisons with the functional morphology of recent scleractinians, that these corals were well suited to an auto-mobile (vagile) life strategy, much as are many Recent fungiid corals. DiscoidPalaeacisinhabited environments with muddy or sandy, unconsolidated substrates and was associated with low-diversity, nonencrusting faunas. This association is consistent with an auto-mobile life strategy. Auto-mobility inPalaeaciswould represent the first such reported occurrence in the Tabulata, and the first in Paleozoic colonial corals of all types.
Dimorphism inKheraicerasSpath from the Callovian Chari Formation, Kutch, India
Authors: Bardhan S. , Datta K. , Jana S. K. , Pramanik D.
Published: August 2016

KheraicerasSpath, 1924, is known mainly from macroconchs. Matching of dimorphic pairs at species level is difficult due to the rarity of microconchs and consequent difficulty in establishing contemporaneity. The present study reveals dimorphism withinKheraiceras cosmopolitum(Parona and Bonarelli, 1895) from the lower part of the Callovian Chari Formation, Kutch, India, where microconch closely resembles macroconch except for the size, being about three times smaller and having an aperture characterized by terminal construction. The evolution ofKheralcerasfromBullatimorphitesBuckman is based on macroconchs only. The discovery of coeval microconch specimens and study of known microconchs within the lineage indicate “parallel” evolution in macro- and microconchs and improves the understanding of evolutionary trends that involve complex heterochronic processes.
The aulacopleurid trilobite Otarion, with new species from the Silurian of northwestern Canada
Authors: Adrain J. M. , Chatterton B. D. E.
Published: August 2016

The genus Otarion Zenker, 1833, first appears in the Wenlock simultaneously with Cyphaspis Burmeister, 1843, as the oldest known species of each occur together in the southern Mackenzie Mountains of the Canadian Northwest Territories. The genera are unambiguous sister groups, a relationship supported most compellingly by a uniquely derived and distinctive pattern of juvenile cephalic spines, shared also with the Carboniferous genus Namuropyge Richter and Richter, 1939. This sister group relationship permits the development of a robust and stratigraphically correlated hypothesis of relationship among the adequately known species of Otarion, Otarion, Cyphaspis, and Namuropyge constitute the tribe Otarionini. The Mississippian genus Dixiphopyge Brezinski, 1988, may also belong to Otarionini. Namuropyge is a paedomorph, likely derived from a Degree Six or Seven meraspid of an older species of uncertain position in the Otarion–Cyphaspis clade.

Three Wenlock species of Otarion occur in stratigraphic succession in a single section in the Mackenzie Mountains. Analysis of morphological change with time, and of sequential ontogenies, suggests that the Silurian history of the genus was dominated by incidents of peramorphosis.

New species are Otarion huddyi, O. beukeboomi, and O. coppinsensis. Otarion brauni Perry and Chatterton, 1979, is revised.
Aenigmastrophiidae, new family (Brachiopoda, Silurian)
Authors: Boucot A. J. , Jia-Yu Rong
Published: August 2016

While preparing materials for the pentameroid portion of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology revision of the brachiopod volumes, problems were encountered with four enigmatic genera: Rugolepyros Lenz, 1989; Aenigmastrophia Boucot, 1971; Spondylostrophia Kulkov, 1967; and Stricklandistrophia Sapelnikov and Rukavishnikova, 1975.
Late Permian “sphinctozoans” from reefal blocks of the Ba'id area, Oman Mountains
Authors: Weidlich Oliver , Senowbari-Daryan Baba
Published: August 2016

Late Permian reefal blocks exposed in the Ba'id area of the Eastern Oman Mountains yield a sphinctozoan assemblage that has not been studied previously. The sphinctozoan fauna described here is the first report of such an assemblage from the Arabian Peninsula. Approximately 70 samples were studied with respect to systematic paleontology, as well as frequency of taxa based on presence/absence lists. The sphinctozoans include 14 genera and 25 species. One genus (Rahbahthalamia) and five species (Amblysiphonella omanica, Salzburgia? irregularis, Welteria? hawasinensis, Thaumastocoelia?irregularis, andGirtyocoelia gracilis) are described as new.AmblysiphonellaSteinmann (1882),ColospongiaLaube (1865), andSollasiaSteinmann (1882) have the highest species diversity. On a generic level,Sollasia, Amblysiphonella, andParauvanellaSenowbari-Daryan and Di Stefano (1988) occur most frequently in the investigated samples. The described fauna exhibits close relationships to sphinctozoan faunas known from the Middle and Late Permian of China and Tunisia.
Ordovician (Whiterockian) gastropods of Nevada, Part 2
Authors: Rohr David M.
Published: August 2016

Additional Whiterockian gastropods are described from the Antelope Valley Formation of Nevada. A new genus with affinities toOriostomais described as well as the new speciesClathrospira glindmeyeri, Trochonemella antelopensis, andRaphispira martinensis.The lower ranges ofClathrospiraUlrichinUlrich and Scofield andTrochonemellaOkulitch, the speciesLiospira americanaBillings andRaphistomina lapicida(Salter) are extended to the Whiterockian. The ranges ofRaphispiraPerner and the family Oriostomatidae Wenz are tentatively extended downward to the Whiterockian.
Trilobites at the base of the Middle Ordovician, western United States
Authors: Fortey Richard A. , Droser Mary L.
Published: August 2016

Sections in the Basin Ranges provide stratigraphic standards for the Ordovician of the U.S., from which zones based on trilobites have been widely employed in regional correlation. This paper describes new trilobite faunas from a poorly known part of the succession, at the base of the Middle Ordovician (Whiterockian) in western Utah and eastern Nevada, and including the type Ibexian section near Ibex, Utah. The faunas are from the topmost Wahwah, and overlying Juab Limestone Formations, in strata equivalent to Zone L. Although well-preserved, none of the trilobites are silicified. All are typical of inshore carbonate, Bathyurid biofacies. The majority are new species congeneric with, but different from species from the overlying Kanosh Formation. The dominant bathyurid is the hitherto little-knownPsephosthenaspis, after which the new Zone is named. A threefold subdivision of thePsephosthenaspisZone is based on successive species of the genus. The lower two of these are probably equivalent to the Valhallan Stage, described from more offshore biofacies from Spitsbergen. Eighteen species are described, of which nine are formally named as new including:Goniotelina ensifer, Petigurus inexpectatus, Psephosthenaspis microspinosa, M. glabrior, Pseudoolenoides aspinosus, Ectenonotus progenitor, Kanoshia reticulataandPseudomera arachnopyge.The type species of a remarkable new illaenid-like bathyurelline,Madaraspis magnificagen. et sp. nov., is described.
A camerate-rich Late Carboniferous (Moscovian) crinoid fauna from volcanic conglomerate, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China
Authors: Lane N. Gary , Waters Johnny A. , Maples Christopher G. , Marcus Sara A. , Liao Z.-T.
Published: August 2016

A low-diversity camerate-rich crinoid fauna from the Qijiagou Formation, Taoshigo Valley near Turpan, Xinjiang-Uygar Autonomous Region, China was collected during field work in May, 1993. The crinoid fauna is dominated by species ofPlatycrinites.Other camerate crinoids include a species in the Paragaricocrinidae,Actinocrinites, a hexacrinitid, and an acrocrinoid. The only other non-North American occurrence of this latter family isSpringeracrocrinusfrom the Moscovian of Russia. In addition to the camerates, there are several advanced cladid inadunates more typical of Upper Carboniferous crinoid faunas, including an erisocrinoid (possiblySinocrinus),Graphiocrinus, ?Cromyocrinus, and an agassizocrinoid (Petschoracrinus) represented by partly fused infrabasal cones. A single radial plate with angustary facet may represent a cyathocrinoid. There also is a catillocrinoid, assigned here toParacatillocrinus.The fauna, which resembles Moscovian crinoids described from Russia, is preserved in graded volcanic conglomeratic debris flows that overlie a carbonate mound and contain clasts up to 3 m in dimension. The crinoids are fragmentary, with many calyces seemingly torn into two or three pieces and dumped in with the pyroclastic debris. Camerates are represented by large thecal scraps consisting of numerous plates, or by large individual plates or circlets. Other fossils include rare solitary rugose corals, tabular bryozoans,Neospirifer, and other fragmentary brachiopods. We suspect that the crinoids may have been swept off of a nearby carbonate mound and deposited as debris-flow bedload.
An eugeneodontid elasmobranch from the Late Paleozoic of Kansas
Authors: Schultze Hans-Peter , West Ronald R.
Published: August 2016

A tooth battery, palatoquadrate, and a gill-arch element of Bobbodus schaefferi were collected from Late Pennsylvanian/Early Permian (Asselian) rocks near Manhattan, Kansas. Depending on the placement of the Pennsylvanian–Permian boundary, this specimen extends the upper limit of the species from the Virgilian (Gzelian) into the Gearyan (Asselian). The new range thus is Kasimovian to Asselian, a 15 my interval. Based on features of the palatoquadrate, the diagnoses of the order Eugeneodontida and the superfamily Caseodontoidea are revised. Bobbodus is the most primitive genus of the order Eugeneodontida.
Middle and Late Cambrian sponge spicules from Hunan, China
Authors: Xiping Dong , Knoll Andrew H.
Published: August 2016

Abundant and well-preserved assemblages of disarticulated sponge spicules occur in Middle and Late Cambrian platform carbonates of western Hunan, China. Assemblages recovered from 11 stratigraphic horizons include calcisponges, demosponges, and hexactinellids. Hexactinellida, in particular, are both abundant and diverse in Upper Cambrian carbonates. Comparison with spicule assemblages from Australia indicates that many of these taxa have long stratigraphic ranges, limiting their use in correlation. The morphological diversity of these spicules exceeds that known for living siliceous sponges, supporting the observation that during the Cambrian radiation, sponges, like other metazoans, evolved a variety of architectural forms not observed in later periods. Like conodonts, individual sponges can produce more than one spicule form; thus, an “apparatus genus” concept based on multiple cooccurring elements may eventually prove useful in the biostratigraphic and paleobiological interpretation of disarticulated sponge spicules. Four distinctive forms are recognized as new taxa: Australispongia sinensis new genus and species, Flosculus gracilis new genus and species, Pinnatispongia bengtsoni new genus and species, and Nabaviella paibiensis new species.
On the taxonomic status of Cycnorhamphus and Gallodactylus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea)
Authors: Bennett S. Christopher
Published: August 2016

One of the rarest pterosaurs from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of southern Germany is Pterodactylus suevicus. Only two specimens are known: the holotype, consisting of a virtually complete skeleton described by Quenstedt (1855); and a second specimen, consisting of only postcranial elements described by Wagner (1858) and lost during World War II (Wellnhofer, 1970). Seeley (1870) noted that P. suevicus differed from P. antiquus, the type species of Pterodactylus, in a number of significant points. Therefore, he placed P. suevicus in a new genus, Cycnorhamphus. Seeley (1870:111) gave the following diagnosis of Cycnorhamphus:

“Nares very small, looking upward from a swan-like beak. The middle hole of the skull very large and elongated and lateral. Neck long. Wing-metacarpal long. Four joints in wing-finger. Ilium widening in front. Epipubic bones meeting mesially. The type is Pterodactylus suevicus (Quenstedt).”

The character “nares very small” was the result of a misinterpretation of depressions on the premaxillae that probably resulted from crushing, and “middle hole of the skull” referred to the confluent naris and antorbital fenestra, which Seeley apparently considered the antorbital fenestra alone.
Change of monoplacophoran genus Protoconus to Proteroconus due to homonymy
Authors: Stinchcomb Bruce L.
Published: August 2016

The monoplacophoran genus Protoconus Stinchcomb, 1986, from the Upper Cambrian of the Ozark Uplift of Missouri, is a junior homonym of the monoplacophoran Protoconus Yü, 1979. Protoconus is a significant element in the pre-trilobite Lowermost Cambrian (Meishucan) beds of China (Yü, 1987). In consideration of this homonymy, it is proposed that Protoconus Stinchcomb, 1986, is changed and designated as Proteroconus.
Late Cenozoic dinoflagellates from the Royal Society borehole at Ludham, Norfolk, eastern England
Authors: Head Martin J.
Published: August 2016

Restudy of upper Pliocene (ca. 2.4-1.8 Ma) and possible lower Pleistocene dinoflagellates from the Royal Society borehole at Ludham, eastern England has revealed the presence of more than 29 dinoflagellate species, substantially revising earlier records of this important locality. Assemblages reflect climates that fluctuated within a warm- or mild-temperate to cool range, as shown by the discovery that specimens earlier assigned to the warm-waterTectatodinium pellitumall belong to a cool-water element comprisingBitectatodinium tepikiense, Filisphaera filifera, F. microornata, andHabibacysta tectata.This element appears to have been widely mistaken forTectatodinium pellitumin coeval deposits of the North Sea basin and beyond. The following are among several species reported for the first time from coeval deposits of the North Sea basin:Filisphaera filifera, F. microornata, Operculodinium? eirikianum, O. giganteum, Spiniferites ludhamensisn. sp.,S. rubinus, andTrinovantedinium glorianum.The dinoflagellateSpiniferites ludhamensisn. sp. and acritarchNannobarbophora walldalein. sp. are formally described.
The first early Silurian brachiopod fauna from the Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Villas E. , Cocks L. R. M.
Published: August 2016

A Lower Silurian (Llandovery) shelly fauna is described; the first from the Iberian Peninsula. It is dated as late Llandovery (early Telychian) byStricklandiaaff.laevisand is overlain by a late Telychian conodont fauna. The fauna is from the volcaniclastic El Castro Formation, Viodo Limestone Member, north of Viodo, Asturias, northern Spain. There are seven common and five rarer brachiopods, including the new taxaAsturorthis sarreoensisnew genus and species,Mendacella cantabricanew species,Katastrophomena truyolsinew species,Viodostrophia alcaldeinew genus and species,Stegerhynchus julivertinew species, andFenestrirostra?viodoensisnew species.