bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oldest record of peduncular attachment of brachiopods to crinoid stems, Upper Ordovician, Ohio, U.S.A. (Brachiopoda; Atrypida: Echinodermata; Crinoidea)
Authors: Sandy Michael R.
Published: August 2016

A hand-specimen, bedding-plane sample of limestone (wackestone) from the Upper Ordovician Waynesville Formation has numerous brachiopod specimens (at least 60) exposed on its surface (Figure 1). The brachiopods have been identified as members of the atrypid species Zygospira modesta (Say in Hall) 1847 (the type species of the genus Zygospira Hall, 1862) and are concentrated in an area measuring approximately 9 cm x 2 cm. A wide range of specimen sizes from juvenile to adult are present and are believed to represent a brachiopod life-assemblage (Figure 2).
Conodont collections formerly housed at the University of Southampton, U.K.
Authors: Miller C. Giles , Austin Ronald L.
Published: August 2016

In 1994 an extensive collection of mainly Carboniferous conodonts was transferred from the Department of Geology, University of Southampton, England, to The Natural History Museum, London, on the retirement of R. L. Austin. The collection consists of approximately 2,000 slides of type/figured specimens and picked residue slides, which complement material previously deposited at The Natural History Museum, London. The following is a very brief resumé of figured material in the collection.
Bridging the gap between the eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific: A new species ofCrassadoma(Bivalvia: Pectinidae) in the Pliocene of Florida
Authors: Waller Thomas R.
Published: August 2016

Crassadoma monroensisnew species (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pectinidae), from the lower upper Pliocene Ochopee Limestone Member of the Tamiami Formation of southern Florida, is the first undoubted member of the genusCrassadomaBernard, 1986, to be discovered in the Neogene on the eastern side of the Americas. The new species was likely byssate, not cemented, and fills the geographic gap between ancestral members of the tribe Crassadomini in the eastern Atlantic andCrassadoma gigantea,the giant cemented species that lives along the western shores of North America.
Nielsenicrinus japonicus new species (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Japan and its paleobiogeographic implications
Authors: Oji Tatsuo , Kanoh Manabu , Toshimitsu Seiichi , Tashiro Masayuki
Published: August 2016

A new isocrinine species, Nielsenicrinus japonicus, is described from the Maastrichtian of western Kyushu, Japan. This is the first confirmed occurrence of this genus outside Europe. Three isocrinine genera, Nielsenicrinus, Cainocrinus, and Teliocrinus, have a common arrangement of ligamentary articulations in the primibrachials and secundibrachials. These taxa possibly constitute a single lineage since the Early Cretaceous through the Recent, and they were known only from Eurasia, or from Indian Ocean (Teliocrinus).
Phacopid trilobites from the Silurian of Arctic Canada
Authors: Adrain Jonathan M. , MacDonald Eugene W.
Published: August 2016

Diverse silicified trilobite faunas from the lower Wenlock to lower Ludlow of the Cape Phillips Formation, central Canadian Arctic, have been the subject of works by Perry and Chatterton (1977), Chatterton and Perry (1979), Adrain (1994), and Adrain and Edgecombe (1995, and in press). The present work describes a very minor component of these faunas, the family Phacopidae, which is nevertheless of considerable biogeographic interest.
Cardiarina cordataCooper, 1956, (Brachiopoda), terebratuloid or rhynchonelloid?
Authors: Hoare R. D. , Mapes R. H.
Published: August 2016

Cardiarina cordataCooper, 1956, has previously been placed in the Rhynchonellacea. Specimens present in the Dickerson Shale (Pennsylvanian, Desmoinesian) in north-central Texas have a terebratulid centronelloidiform loop, and although there are no punctae preserved, are questionably assigned toC. cordataand placed in the Terebratulacea.
Circumocular suture and visual surface of“Cedaria” woosteri(Trilobita, Late Cambrian) from the Eau Claire Formation, Wisconsin
Authors: Hughes Nigel C. , Gunderson Gerald O. , Weedon Michael J.
Published: August 2016

Rare specimens of the Late Cambrian primitive libristomate trilobite“Cedaria” woosterifrom the Eau Claire Formation of north-central Wisconsin preserve an unusual and new ocular suture, and the impressions of lens facets. The suture is circumocular, but loops abaxially onto the ocular platform. The portion of the ocular platform that is enclosed by this suture and is fused with the visual surface is here termed the “ocular plate”. The size and arrangement of the lens facets show that “C.”woosteripossessed a holochroal eye, typical of that known in other Cambrian libristomate trilobites. This nearshore assemblage, while low in diversity, contains a disparate array of trilobite morphotypes.
Lower Ordovician lithistid sponges from the eastern Yangtze Gorge area, Hubei, China
Authors: Bingli Liu , Rigby J. Keith , Yanwen Jiang , Zhongde Zhu
Published: August 2016

A moderately diverse assemblage of anthaspidellid demosponges has been recovered from reef-bearing carbonate platform deposits of Early Ordovician, Tremadoc to early Arenig age, in Hubei Province. The sponges occur, in part, in the Tremadoc Fenxiang Formation and, in part, in the lower Arenig Honghuayuan Formation at several localities near Yichang, Xintan, and Liujiachang. Archaeoscyphia nana Beresi and Rigby, 1993, Archaeoscyphia pulchra (Bassler, 1927), and Archaeoscyphia minganensis (Billings, 1859) occur with the new genera and species, Jianghania yichangensis and Velellospongia adnata, and the new species Rhopalocoelia sanxiaensis and Anthaspidella lamellata. This is the first reported occurrence of Anthaspidella in Ordovician rocks of China. Great numbers of these species of fossil sponges have been found in Lower Ordovician outcrops, particularly in the eastern Yangtze Gorge area of Hubei Province.
Silurian sponge spicules from the Racine Formation, Wisconsin
Authors: Watkins Rodney , Coorough P. J.
Published: August 2016

The Silurian (Wenlockian) Racine Formation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has yielded 22 types of siliceous and silicified sponge spicules. The spicules occur in bioturbated dolomite mudstone, and they are part of a high-diversity community of small crinozoans, brachiopods, and other taxa. Siliceous desmas of the order Lithistida comprise 79 percent of recovered spicules. Siliceous triaxons of the class Hexactinellida and silicified sexiradiates of the class Heteractinida each comprise 7 percent of spicules. Eleven additional types of siliceous spicules of uncertain taxonomic affinity form 7 percent of the assemblage. No complete sponge skeletons have been observed, probably because of slow deposition and high bioturbation. The Racine spicule assemblage resembles sponge faunas of Silurian offshore deposits in the Canadian Arctic and Great Basin, which suggests moderate bathymetric relief in the Michigan Basin during Wenlockian times.
New name for a Permian calcareous sponge and some related corrections
Authors: Finks Robert M.
Published: August 2016

The editor of the Zoological Record has kindly informed me that the generic name Polysiphonia Finks, 1995, (class Calcarea, order Murrayonida, family Maeandrostiidae) (Finks, 1995, page 4) is preoccupied (Mrs. M. Joan Thorne, personal commun., 1996). I therefore rename it Polysiphonaria.
Three new proetide trilobite larvae from the Lower Ordovician Garden City Formation in southern Idaho
Authors: Lee Dong-Chan , Chatterton Brian D. E.
Published: August 2016

Larvae of three proetide trilobites are described from the Garden City Formation: Proetide A, Goniophrys prima, and Licnocephala cavigladius. The larvae of Proetide A share a spindle-shaped axis and natant hypostomal condition with other proetide larvae as synapomorphies. The forward-tapering glabella and slender posterior fixigenal area of post-larval cranidia of Proetide A indicate a close affinity to the earliest proetide family (Hystricuridae). The primitive nature of the larvae of Proetide A is further supported by the possession of plesiomorphic features, including four glabellar lobes and bilobed axial lobes (L1/L2/L3). Larval features of Goniophrys prima (a telephinid) such as an elliptical outline and smooth exoskeleton are not consistent with the hypothesis that the genus is the ancestor to younger telephinids. The larvae of Licnocephala cavigladius are typical of the Bathyuridae in having a smooth, ovoid shield and less distinct axial furrows.
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.
An exceptional coastal upwelling fish assemblage in the Caribbean Neogene
Authors: Aguilera Orangel , de Aguilera Dione Rodrigues
Published: August 2016

We report the discovery of an extremely rich, previously undescribed Caribbean late Miocene to early Pliocene ichthyofauna represented by one hundred forty species of elasmobranchs and teleosteans from the Cubagua Formation, northeastern Venezuela. The fauna exhibits significant ecological differences compared with common neritic Caribbean Neogene assemblages. The bathymetric distributions of taxa, based on living counterparts, ranges from 0 to 100 m depth. The exceptional co-occurrence of deep water (epipelagic, mesopelagic and benthopelagic), and shallow water (neritic) taxa is best interpreted as the consequence of ocean upwelling in the proximity to the deep-water Cariaco Trench. Patterns of predator and prey are established and corroborate upwelling. Special remarks are made regarding previously unknown late Miocene to early Pliocene Caribbean ichthyofaunas, the absence or rarity of reported fossil taxa in the Recent Caribbean fauna, and a paleo- upwelling indicator (Lampadena jacksoninew species).
Systematics of the Ordovician trilobites Ischyrotoma and Dimeropygiella, with species from the type Ibexian area, western U.S.A.
Authors: Adrain Jonathan M. , Westrop Stephen R. , Landing Ed , Fortey Richard A.
Published: August 2016

Lower Ordovician sections in the type Ibexian area of western Utah contain a considerably more diverse trilobite fauna than has previously been reported. Reinvestigation of these faunas, based on new field sampling, allows a reassessment of the dimeropygid genera Ischyrotoma Raymond, 1925, and Dimeropygiella Ross, 1951. These taxa have been considered synonyms, but parsimony analysis indicates each is a well supported clade, and they are best recognized as sister genera. The number of species known from Ibex has been doubled, from four to eight, and morphological information is now available for most parts of the exoskeleton. New species include Ischyrotoma juabensis (Juab Formation), I. wahwahensis (Wah Wah Formation), Dimeropygiella fillmorensis (Fillmore Formation), and D. mccormicki (Fillmore Formation). The previously named species Dimeropygiella caudanodosa, D. blanda, and D. ovata are fully revised on the basis of abundant new material. Pseudohystricurus is a paraphyletic group, with species distributed as a basal grade of the Ischyrotoma/Dimeropygiella group.
Kirkbyoid ostracodes (Upper Carboniferous) from the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain) and Carnic Alps (Austria and Italy)
Authors: De Posada Luis Carlos Sánchez , Fohrer Beate
Published: August 2016

Silicified kirkbyoid ostracodes from the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain) bear a striking resemblance to those of the Carnic Alps (Austria and Italy). The Spanish ostracodes come from the upper part of the Cuera Limestones (Bashkirian-upper Moscovian), which are exposed along the Playa de la Huelga section (Ponga Nappe) in the coastal area of eastern Asturias, northern Spain. These fossils were collected from upper Moscovian limestones deposited in an outer-platform environment. Most of the material from the Carnic Alps was obtained from the Nassfeld Pass area (eastern Carnic Alps), near the Austrian-Italian border, in limestones of the Kasimovian-Gzhelian Auernig Group and the Lower Permian Rattendorf Group. The several Auernig Group limestones that contain silicified ostracodes were deposited in a shallow-marine environment.

Despite the differences in age (according to fusulinids and conodonts), these kirkbyoids are very similar and in some cases identical.Coronakirkbya pramollanew species andKirkbya carniacantabricanew species occur in both areas. Two other pairs of species,Coronakirkbya krejcigrafiBecker, 1978, andCoronakirkbya carinanew species, andAurikirkbyacf.beckeri(Kozur, 1990) andAurikirkbya carinthicanew species, show close affinities, though they are considered to be different species. Most of the species described herein are either very rare or absent in other regions.

The close paleobiogeographic relationships between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Carnic Alps, documented previously only by brachiopods, are confirmed.
Comparison of flattened Blastozoan echinoderms: Insights from the new Early Ordovician Eocrinoid Haimacystis rozhnovi
Authors: Sumrall Colin D. , Sprinkle James , Guensburg Thomas E.
Published: August 2016

A new, flattened, eocrinoid-grade, blastozoan echinoderm Haimacystis rozhnovi new genus and species is described from the uppermost Lower Ordovician Wah Wah Limestone of western Utah. Although apparently most similar in morphology to the rhipidocystids, Haimacystis differs in its plane of thecal flattening, lack of one-piece marginals, and ambulacral system development. A comparison of overall morphology and plane of thecal flattening is presented for flattened blastozoans. Haimacystis was a streamlined suspension feeder attached to the sea floor by a holdfast at the end of a relatively short stem and bent over in the water column in moderate currents.
First articulated Silurian sponges from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
Authors: Rigby J. Keith , Gutiérrez-Marco J. C. , Robardet M. , Piçarra J. M.
Published: August 2016

The first-described articulated Silurian sponges from Spain and Portugal include a moderate assemblage of hexactinellids and a single monaxonid demosponge. The sponges were collected from a thin layer at the top of theCyrtograptus lundgreni-Monograptus testisgraptolite biozone, in a possible volcanic ash of latest Homerian (Wenlock) age. The sponges are from southeastern Portugal and southwestern Spain in the Ossa-Morena Zone of the Hesperian Massif. The hexactinellid collection includes several specimens of the new species,Protospongia iberica,and fragments ofDiagoniellaspecies andGabelia(?) sp. Specimens of the latter two taxa are too small for species identification. Demosponges are represented by a single described specimen of a probably new genus and species preserved as a “wreath” of monaxon spicules. Dermal and gastral layers are of very fine spicules developed over the moderately coarse, aligned, principal body spicules.
Herminespina: New genus of Neogene muricid gastropod from Peru and Chile
Authors: DeVries T. J. , Vermeij G. J.
Published: August 2016

The new genus Herminespina comprises extinct South American species of “Thais”-like ocenebrine gastropods with prominent colabral folds and a labral spine. Geographic range extensions into Peru are reported for the late Pliocene H. mirabilis and the late Miocene to Pliocene H. philippii, both previously known only from Chile. A new early Pliocene species, H. saskiae, is described from the Sacaco Basin of southern Peru and compared with an early Miocene muricid from Peru and Chile, Acanthina katzi. Herminespina is one of several genera of Neogene muricids in western South America that bear labral spines.
Silurian (Wenlock) calymenid trilobites from the Cape Phillips Formation, Central Canadian Arctic
Authors: Adrain Jonathan M. , Edgecombe Gregory D.
Published: August 2016

Calymenid trilobites are common components of diverse Silurian silicified faunas recovered from the Cape Phillips Formation of the Cape Phillips Basin, central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Calymenids are represented in the Wenlock of the northern Laurentian region by only two genera,DiacalymeneKegel, 1927, andArcticalymenenew genus (type speciesA. viciousinew species). Calymenid diversity in any given fauna is never higher than two species, although these species may be numerically abundant.Arcticalymenebecame extinct during the Homerian, at which point calymenids disappeared forever from the northern Laurentian record.

Other new taxa areArcticalymene cookinew species,A. jonesinew species,A. matlockinew species, andA. rotteninew species. Material representing at least two more species of the new genus is reported in open nomenclature.Diacalymene gabrielsiSiveter and Chatterton, 1996, is recorded from the Cape Phillips Basin.
Middle Jurassic bryozoans from the Carmel Formation of southwestern Utah
Authors: Taylor Paul D. , Wilson Mark A.
Published: August 2016

Very few Jurassic bryozoan faunas are known outside Europe. Here we describe seven species of calcareous cyclostome bryozoans and one bioimmured soft-bodied ctenostome bryozoan (Simplicidiumsp.) from the Middle Jurassic (?Bathonian) Carmel Formation of Utah. Three of the cyclostomes are placed in open nomenclature due to inadequate preservation and/or the lack of key reproductive polymorphs. A new genus,Patulopora,is established forDiastopora cutleriCuffey and Ehleiter, 1984, following the discovery of gonozooids that place this species in the Multisparsidae rather than in the Plagioeciidae. Another of Cuffey and Ehleiter's (1984) species—Berenicea duofluvina—is reassigned toMicroeciellaon the basis of the gonozooids, and a similar but distinctly smaller form is described asM. pollostosnew species. A second new species—Hyporosopora nielsoni—is a rare colonist of hardground undersurfaces. The Carmel bryozoan fauna is compared with better-known faunas from the northern European Middle Jurassic. Species richness and colony-form diversity fall well within the expected values for bryozoan faunas of this age, and endemism is detectable only at relatively low taxonomic levels. Evolutionary patterns based on studies of contemperaneous European bryozoan faunas during this time of cyclostome evolutionary radiation are reinforced by the palaeogeographically distant Carmel bryozoan fauna.
Hesperogaulus, a new genus of mylagaulid rodent (Mammalia) from the Miocene (Barstovian to Hemphillian) of the Great Basin
Authors: Korth William W.
Published: August 2016

A new genus of mylagaluid rodent from the Miocene of the Great Basin, Hesperogaulus, is described, and to it two new species, H. gazini and H. wilsoni (type species) are referred. This genus differs from all other genera of later Tertiary mylagaulines in having: large bosses of rugose bone on the anterior end of the nasal bones; lower slope of the occipital bone; and unique separation of the anterior branches of the forked parafossette on the upper premolar.

Hepserogaulus n. gen. represents a distinct lineage of mylagaulids that has been separate from other members of the family since the early Barstovian. This genus is geographically limited to the Great Basin. Other later Tertiary genera of mylagaulids show geographic limitations to other parts of the continent as well.
Mackenziurus emielityi new species: A new encrinurine (Trilobita) from the Silurian (Wenlock-Ludlow) of Wisconsin and Illinois
Authors: Gass Kenneth C.
Published: August 2016

Tripp et al. (1977, p. 862) briefly described a small encrinurine from the Silurian of Wisconsin and Illinois. They refrained from naming this taxon, due to its being “as yet imperfectly known,” referring to the lack of testiferous material, the distortion and abrasion of most of the specimens, and the paucity of known cephalic sclerites. Lateral compression and abrasion of the only known cranidium (Tripp et al., 1997, pl. 114, figs. 8 and 9, from Brookfield, Wisconsin) were severe, but large, sparse tubercles were discernible. Gass et al. (1992) established Mackenziurus lauriae to include this and other material, all from various inter-reef Wenlock-Ludlow Racine Dolomite and Sugar Run Dolomite localities in Wisconsin and Illinois, respectively. All of this material is in the form of internal and external molds in dolomitized calcilutite, and most of the Wisconsin specimens are distorted to varying degrees. Among the material which Gass et al. (1992) introduced was a nonabraded, slightly-distorted cranidium with articulated librigenae (Gass et al., 1992, fig. 5.1-5.3) from the same locality in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, which produced the majority of the other known material, and a complete, enrolled, nondistorted but weathered exoskeleton (Gass et al., 1992, fig. 5.4-5.7) from an unrecorded locality and formation in Grafton, Illinois. Those are only the second and third specimens known to preserve the cranidium. Differences in the rostral plate [inferred to be narrower (tr.) on the Wauwatosa specimen] and glabellar tuberculation (larger and fewer in number on the Grafton and Brookfield specimens) were attributed to intra-specific variation. Due to its superior preservation in contrast to the other cranidiumbearing specimens, and the more complete occurrence data, the Wauwatosa specimen was designated as holotype of Mackenziurus lauriae.
Sublethal and lethal injuries of Pennsylvanian conulariids from Oklahoma
Authors: Mapes Royal H. , Fahrer Tim R. , Babcock Loren E.
Published: August 2016

Many specimens of the conulariidParaconularia magna(Ries) from the Tackett Formation (Upper Pennsylvanian, Missourian) of Oklahoma exhibit repaired or unrepaired injured exoskeletons. Scalloped, cleft, and embayed patterns are interpreted to be repaired sublethal damages produced by unknown events or organisms. Punctures, which are the first reported in conulariids, were not followed by exoskeletal repair and were probably lethal. Cladodont sharks are implicated as possible predators ofP. magnabecause of a close correspondence in size and pattern between the dentition of some sharks and the punctures preserved in conulariid exoskeletons.
Tiddalickia manitobensis, a new dictyosponge, and an unusual specimen of the lithistid sponge, Aulocopella winnipegensis Rauff, from the Ordovician of Manitoba
Authors: Rigby J. Keith , Leith Edward I.
Published: August 2016

The new thin-walled vasiform dictyospongid hexactinellid, Tiddalickia manitobensis, is described from the Ordovician Red River Formation at McBeth Point on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. Vertical spicule bundles are an outer? part of the wall and horizontal spicule bundles an inner? different level within the wall. Bundle quadrules are only half the size of those in Tiddalickia quadrata Rigby and Webby, 1988. A complete anthaspidellid lithistid, Aulocopella winnipegensis Rauff, 1895, is described from a glacial erratic recovered from near Reston, Manitoba.
Paleoecology and distribution of the Early Cambrian rostroconch Watsonella crosbyi Grabau
Authors: Landing Ed
Published: August 2016

Watsonella crosbyi Grabau, 1900, a senior synonym of Heraultipegma varensalense (Cobbold, 1935) and H. yannense He and Yang, 1982, is the oldest known rostroconch. The species ranges through most of the Early Cambrian and has been recovered from temperate siliciclastic (Avalon Platform) and tropical carbonate (south China, Mongolia?, southern France) environments. Watsonella crosbyi occurs through approximately 880 meters of the sub-trilobitic Lower Cambrian of southeastern Newfoundland. Its lowest occurrence corresponds to the first appearance of relatively diverse small shelly faunas of the pre-Tommotian Watsonella crosbyi Zone (new).

The general form of Watsonella crosbyi conchs (laterally compressed, prosogyrate, elongate posterior, subdued comarginal growth lines, very thin shell with anterior and posterior gapes) is similar to that in a number of larger burrowing pelecypods, but this does not rule out other benthic habits. However, recovery of locally common in situ conchs (plane of commissure vertical, long axis subhorizontal) in the lower and upper parts of its stratigraphic range in southeastern Newfoundland corroborates an infaunal life habit for the species. The animal is a prominent element in faunas from offshore, cohesive, siliciclastic mudstones but also occurs in calcareous nodule-rich mudstones, shell hash limestones, and, infrequently, in peritidal algalaminate limestones. A phylogenetic sequence from laterally compressed monoplacophorans to early ribeiroid rostroconchs and leading to the oldest pelecypods was completed by the middle Early Cambrian and involved infaunal mollusks.
Ronald Pearson Tripp (1914-2001)
Authors: Gass Kenneth C.
Published: August 2016

The passing of Ronald Pearson Tripp marks the end of the career of a great trilobite taxonomist and one of the last great “gentleman geologists.” I had the pleasure of knowing him personally since 1973.
On impacts and extinction: biological solutions to biological problems
Authors: Feldmann Rodney M.
Published: August 2016

There appears to be an overwhelming urge in the study of earth sciences currently to discover the “cosmic generality.” Certainly, no observational and descriptive aspects of the study of earth history can be concluded until one has placed the observations into a broader context. On the other hand, there are not very many “cosmic generalities” and few lasting generalizations have been developed before the basic data have been gathered. When generalizations do precede observations, the former fall into the category of testable hypotheses or speculations, depending upon the overall plausibility of the ideas and the generosity of the reader.
Disarticulated shells of Late Ordovician brachiopods: inferences on strength of hinge and valve architecture
Authors: Alexander Richard R.
Published: August 2016

More than five thousand specimens of nine species of articulate brachiopods from the Waynesville-Liberty Formation (Late Ordovician) of southeastern Indiana were analyzed for the percentage of specimens disarticulated and the ratio of pedicle to brachial valves. Among biconvex species, the rhynchonellid Hiscobeccus capax displayed the highest ratio (2.66) of articulated to disarticulated specimens, an observation attributed to its cyrtomatodont hinge. The six orthid species from the same assemblages have much higher frequencies of disarticulated valves and deltidiodont hinges, which did not necessitate breakage of the teeth or sockets in order to disassociate the valves. Platystrophia clarksvillensis has the highest percentage of articulated specimens among the orthids, a fact attributed to the hydrodynamic stability of this species and the interlocking of the valves by the plicae around the commissure. The largest of the three concavo-convex taxa, Rafinesquina ponderosa, has the highest ratio of articulated to disarticulated specimens (3.03) and requires the fastest current velocities to transport the shells based on flume experiments.

Additionally, the deltidiodont hinge of R. ponderosa is more complex than those of Strophomena planumbona and Leptaena richmondensis, which might have increased the amount of jostling necessary to disarticulate the valves. The infrequency of brachial valves of H. capax, Hebertella occidentalis, Plaesiomys subquadrata, S. planumbona, and R. ponderosa and the pedicle valves of L. richmondensis probably reflects the comparative mechanical weaknesses of these valves given the high frequency of fragments in the biosparites, which resemble tempestites. Pedicle valves of orthids and rhynchonellids are up to 10 times thicker posteriorly relative to corresponding points on the opposite valve. Brachial valves of L. richmondensis are more than four times thicker anteriorly relative to the pedicle valve. The occurrence of posterior remnants of the fragmented brachial valve still hinged to the unfractured pedicle valve support the idea that the thinner valve is mechanically much weaker.
Early Devonian (Gedinnian) actinocerid cephalopods from the Fukuji Formation, central Japan
Authors: Niko Shuji
Published: August 2016

Previously poorly known Devonian actinocerids are described from Gedinnian (Early Devonian) strata of the Fukuji Formation, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. They include two new species, Ormoceras japonicum and Metarmenoceras kameii. Two specimens of a probable new species of the family Ormoceratidae are also recorded and illustrated. This is the first detailed systematic report of actinocerids from Japan.
A bone bed in the Eocene of Jamaica
Authors: Donovan Stephen K. , Domning Daryl P. , Garcia Frank A. , Dixon Harold L.
Published: August 2016

Pre-pleistocene fossil vertebrates are rare fossils in the Antillean region. The majority of vertebrate deposits found in the West Indies are of Late Pleistocene age, usually, but not always (MacPhee et al., 1989), dating from after the last interglacial. These faunas are cave and fissure accumulations of disarticulated bones of small terrestrial vertebrates, particularly rodents, birds, and lizards. In contrast, pre-Quaternary vertebrates of the Caribbean islands are particularly poorly known. For example, Jamaica, which has one of the most extensively studied fossil records in the region, has hitherto produced only three Tertiary vertebrates, all aquatic and hitherto known only from unique specimens. These include: the late Early Eocene sirenian Prorastomus sirenoides Owen, 1855, originally described on the basis of the skull, mandible, and atlas vertebra (for a recent discussion of this species, see Savage, 1977); the lower jaw of the early Middle Eocene crocodilian Charactosuchus kugleri Berg, 1969; and a fragment of needlefish jaw from the Pliocene (Caldwell, 1966). It is therefore significant to report the discovery of an early Middle Eocene sequence in which bones are not uncommon, including a bone bed that has produced a moderate diversity of aquatic (marine?) taxa.
New Early Eocene mollusks from the Orocopia Mountains, southern California
Authors: Squires Richard L. , Advocate David M.
Published: August 2016

Five new species of mollusks are described from the early Eocene Maniobra Formation, northeastern Orocopia Mountains, southern California. The new species are from the basal part of the formation, and the fauna is indicative of the West Coast provincial molluscan early Eocene “Capay Stage.” The mollusks are shallow-marine forms that were transported a short distance into slope/upper submarine-canyon deposits.

Chedevillia saltonensis n. sp. and Eocypraea? maniobraensis n. sp. resemble Eocene species from Paris Basin, France. Phalium (Semicassis) louella n. sp. is the earliest North American species of Semicassis. Volutilithes orocopiaensis n. sp. is the earliest North American species of this genus and resembles V. muricinus from Paris Basin. Glossus (Meiocardia) susukii n. sp. is the earliest reported species of Meiocardia on the West Coast of North and South America.

Galeodea gallica, a species previously only known from lower Eocene strata in the Anglo-Paris Basin, is tentatively identified from the Maniobra Formation. Campanilopa dilloni, previously only known from south-central California, is present in the formation. Supplementary descriptions and illustrations are given for these two species.

The Maniobra species described have a close relationship to species characteristic of the Eurasian Tethyan paleobiogeographic province. The age of the Maniobra mollusks permits greater resolution of the timing of the westward migration of the Eurasian species, indicating that much of it occurred during early Eocene and/or late Paleocene time.
A new ophiuroid from the Sundays River Formation (Lower Cretaceous), South Africa
Authors: Shone Russell W.
Published: August 2016

Ophiolancea swartkopensisn. gen. and sp. is the first ophiuroid to be described from the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) Sundays River Formation, South Africa.Ophiolanceais distinguished by lanceolate lateral arm shields which occur on the distal portions of the arms. Associated fauna and stratigraphic evidence suggest that the specimen was buried in an intertidal mud flat.
Recent progress in recovering microvertebrate fossils using Interfacial Methods
Authors: Freeman Eric F.
Published: August 2016

Interfacial methods are a group of newly emerging techniques for recovering phosphatic microfossils from disaggregated sediment residues by exploiting the lipophilic surface properties of apatite (Freeman, 1982). When a sediment residue is placed in a two-phase mixture of water and a water-insoluble organic liquid, the organic liquid wets the phosphate particles in preference to the gangue minerals, most species of which are wetted by the water instead.
An early heron (Aves, Ardeidae, Ardea) from the Middle Miocene of Nebraska
Authors: Becker Jonathan J.
Published: August 2016

The genus Ardea includes all living species of large herons. Brodkorb (1963) listed five fossil species of Ardea, and only one fossil species has since been described. Of these six, only two are unquestionably members of the genus Ardea. Ardea brunhuberi von Ammon, 1918, from the Upper Miocene Brown Coal Formation, Württemburg, Germany, was moved by Brodkorb (1980) to the Phalacrocoracidae as Phalacrocorax brunhuberi. Brodkorb (1980) considered A. lignitum Giebel, 1860, from the Sarmatian Brown Coal of Rippersroda, Thuringia, Germany, to be a large owl in the genus Bubo. Olson (1985) similarly regards A. perplexa from the Astaracian of Sansan, France, to be a large owl, possibly in the genus Bubo. The type of Ardea aureliensis Milne-Edwards, 1871, from the Oreleanian of Suevres, France, has never been illustrated or restudied and its affinities need to be confirmed (Olson, 1985). The valid fossil species are Ardea polkensis Brodkorb, 1955, from the late Hemphillian Bone Valley Mining District, Florida, and A. howardae Brodkorb, 1980, from the Plio/Pleistocene Shungura Formation, Omo Basin, Ethiopia. A large species of Ardea is also known from the late Clarendonian Love Bone Bed local fauna, Florida, but is based on material too fragmentary for specific identification (Becker, 1985). This note reports the earliest certain occurrence of Ardea now known.
The Triassic isopodProtamphisopus wianamattensis(Chilton) and comparison by extant taxa (Crustacea, Phreatoicidea)
Authors: Wilson George D. F. , Edgecombe Gregory D.
Published: August 2016

Protamphisopus wianamattensis(Chilton, 1918) from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Ashfield Shale in the Sydney Basin, Australia, is the earliest-known freshwater representative of the basal isopod suborder Phreatoicidea. In contrast, the late Paleozoic Palaeophreatoicidae species, which are morphologically distinct from extant families, are found in marine or estuarine facies. Comparison ofProtamphisopus wianamattensiswith living Phreatoicidea permits the external morphology of the fossils to be reconstructed and the species to be coded for cladistic analysis using a revised and expanded character set developed for living phreatoicideans. In resulting parsimonious trees as well as immediately suboptimal trees,Protamphisopusis nested within clades related to the family Amphisopodidae. Although not included in the analysis, the Late PermianProtamphisopus reicheltiMalzahn (in Glaessner and Malzahn, 1962) appears to be a member of the Palaeophreatoicidae, rather than among the crown group of the Phreatoicidea. Therefore, a minimum age of Middle Triassic can be assigned to the basal branches within the phreatoicid crown group. The minimum age for the colonisation of fresh water by the suborder is also established although, given the advanced position ofProtamphisopus wianamattensisin the cladograms, the habitat shift may have occurred earlier. The biogeographic distribution of extant Phreatoicidea on fragments of Gondwana is consistent with early Mesozoic origins for the major clades of this isopod suborder.
The naris and palate of Lycaenodon longiceps (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia), by comments on their early evolution in the Therapsida
Authors: Sidor Christian A.
Published: August 2016

The anatomy of the external naris and anterior palate is described in detail for Lycaenodon longiceps, a morphologically conservative member of the primitive therapsid clade Biarmosuchia. Therapsids are distinguished from pelycosaur-grade synapsids by numerous features of the naris and palate. As in most early therapsids, the septomaxilla in Lycaenodon consists of a short intranarial portion and a long, posterodorsal, facial process. The septomaxillary foramen is reduced to a small, longitudinal slit between the septomaxilla and maxilla. On the palate, the unpaired vomer is clasped anteriorly by long palatal processes of the premaxillae. The choanae are elongate structures whose anterior portion housed the lower canine when the jaws were closed. The palatine and maxilla bear a small shelf (crista choanalis) on their medial surface that has been suggested to represent an early stage in the development of a secondary palate. The parallel acquisition of a crista choanalis and a bony secondary palate in several therapsid groups supports the hypothesis that respiration-related changes were an important aspect of early therapsid evolution.

The genus Lycaenodon may be diagnosed by at least three autapomorphies: the premaxilla bears a scroll-like choanal process that roofs the anterior portion of the internal nares, the vomer is widest at the level of the upper canines with its downturned edges beginning more posteriorly, and the dorsal surface of the postfrontal is convex. Another specimen referred to Lycaenodon preserves additional features that might be autapomorphic, but are not preserved in the holotype.
Attributes of the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus, and new material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas
Authors: Hunt Rebecca K. , Lehman Thomas M.
Published: August 2016

A bone bed in the middle part of the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) in Texas yielded parts of about 37 identifiable ceratopsid dinosaur bones, mostly appendicular and limb girdle elements belonging to one juvenile and two adult individuals of Torosaurus cf. utahensis. The bone bed is a lag assemblage comprising large immobile parts of the skeletons accumulated in an abandoned stream channel. In general form and proportions the postcranial bones are similar to those in Pentaceratops sternbergi and are not as robust as those in Torosaurus latus or Triceratops horridus. A few cranial elements are preserved, including parts of a parietal, squamosal, maxilla, and two dentaries. The form of the parietal fragment is comparable to that of a more nearly complete specimen of Torosaurus cf. utahensis collected nearby at about the same stratigraphic level. The bone bed material provides a basis for the first skeletal reconstruction of this enigmatic horned dinosaur. Most characters used in diagnoses of T. utahensis and T. latus are inadequate. Only the raised bar along the squamosal/parietal suture, present in T. latus; and the midline epiparietal, absent in T. latus, may discriminate the two species.
Reinterpretation of Climactichnites Logan 1860 to include subsurface burrows, and erection of Musculopodus for resting traces of the trailmaker
Authors: Getty Patrick Ryan , Hagadorn James Whitey
Published: August 2016

Based on a thorough examination of field and museum Climactichnites specimens, two species of this trace are recognized, each representing a unique behavioral variant produced by a soft-bodied animal in Late Cambrian intertidal environments. C. wilsoni represents surface-produced trails, whereas C. youngi is re-erected for burrows produced below the surface. Burrowing behavior is supported by: 1) the presence of C. youngi within, rather than on, the surface of beds; 2) the orientation of some burrows inclined to bedding; and 3) the occasional presence of distinct burrow fills. Burrows can also be distinguished morphologically from surface traces by the absence of lateral ridges and the presence of fine, mm-scale striations or grooves superimposed on the transverse bars and furrows. Burrowing behavior for the Climactichnites trailmaker was previously unknown and thus represents a new, although not entirely unexpected, behavior for this mollusk or mollusk-like animal. The body impression of the sedentary animal is removed to Musculopodus sedentarius n. igen. and isp. In the future, Musculopodus may be expanded to include the resting traces of other soft-bodied animals known from the fossil record. Currently, Climactichnites is known only from very shallow to emergent strata of North America; reports of this fossil in other parts of the world are misidentified trails produced by other animals.
Parasitic polychaetes in the Early Cretaceous Hydrocarbon seep-restricted brachiopod Peregrinella Multicarinata
Authors: Kiel Steffen
Published: August 2016

Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps sustain unique ecosystems with a highly adapted fauna that largely thrives on chemotrophic endosymbionts. This large biomass attracts not only predators but also parasitic taxa like the recently reported oophagous bivalve Acesta bullisis Vokes, 1963 that lives permanently attached to a vestimentiferan tube worm (Järnegren et al., 2005). Here I report large brachiopods of the Early Cretaceous seep-restricted genus Peregrinella Oehlert, in Fischer, 1887 that were infested by polychaete tubes inside their shells during their lifetime.
The complex morphology of a new Lower Silurian asteroid (Echinodermata)
Authors: Blake Daniel B. , Ettensohn Frank R.
Published: August 2016

Gordonaster brassfieldensis is a new genus and species of Asteroidea (Echinodermata) described from the Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation of east-central Kentucky. Tentatively assigned to the poorly understood Palaeasteridae, Gordonaster shares much with Ordovician asteroids, yet it also exhibits apparent homoplasies that presage the post-Paleozoic crown group. Available specimens also indicate that the ontogenetic pattern of ossicular addition seen in the crown group was established during the Paleozoic.
Kailidiscus, a new plesiomorphic edrioasteroid from the basal Middle Cambrian Kaili biota of Guizhou Province, China
Authors: Zhao Yuanlong , Sumrall Colin D. , Parsley Ronald L. , Peng Jin
Published: August 2016

A new genus and species of edrioasteroid grade echinoderm, Kailidiscus chinensis, is described from the Kaili Biota of the basal lower Middle Cambrian Kaili Formation from Guizhou Province, China. This echinoderm has a strong resemblance to isorophid edrioasteroids, bearing a well-developed peripheral rim, long curved ambulacra, and slightly imbricate interambulacral plating at maturity. However, the presence of pore-bearing, double biserial floor plates, tiered cover plates, lack of radially positioned oral frame plates, and unincorporated hydropore/gonopore are unknown in isorophids. Many of these features bear strong resemblance to eocrinoids and helicoplacoids, attesting to the plesiomorphic nature of this taxon. Despite the obvious anatomical differences, specimens of this species preserve a complete ontogeny that resembles that of isorophids. Juveniles show a discoidal theca with straight ambulacra that transitions to an inflated theca with strongly curved ambulacra with maturity.
Anchitherium (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the early Miocene Hiramaki Formation, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and its implication for the early diversification of Asian Anchitherium
Authors: Miyata Kazunori , Tomida Yukimitsu
Published: August 2016

An Anchitherium specimen with a nearly complete series of the upper cheek teeth (P2–M3), from the upper part (ca.17–18 Ma) of the Hiramaki Formation, Kani Basin, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, was previously referred to Anchitherium “hypohippoides” nomen dubium. Despite that it provides one of the best examples of significant dental characters of Asian Anchitherium, it has remained undescribed and unprepared until recently. Although a paucity of materials from Asia makes the taxonomy of Asian Anchitherium difficult to assign, comparison showed that the specimen should be reassigned to Anchitherium aff. A. gobiense; it differs from A. aurelianense and is rather similar to A. gobiense from China by virtue of large size and expanded hypostyles. The Japanese Anchitherium also shows distinct features including straight (flattened) ectolophs with narrow mesostyles, rudimentary crochets, and enamel protuberances at the lingual mouth of the median valleys. This combination of accessory features has not been known in Asian Anchitherium and seems to be rarely observed among the diversified European species. The existence of Japanese Anchitherium implies early species diversification in East Asia that predates a greater diversification in Europe associated with the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum and supports paleogeographical and paleozoological connection to the Asian mainland under a warm and humid climate prior to the formation of the Japanese archipelago (ca. 16.5 Ma).
Art. IV.—On the Law and Legal Practice of Nepál, as regards Familiar Intercourse between a Hindú and an Outcast
Authors: Hodgson Brian Houghton
Published: August 2016

The Penal Law of Nepál, a Hindú state, is necessarily founded on the S'ástras; nor is there any thing material in its marvellous crimes, and more marvellous proofs, for which abundance of justificatory texts may not be produced out of the code of Menu, and others equally well known on the plains.
Art. VI.—Notice of the Tabernacle or Car employed by the Hindús on the Island of Ceylon, to carry the Image of the God, in their Religious Processions: with some Remarks on the Analogies which may be traced in the Worship of the Assyrians and other ancient Nations of the East, as compared with that of the Hindús
Authors: Roberts Joseph
Published: August 2016

In presenting to the Royal Asiatic Society a Model of the Tabernacle of the Hindús (in which they take their principal deities out in procession), it may be necessary to observe, that a number of men having placed it on their shoulders, proceed to the appointed spot, accompanied and preceded by priests, singers, players on musical instruments, and the dancing-girls of the temple. In the book of Numbers, eh. i. v. 50, it is written: “Thou shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all the things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, &c.” It is worthy of observation, with regard to the Hindú tabernacle, that it is carried by priests, where there is a sufficient number; and where not, the highest classes among the laymen perform that office.
Art. VII.—A Transcript in Roman Characters, with a Translation, of a Manifesto in the Chinese Language, issued by the Triad Society
Authors: Morrison Robert
Published: August 2016

In the First Volume of the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, page 240, will be found a brief sketch of the nature, constitution, and objects of the secret fraternity called the “Triad Society,” written by the late Rev. Dr. Milne, and communicated by Dr. Morrison. The. Manifesto, of which a copy is subjoined, appears to have been put forth on swearing in members of that Association. It was found in the English burial-ground at Macao, on the night of Sunday the 19th of October 1828.