bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A new arthropod,Meristosoma:More fallout from the Cambrian explosion
Authors: Robison R. A. , Wiley E. O.
Published: August 2016

New Middle Cambrian fossils demonstrate unusual tagmosis within the Arthropoda. Rare specimens from the Spence Shale of northern Utah are assigned toMeristosoma paradoxumn. gen. and sp. One specimen from the Marjum Formation of west-central Utah is assigned toMeristosomasp. These taxa are further assigned to the new family Meristosomatidae.Meristosoma, which reached 17 cm in length, is characterized by a short anterior shield, a long thorax with 36 or more articulating segments, and a posterior shield with as many as 11 fused segments. Its short anterior shield and long, multisegmented thorax have a myriapodan aspect, butMeristosomadiffers from all myriapods by its posterior tagmosis. In dorsal view, its posterior shield is most like that of some macropygous trilobites, butMeristosomadiffers from all trilobites by having a shorter anterior shield, ringed thoracic segments without trilobation, and no ventral doublure. Phylogenetic analysis indicates thatMeristosomais a primitive and basal arthropod. A more precise taxonomic assignment is hampered by a lack of information about its limb morphology.
Systematics and functional morphology ofIberonepa romeralin. gen. and sp., Belostomatidae from the Spanish Lower Cretaceous (Insecta, Heteroptera)
Authors: Martinez-Delclos Xavier , Nel Andre , Popov Yuri A.
Published: August 2016

Iberonepa romeralin. gen. and sp. is the most abundant insect species found in Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) lithographic limestones at “Las Hoyas,” Spain. External features of this species indicate that it should be assigned to the family Belostomatidae, with a similarity to the speciesStygeonepa foersteriPopov, 1971, which was found in the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) lithographic limestones of Solnhofen. This article discusses the relation between these two species and subfamilies of the Recent Belostomatidae. The new “Las Hoyas” species is described from adult specimens and from molts of nymphs, these differing only slightly from one another. The abundant number of specimens and the generally exceptional preservation have allowed interpretation of its probable natatory behavior on the basis of the functional morphology of the insect's legs.
Middle Devonian conodonts from the Wadleigh Limestone, southeastern Alaska
Authors: Savage Norman M.
Published: August 2016

Conodonts from two localities on the western shore of Alberto Island, southeastern Alaska, includePolygnathus alexanderensisn. sp.,P. angustipennatus, P. borealisn. sp.,P. praetrigonicusn. sp.,P. robusticostatus, P. pseudofoliatus, P. linguiformis linguiformisgamma form of Bultynck,P. parawebbibeta form of Chatterton,P. angusticostatus, P. costatus costatus, Polygnathussp. B of Savage, 1977,Tortodus kockelianus australis, andT. kockelianus kockelianus.The faunas are considered to be of middle to late Eifelian (kockelianusZone) age. On Prince of Wales Island, just north of Staney Creek, exposures of Wadleigh Limestone include the conodontsPolygnathus trigonicus, P. kennettensis, P. alexanderensis, P. angustipennatus, P. parawebbibeta form,P. eiflius, P. linguiformis linguiformisgamma form,P. borealis, P. angusticostatus, P. robusticostatus, P. costatus costatus, P. pseudofoliatus, Tortodus kockelianus australis, andT. kockelianus kockelianus, also suggesting a middle to late Eifelian (kockelianusZone) age. Conodonts from the west end of the easternmost of the Alberto Islands includePolygnathus linguiformis linguiformisgamma form,P. parawebbibeta form,P. xylus ensensis, andOzarkodina brevis, indicating a late Eifelian to early Givetian (ensensistovarcusZones) age. The presence ofPolygnathus kennettensis, P. parawebbibeta form, andP. borealissuggests a biogeographic affinity with other parts of western North America during Eifelian time.
Megacerops kuwagatarhinus n. sp., an unusual brontothere (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) with distally forked horns
Authors: Mader Bryn J. , Alexander John P.
Published: August 2016

A new species of Megacerops, M. kuwagatarhinus, is described from deposits belonging to the White River Group in southeastern Montana. Megacerops kuwagatarhinus is distinguished from all other species of Megacerops by the peculiar morphology of the horns, which are bifurcated distally into two well-developed branches. Two specimens from the Hunter Quarry of Saskatchewan, Canada, also share this horn morphology and are referred to the species.
Silurian trilobites from southwestern Alaska
Authors: Adrain Jonathan M. , Chatterton Brian D. E. , Blodgett Robert B.
Published: August 2016

The first Silurian trilobites to be described from Alaska are of late Llandovery (Telychian) age. They occur with original cuticle intact in a white biosparite. Seven species have been identified, includingParacybantyx occidentalisn. sp.,Ligiscus smithin. sp.,Calymenes.l. aff.C. iladonLane and Siveter, 1991,Scotoharpesaff.S. raaschiNorford, 1973,Scharyiasp., a cheirurine belonging to eitherRadiurusRamsköld, 1983, orProtocerauroidesChatterton and Perry, 1984, and an undetermined warburgelline. The fauna has close affinity to those described from similar lithologies in the Telychian of North Greenland. Machaeridians occurring with the trilobites includeTurrilepassp.,Compacoleussp., andLepidocoleuscf.L. britannicusWithers, 1926.
Posterolateral markings on dinosaur tracks, Cameron Dinosaur Tracksite, Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation, northeastern Arizona
Authors: Irby Grace V.
Published: August 2016

Posterolateral markings, appearing as short, rectilinear grooves projecting from the posterior margins of digit IV, occur on tracks in five of 34 trackways at the Cameron Dinosaur Tracksite in the Dinosaur Canyon Member of the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation, northeastern Arizona. A new ichnospecies, Grallator (Anchisauripus) madseni, is described from these five trackways made by bipedal, tridactyl dinosaurs. The size and morphology of the tracks suggest that they may represent trackmakers similar to Coelophysis and Syntarsus, two dinosaurs described from Triassic and Jurassic deposits in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico.

Among the working hypotheses cited as possible causes of the posterolateral markings are: 1) they were made by the dragging of digit III or of the metatarsus; 2) they are marks produced by a feature similar to a horny excrescence or cornified ridge on digitometatarsal pad IV; and 3) they are related to a peculiarity that may have resulted from sexual dimorphism.
A giant Permian fusulinid from east-central Alaska with comparisons of all giant fusulinids in western North America
Authors: Stevens Calvin H.
Published: August 2016

The discovery of a new locality yielding giant Guadalupian (Lower Permian) fusulinids in east-central Alaska extends the range of these forms much farther north than previously known, and into a tectonostratigraphic terrane from which they previously had not been reported. The number of areas from which giant parafusulinids are known in North America is thus raised to eight. Three of these localities are in rocks that previously had been referred to the allochthonous McCloud belt arc, and one, West Texas, is known to have been part of Paleozoic North America. Comparison of species from all areas suggests that there are two closely related species groups: one represented in Texas and Coahuila, and the other represented in Sonora, northern California, northeastern Washington, southern and northern British Columbia, Alaska, and apparently in Texas. These groups may differ because they are of slightly different ages or because interchange between the faunas of Texas–Coahuila area and the other regions was somewhat inhibited during the Early Permian.
Fenestrida and Rhabdomesida (Bryozoa) of the Otter Formation (Viséan), central Montana
Authors: Gilmour Ernest H. , Mccolloch Miriam E.
Published: August 2016

Four species of Fenestrida and two species of Rhabdomesida occur in the Otter Formation (Viséan) of the Little Belt Mountains, central Montana. Four species are new: Laxifenestella snyderi n. sp., Rectifenestella concava n. sp., Streblotrypa (Streblascopora) eastoni n. sp., and Nikiforovella beltensis n. sp. Several of these species are very similar to species described in Viséan rocks of central Mongolia, northeast Russia, Kazakhstan, and Japan. Fabifenestella cf. F. vulgaris compares closely with F. vulgaris Gorjunova and Morozova from the Lower Carboniferous of northern Mongolia. Most of the bryozoans in the Otter Formation occur in the normal marine, subtidal carbonate mud and calcareous shale microfacies.
Dzirulina(Brachiopoda; Terebratellidina) from California, U.S.A.—Additional record of an Early Cretaceous transatlantic brachiopod genus
Authors: Sandy Michael R. , Murphy Michael A. , Rodda Peter U.
Published: August 2016

Investigation of specimens of“Terebratella” ovulaAnderson, 1938 from the upper Lower Albian Upper Chickabally Member of the Budden Canyon Formation, Great Valley Group, California has allowed the examination of the species' internal structures by serial sectioning.“Terebratella” ovulaAnderson is now referred to the genusDzirulinaNoutsoubidze, 1945. The stratigraphic range of the genus is extended from the Hauterivian–Aptian to the Albian. The geographic range ofDzirulinais increased from central and western Europe, the Caucasus and Georgia of eastern Europe, and northern Zululand, Africa to now include northern California, North America. This represents an additional record of an Early Cretaceous brachiopod genus with a low-latitude, transatlantic distribution, most probably related to dispersal across the opening Central Atlantic Ocean.
Lobocarcinus lumacopius(Decapoda: Cancridae), a new species of cancrid crab from the Eocene of Fayum, Egypt
Authors: Anderson Jessica L. , Feldmann Rodney M.
Published: August 2016

The genusLobocarcinusReuss, as it is currently understood, consists of five species. Three of these species are retained:L. paulinowurtembergensis, L. indicus, andL. aegypticus. Lobocarcinus catalaunicusis referred toNeptunus, andL.? santosiis referred toCancer.A new species,L. lumacopius, is described.Lobocarcinusforms are distinct from all other cancrids in the lobation of their anterolateral margins, high width: length ratio, and dorsal carapace ornamentation. The type species of the genus,L. paulinowurtembergensis, is abundant in the Gebel Mokattam region near Cairo. The studied specimens ofL. lumacopiusare from Wadi Hitan (Zeuglodon Valley), a region approximately 140 km southwest of Gebel Mokattam in the Fayum Depression. Direct comparisons are made betweenL. lumacopiusandL. paulinowurtembergensis, and sexually dimorphic characters ofL. lumacopius, including width: length ratios and abdominal and sternal elements, are identified. A key is presented to aid in the identification of the various species within the genus and to help in distinguishingLobocarcinusfromCancer.
Modified legs (clasping appendages?) of Carboniferous euphoberiid millipeds (Diplopoda: Euphoberiida)
Authors: Hannibal Joseph T.
Published: August 2016

Six specimens belonging to several euphoberiid diplopod species have a pair of modified legs located along the midbody. These appendages are robust, much stouter than normal walking legs, and are attached to a sternite that is longer than those preceding and following. Euphoberiid modified legs differ in position from those of modern diplopods, being located neither near the anterior end as are gonopods nor at the anterior or posterior ends, as are clasping appendages of various modern forms. The presence of such appendages supports ordinal status for the euphoberiids.

The prominent spines of euphoberiids would have precluded intertwining types of mating behavior observed in many types of elongate modern diplopods. Judged by their robust nature and location, the modified legs may have been clasping appendages used during the mating process. “Intromittent organs” described on various taxa of fossil Diplopoda by the early paleomyriapodologists Scudder and Fritsch are suspect.
Revision ofCretorectolobus(Neoselachii) and description ofCederstroemian. gen., a Cretaceous carpet shark (Orectolobiformes) with a cutting dentition
Authors: Siverson Mikael
Published: August 2016

The nominalEucrossorhinus microcuspidatusandCretorectolobus olsonifrom the Campanian Judith River Formation of Montana, correspond to teeth from juvenile and adult individuals of one single species of orectoloboid shark. The type series of the latter is heterogeneous and includes, besides the holotype, a tooth belonging to a different orectoloboid of a new generic type namedCederstroemia.This genus is unique among Orectolobiformes by comprising sharks with dental adaptations towards a strict cutting dentition. Two new species ofCederstroemiaare described:C. triangulatafrom the Judith River Formation of Montana andC. nilsifrom the early Campanian of the Kristianstad Basin, Skåne, Sweden. An emended diagnosis is provided forCretorectolobus, clarifying the dental characteristics of its members.
A comparison of postglacial arcellacean (“Thecamoebian”) and pollen succession in Atlantic Canada, illustrating the potential of arcellaceans for paleoclimatic reconstruction
Authors: Mccarthy Francine M. G. , Collins Eric S. , Mcandrews John H. , Kerr Helen A. , Scott David B. , Medioli Franco S.
Published: August 2016

Cores dating back to deglaciation were taken from three lakes in Atlantic Canada and analyzed for arcellaceans and pollen. Paleotemperatures and paleo-precipitation were calculated from the pollen data using transfer functions. A sudden warming is recorded by the pollen around 10,000 years B.P., followed by a general warming to the mid Holocene Hypsithermal, then by a decrease in temperature and increase in effective precipitation to the present. The three lakes, two in western Newfoundland and one in eastern Nova Scotia, contain similar late glacial (13-10 ka), early Holocene (10-8 ka), mid Holocene (8-4 ka), and late Holocene (4-0 ka) arcellacean assemblages. Immediately following retreat of the ice sheets,Centropyxis aculeata, Centropyxis constricta, Difflugia oblonga, Difflugia urceolata, andDifflugia coronawere common. The latter part of the late glacial is characterized by sparse assemblages dominated byC. aculeata.The arcellacean record thus suggests a climatic reversal in Atlantic Canada between 11,500 and 10,000 years B.P., analogous to the Younger Dryas, although this is not recorded by the pollen. Species diversity increased sharply at the beginning of the Holocene, andD. oblongais the dominant taxon in early Holocene sediments.Difflugia oblongaremained common through the mid Holocene, but percentages ofC. aculeatawere very low, andPontigulasia compressaandDifflugia bacilliferapeaked in abundance during the Hypsithermal. The late Holocene is characterized by a resurgence inC. aculeataat the expense of other taxa. The increase inHeleopera sphagniandNebella collarissince 5,000 years B.P. at the two sites in southwestern Newfoundland reflects paludification in response to increased precipitation since the Hypsithermal. Because the changes in arcellacean assemblages are regionally synchronous in all three lakes and coincide with climatically driven vegetational successions indicated by the pollen record, arcellaceans appear to respond to climatic change, and thus may be useful paleoecological and paleolimnological indicators. With their quicker generation time, these protists may be better suited than pollen to recording short-lived phenomena, like the mid-Holocene Hypsithermal and the Younger Dryas reversal.
Taxonomy and distribution of the buccinid gastropod Brachysphingus from uppermost Cretaceous and Lower Cenozoic marine strata of the Pacific Slope of North America
Authors: Squires Richard L.
Published: August 2016

Brachysphingus is a low-spired bucciniform neogastropod known only from the fossil record of California and northern Baja California. The earliest species, Brachysphingus gibbosus Nelson, 1925, ranges in age from latest Cretaceous or possibly earliest Paleocene to the late Paleocene. During the early Paleocene, the smoothish B. gibbosus evolved into the axially ribbed B. sinuatus Gabb, 1869, which is the senior primary synonym of B. gabbi Stewart, 1927. During the late Paleocene, B. sinuatus evolved into B. mammilatus Clark and Woodford, 1927, which is the youngest species of Brachysphingus and which lasted into the early Eocene.

All three species of Brachysphingus were shallow-marine dwellers subject to transport into deeper waters via turbidity currents.
Hystricurid trilobite larvae from the Garden City Formation (Lower Ordovician) of Idaho and their phylogenetic implications
Authors: Lee Dong-Chan , Chatterton Brian D. E.
Published: August 2016

Hystricurids are considered to constitute the earliest (early Ibexian or Tremadocian) family of Proetida, based on comparisons of hystricurid larvae with younger proetide and Cambrian ptychopariide larvae. The hystricurid larvae share a fusiform glabella falling short of the anterior margin with other proetide larvae, which were derived from Cambrian ptychopariide larvae with a forward-expanding glabella. Two discrete morphotypes of hystricurid larvae are recognized. The first type is characterized by the development of a pattern of regularly distributed tubercles on the shield and the presence of a preglabellar field. The second is characterized by the presence of glabellar furrows (discontinuous or transglabellar), an indented posterior margin, and a lack of tuberculation. Each of these hystricurid lineages represented by a distinct larval morphotype is considered ancestral (or sistergroup) to a different group of younger proetides. The second larval morphotype is considered a phylogenetic intermediate between the first type and ptychopariide larvae. Several larval features of these primitive proetides are considered to have originated by early onset of post-larval features of the ptychopariides (peramorphic pattern).

Newly described hystricurid species areHystricurusn. sp. A,Hystricurus? sp. A,Hystricurus? sp. B, ‘Paraplethopeltis’ n. sp. A, ‘Paraplethopeltis’ sp. B, andHyperbolochiluscf.marginauctum.
New materials ofGasparinisaura cincosaltensis(Ornithischia, Ornithopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina
Authors: Salgado Leonardo , Coria Rodolfo A. , Heredia Susana E.
Published: August 2016

New material ofGasparinisaura cincosaltensisfrom the Río Colorado Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of northwestern Patagonia (Río Negro Province, Argentina) provides seven new characters that are interpreted as autapomorphies of the species: 1) four true sacrals; 2) first sacral rib not coalescent with second sacral rib; 3) long pubic peduncle of ilium; 4) absence of anterior intercondylar groove on femur; 5) both malleoli of the tibia approximately at the same level; 6) metatarsal II posteriorly compressed laterally; and 7) low ascendant process of the astragalus. A phylogenetic analysis of selected ornithopods indicates thatGasparinisaura cincosaltensisis the most plesiomorphic Euiguanodontia. A complete absence of hatchlings indicates that Cinco Saltos was not a nest site.
Shell structure of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous craniids (Brachiopoda) and its systematic significance
Authors: Smirnova T. N.
Published: August 2016

Shell structure has been studied in two species of the family Craniidae Menke, 1828, from the Upper Jurassic of East Ukraine and from the Lower Cretaceous of Crimea, South Ukraine. These species belong to the new genusMesocrania—M. barskovi(Smirnova, 1972) andM. condylatanew species. A layer of coarse regular rhomboidal crystallites was discovered between the primary layer of acicular crystallites and the secondary laminar layer. Branching punctae canals were observed inM. barskovi.
Allonautilus: a new genus of living nautiloid cephalopod and its bearing on phylogeny of the Nautilida
Authors: Ward Peter D. , Saunders W. Bruce
Published: August 2016

Living ectocochliate cephalopods have long been thought to be restricted to a single genus,NautilusLinnaeus, 1758, comprising five or six extant species. The shells of two species,N. scrobiculatusLightfoot, 1786, andN. perforatusConrad, 1847, are quite distinct, but no soft-parts were known until 1984, whenN. scrobiculatuswas seen alive for the first time. Dissections show that significant anatomical differences exist betweenN. scrobiculatusand otherNautilusspecies, including differences in gill morphology and details of the male reproductive system. These differences, along with phylogenetic analysis of extant and selected fossil nautiloid species, indicate thatN. scrobiculatus,andN. perforatusshould be distinguished fromNautilusas a newly defined genus,Allonautilus.This analysis contradicts previous phylogenies proposed for the Nautilida, which placedNautilusas the last-evolved member of the order. We surmise thatAllonautilusis a descendent ofNautilus,that the latter is paraphyletic, and first evolved in the Mesozoic, rather than in the late Cenozoic, as has been previously suggested.
Neural spine elongation in dinosaurs: sailbacks or buffalo-backs?
Authors: Bailey Jack Bowman
Published: August 2016

Several dinosaurs, notablyOuranosaurusandSpinosaurus,have vertebral columns marked by prominent arrays of elongated neural spines. Using pelycosaurian sailbacks likeDimetrodonas analogies, popular orthodoxy holds that the tall spines served as supporting struts for dorsal sails of purported thermoregulatory function, especially heat dissipation in tropical climates. It is argued here that the neural spines ofOuranosaurus, Spinosaurus,and several other long-spined dinosaurs favor bison-like humps rather than sails: 1) in functional morphology and relative elongation they are dissimilar to pelycosaur spines but homoplastically converge on the spines of high-withered ungulates; 2) the usefulness of a sail in thermoregulation has been exaggerated—in large tetrapods it would have been fairly efficient as a thermal amplifier but ineffective as a radiator; hence large sail-bearing dinosaurs in open tropical climates are improbable; 3) the insulation properties of humps favor gigantothermy, the most likely thermobiological model for large dinosaurs.

Dinosaur humps are probable adaptations for: 1) energy storage, maintenance of gigantothermy, and heat-shielding in unshaded habitats; 2) long-distance migration from feeding to nesting grounds across terrains of variable productivity; and 3) lipid conservation for production of large clutches of eggs at the nesting site. Because sacral, caudal, or dorsal humps were relatively common traits among certain groups, the fashionably anorexic image of many large dinosaurs must be emended.
Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from the Tremp Basin, southern Pyrenees, Lleida, Spain
Authors: Vianey-Liaud Monique , Lopez-Martinez Nieves
Published: August 2016

Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshell assemblages from six localities of the Tremp basin (Southern Pyrenees, Lleida, Spain) are studied and compared with those of Southern France, to correlate their temporal succession. Fontllonga 6 reveals the most diverse eggshell assemblage known so far, with seven oospecies, among which one new structural type (Pseudogeckoolithus nodosus new genus and species), a new Ratite-type eggshell (Ageroolithus fontllongensis new genus and species) and a new Prismatoolithidae are described; four other taxa are shared with Southern France. The correlation of both Spanish and French eggshell successions allows us to recognize three main periods characterised by different eggshell assemblages: a lower assemblage with Megaloolithus petralta, M. aureliensis, Prismatoolithus tenuis and P. matellensis from the French Lower Rognacian and the Spanish sites Fontllonga 6 and Moro; a middle one with M. siruguei from the Middle Rognacian and Biscarri; and a late one from the Late Rognacian with M. mammilare (from Abella and Bastus) and M. pseudomamillare (from Suterranya). Some contradictions appear when comparing results with paleomagnetism and charophyte correlations but the eggshell correlations are consistent with other stratigraphic studies.
Inozoan calcareous Porifera from the Permian reefs in South China
Authors: Rigby J. Keith , Jiasong Fan , Wei Zhang
Published: August 2016

Inozoans are described from patch reefs on the carbonate platform of eastern Sichuan, from the uppermost Permian Laolongdong reefs in the Changxing Formation (Kazanian–Tatarian) at Beipei, northwest of Chongqing, and from Middle and Upper Permian reefs from the Maokou (Kungurian), Wujiaping (Ufimian), and Changxing Formations at Xiangbo, Longlin County, in northwestern Guangxi. Classification of inozoans, particularly late Paleozoic ones, is still in a state of flux, but genera recognized to date can be keyed using the general nature of the spongocoel, canals, and growth form.

New genera described areIntratubospongia, Grossotubenella, Cavusonella, andRadicanalospongia. The new species described areStellispongia radiata, S. minor, Peronidella beipeiensis, P. regulara, P. parva, Intratubospongia typica, I. tenuiperforata, I. multisi-phonata, I. minima, Grossotubenella parallela, Cavusonella caverna, andRadicanalospongia normala. ACorynellathat is not identifiable to species and a sphinctozoan-like inozoan(?) sp. A that has a fibrous-appearing internal skeleton but is poorly preserved are also described. Inozoans and other sponges are major frame-builders in the Permian reefs of South China and our fauna is one of the most diverse late Paleozoic assemblages described to date.
Perimeter-based Fourier analysis: a new morphometric method applied to the trilobite cranidium
Authors: Foote Mike
Published: August 2016

A new Fourier method is presented to quantify shapes too complex to be described by conventional polar Fourier analysis. The length along a closed curve serves as the independent variable. The centroid of the curve is determined and for each point on the curve two different dependent variables are defined, based on: 1) the angle defined by the starting point, the centroid, and the point on the curve; and 2) the radial distance from the centroid to the point on the curve. The method is used to describe the trilobite cranidium, and 12 harmonic coefficients are found to summarize 99 percent of the shape information contained in the cranidial outline. In an application to trilobite evolution during the Cambrian and Ordovician, it is found that higher taxa of trilobites become progressively more distinct morphologically. This result is in agreement with previous qualitative observations, and is attributable to an increase in morphologic dispersion among higher taxa, but not to a decrease in morphologic dispersion within higher taxa.
Teratological specimen of Agaricocrinus americanus (Roemer) (Lower Mississippian, Crinoidea)
Authors: Ausich William I. , Kammer Thomas W.
Published: August 2016

The study of teratological fossil specimens may provide important information on the timing and sequence of morphogenesis. For example, Smith and Arbizu (1987) documented inverse larval development in a teratological specimen of a Devonian edrioasteroid.
The ichnogenusDesmograptonfrom the Silurian of Wales—first record from the Paleozoic
Authors: McCann Tommy
Published: August 2016

The ichnogenusDesmograptonKsiążkiewicz, 1977, is described for the first time from the Paleozoic. The ichnogenus has previously been noted from strata of Mesozoic age in Europe and North and South America (e.g., D'Alessandro, 1980; Książkiewicz, 1977; Macsotay, 1967; McCann and Pickerill, 1988). This new occurrence is also significant because it extends the geographic range ofDesmograptoninto Britain.
New Early Paleocene Mollusca from the Wangaloa Formation of South Island, New Zealand
Authors: Stilwell Jeffrey D.
Published: August 2016

New Mollusca from the shallow marine, highly fossiliferous Wangaloa Formation of southeastern Otago, South Island, New Zealand, are described. This paper reports three new species and one new genus: Leionucula palaioanaxea n. sp. of the Nuculidae, Pyropsis zinsmeisteri n. sp. of the Tudiclidae, and Wangacteon grebneffi n. gen. and sp. of the Acteonidae. These taxa represent new records in New Zealand of apparently endemic taxa. The molluscan fauna of the Wangaloa Formation is important in the understanding of Paleogene biogeography of the Southern Hemisphere and changes in faunal composition of the Cretaceous–Tertiary Gondwana Realm. Genus- and species-level endemism in the “Wangaloan” fauna is marked and is probably a reflection of “greater New Zealand” 's geographic and genetic isolation during the Paleocene. Although deposits containing early Paleogene Mollusca are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere, comparisons of known Gondwana molluscan taxa and those of similar age in the Northern Hemisphere indicate that the Mollusca of the Wangaloa Formation have Early Paleocene affinities. Microfossil evidence, in addition, supports an Early Paleocene age for the fauna. However, an uppermost Cretaceous age is indicated for the basal part of the Wangaloa Formation stratigraphically below the shell beds, but the K–T boundary has yet to be located.
Ammonites from the Saratoga Chalk (Upper Cretaceous), Arkansas
Authors: Kennedy W. J. , Cobban W. A.
Published: August 2016

The Saratoga Chalk of Arkansas yields a rich ammonite fauna of 17 species, referred to theNostoceras(N.)hyattizone. Recognition that the northwest EuropeanN.(N.)pozaryskiiBlaszkiewicz, 1980, is a synonym ofN.(N.)hyattiStephenson, 1941, andN.(N.)helicinum(Shumard, 1861) dates the zone as latest Campanian on the basis of co-occurrence withBelemnitella langeiJeletzky, 1948, in Poland. Most previous estimates of the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary in the Gulf Coast have been drawn at too low a level, at least in terms of ammonite faunas. Elements of theN.(N.)hyattizone fauna occur in the United States Western Interior, and show the base of the Maastrichtian there to lie above theBaculites jensenizone.
Lower Cambrian pediculate lingulids from Yunnan, China
Authors: Yugan Jin , Xianguang Hou , Huayu Wang
Published: August 2016

The vermiform pedicle is one of the most distinctive organs of modern lingulids, but it is rarely preserved. Only two fossil specimens of lingulids with pedicle casts have been reported, one from the Ordovician and the other from the Devonian. No record of fossil pedicles ofLingulellaandLingulepis, the dominant Cambrian and Early Ordovician lingulids, is known. Fossil lingulids from the Lower Cambrian of Chengjiang County, Yunnan, suggest that the structure and function of the pedicle of the lingulids has not changed significantly from its first appearance. A comparison of fossil pedicle of lingulids from the Lower Cambrian, Chengjiang County (China), the Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian, British Columbia (Canada), the Trenton Formation, Middle Ordovician, New York (U.S.A.), and the Devonian, Devonshire (England, U.K.) shows that the delthyrial area to which the pedicle muscles are attached was reduced in length through time until these muscles were completely embraced by the two valves.

Two species,Lingulella chengjiangensisn. sp. andLingulepis malongensisRong, are described.
Fletcherviewia septata: a new high-spired, septate gastropod from the Devonian of North Queensland
Authors: Cook Alex G.
Published: August 2016

A high-spired septate gastropod, Fletcherviewia septata n. gen. and sp., occurs in a distinctive faunule at the base of the Middle Devonian Fanning River Group, within the Burdekin Subprovince, near Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. This species is one of four large, thick-shelled gastropods associated with sandstone and sandstone–limestone facies; the sediments are interpreted as shallow marine, nearshore, mobile sand bars on a moderate-energy carbonate–clastic shelf. Strategies for the algalgrazing snails on the turbulent substrate are rolling for compact robust forms and anchoring, using the wide carina, for forms such as Fletcherviewia. Septation in Fletcherviewia is rationalized in terms of the ability to vacate early whorls, thus reducing body volume and avoiding any detrimental effect as a result of loss of early-formed whorls.
Ceratodus diutinus, a new ceratodont from Cretaceous and Late Oligocene–Medial Miocene deposits in Australia
Authors: Kemp A.
Published: August 2016

Ceratodus diutinus, a new species of ceratodont lungfish similar to but not identical withCeratodus kaupiAgassiz, 1838–1844, is described from the Lower Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Grawan and Lightning Ridge in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the Toolebuc Formation at Canary Station near Boulia in western Queensland. The species also occurred in one Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene deposit at North Prospect, Lake Pinpa, South Australia (Namba Formation). This is the first record from Australia of a species ofCeratodussimilar to the Triassic ceratodonts of Europe. The Australian species lasted much longer than the related European species,C. kaupi, which is restricted to Triassic deposits.
South American occurrences of the Adamanian (Late Triassic: Latest Carnian) index taxonStagonolepis(Archosauria: Aetosauria) and their biochronological significance
Authors: Heckert Andrew B. , Lucas Spencer G.
Published: August 2016

Aetosaur fossils from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina formerly assigned toAetosauroides scagliaiCasamiquela andArgentinosuchus bonaparteiCasamiquela are reassigned toStagonolepis robertsoniAgassiz (small specimens) andS. wellesi(Long and Ballew) (larger specimens). Numerous features of the skull, vertebral column, appendicular skeleton, and particularly the armor, of these Argentinian aetosaurs are identical to those ofStagonolepisand differ from other aetosaurs. Identification ofStagonolepisin South America has important implications for the correlation of nonmarine strata across Late Triassic Pangea.Stagonolepisis an index taxon of the Adamanian land-vertebrate faunachron of latest Carnian age. Its occurrences in the Ischigualasto and Santa Maria formations, as well as at the type locality in the Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland and in the Blasensandstein of the German Keuper, cross-correlate with a well-established tetrapod biostratigraphy of the Chinle Group in western North America. Thus, allStagonolepisrecords are of Adamanian (latest Carnian) age, not Otischalkian (early or “middle” Carnian) age, as proposed by some earlier workers. This correlation also demonstrates that the oldest known dinosaurs are not from the Ischigualasto and Santa Maria formations. Previous workers obtained radioisotopic dates of 227.8 Ma from the Ischigualasto Formation, providing a maximum numerical date forStagonolepis-bearing units. This date must be late Carnian, not of Ladinian age, and thus supports the apparent age of the Ladinian-Carnian boundary (232 Ma) of time scales based on the Newark Supergroup in eastern North America.
A new Psilonichnus ichnospecies attributed to mud-shrimp Upogebia in estuarine settings
Authors: Nesbitt Elizabeth A. , Campbell Kathleen A.
Published: August 2016

Psilonichnus lutimuratus n. ichnosp. is described from a Pliocene estuarine-mouth depositional environment (Skolithos ichnofacies) of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, U.S.A. These simple Y-, I-, and J-shaped, mud-lined burrows occur in situ as dense patches within alternating, wavy-bedded sandstone and mudstone in a storm and flood influenced coastal sequence from an active tectonic margin. The I- and J-shaped traces represent erosional modification of burrow tops during storm-flood events. The new ichnospecies differs from the two other Psilonichnus ichnospecies by the distinct mud-lining of the burrow wall. Comparison with living thalassinoidean shrimp burrows and shrimp ecology allow this new ichnospecies to be attributed to the extant mud shrimp Upogebia. Biological and behavioral characteristics of this living shrimp restrict it to the mouth of the open estuary, and these parameters can be used to narrowly define a shoreline environment in the stratigraphic record.
Correlation and age of the Bridgeboro Limestone, a coralgal limestone from southwestern Georgia
Authors: Bryan Jonathan R. , Huddlestun Paul F.
Published: August 2016

The Bridgeboro Limestone, a rhodolith- and coral-bearing limestone in southwestern Georgia, has been assigned to the Vicksburgian Stage (Lower Oligocene) of the Gulf Coast based on the occurrence of the bivalves Chlamys (Anatipopecten) anatipes (Morton) and C. (Lyropecten) duncanensis Mansfield. This assignment is further substantiated by the recent recognition of the distinctive bryozoan Tubucellaria vicksburgica Canu and Bassler. The Bridgeboro also contains the larger foraminifera Lepidocyclina (Lepidocyclina) mantelli (Morton), L. (Nephrolepidina) yurnagunensis Cushman, and L. (Eulepidina) undosa Cushman, an assemblage indicative of the Lepidocylina (s.s.) subzone of the Eulepidina Zone of Early Oligocene age. These foraminifera are also characteristic of the Duncan Church beds of the Florida panhandle, and an assemblage of isolepidine and eulepidine Lepidocyclina also occurs in the Glendon Limestone of Alabama. On the basis of larger foraminifera, macroin vertebrates, and physical stratigraphic relationships, we propose that the Bridgeboro, Duncan Church, and Glendon are biostratigraphically and lithostratigraphically correlative. The Glendon Limestone has been previously assigned to nannoplankton zone NP22, and also occurs within the Cassigerinella chipolensis–Pseudohastigerina micra planktonic foraminiferal zone, both of Early Oligocene age. Based on correlation with the Glendon, the age of the Bridgeboro is thus Early Oligocene (Rupelian), middle Vicksburgian.
Remarkable crayfish remains (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from Oklahoma—evidence of predation
Authors: Feldmann Rodney M. , May William
Published: August 2016

Direct physical evidence for predation upon decapod crustaceans is extremely limited in the fossil record. Although it is well recognized that decapods serve as a food resource for a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrate predators and that the remains of decapods, in the forms of molts and corpses, are readily scavenged, direct evidence for these activities is limited (Tshudy et al., 1989). Bishop (1975) summarized evidences for predation in the fossil record and, although he frequently referred to decapods as predators, cited only one example (Bishop, 1972) of the group as prey. Thus, the discovery of three specimens of freshwater decapods, referable to the crayfish family Cambaridae, that clearly exhibit the effects of predation is significant.
Lower Cambrian demosponges and hexactinellid sponges from Yunnan, China
Authors: Rigby J. Keith , Xian-Guang Hou
Published: August 2016

The assemblage of demosponge and hexactinellid sponges described here was collected from the Lower Cambrian, Atdabanian, Yu'anshan Member of the Chiungchussu Formation, at the Maotianshan and Xiaolantian sections in Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, 70 km southeast of Kunming. The sponges occur in relatively massive to weakly graded-bedded, grayish-yellow mudstone and silty mudstone. They are associated with other soft-bodied and skeletonized fossils. The new demosponge species and generaChoiaella radiata, Allantospongia mica, and the questionable spongeParvulonoda dubiaare described, along with new specimens ofLeptomitus teretiusculusChen, Hou, and Lu, 1989, the hexactinellid sponge,Triticispongia diagonataMehl and Reitner, 1993 and the probable hexactinellid sponge,Saetaspongia densaMehl and Reitner, 1993.

The sponges occur in what may be distal turbidite deposits, and they may have been buried essentially in situ by these argillaceous accumulations.
Paleoecological analysis of molluscan assemblages from the middle Eocene Cowlitz Formation, southwestern Washington
Authors: Nesbitt Elizabeth A.
Published: August 2016

Molluscan assemblages from upper middle Eocene deposits of southwestern Washington represent a regional biotic system that provides independent evidence of a range of depositional environments in a delta. Four marine molluscan assemblages reflect a subtropical fauna that inhabited an inner neritic to upper bathyal gradient down the prodelta slope. Comparisons with Recent molluscan taxa indicate changing trophic structures from dominantly infaunal filter feeding in the shallow, coarser-grained substrate to dominantly infaunal deposit feeding in the fine-grained mud. A very high diversity of carnivorous gastropods indicates that the biocenosis included a wide array of predominantly errant, soft-bodied invertebrate prey. The most shallow marine assemblages show evidence of dense Turritella patches within infaunal bivalve-dominated associations, indicating mosaics of distribution across a soft-sediment substrate. Low diversity marginal-marine and freshwater assemblages show faunal links with each other. They indicate interdistributary bay and marsh environments that are commonly part of a river-dominated delta.
Nevadoceras, a new Early Permian adrianitid (Ammonoidea) from Nevada
Authors: Schiappa Tamra A. , Spinosa Claude , Snyder Walter S.
Published: August 2016

The Early Permian (late Sakmarian to early Artinskian) adrianitid ammonoid Nevadoceras steelei new genus and species occurs in a fauna containing the ammonoids Properrinites Elias, Prothalassoceras Böse, Daraelites Gemmellaro, Almites Toumanskaya, Bamyaniceras Termier and Termier, Akmilleria Ruzhencev, Agathiceras Gemmellaro, Metalegoceras Schindewolf, Stenolobulites Mikesh, Glenister, and Furnish, Crimites Toumanskaya, Neocrimites Ruzhencev and the conodonts Sweetognathus whitei (Rhodes) and Mesogondolella bisselli (Clark and Behnken). This fauna occurs in a concretionary interval within micritic basinal facies of the Dry Mountain trough at Portuguese Springs, White Pine County, east-central Nevada.
Interreef crinoid fauna from the Mississinewa Shale Member of the Wabash Formation (Northern Indiana; Silurian; Echinodermata)
Authors: Lane N. Gary , Ausich William I.
Published: August 2016

A true interreef crinoid fauna lacking components of reefal facies is reported from the Ludlovian of the Mississinewa Shale Member of the Wabash Formation in northern Indiana. The Mississinewa facies that contains this fauna is a dolomitic siltstone or a silty dolomite. The crinoid association reported is composed entirely of new species and is different from other reef and reef-associated, interreef, and non-reef crinoid associations. New species described, herein, include the following: Dimerocrinites (Eucrinus) ankylos n. sp., Periechocrinus shaveri n. sp., Bohemicocrinus? occidens n. sp., Macrostylocrinus styo n. sp., M. homalos n. sp., Gissocrinus hypselos n. sp., and Dendrocrinus diaphoros n. sp. This may be the first occurrence of Bohemicocrinus from outside Bohemia.
Conodonts from the Middle Devonian Plum Brook Shale of north-central Ohio
Authors: Sparling Dale R.
Published: August 2016

The Plum Brook Shale of north-central Ohio lies disconformably between the Eifelian (lower Middle Devonian) Delaware Limestone and the middle Givetian (upper Middle Devonian) Prout Dolomite. Its diverse conodont fauna indicates that it represents a transgression into the area in earliest Givetian time accompanied by the products of a notable adaptive radiation within two lineages ofIcriodus.One of these (I. expansusGroup) includesI. expansus, I. arkonensisandI. brevis, and complete intergradation of forms suggests that the group at this level involves conspecific ecotypes. A more extensive radiation involved descendants ofI. regularicrescens(I. regularicrescensGroup), including three new species,I. eriensis, I. janeaeandI. ohioensis.Other representatives of this lineage occur here as well as in strata of comparable age in the type region of the Givet Limestone as described by Bultynck (1987). A third lineage is represented byI. excavatusin both areas, but evidence of radiation within this branch is limited to the Givet Limestone. Remarkable diversity also occurs among forms considered herein to involvePolygnathus pseudofoliatusand its descendants. The existence of intermediate forms and shared characteristics between and among the various species, including some that first appeared well before the end of the Eifelian, implies that they may be conspecific ecotypic variants at this level. New morphotypes within this group are treated informally. The greatest overall diversity occurs just above the basal Plum Brook, in strata interpreted to reflect inner-sublittoral conditions. The entire Plum Brook belongs to the upperensensisZone. A considerable part of the type Givetian placed in the LowervarcusSubzone by Bultynck (1987) lies below the lowest occurrence of its index species (P. timorensis); it contains some of the species found in the Plum Brook, and much of this section may also belong to theensensisZone.
Ontogenetic change in valve characters in three new species of Baffinicythere (Ostracoda, Crustacea) from Northern Japan
Authors: Irizuki Toshiaki
Published: August 2016

The genus Baffinicythere is a northern high-latitude marine ostracode, which includes four species: B. howei Hazel, B. ishizakii new species, B. reticulata new species, B. robusticostata new species. The first species occurs only in late Pliocene to Recent sediments of the Arctic and northern Atlantic Oceans. The remaining three species are abundant in the Plio–Pleistocene formations of northern Japan, which yield cold-water molluscan faunas. Detailed morphological analyses and paleogeographic distribution of the three new species indicates that: 1) B. reticulata has some primitive characters relative to the other two species; 2) B. ishizakii and B. robusticostata seem to have had different strategies as regards rate of ontogenetic size increase; 3) the left valve outlines can be resolved into two components, ontogenetic shape changes and species-specific distinctions among the species; and 4) B. robusticostata invaded areas inhabited by B. reticulata and may have excluded it during the late Pleistocene. The Atlantic species B. howei has not been recorded from northern Japan. Comparisons of B. reticulata and B. howei, based on their pore distribution and reticulate sculptures, suggest that B. reticulata could have migrated to the Arctic Province after the Bering land barrier had been breached and then evolved rapidly into B. howei.
Patterns of crystallographic axis orientation in blastoid skeletal elements
Authors: Bodenbender Brian E.
Published: August 2016

It is well known that echinoderm skeletal elements behave optically as single calcite crystals, but one implication of this observation, that skeletal units have crystallographic axes with characterizable orientations, has received little attention. This paper examines patterns of crystallographic axis orientations in 43 blastoid species and assesses their usefulness to the study of homology among echinoderm skeletal elements, phylogeny both within blastoids and at higher taxonomic levels, and biomineralization processes.

Calcite decoration and optical goniometry techniques reveal intraspecific and interspecific patterns of variation in the orientations ofcandacrystallographic axes in the three major sets of blastoid thecal plates. Within species, basal, radial, and deltoidcaxes all show consistent orientations, clustering near the meridional plane that bisects each plate. In contrast,aaxes of most plates have random orientations, although for a few platesaaxes are clustered rather than random. Whilecaxes from different species all fall about the meridional plane bisecting each plate, inclinations within this plane vary, so crystallographic data can provide new characters for phylogenetic analysis.

In assessing homologies among deltoid plates, axes of posterior deltoids show little correspondence with those of regular deltoids, possibly suggesting a nonhomologous origin. Superdeltoids and epideltoids have commingledcaxis orientations and may be homologues.

Consistentcaxes within species suggest molecular or cellular control of biomineralization during development, but the occurrence of both random and constrainedaaxes, depending on the plate examined, implies heterogeneities in this control affecting different plates on the theca.