bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sciurid rodents (Mammalia) from the Chadronian and Orellan (Oligocene) of Nebraska
Authors: Korth William W.
Published: August 2016

Upper dentition ofProtosciurus mengiBlack, from the Orellan Brule Formation, Nebraska, is described for the first time. The zygomatic plate is tilted anterodorsally, showing the beginnings of sciuromorphy as in the Arikareean species of this genus. A new genus of sciurid,Oligospermophilus, is named for the species originally identified as ?Protosciurus douglassi(Korth), based on additional material including a skull and upper dentitions. The zygomasseteric structure ofO. douglassiis unlike any previously described Tertiary sciurid. The range ofO. douglassiis extended from the late Chadronian to the Whitneyan. Three distinct lineages of sciurids, distinguished on dental morphology and zygomasseteric structure, can be traced in the Oligocene in North America; they are represented by the generaProtosciurus, Oligospermophilus, and ?Protosciurus.
The Early Cambrian worm tube Onuphionella from California and Nevada
Authors: Signor Philip W. , Mcmenamin Mark A. S.
Published: August 2016

Two new species of worm tubes referable to the genus Onuphionella occur in Lower Cambrian strata in eastern California and western Nevada. Onuphionella durhami n. sp. is found in the Campito Formation (in pre-trilobite strata, in the Fallotaspis and, possibly, the Nevadella Zones) and O. claytonensis n. sp. occurs in the Middle Member of the Poleta Formation (Nevadella Zone). The unusual tubes are armored with an imbricated coat of mica flakes, reminiscent of the modern genus Owenia. The lowest occurrence of Onuphionella in western North America corresponds closely with the lowest occurrence of the genus in the Baltic region, indicating that correlations between the two regions are not greatly in error.
Oribatid mite fossils from a terrestrial Devonian deposit near Gilboa, New York
Authors: Norton Roy A. , Bonamo Patricia M. , Grierson James D. , Shear William A.
Published: August 2016

Fourteen oribatid mite fossils have been recovered from a terrestrial Devonian deposit near Gilboa, New York; they allow an approximate doubling of the known age of the group. Two species are represented by specimens complete enough to allow descriptions. Protochthonius gilboa n. gen. and sp. is the earliest derivative known member of the Enarthronota, and comprises the monobasic new family Protochthoniidae. Devonacarus sellnicki n. gen. and sp. also represents a monobasic new family, Devonacaridae; it may also be an early derivative enarthronote mite, but its relationships are uncertain. Two other species are represented at the site, but meaningful descriptions are not possible with available material.
Blastoids from the late Osagean Fort Payne Formation (Kentucky and Tennessee)
Authors: Ausich William I. , Meyer David L.
Published: August 2016

A largely new, Early Mississippian blastoid fauna is described from the Fort Payne Formation of south-central Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. The fauna consists of nine species assigned to eight genera, including four new genera and six new species. The fauna includes Hadroblastus breimeri n. sp., Granatocrinus granulatus (Roemer), Dentiblastus macurdai n. sp., Deliablastus cumberlandensis n. gen. and sp., D. tribulosus n. gen. and sp., Xyeleblastus magnificus n. gen. and sp., Perittoblastus liratus n. gen. and sp., Euryoblastus veryi (Rowley) n. gen., and an unidentifiable basal circlet that may represent a phaenoschismatidid. All spiraculates belong to the Granatocrinidae.

The Fort Payne Formation has the most diverse blastoid fauna known between the middle Osagean blastoid extinction and the Permian. Diversification immediately after the middle Osagean extinction is recorded in the Fort Payne and is largely a diversification of the Granatocrinidae.

Orbitremites grandis Rowley (1902) is an internal mold from the Fort Payne Formation. This specimen cannot be identified and is designated as a nomen dubium.
Nomenclature of a bivalve boring from the Upper Ordovician of the Midwestern United States
Authors: Wilson Mark A. , Palmer Timothy J.
Published: August 2016

Although the burrows and trails in the Upper Ordovician rocks around Cincinnati, Ohio, have been fully documented and are well known (Osgood, 1970), comparatively little attention has been paid to the borers. Nevertheless, borers are very common in a variety of hard substrates in these rocks. These substrates include the skeletons of bryozoans, corals, and stromatoporoids (Palmer and Wilson, 1988), as well as cobbles and hardgrounds (Palmer, 1982; Wilson, 1985). By far the most common type of boring is the elongate tube Trypanites, which could have been made by a variety of filter-feeding worms. Trypanites is common on hard substrates throughout the lower Paleozoic (Palmer, 1982).
A replacement name for the family Goniorhynchidae Carroll and Gaskill, 1978 (Amphibia: Microsauria)
Authors: Zanon Robert T.
Published: August 2016

Olson (1970) erected the genus Goniorhynchus for a Lower Permian microsaur amphibian from Oklahoma. Carroll and Gaskill (1978) used this genus as the type of a new family, Goniorhynchidae. Schultze and Foreman (1981) noted that the name Goniorhynchus Olson, 1970, was preoccupied by Goniorhynchus Hampson, 1896, and they proposed the replacement name Rhynchonkos; however, they retained the family name as Goniorhynchidae.
The genus Glyptospira (Gastropoda: Trochacea) from the Permian of the southwestern United States
Authors: Erwin Douglas H.
Published: August 2016

Glyptospira is a small, highly ornamented, turriteliform gastropod found in the Lower Permian of the southwestern United States. Two species, Glyptospira cristulata Chronic and G. arelela Plas, have been previously described from the Kaibab Formation, Arizona, and the Bird Spring Group, Arrow Canyon Range, Nevada, respectively. The genus is most diverse in the Wolfcampian Hueco Formation of West Texas and southern New Mexico and the Colina Limestone of southeastern Arizona. This contribution describes four new species of Glyptospira from the southwestern United States: two bicarinate forms, G. huecoensis and G. turrita, and two tricarinate forms, G. tricostata and G. cingulata.

A phylogenetic analysis of all known species of Glyptospira was performed using qualitative characters for which transformation series could be established and two quantitative characters for which transformation series could not be established. The phylogenetic results provided the best available hypothesis of the evolutionary history of the genus.
Evolutionary convergence and parallelism in crinoid calyx design
Authors: Ausich William I.
Published: August 2016

Eleven basic constructional designs are defined among the Crinoidea. Calyx designs are defined primarily by shape, geometry of plates at the base of the calyx, tegmen shape, fixed calyx plates, number of arms, and nature of radial facets. These calyx designs include the following: multiplated bowls, multiplated bicones, conical mosaics, urns, cylinders, cones, ellipsoids, hands, bowls, bilateral recumbents, and fists. Most crinoid subclasses and orders contain crinoids with several of these designs. This significant convergence and parallelism in calyx design indicates that the morphological evolution of crinoids has been substantially constrained by constructional and fabricational limitations.
The frond architecture ofSphenopteris pottsvillea(White) Gastaldo and Boersma
Authors: Gastaldo Robert A.
Published: August 2016

Recently collected specimens allow a better characterization of the frond architecture ofSphenopteris pottsvillea(White) Gastaldo and Boersma from the Plateau and Warrior Coalfields, Alabama. The bipartite frond consists of a naked petiole of moderate length (>0.3 m) and two pinnule-bearing sections. The angle of rachial bifurcation varies from 35° to 65°, with no one angle of divergence dominating the sample population. Basal exterior lateral rachises develop first, are oblong in outline, and do not possess spine-like prolongations. Lateral rachises develop alternately along each pinnule-bearing section. Pinnule-bearing sections of the described leaf fragment exceed 0.5 m in length, and the dimensions of an entire frond probably approached 2.0 m.
Uppermost Precambrian(?)–Lower Cambrian of mainland Nova Scotia: faunas, depositional environments, and stratigraphic revision
Authors: Landing Ed , Murphy J. Brendan
Published: August 2016

The uppermost Precambrian(?)–Lower Cambrian of the Avalon Zone in the northern Antigonish Highlands is composed of two dissimilar sequences in thrust contact. These include the sandstones and slates of the Doctor's Brook allochthon and the volcanoclastic-rich Malignant Cove authochthon.

Lithostratigraphy of the “Black John Formation” (designation abandoned) in the Doctor's Brook allochthon is comparable to the uppermost Precambrian–Lower Cambrian in eastern Placentia Bay, southeastern Newfoundland, and Cape Breton Island. A unified stratigraphic nomenclature is appropriate in these Avalonian areas. The lower part of the “Black John” is an unconformity-bounded depositional sequence with subaerial rift facies (Rencontre Formation, 178+ m), overlying marine siliciclastic mudstones and fine sandstones (Chapel Island Formation, 59 m), and a quartzite cap (Random Formation, 2.05 m). The Chapel Island Formation has the oldest faunas from mainland Nova Scotia (Watsonella crosbyiZone, lower Placentian Series). A post-Random unconformity known in Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island lies at the Random-Bonavista Group (Cuslett Formation) contact in the upper “Black John Formation.”

Fossiliferous Lower Cambrian limestones and siliciclastic mudstones previously reported from the Malignant Cove autochthon are actually clasts in basalt pebble-dominated slope deposits of the Arbuckle Brook Formation. These clasts were eroded from shallow-marine facies comparable to those in the Doctor's Brook allochthon during local uplift associated with Middle Cambrian(?) extension and mafic volcanism.

Eight species are illustrated from the Placentian and Branchian Series.AnabaritellusMissarzhevsky, 1974, emend. (=SelindeochreaValkov, 1982) is a Lower Cambrian calcareous tube-dwelling metazoan(?) known from tri- through multisulcate conchs that are morphologically intermediate betweenAnabaritesandColeoloides.
Cenomanian ammonites from the condensed deposits of the Helvetic Domain (western Alps, France and Switzerland)
Authors: Delamette M. , Kennedy W. J.
Published: August 2016

The Cenomanian ammonites of the Helvetic Domain (French-Swiss Western Alps) are revised and illustrated for the first time since the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The faunas occur in remarkable condensed hemipelagic glauconite-rich biomicrites that also contain planktic foraminifera and small stromatolites. Thirty-three ammonite species referred to 15 genera are described; the assemblage extends from the lower part of the Lower CenomanianMantelliceras mantelliZone (Neostlingoceras carcitanenseSubzone) to the lower part of the Middle CenomanianAcanthoceras rhotomagenseZone (Turrilites costatusSubzone). The assemblage comprises 57 percent trachyostracous forms, 41 percent heteromorphs of the standard N.W. European sequence, and 2 percent leiostracous forms, which inhabited an external shelf biome. The biogeographic affinity of this fauna is essentially cosmopolitan (69 percent), but 31 percent of the specimens belong to the European Boreal biota, with no Tethyan taxa.
Permian trilobites from the San Andres Formation, New Mexico, and their relationship to species from the Kaibab Formation of Arizona
Authors: Brezinski David K.
Published: August 2016

A new genus, Novoameura, is erected with the type species Anisopyge mckeei Cisne. Delaria macclintocki Cisne from the Kaibab Formation of Arizona is herein regarded as a junior synonym of Delaria sevilloidia (Chamberlain), which was originally described from the Phosphoria Formation of Wyoming. The Leonardian (Permian) San Andres Formation of the Sacramento Mountains, central New Mexico, contains trilobite species known both from the Kaibab Formation of Arizona and the Phosphoria Formation of Wyoming, but lacks trilobite species known from the nearby Permian of West Texas.
The Van Straelen Decapod Collection, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles
Authors: Feldmann Rodney M. , Dhondt Annie V.
Published: August 2016

There are relatively few large collections of decapod crustacean fossils in the museums of the world. Most of them are well known and serve as depositories for numerous type and figured specimens that are documented in the literature. The purpose of this note is to call attention to the extensive decapod crustacean collection in the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels–a collection that is largely attributable to the efforts of the late Dr. Victor Van Straelen.
Paleobiology of a Neoproterozoic tidal flat/lagoonal complex: the Draken Conglomerate Formation, Spitsbergen
Authors: Knoll A. H. , Swett K. , Mark J.
Published: August 2016

Carbonates and rare shales of the ca 700–800 Ma old Draken Conglomerate Formation, northeastern Spitsbergen, preserve a record of environmental variation within a Neoproterozoic tidal flat/lagoon complex. Forty-two microfossil taxa have been recognized in Draken rocks, and of these, 39 can be characterized in terms of their paleoenvironmental distributions along a gradient from the supratidal zone to permanently submerged lagoons. Supratidal to subtidal trends include: increasing microbenthic diversity, increasing abundance and diversity of included allochthonous (presumably planktonic) elements, decreasing sheath thickness of mat-building organisms (with significant taphonomic consequences), and an increasing sediment/fossil ratio in fossiliferous rocks. Five principal and several minor biofacies can be distinguished. The paleoecological resolution obtainable in the Draken Conglomerate Formation rivals that achieved for most Phanerozoic fossil deposits. It documents the complexity and diversity of Proterozoic coastal ecosystems and indicates that both environment and taphonomy need to be taken into explicit consideration in attempts to understand evolutionary trends in the early fossil record. Three species,Coniunctiophycus majorinum, Myxococcoides distola, andM. chlorelloidea, are described as new;Siphonophycus robustum, Siphonophycus septatum, andGorgonisphaeridium maximumare proposed as new combinations.
Three additional thalamid sponges from the Upper Permian reefs of Djebel Tebaga (Tunisia)
Authors: Senowbari-Daryan Baba , Rigby J. Keith
Published: August 2016

Three more thalamid sponge species are described from Upper Permian reefs of Djebel Tebaga, Tunisia. Intrasporeocoelia hubeiensis Fan and Zhang, 1985, Rhabdactinia depressa Rigby, Fan, and Zhang, 1989, and Glomocystospongia gracilis Rigby, Fan, and Zhang, 1989, are now known from a few Tunisian specimens.

Monaxon spicules are common within the rigid, diagenetically altered, aragonitic skeleton of Glomocystospongia gracilis Rigby, Fan, and Zhang, 1989. Spicules are common as vertical elements in walls of tubes between the vertical series of cyst-like chambers and less common in the chamber walls where they are parallel to the tube walls but project out into the chambers.

Intrasporeocoelia has been reported from Permian rocks of the Sosio Valley in Sicily, and therefore from the Western Tethys. However, the species of Rhabdactinia and Glomocystospongia reported here have been known, until now, only from the Permian of China; thus, the Djebel Tebaga locality in southern Tunisia represents the first known occurrence of these latter sponges in the Western Tethyan realm.

Two additional specimens of Tristratocoelia rhythmica Senowbari-Daryan and Rigby, 1988, have also been found. They allow further definition of characteristics of this sponge, which was initially described from a single specimen from Djebel Tebaga.
The stem and holdfast of Amygdalocystites florealis Billings, 1854 (Paracrinoidea): lifestyle implications
Authors: Guensburg Thomas E.
Published: August 2016

Most fossil echinoderms are unknown as complete skeletons because they have easily disarticulated appendages. This is the case of paracrinoids, which have a ruggedly constructed theca but fragile brachioles and attachment structures. In their monographic review ofparacrinoids, Parsley and Mintz (1975) figured only one species (Comarocystites punctatus Billings, 1854) showing essentially complete skeletal morphology. Paracrinoids have no good modern analogues and therefore the task of evaluating their lifestyles is complicated.
Automobility in Tabulata, Rugosa, and extant scleractinian analogues: Stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution of Paleozoic mobile corals
Authors: Plusquellec Yves , Webb Gregory E. , Hoeksema Bert W.
Published: August 2016

Freeliving corals capable of automobility (e.g., lateral migration) were rare during Paleozoic time, but some species within the tabulate generaProcterodictyum, Procteria(Granulidictyum),P.(Pachyprocteria),PalaeacisandSmythina, and the rugose generaCombophyllum, andBaryphyllum, have morphologic characters that suggest they were capable of such self-directed movement. The rugose coralsGymnophyllumandHadrophyllum, sensu stricto may have exhumed and righted themselves. No single morphological character is diagnostic for an automobile habit, but the following characters appear to be important indicators: 1) lack of an external attachment surface; 2) concentric skeletal accretion; 3) discoid corallum shape; 4) concavo-convex, plano-convex, and, less commonly, biconvex corallum profile; and 5) small, lightweight corallum. Additionally, the occurrence of corallites on the base of the corallum (hypocorallites) is a good indicator of automobility in freeliving corals, but the character is so far known only inProcterodictyum.All known fossil automobile taxa appear to have inhabited relatively quiet environments on muddy or silty, soft substrates.

The earliest known automobile corals were early Emsian (Devonian)Procterodictyum.Paleozoic automobile corals were most abundant during Devonian time, withProcterodictyum, Procteria(Granulidictyum), andCombophyllumdistributed in a narrow longitudinal band in the southern hemisphere on both sides of the Rheic Ocean. Carboniferous and Permian automobile taxa (Palaeacispartim,SmythinaandBaryphyllum) were less diverse, but more cosmopolitan. Throughout Paleozoic time, the vast majority of automobile corals was confined to within 40 degrees of the paleoequator. However, additional research will be required before coral automobility can be used to constrain paleolatitude independently.
The deep-water brachiopodDicoelosiaKing, 1850, from the Early Silurian tropical carbonate shelf of Anticosti Island, eastern Canada
Authors: Jin Jisuo , Copper Paul
Published: August 2016

Dicoelosiaoccurs in two deep water benthic shelly assemblages on an Early Silurian (uppermost Aeronian,Stimulograptus sedgwickiiZone) carbonate ramp to shelf, within the 25 m thick bluish-grey mudstone of the Richardson Member in the middle Jupiter Formation, Anticosti Island, Québec.Dicoelosia dauphinensisnew species is erected on the basis of its relatively large, elongate shell, with a concavo-convex lateral profile, moderately wide, planoconvex lobes and subparallel lateral margins.Dicoelosia dauphinensisfirst occurs in aGotatrypa-DicoelosiaCommunity, in which it constitutes about 7 percent of the individuals within sampled populations. This is replaced about 2 m up section by aResserella-DicoelosiaCommunity, whereD. dauphinensismakes up 22 percent of the individuals preserved on single bedding planes. Subsequently,Dicoelosiabecomes a rare component of theStegerhynchus-TriplesiaCommunity in a shallowing-upward succession of the upper Richardson Member. It is in this upper Richardson shelly community thatStimulograptus sedgwickiiis locally common, together with in situ brachiopod nests ofEocoelia, Triplesia, andLissatrypaat the upper Jupiter Cliff section. The water depth estimated for theResserella-DicoelosiaCommunity is between 100-120 m, below the normal depth range of theClorindaCommunity (BA5) on Anticosti, in a distal shelf setting about 80-100 km offshore from the Laurentia paleocontinent, on the west side of the Iapetus Ocean. The interpretation of water depth is based on the facts that, 1)Dicoelosia-rich communities are confined to strata, which lack shallow water sedimentological evidence such as thick calcarenites and hummocky cross stratification, 2)Dicoelosiadoes not occur with shallower water taxa seen in the overlyingClorindaandStricklandiacommunities associated with cyclocrinitid algae, corals and stromatoporoids in the Cybèle Member, and 3)Dicoelosiaoccurs only in the deeper water sections of the Richardson Member, some 10-15 km basinwards from mid-shelf shallower Richardson facies of the Anticosti Basin. Thus, theDicoelosia-rich communities are interpreted to mark a maximum flooding surface within the distal shelf to ramp Llandovery succession of Anticosti Island.
Ammonites and inoceramid bivalves from close to the middle-upper Albian Boundary around Fort Worth, Texas
Authors: Kennedy W. J. , Gale A. S. , Hancock J. M. , Crampton J. S. , Cobban W. A.
Published: August 2016

The Goodland/Comanche Peak Limestone, Kiamichi Formation and basal Duck Creek Limestones around Fort Worth Texas yield a limited number of cosmopolitan ammonite and inoceramid bivalve taxa that allow precise correlation with the sequence that has been used as a standard in northwest Europe. The upper part of the Goodland/Comanche Peak Limestones yields species ofDipolocerasthat show the base of the Upper Albian substage, provisionally defined as the first appearance ofD. cristatum(Brongniart, 1822), to lie within this unit.Brancocerasaff.crickiSpath, 1934,Mortoniceras (Deiradoceras) beloventernew species, andActinoceramuscf.concentricus(Parkinson, 1819)parabolicusCrampton, 1996a, co-occurs withD. cristatumin the Comanche Peak Limestone. The Kiamichi Formation yields rareMortoniceras (Mortoniceras) pricei(Spath, 1922),M. (Deiradoceras) prerostratumSpath, 1921,M. (D.) bipunctatumSpath, 1933, andActinoceramus sulcatus(Parkinson, 1819) morphotypes that allow correlation with the EuropeanHysteroceras orbignyiandHysteroceras varicosumsubzones of theMortoniceras inflatumzone. The basal Duck Creek Limestone yieldsMortoniceras (Deiradoceras)sp. andHysterocerascf.varicosum(J. de C. Sowerby, 1824), and can also be correlated with thevaricosumsubzone.
Redescription ofAlokistocare subcoronatum(Hall and Whitfield, 1877), the type species ofAlokistocare, and the status of Alokistocaridae Resser, 1939B (Ptychopariida: Trilobita, Middle Cambrian)
Authors: Sundberg Frederick A.
Published: August 2016

Alokistocare subcoronatum(Hall and Whitfield, 1877) is the type species ofAlokistocareLorenz, 1906, the nominal genus for the diverse Middle Cambrian Alokistocaridae Resser, 1939b. New collections from theEhmaniellaBiozone contain cranidia, librigenae, hypostomes, rostral plates, thoracic segments, and pygidia, which allow a more complete understanding of the morphological range and character of this important species.

Cladistic analyses using this new information aboutA. subcoronatumsuggest that: 1) Ehmaniellidae Sundberg, 1994, is synonymous with Alokistocaridae; 2) Alokistocaridae is a monophylectic clade and not synonymous with Papyriaspididae Whitehouse, 1939; 3)PseudoalokistocareSundberg, 1994, is synonymous withAlokistocare; and 4) Taxa previously assigned to the older“Alokistocare”/Amecephalusgroup (PlagiuratoGlossopleurabiochrons) form a separate clade and should not be included inAlokistocareor the Alokistocaridae. These older species are assigned toAmecephalusWalcott, 1924, which is restricted to the Delamaran Stage. Alokistocaridae as recognized here is restricted to the Marjuman Stage.

A morphometric analysis ofAlokistocare subcoronatumshows minor but significant differences among collections, indicating population differences. In addition, the cranidium displays both positive and negative allometric growth as well as isometric growth. Allometric growth is present in both meraspid and holaspid stages. The pygidium shows only isometric growth.
Ordovician cheirurid trilobites from the Argentine Precordillera
Authors: Edgecombe Gregory D. , Chatterton Brian D. E. , Vaccari Norberto E. , Waisfeld Beatriz G.
Published: August 2016

New cheirurid trilobite species from the Las Aguaditas Formation in San Juan Province include the LlanvirnMacrogrammus rafi, and the Early CaradocCeraurinella zhoui, Nieszkowskia jakei, andN. yongyii.Precordilleran species, such as the LlanvirnMacrogrammus penginew species from the Gualcamayo Formation, reinforce sinoparapilekiinid affinities for the poorly knownMacrogrammusWhittard, 1966, although the monophyly of Sinoparapilekiini requires corroboration. The ontogeny ofCeraurinella zhouiconfirms the presence of early protaspid stages for this genus (and Cheirurinae in general). Rare cheirurids include species ofHeliomeroides, Pateraspis, and an additional acanthoparyphinid.
The early evolution of the Tyrannosauridae in Asia
Authors: Manabe M.
Published: August 2016

An isolated premaxillary tooth of a tyrannosaurid from the Lower Cretaceous section of the Tetori Group, Central Honshu, Japan, complements Siamotyrannus, which is based upon an incomplete postcranium for existence of tyrannosaurids in the Early Cretaceous of Asia. The occurrence of a tyrannosaurid tooth in the Japanese early Early Cretaceous further supports the possibility that tyrannosaurids originated during the Early Cretaceous in Asia and migrated to North America when the two continents were connected via a land bridge during the early Late Cretaceous. Thickening of the premaxillary teeth might have predated the increase in body size in tyrannosaurid evolution.
Probable microvertebrates, vertebrate-like fossils, and weird things from the Wisconsin Ordovician
Authors: Clark David L. , Sorenson John K. , Ladd Andrea N. , Freiheit James R.
Published: August 2016

Phosphatic microfossils including probable microvertebrates occur in the Early and Middle Ordovician rocks of Wisconsin. The eight types described here include the probable ostracoderm Anatolepis, and six unidentified but possible vertebrate fragments as well as the palaeoscolecid worm Milaculum. These fossils are rare, but at two localities several specimens per kg were recovered over significant stratigraphic intervals. The high concentration of certain fossils in the lower part of the Galena Group suggests that there is stratigraphic value in their description. Identification of similar material or of articulated assemblages of these fossils may eventually lead to identification of biologic affinities.
Pectinate claws in decapod crustaceans: Convergence in four lineages
Authors: Tshudy Dale , Sorhannus Ulf
Published: August 2016

Decapod crustaceans bearing major claws with long, slender fingers armed with pectinate (comblike) denticles have been described in six genera arrayed within three families (Polychelidae, Nephropidae, and Ctenochelidae) in three infraorders (Palinura, Astacidea, and Anomura, respectively). Only one or a few genera in each infraorder exhibit this claw form. The pectinate claw form is confidently interpreted as having evolved independently in four lineages: once in the Polychelidae, once in the Ctenochelidae, and twice in the Nephropidae. Three of the lineages are known from both the fossil record and modern seas; the polychelid form is known only from Jurassic rocks. Convergence in this claw form developed to the extent that isolated fossil claws (i.e., claws without associated bodies) have commonly been misidentified at high taxonomic levels. The fossil record confirms what seems intuitively reasonable: that claw morphology is prone to convergence and should not, by itself, be given a high degree of taxonomic importance.
Coral fauna of the Imo Formation, uppermost Chesterian, north-central Arkansas
Authors: Webb Gregory E. , Sutherland Patrick K.
Published: August 2016

The Chesterian Imo Formation of northern Arkansas represents the highest Mississippian strata present on the Ozark platform and contains a unique, although sparse, coral fauna that is transitional between Mississippian and Pennsylvanian assemblages. Of the four most abundant genera represented, Lophophyllidium, Bradyphyllum, and Tectamichelinia are characteristic of Pennsylvanian assemblages and only Amplexizaphrentis is a typical Mississippian form. The fauna is interpreted as part of a shallow-water, muddy bottom community. Of the 11 rugosans and single tabulate coral described, the following are new: Bradyphyllum lesliense n. sp., Amplexizaphrentis maneri n. sp., Lophophyllidium imoense n. sp., and Tectamichelinia mangeri n. gen. and sp.
Orthoceratid cephalopods from the Early Devonian Fukuji Formation of Gifu Prefecture, central Japan
Authors: Niko Shuji
Published: August 2016

Gedinnian (Early Devonian) orthoceratid cephalopods were previously not well known in Japan. Five species are described from the Fukuji Formation of Gifu Prefecture, central Japan: Michelinoceras yamakoshii n. sp., Michelinoceras yoshikiense n. sp., Plagiostomaceras? sp., Polygrammoceras sp., and Metaspyroceras insignis n. sp. Growth and position of the cameral deposits in Michelinoceras indicate that the deposits precipitated from cameral fluids and living Michelinoceras maintained the shell horizontally in swimming orientation.
A new species of the clypeasteroid echinoid Astrodapsis from the Miocene Isidro Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Authors: Squires Richard L. , Demetrion Robert A.
Published: August 2016

The clypeasteroid echinoid Astrodapsis bajasurensis n. sp. is described from upper middle Miocene beds of the Isidro Formation near the mouth of Arroyo Mezquital on the Pacific coast of north-central Baja California Sur, Mexico. The new species is the first occurrence of Astrodapsis outside of California and extends the southern limit of the genus by 1,100 km.
New data on the ceratopsian dinosaurPentaceratops sternbergiiOsborn from New Mexico
Authors: Lehman Thomas M.
Published: August 2016

Several heretofore undescribed fragmentary specimens of the horned dinosaurPentaceratops sternbergii(Ornithischia: Ceratopsia) reveal previously unknown features of the skull and extend the known range of morphological variation in this species.Pentaceratops sternbergiipossesses a well-developed postfrontal fontanelle and a braincase structure similar to that of other chasmosaurines. The posterior parietal margin bears a pair of upturned epoccipitals on either side of the midline, similar to the short hook-like processes inAnchiceratops.The stratigraphic range ofPentaceratopsspans the Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian but, contrary to previous reports, cannot reliably be extended into the Late Maastrichtian.
Barysoma lenzii (Synapsida: Dicynodontia) from the Middle Triassic of Brazil, a synonym of Stahleckeria potens
Authors: Lucas Spencer G.
Published: August 2016

Huene (1935) first reported dicynodonts from the Triassic Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil. Most common are specimens of Dinodontosaurus from localities near Chiniquà (Chiniquà local fauna) and near Candelaria (Candelaria local fauna) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The other Middle Triassic dicynodont found near Chiniquà is the huge (about 3 m body length) Stahleckeria potens, and an equally large Middle Triassic dicynodont, Barysoma lenzii, is known from near Candelaria. A fourth, supposed Santa Maria Formation dicynodont, Jachaleria candelariensis (Araújo and Gonzaga, 1990), is actually from a younger, Upper Triassic, horizon of the Caturrita Formation near Candelaria (Bonaparte, 1982). Here, I argue that Barysoma lenzii is a junior subjective synonym of Stahleckeria potens and discuss the biochronological significance of this synonymy.
Vucetichia (Gondwanatheria) is a junior synonym of Ferugliotherium (Multituberculata)
Authors: Krause David W.
Published: August 2016

Ferugliotherium windhauseni Bonaparte, 1986, the only species of the genus Ferugliotherium, was based on an isolated m2 and placed in a new family, the Ferugliotheriidae, which was tentatively assigned to the order Multituberculata, subclass Allotheria (Bonaparte, 1986a). Additional specimens subsequently referred to F. windhauseni by Bonaparte et al. (1989), Bonaparte (1990), and Krause et al. (1992) include isolated upper and lower incisors, anterior upper and lower premolars, a complete M1, and an anterior fragment of m1. These remains, if correctly associated, serve to confirm the multituberculate affinities of Ferugliotherium, the first known multituberculate from Gondwanaland (Krause et al., 1992).
A revised chitinozoan classification
Authors: Paris Florentin , Grahn Yngve , Nestor Viiu , Lakova Iskra
Published: August 2016

The successful definition of chitinozoan genera depends primarily on the precision of the criteria used. A standardized morphological terminology based upon details from scanning electron microscope observations of the most representative taxa bearing these characters is therefore proposed. The 143 genera, or subgenera, described so far in the literature are reviewed in order to exclude invalid taxa and obvious junior synonyms. Particular attention is paid to preventing the overlap of generic definitions of the 56 genera ultimately retained. A brief account of the diagnostic features and stratigraphic range of selected genera is given, and basic information concerning the type material of these genera is listed. Finally, a suprageneric classification of the whole Chitinozoa group based on diagnostic features whose hierarchy is established on statistical and evolutionary grounds, is given. One new subfamily, Pogonochitininae, three new genera, Baltochitina, Hyalochitina, and Saharochitina, and a new species Baltochitina nolvaki, are defined. The subspecies Fungochitina fungiformis spinifera is elevated to a specific rank.
Lower Carboniferous brachiopods from Sierra de Almeida, northern Chile
Authors: Isaacson Peter E. , Dutro J. Thomas
Published: August 2016

A low-diversity brachiopod assemblage from the upper member of the Zorritas Formation in the Sierra de Almeida, northern Chile, further confirms the presence of Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) strata in that region. Key taxa includeSchuchertella? sp.,Chilenochonetes annanew genus and species,Paurorhyncha chavelensis(Amos), andSeptosyringothyris covacevichinew species. Other elements of the assemblage, includingParaconulariasp.,Posidoniellasp.,Bellerophon (Bellerophon)sp.,Eocanites sernageominus,andImitoceras? sp. support this Early Carboniferous age assignment. Local distribution of taxa suggests small-scale environmental control. Rhynchonelloid and syringothyroid shells, many articulated, occur in lenticular sandstone bodies that were deposited in deltaic distributary channels; chonetids, schuchertellids and mollusc-bearing, iron-rich concretions are found in siltstones and mudstones that reflect interdistributary quiet-water settings and possibly a delta-front setting. Certain elements of this fauna are also present in northwestern Argentina and Peru, indicating a regional nearshore clastic regime. The closest correlation elsewhere is with the Tournaisian faunas of southeastern Australia, although analogous big-shell assemblages are found in lower Mississippian clastic strata of the central Appalachians, Ohio, and Indiana.
Trace fossil assemblages reflecting stressed environments in the Middle Jurassic Carmel Seaway of central Utah
Authors: De Gibert J. M. , Ekdale A. A.
Published: August 2016

The shallow-marine Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) in central Utah hosts low-diversity trace fossil assemblages, includingArenicolites, Chondrites, Gyrochorte, Lockeia, Planolites, Protovirgularia, Rosselia, Scalarituba, Skolithos, Taenidium,andTeichichnus.Non specialized ichnotaxa with a remarkably small burrow size dominate the assemblages. The amount of bioturbation is lower than expected in comparison with modern shallow-marine carbonate environments. These ichnological features also are significantly different from those of other Jurassic shallow-marine carbonates. The trace fossils represent an environmentally stressed benthic community in a marginal marine, restricted setting, with salinities above normal marine and with depletion of oxygen in pore waters.
Anticostiodus, a new multielement conodont genus from the Lower Silurian, Anticosti Island, Quebec
Authors: Zhang Shunxin , Barnes Christopher R.
Published: August 2016

The multielement conodont genus, Anticostiodus new genus, is described based on discrete elements from the Lower Silurian (early Aeronian) Gun River Formation of Anticosti Island, Quebec. The apparatus includes pectiniform Pa, Pb, Pc and Pd elements and ramiform M, Sa, Sb and Sc elements. Two new species are included under the new genus, Anticostiodus fahraeusi (type species) and Anticostiodus boltoni. Both species occur near the base of Distomodus staurognathoides Zone and in an open subtidal environment.
The genus Vesperispira (Gastropoda: Pleurotomarioidea) from the Permian of two displaced terranes, western United States
Authors: Yancey Thomas E. , Strong Ellen E. , Hanger Rex A.
Published: August 2016

Early permian strata in two displaced terranes of the McCloud belt contain a small biconic gastropod of distinctive appearance, Vesperispira humboldtiana new genus and species. This trochiform gastropod has a strongly oblique aperture with interrupted peristome, a small sinus on the peripheral margin of the shell, and lamellose shell. This gastropod is an easily recognized biogeographic indicator of the McCloud province biota, because of its lamellose ornamentation. Occurrence of this gastropod in strata of the Pine Forest Range of northwestern Nevada provides additional evidence for including rock units of the Black Rock terrane within the McCloud Belt, a grouping of several displaced terranes along the western margin of North America (Stevens et al., 1990) that contain fossil biotas rich in endemic species.
The Early Mississippian (Osagean) ammonoid Dzhaprakoceras (Cephalopoda) from Utah
Authors: Petersen Morris S. , Korn Dieter , Kullmann Jürgen
Published: August 2016

The Mississippian ammonoid genus Dzhaprakoceras Popov, 1965, well known in the eastern hemisphere, is reported from the Delle Member of the Deseret Limestone at Flux and Lakeside Mountains, Tooele County, Utah. This is the first report of the genus in western North America. The ammonoids, D. gordoni n. sp. and D. djaprakense (Librovitch, 1927) occur with mehli—Lower texanus Zone conodonts indicating a middle Osagean (earliest Viséan) age.
A new arthropod Pygmaclypeatus daziensis from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, South China
Authors: Zhang Xingliang , Han Jian , Shu Degan
Published: August 2016

The early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstatte, generally regarded as late Atdabanian (Qian and Bengtson, 1989; Bengtson et al., 1990), has become celebrated for perhaps the earliest biota of soft-bodied organisms known from the fossil record and has proven to be critical to our understanding of early metazoan evolution. The Sirius Passet fauna from Peary Land, North Greenland, another important repository of soft-bodied and poorly sclerotized fossils, was also claimed as Early Cambrian (Conway Morris et al., 1987; Budd, 1995). The exact stratigraphic position of the Sirius Passet fauna (Buen Formation) is still uncertain, although the possibility of late Atdabanian age was proposed (Vidal and Peel, 1993). Recent work dates it in the “Nevadella” Biozone (Budd and Peel, 1998). It therefore appears to be simultaneous with or perhaps slightly younger than Chengjiang Lagerstatte, Eoredlichia Biozone (Zhuravlev, 1995). The Emu Bay Shale of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, has long been famous as a source of magnificent specimens of the trilobites Redlichia takooensis and Hsunaspis bilobata. It is additionally important as the only site in Australia so far to yield a Burgess-Shale-type biota (Glaessner, 1979; Nedin, 1992). The Emu Bay Shale was considered late Early Cambrian in age (Daily, 1956; Öpik, 1975). But Zhang et al.(1980) reassessed its age based on data from the Chinese Early Cambrian. The occurrence of Redlichia takooensis and closely related species of Hsunaspis indicates an equivalence to the Tsanglangpuian in the Chinese sequence, and the contemporary South Australia fauna correlate with the Botomian of Siberia (Bengtson et al., 1990). Thus the Emu Bay Shale is younger than the upper Atdabanian Chengjiang Lagerstatte, Chiungchussuian.
Plicatoceras, a new lamellorthoceratid cephalopod genus from the Gedinnian (Early Devonian) of central Japan
Authors: Niko Shuji
Published: August 2016

A new lamellorthoceratid genus, Plicatoceras, is defined on the basis of Plicatoceras nishidai n. sp. from the early Gedinnian shale of the Fukuji Formation in central Japan. The new genus is the earliest known member of the Lamellorthoceratidae and is the first record of a lamellorthoceratid cephalopod from East Asia.
Conodont paleontology of the Providence Limestone Member of the Dugger Formation (Pennsylvanian, Desmoinesian) in the southern part of the Illinois Basin
Authors: Brown Lewis M. , Rexroad Carl B. , Eggert Donald L. , Horowitz Alan S.
Published: August 2016

The Providence Limestone member of the Dugger Formation in Indiana and its lithologic correlatives in the southern part of the Illinois Basin are thin lime mudstones to packstones lying stratigraphically between the Herrin and Hymera Coal Members of the Dugger Formation and their equivalents. The purposes of the study are to describe and correlate the Providence conodont fauna and to apply biofacies analysis and petrographic study to interpreting the paleoenvironments.

Providence conodonts are dominated by representatives of the Idiognathodus-Streptognathodus plexus. Hindeodus is abundant; Neognathodus is common; and Idioprioniodus, Adetognathus, and Diplognathodus are common only in some sections. Aethotaxis is a minor constituent.

Conodont biofacies reflect a shallow, nearshore, low- to moderate-energy marine environment. The Idiognathodus-Streptognathodus plexus indicates quiet to moderately elevated energy levels. Hindeodus replaces part of the Idiognathodus-Streptognathodus plexus in higher energy conditions. Diplognathodus has an affinity for low to slightly elevated energy conditions. Migration during ontogeny to quite, organic-rich water from a more open, slightly higher energy environment is indicated for Streptognathodus oppletus.

Assignment to the Neognathodus dilatus-N. roundyi zone indicates a middle Desmoinesian age. The new species Diplognathodus indianaensis is morphologically intermediate between the early Desmoinesian D. coloradoensis and the late Desmoinesian D. illinoisensis and allows refinement of a Diplognathodus-based zonation.
Limnopus trackways from the Conemaugh Group (Late Pennsylvanian), southern West Virginia
Authors: Martino Ronald L.
Published: August 2016

Abundant and well-preserved tetrapod footprints have been discovered in the Glenshaw Formation (Lower Conemaugh Group) in Wayne County, West Virginia. The tracks occur along at least three horizons within a 30-cm-thick stratigraphic interval about 15 m (50 ft) above the Brush Creek Limestone; they are of Missourian age. The tracks are preserved mainly as casts on the underside of thin-bedded, ripple cross-laminated sandstones and less commonly as molds in intervening dark-gray shales. Associated body fossils include Spirorbis worm tubes and washed-in plant debris. Facies characteristics indicate the tracks were formed along the margins of an ephemeral lake in a flood basin setting adjacent to delta plain fluviodeltaic channel systems. Short-lived lacustrine conditions were likely to have resulted from a seasonal tropical to subtropical climate.

Most of the tracks can be assigned to the ichnogenus Limnopus, making them one of the earliest known occurrences. At least five trackways are discernible with an external width ranging from 320 to 400 mm. Limnopus glenshawensis, a new ichnospecies, is herein proposed and various morphologic and locomotion parameters are quantified. Mean values include stride/manus, 407 mm; stride/pes, 411 mm; oblique pace/manus, 313 mm; oblique pace/pes, 317 mm; pace angle/manus, 82.4 degrees; pace angle/pes, 80.5 degrees; glenoacetabular distance, 329 mm; manus length, 87.2 mm; manus width, 104.2 mm; pes length, 121.4 mm; pes width, 112.7 mm. The tracemaker was most likely an eryopoid amphibian with a total length of slightly over 1 m.
Patterns of reef growth in the Middle Devonian Edgecliff Member of the Onondaga Formation of New York and Ontario, Canada, and their ecological significance
Authors: Wolosz Thomas H.
Published: August 2016

Reefs of the Middle Devonian Edgecliff Member of the Onondaga Formation in New York and Ontario, Canada, contain three distinct paleocommunities: the Phaceloid Colonial Rugosan Paleocommunity, the Favositid/Crinoidal Sandstone Paleocommunity, and the rare Delicate Branching Tabulate Paleocommunity. The reefs may be classified as mounds or composite structures based on the degree of intergrowth of the rugosan and favositid paleocommunities. Composite structures may be further subdivided into mound/bank, thicket/bank, and ridge/bank structures based on the degree of development of the rugosan paleocommunity. Geographic distribution of reef types suggests that these patterns of reef growth were controlled by water depth.
Systematics and paleobiogeography of Late TriassicGryphaea(Bivalvia) from the North American Cordillera
Authors: Mcroberts Christopher A.
Published: August 2016

Evaluation of previously undescribed collections of Late TriassicGryphaeafrom the North American Cordillera increases the temporal range and geographic distribution of the genus.Gryphaea(Gryphaea)arcuataeformisKiparisova,G.cf.G.(Gryphaea)keilhauiBöhm, and a new species,G.(Gryphaea)nevadensis, occur in lower Carnian to upper Norian strata from Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, and Nevada. The distribution is mostly primary with respect to the Upper Triassic North American Craton, and requires long-distance larval dispersal along the latitude of far-eastern Panthalassa. Unlike most modern oysters, the distribution of these Triassic gryphaeids may have been restricted to cool and deeper water environments.

An early Carnian age ofGryphaea(Gryphaea)arcuataeformisplaces this species as the oldest knownGryphaea. When combined with late Carnian and Norian occurrences from the North and South American Cordillera, these data indicate that a low-latitude origin for the genus cannot be overlooked. Gryphaeids survived the end-Triassic extinction event presumably by living in refugia.
Tanimasanoria (Mollusca: Gastropoda): a replacement name for Taniella Kase, 1990, non Finlay and Marwick, 1937
Authors: Kase Tomoki
Published: August 2016

M. Griffin (Division Paleozoologia Invertebrados, Museo de la Plata, Argentin) and P. Bouchet (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris) have kindly brought to my attention the fact that the genus name Taniella Kase (1990, p. 573; type species Taniella japonica Kase, 1990) is preoccupied by Taniella Finlay and Marwick, 1937, p. 48 (type species Natica notocenica Finlay, 1924). Consequently, a new name, Tanimasanoria, is proposed as a replacement for Taniella Kase, 1990. It is named in honor of Masanori Tani, for years of collecting the Izumi gastropods.
The new Mississippian conodont genusSynclydognathus
Authors: Rexroad Carl B. , Varker W. John
Published: August 2016

Following the publication of papers by Bergström and Sweet (1966) and Schopf (1966), a gradual shift from the use of discrete element taxonomy to multielement taxonomy has occurred in describing conodonts. Although most workers now apply multielement taxonomy wherever possible, systematics have not been updated for many of the conodont faunas described earlier, and as a result the use of multielement taxonomy still is far from universal.