bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Burgess Shale-type preservation of both non-mineralizing and ‘shelly’ Cambrian organisms from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada
Authors: Butterfield N. J. , Nicholas C. J.
Published: August 2016

Lower to Middle Cambrian shales of the Mount Cap Formation in the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada, host a variety of Burgess Shale-type macrofossils, including anomalocarid claws, several taxa of bivalved arthropod, articulated hyolithids, and articulated chancelloriids. Hydrofluoric acid processing has also yielded a broad range of organic-walled fossils, most of which are derived from forms more typically known as shelly fossils; e.g., trilobites, inarticulate brachiopods, small shelly fossils (SSF), hyolithids, and chancelloriids. Organic-walled hyolithids include conchs, opercula and helens; the proximal articulation of the helens is erosive, suggesting that they were formed “instantaneously” and periodically replaced. Organic-walled chancelloriid sclerites exhibit a polygonal surface texture and an inner “pith” of dark granular material with distally oriented conoidal divisions; such a pattern is similar to that seen in the fibers of some modern horny sponges and points to a poriferan relationship for the chancelloriids. The robust nature but minimal relief of most of these fossils suggests that primary biomineralization was minimal.
Fossil sponges from a localized cold-seep limestone in Oligocene rocks of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Authors: Rigby J. Keith , Goedert James L.
Published: August 2016

A limited fauna of relatively simple, thin-walled, hexactinellid sponges, including moderately coarse-textured, funnellike Hexactinella(?) conica new species, fine-textured, tubular to branched Hexactinella(?) tubula new species, fragments of delicate Eurete goederti(?) Rigby and Jenkins, 1983, and Farrea(?) species, has been found in the Oligocene Lincoln Creek Formation on Canyon River, in the southcentral part of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. These sponges dominate a chemosynthetic invertebrate assemblage that included the gastropod Provanna antigua Squires, 1995; the polyplacophoran Leptochiton alveolus (Lovén, 1846), and radiolarians. Most of the sponges are preserved as silica in a localized cherty and botryoidal, calcareous cement-filled limestone formed at bathyal depths by bacterial oxidation of methane at a cold seep. This is the third known report of sponges from ancient chemosynthetic deposits.
New and revised genera of Wenlock-Ludlow atrypids (Silurian Brachiopoda) from Gotland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
Authors: Copper Paul
Published: August 2016

The late Llandovery through late Ludlow sequences of the stable carbonate platform of Gotland (Baltic Basin; western side of the Silurian paleocontinent Baltica) and the carbonate ramp of the Welsh Borderland area in England contain a richly fossiliferous fauna of atrypid brachiopods, including more than 60 species. This was a time of diversification for the atrypids in the tropical equatorial latitudes, with new lineages appearing for the first time that were to dominate the Devonian Period. Included in this burst of new groups was the ribbed atrypid group, the Plectatrypinae (new subfamily), which quickly led to the first spinose atrypids, the Spinatrypinae. For the Plectatrypinae, a new subgenus and species, Plectatrypa (Gutnia) capidula, and a new genus, Xanthea, are described. The evolution of expanded growth lamellae and frills on the shell at this time led not only to the growth of large shells assignable to Atrypa, but also to the rise of affiliated ribbed taxa, such as the perireefal and reefal genus Endrea echoica new genus and species (Wenlock-Ludlow). The nature, affinities and taxonomy of the smooth atrypid Lissatrypa obovata (Sowerby) from the U.K. are also clarified, indicating that the type species for the unrelated genus Glassia needs to be revised.
Paleocene diversification of bucciniform gastropods on Seymour Island, Antarctica
Authors: Oleinik Anton E. , Zinsmeister William J.
Published: August 2016

Following the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous, the marine molluscan faunas of the high southern latitudes underwent a marked period of diversification during the early Paleocene. The appearance of four new species belonging to the new genus Seymourosphaera, tentatively placed in the subfamily Pseudolivinae, from the lower Paleocene strata of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, clearly illustrates the post-Cretaceous extinction diversification. The abrupt radiation of the buccinids during the early Paleocene, was also apparently related to geographic isolation of Antarctica during final breakup of Gondwana. Comparative analysis of shell morphology of Seymourosphaera, new genus reveals close morphologic similarities, not only with taxa within Pseudolivinae, but also with several genera and subgenera belonging to the families Buccinidae and Nassariidae. However, incompleteness of the fossil record and a “generalized” shell morphology make difficult establishment of unequivocal phylogenetic relationships for Seymourosphaera. A taxonomic review of most closely related, and possibly ancestral genus Austrosphaera Camacho, 1949, is provided. The following new species of genus Seymourosphaera new genus are described: Seymourosphaera bulloides new species, S. subglobosa new species, S. depressa new species, and S. elevata new species.
Muribacinus gadiyuli,(Thylacinidae: Marsupialia), a very plesiomorphic thylacinid from the Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, and the problem of paraphyly for the Dasyuridae (Marsupialia)
Authors: Wroe Stephen
Published: August 2016

A new genus and species of thylacinid,Muribacinus gadiyuli,is described from Miocene deposits of Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland.Muribacinus gadiyulishares six character states associated with carnassialisation common among thylacinids, but is uniformly less derived for each. The closest affinities of this species lie with another plesiomorphic thylacinid from Riversleigh,Nimbacinus dicksoni.Two previously recognised thylacinid synapomorphies are reconsidered in the light of new evidence. A growing body of molecular and fossil data indicates that the modern dasyurid radiation is a relatively recent phenomenon. Character analysis suggests that no reliable dental synapomorphies define the Dasyuridae at present. It is proposed that a number of plesiomorphic late Oligocene and Miocene taxa previously considered as dasyurids be regarded as Dasyuromorphiaincertae sedispending the identification of shared derived dental characters for the family, or the discovery of more complete material.
The petrosal and inner ear ofHerpetocetussp. (Mammalia: Cetacea) and their implications for the phylogeny and hearing of archaic mysticetes
Authors: Geisler Jonathan H. , Luo Zhexi
Published: August 2016

This paper describes the petrosal (periotic) and the inner ear ofHerpetocetussp., an archaic mysticete whale (Mysticeti, Mammalia) from the Yorktown Formation (Pliocene) of North Carolina, USA. Parsimony analysis of 28 petrosal characters ofHerpetocetussp. and 11 other cetacean taxa supports the monophyly of mysticetes and the division of odontocetes and mysticetes. The in-group taxa of this analysis are:Herpetocetus, Parietobalaena, Pelocetus,Balaenidae,Eschrichtius,and Balaenopteridae. Odontocetes and the archaeoceteZygorhizawere used as successive outgroups to root phylogenetic trees and to establish character polarities. Among the modern mysticetes, the Balaenopteridae (rorquals) and the Eschrichtiidae (gray whales) are more closely related to each other than either is to the Balaenidae (bowhead and right whales). Several Miocene “cetotheriid” mysticetes and balaenids share some resemblance in the petrosal, suggesting their affinities. Quantitative information of the inner ear ofHerpetocetussp. was obtained by serial sectioning and computer graphic reconstruction.Herpetocetussp. is much less developed than odontocetes in the cochlear structures that are crucial for high frequency hearing. Some cochlear structures in this fossil mysticete resemble more closely the non-echolocating modern mysticetes than early fossil toothed whales, indicating a possible specialization in low frequency hearing. This suggests that the archaic mysticetes of the Miocene and Pliocene did not have high frequency hearing necessary for echolocation.Herpetocetussp. is similar to modern mysticetes but different from odontocetes in the spherical shape of the vestibule.
Anatomically preserved vojnovskyalean seed plants in Upper Pennsylvanian (Stephanian) marine shales of North America
Authors: Rothwell Gar W. , Mapes Gene , Mapes Royal H.
Published: August 2016

Upper Pennsylvanian dysoxic marine shales of midcontinent North America yield permineralized remains of apparently extrabasinal vegetation. A large percentage of the plants are surprisingly unlike the well known swamp, fluvial and lacustrian floras of the late Paleozoic paleotropics, revealing numerous aspects of the morphology, anatomy and reproductive biology of plants that may have been ancestral to the dominant taxa of the Mesozoic. Included among the assemblages are ovulate coniferophyte remains that demonstrate the occurrence of vojnovskyalean seed plants in equatorial Euramerica. Specimens consist of simple ovulate cones that are more-or-less clustered along eustelic stems in the axils of helically arranged, strap-shaped leaf bases, and are described as Sergeia neuburgii new genus and species. Individual cones are up to approximately 2 cm long and 1.5 cm in maximum diameter, with helically arranged scales and sporophylls that diverge from a eustelic axis. Scales occur in the basal region of the cone, and are laminar and pointed. Sporophylls are borne distally. One specimen shows about 45 sporophylls, each of which terminates as one erect ovule. Most of the other cones have abraded apices, and terminate in relatively terete foliar appendages that are interpreted to be sporophyll bases. Ovules are flattened and winged, approaching 180° rotational symmetry. Integument histology, vascular tissue distribution and pollen chamber structure are similar to those of cordaiteans and callistophytalean seed ferns. Sergeia adds to the number of late Paleozoic conifer-like plants that do not conform to the Pinopsida as traditionally circumscribed, and poses additional questions to assumptions of monophyly for coniferophytes and for conifers sensu lato.
Confocal microscopy: Potential applications in micropaleontology
Authors: Birkmann Harry , Lundin Robert F.
Published: August 2016

Preliminary experiments with a confocal microscope (Sarastro 2000®) demonstrate its value in micropaleontology for photography and three-dimensional morphometric studies. High-quality images of objects in the size range of 100 to 2,000 μm can be obtained without application of nonremovable coating. Images can easily be electronically converted to stereopairs or displayed as single images. Images are in focus throughout and are superior to light photographs. Numerical data (x, y, and z coordinates) in almost any desired amount can be extracted from enough points on the visible surface to provide for the construction of a detailed topographic map of the surface. All of this can be done without manipulating the specimen once it has been mounted.
Lower Cambrian halkieriids and other coeloscleritophorans from Aksu-Wushi, Xinjiang, China
Authors: Morris S. Conway , Chapman A. J.
Published: August 2016

Halkieriids are known largely from isolated sclerites, although it is understood that originally they formed the scleritomes of slug-like animals in Lower Cambrian benthic environments. The Yurtus Formation (?Tommotian–Atdabanian equivalent) of the Aksu-Wushi area, west Xinjiang, China, has yielded abundant sclerites. These are secondarily phosphatized, but show considerable detail. The sclerites can be divided into three classes: cultrates, long palmates, and short palmates; definite siculates have not been recognized. In some samples elongate to semicircular shells co-occur with the sclerites; these may derive from the same halkieriid scleritome. The external surface of the shells may bear a subdued ornamentation. The concave interior, however, is remarkable on account of a unique structure consisting of a group of nodular-like units. These may be arranged in a low cone or dispersed in a small circle. In addition to the sclerites of halkieriids and their possibly associated shells, rarer material is attributable to the related group of siphogonuchitids.
Cambrian agnostoid trilobites from Mendoza, Argentina: A systematic revision and biostratigraphic implications
Authors: Tortello M. Franco , Bordonaro Osvaldo L.
Published: August 2016

Agnostoid trilobites from the Carlos Rusconi collections in the Museum of Natural Sciences of Mendoza, Argentina, are revised. The agnostoids were collected in the southern Precordillera of Mendoza Province, western Argentina. Revised taxa includeAgnostus microcephalus(Rusconi),Lotagnostus(Lotagnostus)peladensis? (Rusconi),Lotagnostus(Lotagnostus)lasherensis(Rusconi),Homagnostus pehuenchensisRusconi,Kormagnostus seclusus(Walcott),Kormagnostus?beltensis(LochmaninLochman and Duncan),Hypagnostus parvifrons(Linnarsson),Ptychagnostus cuyanus(Rusconi),Ptychagnostus aculeatus(Angelin),Lejopyge laevigata(Dalman),Tomagnostella exsculpta(Angelin),Diplagnostus planicauda(Angelin),Oedorhachis typicalisResser,Clavagnostus calensisRusconi andClavagnostus repandus(WestergårdinHolm and Westergård). Some taxa of uncertain affinities are recognized and new specimens assignated toLotagnostusand Pseudagnostinae are illustrated.Hypagnostus parvifrons, L. laevigataandC. repandusare reported for the first time in South America. Global correlation with previously described agnostoid faunas indicates that the outcrops range from middle Middle Cambrian to latest Late Cambrian in age.
Trilobites from the upper part of the Deadwood Formation (Upper Franconian and Trempealeauan stages, Upper Cambrian), Black Hills, South Dakota
Authors: Stitt James H. , Straatmann Wendy Metcalf
Published: August 2016

Trilobites assigned to 29 genera and 39 species are reported from the Deadwood Formation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Two new species,Prosaukia lochmaniandArcifimbria pahasapaensis,are described. Brachiopods are reported from theTaenicephalusZone.

A biostratigraphic zonation is established for the upper part of the Deadwood Formation. TheTaenicephalusZone in the lower part of the study interval is succeeded upsection by theEllipsocephaloidesZone, both of which are assigned to the Franconian Stage. These two zones are overlain in turn by theIllaenurusandSaukiaZones of the Trempealeauan Stage. These zones are used to correlate this part of the Deadwood with coeval strata in Montana and Wyoming, central Texas, Oklahoma, and Alberta, Canada. The lowstand of sea level that occurred in the Great Basin at the time of the deposition of theSaukiella juniaSubzone of theSaukiaZone probably extended eastward into the Black Hills, resulting in the absence of this fauna in the Black Hills.
A new species of Purgatorius (Mammalia; Primatomorpha) from the Lower Paleocene Bear Formation, Crazy Mountains Basin, south-central Montana
Authors: Buckley Gregory A.
Published: August 2016

Purgatorius titusi, represented by 51 teeth and jaw fragments, is described from the lower Paleocene Bear Formation of the Crazy Mountains Basin in south-central Montana. Several synapomorphies, including a weak postprotocingulum and mesial inflection of molar trigonids, are indicative of the taxon's “plesiadapiform” affinities. Other features, such as wider stylar shelf and a less squared lingual outline on upper molars, are more primitive than those of Purgatorius unio, heretofore the earliest occurring species of well-represented primatomorphs.
The first record of Cancelloceras (Early Pennsylvanian Ammonoidea) from southern Nevada: Implications for timing of regional mid-Carboniferous sea-level fluctuations
Authors: Titus Alan L.
Published: August 2016

In 1988, the presence of an Early Pennsylvanian ammonoid assemblage within the basal meter of the Callville Formation (Pennsylvanian-Permian), eastern Clark County, Nevada, was brought to the attention of the author by Stephen M. Rowland, University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The ammonoids occur in the Frenchman Mountain section described by Rowland (1987) for the Geological Society of America's Decade of North American Geology (DNAG) field trip compendium. The mid-Carboniferous section at this locality (Figure 1) was discussed in two other field trip guides as well (Langenheim and Webster, 1979; Webster et al., 1984). No ammonoids have been reported previously from this locality. Although this is the first record of Cancelloceras from the Great Basin region, the assemblage also provides a narrowly constrained age for the basal part of the Callville Formation at Frenchman Mountain, which in turn, dates the initiation of carbonate deposition following a major mid-Carboniferous hiatus in the southern Great Basin.
Streptognathodus isolatus new species (Conodonta): Proposed index for the Carboniferous-Permian boundary
Authors: Chernykh Valery V. , Ritter Scott M. , Wardlaw Bruce R.
Published: August 2016

Davydov et al. (1995) recently proposed the Aidaralash Creek section in northern Kazakhstan (Figures 2 and 3) as the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Permian System. The proposed boundary is the level in an evolutionary sequence where Streptognathodus wabaunsensis Gunnell gives rise to a descendent with an isolated node field on the inside of the upper platform surface. This morphotype constitutes a new and distinct species for which we propose the name Streptognathodus isolatus new species.
Thermophilic dinoflagellate assemblages from the mid Pliocene of eastern England
Authors: Head Martin J.
Published: August 2016

Dinoflagellate cysts from the classic mid-Pliocene Coralline Crag locality of Rockhall Wood, Suffolk are described, representing the first systematic treatment of mid-Pliocene dinoflagellates from the North Sea region. The dinoflagellates broadly reflect warm-temperate surface waters whose temperatures were considerably higher than today. Two assemblages are recognized: an older assemblage (late early Pliocene or earliest late Pliocene, possibly not younger than 3.3 Ma) confined to the Ramsholt Member, and a younger assemblage (predating 2.6 Ma) confined to the overlying Sudbourne Member. Assemblages are characterized by quantitative differences and their succession indicates either: 1) slight cooling within a probable warm-temperate range; 2) a slight increase in open marine influence; or 3) a taphonomic effect perhaps related to a change in bottom currents.

Specimens have been observed using light (LM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy, and cyst wall ultrastructure is emphasized as a valuable but underutilized character for Neogene dinoflagellate taxonomy.Operculodinium?eirikianumHead et al. is emended and the following new taxa are proposed:Achomosphaera andalousiensis suttonensisnew subspecies,Ataxiodinium zevenboomiinew species,Bitectatodinium raedwaldiinew species, andOperculodinium tegillatumnew species.Geonettia? sp. is new to science but formal description awaits detailed analysis of tabulation.
Silurian Odontopleurinae (Trilobita) from the Cape Phillips Formation, Arctic Canada
Authors: Adrain Jonathan M. , Ramsköld Lars
Published: August 2016

Odontopleurids are a diverse component of rich silicified trilobite faunas recovered from the Wenlock and Ludlow of the Cape Phillips Formation, central Canadian Arctic. Odontopleurinae and Acidaspidinae are common, but Ceratocephalinae and Koneprusiinae are also represented. This work treats all of the Odontopleurinae, with the exception of the genusAcanthalominaPrantl and Přibyl, 1949.

New species ofKettneraspisPrantl and Přibyl, 1949, include the upper SheinwoodianK. wrightae,the lower HomerianK. lindoei,and the GorstianK. caldwelli.Rare specimens assigned toOdontopleuraEmmrich, 1839, andRadiaspisRichter and Richter, 1917, occur in the Sheinwoodian of the central Arctic.

Edgecombeaspis(type speciesE. johansonaenew species) is proposed for an odontopleurine clade endemic to Laurentia, and in the Silurian restricted to northern Laurentia. Cladistic analysis yields a hypothesis of ingroup structure that is in general calibrated with stratigraphic sequence. An exception is a group of Telychian species from the Mackenzie Mountains, whose stratigraphic sequence was used to support a previous hypothesis of an ancestral-descendant lineage. The cladistic result indicates that the stratigraphic pattern is the inverse of the phylogenetic pattern: the stratigraphically lowest species in the proposed lineage is the most derived, and the highest is most primitive. In addition to the type, new species ofEdgecombeaspisinclude the mid-SheinwoodianE. jahansiand the lower HomerianE. soehni. Edgecombeaspisapparently became extinct in the Homerian.

The speciesKettneraspis lenzi(Chatterton and Perry, 1983) andRadiaspiscf.R. norfordi(Chatterton and Perry, 1983) occur in the central Arctic, and further strengthen previous correlations with strata in the central Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories.
On the rare occurrence of Eocene callianassid decapods (Arthropoda) preserved in their burrows, Mount Discovery, East Antarctica
Authors: Stilwell Jeffrey D. , Levy Richard H. , Feldmann Rodney M. , Harwood David M.
Published: August 2016

Callianassid fossils, preserved within their burrows, collected from Mount Discovery, East Antarctica, provide the first such occurrence in Antarctica as well as evidence for deposition in a shallow marine environment distal to a deltaic system. The age of the specimens, based upon associated dinoflagellate cysts, is late early to middle Eocene.
Phylogeny of calceocrinid crinoids (Paleozoic: Echinodermata): Biogeography and mosaic evolution
Authors: Harvey Erik W. , Ausich William I.
Published: August 2016

A structured evolutionary pattern emerges from cladistic and stratocladistic analyses of the Calceocrinidae (Echinodermata). These Paleozoic disparid crinoids were dominated by three long-ranging genera, and other genera were derived during endemic radiations in North America and in Europe. Calceocrinid evolution was highly mosaic, including the repetition of morphological transitions, numerous character reversals, and evolutionary independence of characters.

As a family, the calceocrinids make up a highly derived, unique family because the crown is bilaterally symmetrical, is reflexed onto the stem by a hinge between the radial and basal circlets, and was normally situated just above the substratum. The analysis included 23 genera with 17 characters; three were coded as ordered based on previously observed evolutionary trends. Standard cladistic analysis yielded a total of 17,000 equally parsimonious trees. The addition of stratigraphic data through the use of stratocladistic methodology reduced this number to 16 equally parsimonious trees.
Availability of fossiliferous sediment from the Red Hills Road Cave (late Pleistocene), Jamaica
Authors: Donovan Stephen K.
Published: August 2016

The purpose of this note is to record the availability for research of highly fossiliferous sediment from a late Pleistocene terrestrial deposit in the Caribbean. The Red Hills Road cave in the parish of St. Andrew, northwest of Kingston, Jamaica (for more precise locality information, see Donovan et al., 1995, p. 12-15) is a late Pleistocene, essentially unstratified, cave deposit. The terrestrial fauna from this site includes diverse vertebrates (Savage, 1990; D.A. McFarlane and R.D.E. MacPhee, research in progress) and gastropods, associated with rare arthropods including millipedes (Donovan and Veltkamp, 1994), isopods, ostracodes and claws of non-marine crustaceans (J. S. H. Collins, research in progress).
Macluritid opercula (Gastropoda) from the Middle Ordovician of Siberia and Alaska
Authors: Rohr David M. , Gubanov A. P.
Published: August 2016

Two occurrences of Middle Ordovician opercula belonging to the gastropod Maclurites are described, one from the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, and one from the Kuskokwim Mountains, Alaska. The Taimyr opercula are the first to be described from Russia. Like other opercula of the genus, these thick specimens have a relatively massive prong on the interior to which the retractor muscle was attached. The Alaskan specimens preserve a secondary muscle attachment site. The described occurrences of Maclurites opercula are summarized.
Campanian-Maastrichtian ammonite and planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy from Tercis, France: Implications for defining the stage boundary
Authors: Ward Peter , Orr William
Published: August 2016

The Campanian-Maastrichtian-aged Grande Carriere quarry near Tercis, southwest France, contains a diverse and abundant assemblage of both micro-and macrofossils from a thick sequence of well-exposed limestones. Its fauna is also a mixture of both Boreal and Tethyan Province species. Because of these two traits, the quarry provides an excellent source of information about integrated biostratigraphic events among diverse taxa, as well as providing a reference section for correlation between the two biogeographic provinces. The quarry has recently been proposed as a candidate for the Campanian/Maastrichtian boundary stratotype section, while one ammonite found there,Pachydiscus neubergicus,has been proposed as the index fossil marking the base of the Maastrichtian Stage. We have made collections of Upper Cretaceous ammonites and planktonic foraminifera from limestones exposed in, and near this site, which yield new information about the relative stratigraphic ranges of Upper Campanian and Lower Maastrichtian ammonites and foraminifera.
Streptognathodus (Conodonta) succession at the proposed Carboniferous-Permian boundary stratotype section, Aidaralash Creek, Northern Kazakhstan
Authors: Chernykh Valery V. , Ritter Scott M.
Published: August 2016

Streptognathodus Pa elements dominate conodont faunas from the proposed Carboniferous-Permian boundary stratotype at Aidaralash Creek, northern Kazakhstan. The phyletic development of this genus provides the means for subdividing the late Gzhelian to early Sakmarian prodeltaic section (Beds 9-37) into six zones. The preferred Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Permian System is 27 m above the base of Bed 19 at the first occurrence of Streptognathodus isolatus Chernykh, Ritter, and Wardlaw, 1996. This arbitrarily chosen point in the evolutionary continuum of nodose streptognathodids is recognizable in basinal rocks elsewhere in the Ural trough (lower part of Bed 16 at Usolka) as well as the cyclic shelf succession of the American Midcontinent (Glenrock Limestone Member of the Red Eagle Limestone).

Eight new species of Streptognathodus occur in the Aidaralash collections: S. bellus n. sp., S. costaeflabellus n. sp., S. flexuosus n. sp., S. glenisteri n. sp., S. longilatus n. sp., S. rectangularis n. sp., S. sigmoidalis n. sp., and S. tenuialveus n. sp. In addition, three morphotypes with limited occurrence (S. sp. A-C) are left in open nomenclature. New collections of topotype material from the nearby Tabantal River section permit clarification of S. barskovi (Kozur).
Gigantic lamnoid shark vertebra from the Lower Cretaceous Kiowa Shale of Kansas
Authors: Shimada Kenshu
Published: August 2016

Fossil sharks are represented primarily by isolated teeth. Teeth are usually used for classification of extinct sharks, but their vertebrae may provide interesting paleoecological and taphonomical information even if not in association with teeth (e.g., Lucas et al., 1985; Gottfried, 1995). In this paper, I describe an isolated centrum of a shark vertebra from the Lower Cretaceous Kiowa Shale in Kansas, housed in the University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History (KUVP), Lawrence. A precise taxonomic assignment for this Kiowa shark is difficult because of its isolated occurrence, lack of large comparative collections of fossil shark vertebrae found in association with teeth, and poorly known morphological variation of fossil shark vertebrae. However, the specimen is noteworthy, because it is the largest Mesozoic shark vertebra known to date.
TheTreatise on Invertebrate Paleontology:a Manifesto
Authors: Kaesler Roger L.
Published: August 2016

As theTreatise on Invertebrate Paleontologyprepares for the coming century, the staff of the Paleontological Institute and the boards of advisors have begun the development of PaleoBank, an electronic, relational database that will facilitate the capture of up-to-date, paleontological information. Moving theTreatiseproject into the electronic age will make the task of the authors less daunting and enable future volumes of theTreatiseto be updated in a more timely manner.
Shell morphology, shell texture and species discrimination of CaribbeanTucetona(Bivalvia, Glycymeridae)
Authors: Tschudin Pascal E.
Published: August 2016

Previous descriptions ofTucetonalack a consistent system using diagnostic characters and only two recent Caribbean ‘species' are recognized. In this study, textural and structural features of theTucetonashell are examined and used as the basis for comparison to other glycymerids and in the recognition of morphospecies. Standard diagnostic characters based mainly on the cross-sectional shape of ribs and on hinge teeth ontogeny are presented and used to distinguish six recent Caribbean morphospecies. The shell texture has been examined by light and scanning electron microscopy, showing the interior of glycymerid hinge teeth structured by two bundles of crossed lamellar texture. Whereas EuropeanGlycymerisexamined for comparison correspond in their hinge plate textures to the one found inTucetona, differences from a CaribbeanGlycymerissp. are described. Simple lamellar, crossed-lamellar and cone complex crossed-lamellar textures showed the same basic crystallite subunits.
Variability inEpistreptophyllumfrom the middle Jurassic of Kachchh, western India: An open question for the taxonomy of Mesozoic scleractinian corals
Authors: Pandey D. K. , Lathuiliere B.
Published: August 2016

Epistreptophyllum cornutiformisGregory, 1900, is the name assigned to a Middle Jurassic population of scleractinian corals from Kachchh, western India. Measurements of ten variables from 84 specimens of this population have been statistically examined by means of univariate and multivariate analyses. A wide range of variation in corallum shape, septal perforation, lateral septal surface ornamentation, nature of the endotheca, and that of the columella is observed. The great majority of specimens are solitary. The wide range of gradational variation observed in this population corresponds to and includes the morphological characters described for various scleractinian genera such asProtethmosGregory,MetethmosGregory,FrechiaGregory, andEpistreptophyllumMilaschewitsch. The assignment of these genera to this later senior synonym genus is supported by the description of a well-preserved topotype from Nattheim. The ornamentation of the septa inEpistreptophyllumis detailed and distances it from typical pennular corals.
Late Ordovician and early Silurian Trimerellide brachiopods from Kazakhstan
Authors: Popov Leonid E. , Holmer Lars E. , Gorjansky V. Ju.
Published: August 2016

All previously known late Ordovician and Silurian trimerellides of Kazakhstan are reviewed and reillustrated, together with some recently discovered taxa, including the late Caradoc-Ashgill Palaeotrimerella medojevi new species from the Chu-Ili Range, the late middle Ashgill Gasconsia cf. worsleyi Hanken and Harper, and Silurian Dinobolus cf. hubeiensis Rong and Yang, both from Central Kazakhstan. Kazakhstanian terranes appear to contain the oldest-known trimerellide faunas from late Llandeilo to early Caradoc. The observed geographic distribution of Ordovician trimerellides may be explained as the result of two major migrations from the Kazakhstanian terranes: 1) during the early Caradoc, to Gondwana and North America; 2) during the late Caradoc, to Baltica and Angaria. All local trimerellide lineages in Kazakhstan became extinct just before the Hirnantian, and were replaced in the Llandovery by new forms, probably of Chinese origin.
Ontogenies of trilobites from the lower Ordovician Garden City Formation of Idaho and their implications for the phylogeny of the Cheirurina
Authors: Lee Dong-Chan , Chatterton Brian D. E.
Published: August 2016

Ontogenies of three trilobites from the Garden City Formation (Tremadocian to early Arenigian; equivalent to Ibexian) are described: Tesselacauda depressa (Pilekiidae), Rossaspis pliomeris (Protopliomeropsinae), and Protopliomerella contracta (Cybelopsinae).

Comparison of both larval and adult features of the described trilobites with those of cheirurids and encrinurids suggests that three lineages of the Cheirurina existed during the Early and Middle Ordovician. Members of the first lineage show the following hierarchical relationships; (Tesselacauda depressa (Cheirurinae (Acanthoparyphinae (two separate Sphaerexochinae groups)))). Within the second lineage, the following internested relationships of its members are recognized; (Protopliomeropsinae (“early” cybelines (“advanced” cybelines and Encrinurinae))). The Cybelopsinae constitute the third lineage that is considered as an immediate outgroup to the above two lineages. Pattern of nested distribution of synapomorphies within all these lineages reveals that the two pliomerid subfamilies (Protopliomeropsinae and Cybelopsinae) do not share a recent common ancestor, suggesting that the Pliomeridae is a paraphyletic group.
A revision of Australian Mesozoic and Cenozoic lungfish of the family Neoceratodontidae (Osteichthyes:Dipnoi), with a description of four new species
Authors: Kemp A.
Published: August 2016

The taxonomy of the predominantly Australian fossil dipnoan genus,Neoceratodus,is revised and the Recent Australian lungfish,Neoceratodus forsteri,and two fossil species,Neoceratodus eyrensisandNeoceratodus nargun,are redefined. Two new species of the related Tertiary genus,Mioceratodus,are described on the basis of tooth plates from central and northern localities in Australia. These areMioceratodus diaphorusandMioceratodus poastrus.A new genus,Archaeoceratodus,is erected to include three rare Tertiary species and one Mesozoic species. The Tertiary members of this genus are the type species,Archaeoceratodus djelleh,described originally asNeoceratodus djelleh,and two new species,Archaeoceratodus rowleyiandArchaeoceratodus theganus.The Mesozoic species isArchaeoceratodus avusfrom Triassic and Cretaceous deposits in southeastern Australia, described originally asCeratodus avus.All three genera belong in the family Neoceratodontidae.
Upper Triassic reef fauna from the Quesnel terrane, central British Columbia, Canada
Authors: Stanley George D. , Senowbari-Daryan Baba
Published: August 2016

Massive Upper Triassic (Norian) reef limestone at Eaglenest Mountain, Takla Group, British Columbia, contains a wide variety of shallow-water fossils in two different carbonate units. A sponge-coral facies contains the spongesFanthalamia astoma(Seilacher, 1962),Fanthalamia multicanalisnew species,Cinnabaria expansa(Seilacher, 1962), andCinnabaria? sp.Cinnabaria expansais a widely distributed North American terrane species which, along withF. astoma,was previously known from the Luning Formation of Nevada. Also included is the “disjectoporoid,”Pamiropora sonorensisStanley, 1994, and a massive spongiomorph,Spongiomorpha tenuisSmith, 1927, previously endemic to the Eastern Klamath terrane of California. Colonial corals include:Retiophyllia quesneliananew species,Chondrocoenia waltheri(Frech, 1890),Crassistellacf.juvavica(Frech, 1890),Distichomeandracf.austriaca(Frech, 1890), andAlpinophyllia flexuosaRoniewicz, 1989. A limestone conglomerate overlying these beds is dominated almost exclusively by the planktonic hydrozoan,Heterastridium conglobatumReuss, 1865. A problematic taxonLovceniporacf.chaetetiformisVinassa de Regny, 1915, is reported for the first time outside Timor and the Tethys. The faunas provide a first glimpse into the reef biota of the Quesnel terrane. They contain taxa previously known from the distant Tethys but also include endemics from other inboard terranes.
Indications of polypides in feeding zooids and polymorphs in Lower Paleozoic trepostomata (Bryozoa)
Authors: Boardman Richard S.
Published: August 2016

Delicate symmetrical structures in living chambers of autozooecia of some lower Paleozoic species of the order Trepostomata have been interpreted as indications of polypides with little further elaboration. Applications of the anatomy, mode of skeletal growth, and functional requirements basic to living species permit recognition of a few organs of these partially preserved polypides, their functions, and their relationships to enclosing skeletons. Only one basic polypide anatomy is indicated in lower Paleozoic trepostome species, in contrast to the wide diversity of polypide anatomy and their lack of correlation with skeletal characteristics in living stenolaemates. In general, the longer the evolutionary history, the greater the diversity of skeletal morphology in stenolaemates. Apparently, polypide diversity and lack of correlation with skeletal morphology also have increased over time.

The complex skeletal septa in autozooecial apertures of the lower Paleozoic trepostome Hallopora have been interpreted as reflecting an organ of full-sized feeding polypides. Applications of the basic biological concepts of living species suggest that the septa provided reduced skeletal apertures to fit smaller polypides of polymorphs that secondarily occupied the living chambers of full-sized degenerated feeding polypides.
A silicified Hirnantia fauna (latest Ordovician brachiopods) from Guizhou, southwest China
Authors: Jia-Yu Rong , Rong-Yu Li
Published: August 2016

A silicified brachiopod assemblage living between the first and second episodes of latest Ordovician mass extinction is first described from micritic bioclastic limestone of Kuanyinchiao Bed, northwestern Guizhou, southwest China. It contains six species, Dalmanella testudinaria (Dalman, 1828), Plectothyrella crassicosta (Dalman, 1828), Hindella crassa incipiens (Williams, 1951), Eostropheodonta sp., the characteristic constituents of the Hirnantia fauna, and two new species, Fardenia modica and Dorytreta longicrura. It lacks Hirnantia, Kinnella, Cliftonia, and Paromalomena, the other characteristic elements of the Hirnantia fauna. A new, low diversity community (inner BA3) dominated by brachiopods is proposed as the Dalmanella testudinaria-Dorytreta longicrura Community along with the trilobite Dalmanitina nanchengensis Lu, rugose corals, and gastropods. Composition of this community of the Hirnantia fauna was controlled primarily by temperature, water depth, and substrate. Comparison with other communities of the Hirnantia fauna in south China supports this conclusion. Fluctuations in generic composition of the Hirnantia fauna and the related factors are also discussed.
Ponticulocarpus, a new cornute-grade stylophoran from the Middle Cambrian Spence Shale of Utah
Authors: Sumrall Colin D. , Sprinkle James
Published: August 2016

Four specimens of a new cornute-grade stylophoran Ponticulocarpus robisoni new genus and species are described from the Spence Shale of northern Utah. Ponticulocarpus has wide and thin spinal and glossal processes interpreted as a mechanism for snowshoeing in a soft substrate. The presence of a posterior bar across the inferior posterior lobe, and two small bridges connecting the left adoral to M′2 on the superior face and connecting M1 to M3 on the inferior face are unique in cornute-grade stylophorans. The posterior bar may be homologous with the posterior marginals M′5 and M6 of other cornute-grade stylophorans, and an opening of the most posterior portion of the theca may have resulted in the development of the digital and glossal processes from marginals.
The skull and taxonomy ofMixosaurus(Ichthyopterygia)
Authors: Motani Ryosuke
Published: August 2016

Mixosaurus,a Middle Triassic ichthyopterygian, has traditionally been recognized as a typically primitive ichthyopterygian, but this view was recently questioned. Examination of the skull ofMixosaurusrevealed many features to confirm this doubt. Its cranial characters, such as the parietal ridge and short supratemporal process of the parietal, are shared with derived ichthyopterygians from the Jurassic.Mixosaurusalso has features that are derived within the Ichthyopterygia and unique to the genus, such as a long sagittal crest reaching the nasal, and an expanded anterior terrace of the upper temporal fenestra that also reaches the nasal.Phalarodon, Contectopalatus,andSangiorgiosaurusare all considered as junior synonyms ofMixosaurus.The supratemporal, squamosal, and quadratojugal are all present inMixosaurus atavus,as in basal ichthyopterygians. Because all basal ichthyopterygians, and even some derived ichthyopterygians from the Jurassic, have these three elements, the absence of the squamosal inIchthyosaurusandPlatypterygiusshould be considered derived if it is not preservational.
Color pattern on a martiniid brachiopod from South China
Authors: Sun Y. L. , Boucot A. J. , Blodgett R. B. , Ran W. Z.
Published: August 2016

More than 70 species of Paleozoic articulate brachiopods with color patterns have been reported in the literature (see Blodgett et al., 1983, table 1; Table 1). The majority of them are Devonian terebratuloid brachiopods. Twenty-two Permian brachiopod species were previously described as retaining color patterns. Most of them belong to Dielasma and have radial to subradial color patterns. Here we report a smooth spiriferid, Martinia? sp., with well-preserved radial color bands from Late Permian rocks of South China.
Trace fossils from Late Precambrian Carolina slate belt, south-central North Carolina
Authors: Gibson Gail G.
Published: August 2016

The volcanosedimentary sequence of the Carolina slate belt in south-central North Carolina was long thought to be unfossiliferous; however, the 5,484–7,315 meters of dominantly evenly bedded siltstones and mudstones have recently yielded body fossils of the late Precambrian Ediacarian fauna and a Middle Cambrian trilobite assemblage. Ongoing stratigraphic studies in the Carolina slate belt of southern North Carolina have now revealed trace fossils representing the ichnotaxa Gordia arcuata?, ?Helminthopsis sp., Monocraterion sp., Neonerites biserialis, N. uniserialis, ?Neonerites sp., Planolites beverlyensis, P. montanus, ?Planolites sp., Syringomorpha nilssoni?,? Tomaculum sp., Torrowangea sp., and three additional indeterminate ichnogenera. These trace fossils, lacking ornamentation and complex patterns, compare favorably with ichnofossil assemblages from Late Proterozoic stratigraphic sequences (Ichnofossil Zone I) elsewhere and support the late Precambrian age interpretation for the Carolina slate belt in south-central North Carolina.
Proconchidium fromLate Ordovician strata of Brodeur Peninsula, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada
Authors: Jia-Yu Rong , Jones Brian , Nentwich F. W.
Published: August 2016

Proconchidium brodeurensisn. sp. occurs 212 m above the base of member B of the Baillarge Formation on Brodeur Peninsula, Baffin Island, 8 m below the Ordovician–Silurian boundary. Study ofProconchidiumshows that it can be easily distinguished fromEoconchidiumbut possesses many characters that are similar to those inTcherskidium. Analysis of internal structures suggests that the three genera can be distinguished from each other and belong to Virgianidae. Tcherskidiidae is a synonym of Virgianidae and should be abandoned.

This represents the first recorded occurrence ofProconchidiumin North America. Although this genus and its related generaTcherskidiumSapelnikov, 1972, andEoconchidiumRozman, 1967, are common in Ashgill strata of Eurasia, they have not been recorded or illustrated from North America. This led to the suggestion that distinct brachiopod biogeographic provinces may have existed during the Ashgill. The occurrence of these genera probably indicates that they may have lived in mostly tropical and subtropical zones.
Two new Devonian spine-bearing pleurotomariacean gastropod genera from Alaska
Authors: Blodgett Robert B. , Rohr David M.
Published: August 2016

Two new spine-bearing gastropods,Chlupacispira spinosan. gen. and sp. andSpinulrichospira cheeneetnukensisn. gen. and sp., are described from the late Early Devonian (Emsian) and early Middle Devonian (Eifelian), respectively, of west-central Alaska. These represent the earliest reported spiny pleurotomariacean gastropods. Otherwise, spinose pleurotomariaceans are known from strata no older than Carboniferous age.Spinulrichospira cheeneetnukensisn. gen. and sp. appears to represent a more highly ornamented derivative ofUlrichospiraDonald. Both new genera are part of the more highly ornamented fauna which occurred in warm equatorial waters of the Old World Realm during the Early and Middle Devonian, in contrast to more weakly ornamented shells of the Eastern Americas Realm and even more weakly ornamented (almost totally “plain”) shells of the Malvinokaffric Realm. The latter two realms are thought to represent subtropical to warm temperate and cool temperate to cool polar conditions, respectively.
Propeamussiumspecies (Bivalvia: Propeamussiidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern California
Authors: Sundberg Frederick A.
Published: August 2016

Propeamussium(Parvamussium)holzensen. sp. andPropeamussium(Parvamussium)robinsonensen. sp. are described from the Upper Cretaceous Holz Shale Member of the Ladd Formation, Santa Ana Mountains, southern California. These species occur withBostrychoceras elongatum(Whiteaves),Glyptoxoceras subcompressum(Forbes), andInoceramus orientalus(Sokolow), which are indicative of a late medial Santonian age (Bostrychoceras elongatumBiochron).Propeamussium(Parvamussium)cowperi(Waring), from the Campanian Chatsworth Formation of the Simi Hills, southern California, is also redescribed and reillustrated for comparative purposes.
Metanephrops jenkinsi n. sp. (Decapoda: Nephropidae) from the Cretaceous and Paleocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica
Authors: Feldmann Rodney M.
Published: August 2016

Twenty-eight specimens of well-preserved macrurous decapod crustaceans, collected from the Lopez de Bertodano and Sobral Formations on Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, form the basis for description of Metanephrops jenkinsi n. sp. Based upon associated cephalopods, foraminiferans, and palynomorphs, the age of the occurrences ranges from Maastrichtian to Paleocene. The discovery extends the range of the genus from the Pliocene into the Cretaceous and extends the southern limit of the geographic extent of the genus from New Zealand to Antarctica.
Palaega goedertorum, a fossil isopod (Crustacea) from late Eocene to early Miocene rocks of Washington State
Authors: Wieder Robert W. , Feldmann Rodney M.
Published: August 2016

A new species of fossil isopod, Palaega goedertorum, is described from late Eocene to early Miocene rocks of the Twin River Group, the Astoria Formation, and unit B of Wolfe and McKee (1968) in the state of Washington. These fossil forms are similar to living forms referred to the genus Bathynomus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879; hence, Bathynomus is considered a junior subjective synonym of Palaega Woodward, 1870. Since extant species of Palaega are known only from bathyal habitats, these occurrences tend to corroborate the deep-water paleoenvironmental setting of these rock units. This is the first report of Palaega from the eastern Pacific region.