bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Application of Computers to Life Assurance.
Authors: Boss T. B. , Allen K. H. , Baker A. C. , Brackfield D. W. , Colbran R. B. , Finch H. J. , Gates C. A. , Masters R. F. , Macleod J. M. , Sharman P. W. , Smith E. M. , Sutton R. L. , Wicken J. W.
Published: August 2016

This report summarizes the conclusions reached and difficulties encountered by Group E in the discussions held over the past 4 years. It is thus an amplification and extention of the report made to a meeting of the various computer Study Groups held on 27 May 1957.

The Group consists mainly of actuaries employed by ordinary life assurance offices (some composite and some purely life). The Chairman is a member of the Mathematics Division of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington. The Group has been joined from time to time by representatives of computer manufacturers and other visitors.
Open Market Value: Estate and Stamp Duties on Reversions and Life Interests
Authors: Dicken H. , Bradley J. R.
Published: August 2016

An essential part of the work carried out by the actuarial profession is the valuation of reversionary interests or life interests for the purpose of calculating either estate duty or stamp duty. The number of actuaries who are engaged in this work regularly is very small, but most actuaries are probably asked to undertake such valuations at some time or other. The object of this paper is to discuss some of the principles upon which these valuations are based and to illustrate the application of these principles by means of examples drawn from the authors' own experiences.

Under the Finance Act 1894, Estate Duty is payable on the principal value of a property. This is defined in Section 7 (5) of the same Act as follows:

‘The principal value of any property shall be estimated to be the price which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, such property would fetch if sold in the open market at the time of the death of the deceased.’
Writing a Report
Authors: Bradley J. R.
Published: August 2016

The most difficult problem which faces the young actuary is undoubtedly that of explaining to his non-actuarial friends and relatives exactly how he earns his living. This problem is one small part of the more general problem of communication between the actuarial profession and the outside world. A further specific aspect of the problem arises, for example, when a valuation has been completed and its results have to be expressed in the form of a report to be read by a group of non-technical people.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the principles which should be followed when writing such a report. There is more than one such possible set of principles and other actuaries may have rather different views on the preparation and presentation of reports. The basic approach which gives rise to the principles is, however, fundamental to report writing and this is the need for communication between the actuary and his client.
With-Profit Pensions
Authors: Parrack N. S.
Published: August 2016

It is first necessary to consider why with-profit pensions schemes have been introduced. Three reasons emerge. The first is protection for the office; the second is a desire to be equitable to the policyholder, and the third is competition—from other offices and from private funds.

These reasons are now amplified.

Pension schemes are the longest form of liability undertaken by the office; further, existing benefits can be purchased by level premiums guaranteed to pension age (as in individual contracts) with an underlying rate of interest of the order of 4¼%. It is therefore desirable to have protection against both improvements in mortality and against the office's not earning an average of 4¼% on the premiums and interest which it has to invest each year.
Notes on Formula Graduation of South African 56/58 Ultimate Mortality.
Authors: Lloyd R. C.
Published: August 2016

1. The S.A. 56/58 Ultimate data (seeJ.I.A.Vol.87, p. 371) was originally graduated by summation formula and arising out of the discussions it was decided to attempt to fit a mathematical formula of the Perks type.

2. To start with, data below age 30 were excluded.

3. The generalized Perks formula

was chosen—the thought being that if some of the parameters were not needed the process of curve fitting would result in these parameters assuming small values.
Actuarial Aspects of Motor Insurance
Authors: Johnson P. D.
Published: August 2016

In the United Kingdom the customary approach to non-life insurance has been to rely more on the practical experience and flair of the underwriter than on a statistical examination of the experience. In some branches of non-life insurance an office is able to make adequate adjustments to its rates on the basis of claim ratios (i.e. the amounts of claims divided by the premiums) for fairly broad groups. In the more competitive branches such as motor insurance the experience needs to be examined in much greater detail, not merely to satisfy the minimum requirement of guarding against selection of the better risks by other insurers, but more positively in order to find out the extent to which the risk varies with each of the existing rating factors and any possible alternatives. Also, because of the rapidity with which conditions are liable to change, the experience studied must be as up to date as possible if reasonably reliable estimates of the future are to be made.
Assurances Linked to Unit Trusts.
Authors: Ford A.
Published: August 2016

1. The object of this paper is to look at the two principal types of unit-linked contracts that are now being offered with reference to the actuarial problems that they raise. In particular the calculation of premium rates, valuation, analysis of surplus and investment problems are discussed.

2. In looking at the policies that are currently offered in the unit-linked field there are two broad groupings into which most fall. These are the ‘Decreasing Term Assurance’ group and the ‘Endowment Assurance’ group. There are of course variations within each group. The main difference between the groups is that there is virtually no investment risk to the office in the Decreasing Term Assurance group but there is an investment risk in the Endowment Assurance group.

3. Because these two groups of contracts are very different and raise different actuarial problems, it is convenient to sub-divide this Paper and deal with the two groups separately.
VI Non-Cancellable Disability Insurance
Authors: Hamilton-Jones J.
Published: August 2016

There are two methods of dealing with the actuarial features of sickness insurance—the collective method and the reversionary method.

Unfortunately, perhaps the two methods have developed quite independently of each other, for historical reasons.

The collective method was used in Great Britain to investigate Friendly Society experience. The pattern for all subsequent investigations was set in the 1820s and brought to its culmination of refinement in Watson's Manchester Unity Experience still in the Institute's examination syllabus, 66 years after publication. No investigation of insured lives has yet been made in Great Britain. In the rest of this note the term ‘Manchester Unity method’ will be used to describe the collective method.
Industrial Branch Life Assurance in Europe
Authors: Wych A. H.
Published: August 2016

Does Industrial Branch life assurance exist on the mainland of Europe? It is probably true to say that the average insurance man in the U.K. knows more about life assurance in North America, Australasia and South Africa than in France or Germany. This is particularly true when one considers Industrial Branch business. Certainly in my own case knowledge of European I.B. was limited to a vague idea that it did exist in a minor way in one or two countries such as France, Belgium and, possibly, Italy.

In fact, Industrial Branch life assurance exists in most Western European countries and the following is an attempt to summarize some of the features encountered during a tour which included visits to nine I.B. offices in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, Austria and Italy. It does not pretend to be a technical actuarial treatise nor can it claim to be wholly representative of I.B. in these countries; rather it is a series of impressions.
An Application of Linear Programming to Loan Plans and Bonus Funding
Authors: Ford P. E. B.
Published: August 2016

The first four sections of this note discuss loan plans and bonus funding generally, and some simple examples are shown. Section V and the appendix describe a more powerful method of solution using linear programming techniques, and the final section draws some practical conclusions.

No attempt has been made to describe the basic theories of linear programming. I am indebted for the slight knowledge of the subject I possess to the text-book mentioned in Section V; the object of this note is to demonstrate that linear programming methods can be applied in a somewhat unusual context to solve loan plan and bonus funding problems. Any errors in the technical content of this note are due to my misapplication of the text-book methods rather than to the methods themselves.
Composition of the F.T.-Actuaries Share Indices.
Authors: Short Eric , Brumwell John C. H.
Published: August 2016

1.1. The FT-Actuaries share indices have now been published for about 11 years and calculated for a rather longer period. They have become accepted as one of the standard measures of equity share price movements. They represent a valuable contribution by actuaries in the field of investment analysis, indeed Heywood (1) states that he considered them to be the best public relations exercise of the Institute. (We assume here that he meant profession).

1.2. Yet, there are a considerable number of actuaries and actuarial students who have no more than a vague knowledge of its working, while most laymen are completely baffled by the mathematics involved. Haycocks and Plymen (2), in an extremely comprehensive and often very elegant paper, described the basic construction of the indices. But because they were actuaries addressing other actuaries they naturally used algebraic formulae. This, in itself, automatically ensures that most laymen in the investment field do not read beyond page 1.
The Bajocian (Jurassic) ammonite fauna of Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Sandoval Jose , Westermann Gerd E. G.
Published: August 2016

The marine Bajocian Taberna Formation of west-central Oaxaca consists mainly of shale, intercalated siltstone, and frequent iron concretions with ammonites. This formation overlies the continental Zorrillo Formation and is overlain by the continental to subcontinental Simon and Otatera formations. The best outcrops are in the area of Mixtepec and Diquiyú-Yutatio.

Two new ammonite biozones are distinguished: Duashnoceras floresi Range Zone (≃ upper Humphriesianum-lower Subfurcatum standard zones), and Parastrenoceras zapotecum Assemblage Zone (≃ Subfurcatum Standard Zone). The biogeographic affinities are principally with the Mediterranean Province, and also with both the East-Pacific Andean and North Cordilleran provinces. A high percentage of species is endemic. The Stephanoceratinae, mainly Duashnoceras, are dominant in the D. floresi Zone, which also includes Subcollina lucretia, Strigoceras (Liroxyites), Stephanoceras, Phaulostephanus, Stephanosphinctes, and Oppelia. Parastrenoceras and Leptosphinctes are dominant in the P. zapotecum Zone, whereas Oppelia and Strigoceras are less abundant.

Stephanosphinctes n. gen., type species S. buitroni n. sp., is intermediate between the Stephanoceratinae and Leptosphinctinae. The species Phaulostephanus burckhardti is also new.
Subtle agents for change: TheJournal of Paleontology, J. Marvin Weller, and shifting emphases in invertebrate paleontology, 1930–1965
Authors: Rainger Ronald
Published: August 2016

Through an examination of the contents of theJournal of Paleontology (JP), this paper traces the growing interest in biological problems in mid twentieth-century invertebrate paleontology. While noting the continued dominance of descriptive morphology and systematics, the paper tracks the increasing attention paid to paleoecology, evolution and geographic distribution, and quantitative methods. An analysis of the debate over the relative importance of biology and geology for paleontology, and J. Marvin Weller's evolving views on the subject, further illustrate the main point. Neither Welter norJPinitiated the interest in biological questions, but both played an important role in bringing new developments to the attention of the paleontology community.
Heterochrony in Stringocephalus
Authors: Balinski Andrzej , Yuanlin Sun , Boucot A. J.
Published: August 2016

Sun and Boucot (1999) described the ontogenetic development of several important morphologic structures in Stringocephalus gubiensis, which occurs in the late Eifelian kockelianus Zone of South China. They found that in small specimens ranging from 5 to 18 mm in width the cardinal process forms a pair of discrete, rodlike lobes (Sun and Boucot, 1999, Figs. 1.1–1.6, 2.1–2.6). In specimens generally exceeding 20 mm in width, these lobes fuse to form the single, long, terminally bifid, stalklike cardinal process characteristic of Stringocephalus.
Lower Devonian (Gedinnian) Stromatoporoidea of New York: redescription of the type specimens of Girty (1895)
Authors: Stock Carl W.
Published: August 2016

Girty (1895) named six species of stromatoporoids from the Lower Devonian of central and east-central New York, which are here redescribed and reillustrated. Additional new specimens provide data on variations within the following species:Anostylostroma jewetti, Parallelostroma foveolatum, ?Parallelostroma centrotum, and ?Parallelostroma microporum.
The eyes of the early Tremadoc olenid trilobite Jujuyaspis keideli Kobayashi, 1936
Authors: Aceñolaza Guillermo F. , Tortello M. Franco , Rábano Isabel
Published: August 2016

The morphology of the eyes of the olenid trilobite Jujuyaspis keideli Kobayashi, 1936, is described and illustrated. Studied specimens come from Early Tremadocian pyritiferous black shales of the Casa Colorada Formation (= Purmamarca shales) at Purmamarca, Jujuy Province, northwestern Argentina. The eyes are holochroal and proportionately large relative to the overall size of cephalon. They are always found attached to the librigena, showing no preserved lenses, only molds of their surfaces. Their molds demonstrate that lenses were numerous, biconvex, hexagonal in outline and arranged in an hexagonal close-packing system. The eye curvature and the disposition of the facets covering all the visual surface indicate that Jujuyaspis keideli Kobayashi had a visual field wider than that of most benthic olenids. The pattern of lens arrangement and the poorly developed peripheral zone support pelturine affinities for the species.
Ontogeny and phylogeny of the dorsal cup in calceocrinid crinoids
Authors: Brower James C.
Published: August 2016

The dorsal cups of 17 calceocrinid species illustrate the relations between ontogeny and phylogeny for this unique family. Paedomorphosis in conjunction with increasing adult body size comprises the dominant pattern. During evolution, the plate structure of the dorsal cup was rearranged so that the hinge of advanced crinoids resembles the juvenile configuration of more primitive species. Consideration of allometric equations dealing with the size and shape of the dorsal cup and hinge suggests that most changes were caused by displacements of the initial intercepts and offsets of timing in development. The growth of the hinge moment of typical taxa produces hinges that are functionally equivalent in adult crinoids of different body sizes.
Trace fossils and depositional sequences in a clastic shelf setting, Upper Cretaceous of Utah
Authors: Frey Robert W. , Howard James D.
Published: August 2016

In Coal Creek Canyon, Utah, the Spring Canyon Member of the Blackhawk Formation is divisible into four regressive hemicycles of deposition, each representing the downdip part of a nearshore-to-offshore sequence. The first and fourth hemicycles are best developed. Individual bedding units span middle-shoreface to lower-offshore lithofacies, the latter corresponding to a thin intertongue of Mancos Shale.

Trace fossil assemblages include ~22 ichnospecies and 17 ichnogenera: Ancorichnus, Aulichnites, Chondrites, Cylindrichnus, Ophiomorpha, Palaeophycus, Phoebichnus, Planolites, Rosselia, Schaubcylindrichnus, Scolicia, Skolithos, Taenidium, Teichichnus, Terebellina, Thalassinoides, and Uchirites. Diversity and abundance of ichnospecies are greater in nearshore than in offshore lithofacies. Distal deposits are typified by obscure bioturbate textures: Cylindrichnus concentricus, Palaeophycus heberti, and Rosselia socialis are prevalent through the remainder of the lithofacies suite. Ophiomorpha irregulaire and Schaubcylindrichnus coronus are most common in middle-shoreface beds and Chondrites ichnosp. in upper-offshore beds; Ophiomorpha nodosa and O. annulata also are common in this part of the sequence.
Popenoeum, a new pseudolivine gastropod genus: widespread and most diversified during the Paleocene
Authors: Squires Richard L. , Zinsmeister William J. , Paredes-Mejia Luis M.
Published: August 2016

A new genus, Popenoeum, is proposed for a clade of Upper Cretaceous through lower Eocene pseudolivine gastropods found in North and South America, West Greenland, western Europe, and southern India. Popenoeum n. gen. is characterized by tabulate whorls with a prominent subsutural canal, collabral costae that terminate as tubercles on the body whorl shoulder, and closely spaced fine to strong spiral cords.

The type species, Popenoeum maritimus n. sp., is from the lower Paleocene (Danian) portion of the San Francisquito Formation, southern California, and from the upper Paleocene (Thanetian) Sepultura Formation, Baja California. Popenoeum maritimus bajaensis n. subsp. is also present in the Sepultura Formation.

Other species and subspecies in the clade include Popenoeum sp. (Toulmin) and P. scalina Heilprin from Alabama; P. mutabilis mutabilis (Woods) and P. mutabilis woodsi (Olsson) from northwestern Peru; P. aff. P. maritimus from West Greenland; P. brevis (Doncieux) and P. prima (Defiance) from France; P. chavani (Glibert), P. robusta (Briart and Cornet) and P. briarti (Vincent) from Belgium; and P. subcostata (Stoliczka) from southern India. The earliest species is P. subcostata, and it is the only Cretaceous species. The youngest form is P. mutabilis woodsi, and it is the only Eocene species. The new genus reached its peak during the Paleocene.
Morphometric patterns in Middle Triassic Neogondolella mombergensis (Conodonta), Fossil Hill, Nevada
Authors: Ritter Scott M.
Published: August 2016

The Fossil Hill Member of the Prida Formation (Fossil Hill, Nevada) yields one of the most continuous records of Middle Triassic conodont evolution currently known. Because of different taxonomic viewpoints, this record has been alternately interpreted to represent either morphological stasis or gradual, biostratigraphically significant morphogenesis. Univariate and multivariate morphometric analysis of 18 successive Neogondolella Pa element populations suggests that the majority of specimens at Fossil Hill (including N. constricta emend. sensu Nicora and Kovacs, 1984) belong to a single, morphologically diverse species, Neogondolella mombergensis (Tatge). Time series of individual character means from 18 stratigraphic horizons in the Fossil Hill display nondirectional morphologic trends for which a random walk model cannot be rejected. Time series of transformed multivariate means constitute biologs that may prove useful in regional correlation.
Echinolampas laubei (Echinoidea), a replacement name for Echinolampas duncani McNamara, 1987
Authors: McNamara Kenneth J.
Published: August 2016

The name Echinolampas duncani McNamara, 1987 (McNamara, 1987, p. 109-110, fig. 1A-C) was given to a Miocene cassiduloid echinoid species from Australia. J. Roman (Institut de Paléontologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France) has kindly alerted me to the fact that this name is already occupied by Echinolampas duncani Cotteau, 1891 (Cotteau, 1891, p. 162). Cotteau proposed this name as a replacement for Echinolampas obesa Duncan and Sladen, 1884, which was a junior homonym of Echinolampas obesus Bittner, 1880. The recently described Australian species is therefore a junior homonym of Echinolampas duncani Cotteau, 1891. Consequently a new name, Echinolampas laubei, is proposed as a replacement for Echinolampas duncani McNamara, 1987. It is named after G. C. Laube, in honor of his pioneering work on the Miocene echinoid faunas of Australia.
Teudopsis cadominensis, a new teuthid squid from the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of Alberta
Authors: Hall Russell L. , Neuman Andrew G.
Published: August 2016

A new species of teuthid squid,Teudopsis cadominensis, is described from the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) Poker Chip Shale of the Fernie Formation in central-western Alberta. Fossil squids are rare in the Mesozoic of North America; this species is the first record of the family Palaeololiginidae in North America and the first member of the suborder Mesoteuthina in the Jurassic of North America.
Morphometric study of the platform elements ofAmydrotaxis praejohnsonin. sp. (Lower Devonian, conodonts, Nevada)
Authors: Murphy Michael A. , Springer Kathleen B.
Published: August 2016

The platform element of the conodontAmydrotaxis praejohnsonin. sp. shows statistically significant morphological changes from the base to the top of thedeltaZone (Lower Devonian). The changes occur particularly in mean denticle number, height and character of the anterior denticles, and shape of the basal cavity. The earliest forms have fewer denticles (= 7.1), an enlarged, high anterior denticle, and a broadly flared posterior basal cavity, whereas late forms have more denticles (= 9.4), equal-sized anterior denticles, and a narrow posterior basal cavity. There is no stasis phase in the species history, but rather a mosaic pattern in which the observed changes in the character states are seemingly independent of each other and proceed at variable rates.
Revision of Corynoides ultimus Ruedemann (Graptolithina) and its relationship to Corynites Kozłowski
Authors: Mitchell Charles E.
Published: August 2016

In his monograph on the fauna of the Utica and Lorraine Formations of New York, Ruedemann (1925b) described a new and unusually young species of Corynoides, C. ultimus. He obtained these specimens from a thin band within the Utica Shale at a locality on Ohisa Creek (a tributary of the more well known Nowadoga Creek) in the Mohawk Valley. Like many of the graptolites from the Utica, the Corynoides ultimus specimens are vague carbon films, extensively exfoliated and difficult to study. Perhaps consequently, Ruedemann's illustrations and measurements are not entirely accurate and do not reveal sufficient detail for meaningful comparison of this taxon with other, better known species.
Pteropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Tertiary formations of Washington and Oregon
Authors: Squires Richard L.
Published: August 2016

Praehyalocylis cretacea (Blanckenhorn, 1889), a pteropod previously known only from upper Eocene to middle Miocene strata in Europe and Turkey, is reported for the first time in similar age rocks in the northwestern United States. Of the 238 specimens, most occur as molds and casts in concretions in deep-water deposits from the Keasey Formation in Oregon, and from the Quimper Sandstone, Blakeley Formation, Pysht Formation, and Astoria Formation of Washington. Praehyalocylis has not been reported previously from the Western Hemisphere.

Clio berglundi n. sp. and C. goederti n. sp. are reported from upper Oligocene to lower Miocene rocks in Washington. Eleven specimens were found mostly as internal molds in concretions in deep-water deposits of the Lincoln Creek, Pysht, and Astoria Formations of Washington. Cenozoic species of Clio have not been reported previously from the West Coast of the United States.
Substrate preferences of Late Eocene (Priabonian/Jacksonian) echinoids of the eastern Gulf Coast
Authors: Carter B. D. , Beisel T. H. , Branch W. B. , Mashburn C. M.
Published: August 2016

Thin sections and acetate peels of the sediment within, and adhering to the outsides of, tests of Late Eocene echinoids from the southeastern United States have proven to be useful checks on inferences from test morphology concerning substrate preference. Previous characterizations of species' sediment preferences have concentrated primarily on the functional morphology of spatangoids, and relied particularly heavily upon Recent relatives of nonspatangoids. Reassessment of the preferences of spatangoids has led to a few discrepancies between interpretations herein and those of previous workers. In addition, this study attempts a more thorough assessment of functional morphology of nonspatangoid irregular echinoids than has previously been tried.

Carbonate sand-dwelling species from the Ocala Limestone (thin sections are clean grainstones) include Oligopygus, Echinolampas, Rhyncholampas, fibulariids, Durhamella, Neolaganum, Agassizia, Macropneustes, some species of Plagiobrissus and Periarchus, and most species of Eupatagus. All these have been interpreted previously as preferring clean sand. Species that preferred, or at least tolerated, significant carbonate mud in the substrate (thin sections are poorly washed grainstones and packstones) include all the regular echinoids and the irregular echinoids Schizaster, Ditremaster, Brissopsis, Brissopatagus, Amblypygus, Eurhodia, Weisbordella, Wythella, Paraster, some species of Periarchus and Plagiobrissus, and perhaps some species of Eupatagus. The last seven of these have previously been interpreted as sand-dwellers.

In general, species preferring mud-rich sands are found in the upper Ocala of peninsular Florida and in the middle to upper Ocala equivalents in the rest of the Gulf Coast. Sand-dwellers are most often found in the lower Ocala strata of both regions and up into the middle Ocala in Florida. These generalizations are consistent with existing paleoenvironmental models for the region.
Giant Cretaceous sawfish (Onchosaurus) from Texas
Authors: Lehman Thomas M.
Published: August 2016

Detached rostral teeth of fossil sawfishes of the family Sclerorhynchidae Cappetta (1974) are relatively common in Late Cretaceous marine strata of Texas. Most such teeth are referable to various species ofIschyrhizaandOnchopristis(Slaughter and Steiner, 1968). The extraordinarily large rostral teeth described herein are not referable to any sawfish presently known from North America. They belong toOnchosaurus pharao(Dames, 1887), which is known elsewhere from Egypt, Nigeria, Zaire, Angola, and Brazil (Arambourg, 1940; Tabaste, 1963; Cappetta, 1987). The specimens are the largest reported for any sawfish.
Repository of Trentonia shegiriana Pickerill and Forbes, 1978 (Annelida, Polychaeta)
Authors: Pickerill Ron K.
Published: August 2016

The holotype of the errant polychaete annelid Trentonia shegiriana Pickerill and Forbes, 1978 from the Middle Ordovician Trenton Group of the Quebec City area, Quebec, Canada (see Pickerill and Forbes, 1978, fig. 1, p. 660), and subsequently figured in Boardman et al. (1987, fig. 12.4, p. 199), has now been reposited in the Division of Natural Sciences, New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, with the catalog number NBMG 6501. Although the Trenton Group in this area has yielded additional annelids of uncertain affinity (Conway Morris et al., 1982), the holotype of T. shegiriana still represents the only known specimen despite a further decade of investigation. At the time of publication, a repository for the specimen was unavailable, but Dr. R. Miller, Curator for Paleontological Collections, has now arranged to receive the specimen.
Apparent cannibalism by Chesapeake Group naticid gastropods: a predictable result of selective predation
Authors: Kelley Patricia H.
Published: August 2016

Naticid gastropods of the Chesapeake Group of Maryland, like extant naticids, apparently were cannibalistic. This cannibalism did not result from the absence of bivalve prey or from the ineptitude of the predator, as some previous authors have suggested. Instead, predation on Chesapeake Group naticids was a predictable result of prey selection to maximize energy gain per foraging time.

This study examines predation on Lunatia heros (530 specimens) and Polinices duplicatus (340 specimens) from the St. Marys Formation of the Chesapeake Group. Predation on naticids displayed the same characteristics as predation on bivalve prey, including selectivity of prey size and drillhole site. The two naticid species were differentially attacked, based on their relative cost-benefit ratios and escape sizes. Cannibalism is not anomalous; it is the expected result of selective predation, and is inhibited primarily by the high mobility of naticid prey.
Sixth notice of transfer of specimens figured by Rousseau H. Flower
Authors: Wolberg Donald L.
Published: August 2016

Rousseau h. flower (1913-1988) collected and published widely in paleontology during a career that spanned more than 50 years. Although Rousseau did significant paleontological work while employed elsewhere, the major part of his career was spent at the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources (NMBM&MR), a career that included a decade of work after his formal retirement (Wolberg, 1988). During his life, Rousseau built a very large fossil collection based upon his own field work., materials other scientists referred to him for study, material sent to him by serious amateurs, and collections Rousseau borrowed from other institutions and was unable to return before his death. The NMBM&MR is attempting to find and return all borrowed material. Similarly, we intend to transfer much described fossil material to major repositories with appropriate facilities for their maintenance in order to make the fossils available to as many interested students as possible. The guidelines for the transfer of this material were set by Rousseau before his death.
Late Devonian (Famennian) rugose coral fauna of the Percha Shale of southwestern New Mexico
Authors: Sorauf James E.
Published: August 2016

Solitary rugose corals (Cnidaria, Rugosa) are common to abundant in the calcareous Box Member of the late Famennian Percha Shale (LowerexpansaZone) of southwestern New Mexico; the Box is best developed in the western part of the Percha outcrop belt. The corals include a number of forms characteristic of Strunian faunas throughout the world. Recognized here areGorizdroniasp. cf.G. tenuisRozkowska,Campophyllum?ursinumn. sp.,Caninia cooperin. sp.,Siphonophyllia?folian. sp.,S.?corbiculan. sp., “Bothrophyllum” argenteumn. sp., “B.”argenteum argenteumn. subsp., “B.”argenteum bilateralisn. subsp., “B.”argenteum dibunophylloidesn. subsp.,Arachnolasmella elytran. sp., andCyathoclisiasp. A. This fauna is clearly ancestral to Carboniferous genera and species. Percha species, where represented by large populations, are seen to be remarkably variable, especially in axial structure.
Permian trilobites from West Texas
Authors: Brezinski David K.
Published: August 2016

Trilobites occur in two generically distinct faunas in the Permian strata of West Texas. The stratigraphically lower fauna, composed ofDitomopyge decurtata(Gheyselinck),Ditomopygesp.,Triproetus angustusn. sp.,Triproetus tumidusn. sp.,Triproetus altasulcusn. sp., is present in Wolfcampian and early Leonardian strata. The stratigraphically upper fauna, present in late Leonardian and Guadalupian strata, is comprised ofDelaria antiqua(Girty),Delaria grantin. sp.,Delaria brevisn. sp.,Delaria westexensisn. sp.,Delaria chinatiensisn. sp.,Novoameura vitrumonsn. sp.,Anisopyge perannulata(Shumard), andAnisopyge cooperin. sp.

The lower fauna originated in the late Pennsylvanian, inhabited shallow-water environments, was relatively pandemic, and is interpreted to have become extinct as a result of marine regression during the early to middle Leonardian. The endemic upper fauna originated in deep waters of the Marfa and Delaware Basins during the late Leonardian, and, concurrent with sea level rise, migrated and diversified into the shelf-margin reefs of the late Leonardian and Guadalupian. Regression during the Late Permian resulted in extinction of this second Permian trilobite fauna.
Clarification of Coccolithus crassus Bramlette and Sullivan, an index fossil of Coccolithophoridae
Authors: Wei Wuchang
Published: August 2016

Coccolithus crassus was described by Bramlette and Sullivan (1961) from the Lodo Formation of California. This species has a short stratigraphic range within the lower Eocene and its first occurrence is a marker for the CP10/CP11 zonal boundary in the widely used nannofossil zonation of Okada and Bukry (1980). Most nannofossil workers, however, do not report this index fossil, and the CP10/CP11 zonal boundary is often not determined. This is in contrast to the work of D. Bukry, who used the first occurrence of C. crassus for the CP10/CP11 boundary in virtually all lower Eocene DSDP cores that he examined (Figure 1). Apparently, there is considerable confusion about C. crassus. For instance, Romein (1979) considered C. crassus a junior synonym of Coccolithus eopelagicus (Bramlette and Riedel) Bramlette and Sullivan; Steinmetz and Stradner (1984, p. 741, Pl. 42, figs. 1 and 2) figured a specimen of Ericsonia subpertusa Hay and Mohler from Zone CP7 (upper Paleocene) as C. crassus; Perch-Nielsen (1985, p. 433, figs. 3.46 and 3.47, p. 504, figs. 58.12 and 58.13) mistook Toweius callosus Perch-Nielsen as C. crassus, as did Varol (1989, p. 302, Pl. 4, figs. 37 and 38). The main problem that prevents most workers from using this index fossil is that the species concept is largely unclear. It appears to be difficult to distinguish C. crassus from C. pelagicus or T. callosus based on the light micrographs of Bramlette and Sullivan (1961, Pl. 1, figs. 4a and 4c), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of this species have never been published except one specimen of the species was illustrated in Matter et al. (1974, p. 914, Pl. 4, fig. 8) under the name Ericsonia ovalis Black.
Technique for disaggregating mudstones to retrieve microfossils and non-clay residual particles
Authors: Bennington J Bret
Published: August 2016

This technique is effective for completely breaking down moderately calcareous to noncalcareous mudstones and shales to produce a concentrated residue of microfossils and non-clay minerals. I have applied this treatment to Mississippian and Pennsylvanian age mudstones and have easily retrieved abundant conodonts, ostracodes, foraminifers, spores, wood fragments, fish teeth, vertebrate bone fragments, silt, mica, pyrite crystals and framboids, and phosphate nodules. All of the above items emerge from the treatment with fine structures such as spines and surface ornamentation undamaged and completely free of surficial clay. This technique is a modification of that of Lund (1970). The chemical used by Lund (Union Carbide Amine 220) is no longer manufactured and an effective alternative is reported here. Furthermore, the additional steps in processing reported here increase the efficacity of the technique for completely dissolving indurated mudstones.
A possible lepadomorph barnacle from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of Jamaica, West Indies
Authors: Donovan Stephen K. , Davis-Strickland Elizabeth R.
Published: August 2016

Fossil barnacles are poorly known from the West Indies in general and Jamaica in particular. The only records from Jamaica to date have been of occasional balanomorphs collected from Neogene deposits (Newman and Ladd, 1974; Morris, in press). It is therefore significant to report what may be the first fossil lepadomorph from the island, preserved as a scaled peduncle. This is also the oldest known Jamaican, and probably Caribbean, barnacle, coming from the Upper Cretaceous. This specimen was discovered by the junior author in the Geology Museum, University of the West Indies at Mona. Barnacle terminology used herein follows that of Newman et al. (1969).
The coralThuliocyclus prominensn. gen. and sp. (Rugosa: Palaeocyclidae) from the Upper Silurian of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Authors: Parkins William G.
Published: August 2016

Twenty-two specimens ofThuliocyclus prominens, a new palaeocyclid rugose coral genus and species, on a loose slab presumably from the lower Pridolian Barlow Inlet Formation at Cape Rescue on Cornwallis Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, provide a good growth series from neanic to ephebic stages. The new genus shares morphological characteristics with both typical Silurian Palaeocyclidae and more advanced Devonian Hadrophyllidae.
A new late Paleozoic chondrophorine (Hydrozoa, Velellidae) by-the-wind sailor from Malaysia
Authors: Stanley George D. , Yancey Thomas E.
Published: August 2016

A new medusoid hydrozoan,Plectodiscus malayitesn. sp., belonging to the Family Velellidae is described from Carboniferous rocks of the Malay Peninsula. They are preserved as flattened internal float structures or pneumatophores and are the first examples from this part of the world. In contrast to other occurrences, the great abundance of these sailed organisms suggests that, like extant species ofVelella, these organisms were an important component of the pelagic fauna and were at least locally abundant in open seas of the late Paleozoic.
Biostratigraphic value of the Late Mississippian Ostracode Amphissites insignis Croneis and Thurman, 1939
Authors: Sohn I. G.
Published: August 2016

Amphissites insignis Croneis and Thurman, 1939, is a readily identifiable ostracode species because of the unique configuration of carinae and ridges on the surface of the valves. The species had adapted to both shale and limestone environments of deposition, has a wide geographic distribution in the United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, Tennessee, and Texas), and is confined to the uppermost part of the Chesterian Series (foraminiferal zones 18 and 19). The description of this species is amended and specimens are illustrated for the first time from Nevada, Montana, Arkansas, and Tennessee, indicating that the species is a biostratigraphic indicator of the uppermost part of the Chesterian sedimentary sequence. Ontogenetic development of A. insignis is reconstructed. A. sp. 1 (Late Mississippian) and A. sp. 2 (Early Pennsylvanian) are illustrated in open nomenclature.
Mabou Mines Section: biostratigraphy and correlation (Pennsylvanian Pictou Group, Nova Scotia, Canada)
Authors: Zodrow Erwin L. , Vasey Gary M.
Published: August 2016

The floras and the faunas encountered in the Mabou Mines Section of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, are not greatly diversified. The floras are composed mainly of medullosean (seed) ferns referable to neuropterids and reticulopterids. Infrequently encountered are lycopod, pecopterid, mariopterid, alethopterid, fortopterid, sphenopterid, sphenophylls and cordaitean fossils. The fauna is characterized by Anthraconauta phillipsii, Carbonita spp., Leaia spp. and rare Gutschickia bretonensis representing a fresh-water, lacustrine paleoenvironment in a fluviatite regime. Shells possibly referable to Anthraconauta tenuis s.l. are rare.

In European chronostratigraphy (i.e., Heerlen), the age of the Mabou Mines Section encompasses middle to late Westphalian C to early Westphalian D. Correlation of the fauna with British chronozones is not without difficulty and a phillipsii Chronozone assignment is proposed which is somewhat lower (Westphalian C) than the floral correlation, an expected result.
Middle Ordovician agglutinated foraminifera including Reophax from the Mifflin Formation, Platteville Group of Illinois
Authors: Gutschick Raymond C.
Published: August 2016

Agglutinated siliceous foraminifera occur in the Middle Ordovician (Blackriveran) Mifflin Formation of the Platteville Group in northern Illinois. The fauna consists of globular saccamminids and a new form Reophax blackriveranus n. sp. which records the oldest validated representative of this genus. This marks the earliest known occurrence of agglutinated foraminifera with multichambered uniserial tests of progressively expanding chambers from the proloculus to the aperture. This early innovation of test morphology was probably developed to control unfavorable changes in the water chemistry of the environment.

Mifflin lithofacies consist of light gray, thin, wavy-bedded, lithographic limestone and fine-grained dolomite with green shale interbeds, thin calcarenite layers with graded bedding, a K-bentonite ash layer and hardground corrosion bedding surfaces. Mifflin biofacies include the foraminiferan fauna, brachiopods and molluscan shelly faunas, bryozoans, trilobites, ostracodes, echinoderms, solitary corals, conodonts, chitinozoans, scolecodonts, sponges and trace fossils particularly Chondrites.

The Mifflin strata were deposited on an exceedingly gentle slope off the Pecatonica carbonate platform which flanked the Wisconsin Arch. Thin Mifflin clinothem limestone beds wedge out into shales in the moderately deep (<200 m) aerobic starved basin in eastern Iowa. This occurred in south tropical seas during a eustatic rise in sealevel and major marine transgression. Reophax is associated with saccamminids in the benthos of the marine upper foreslope. Apparently slope-dwelling Reophax foraminifera of the Ordovician were displaced downslope into the basin by the rapid development and expansion of hyperamminids which occupy the lower and middle foreslope in the Mississippian.
Stromatoporoid biozonation of the Cedar City Formation, Middle Devonian of Missouri
Authors: Birkhead Paul K.
Published: August 2016

The Cedar City Formation is divisible into three stromatoporoid biozones. These zones are differentiated by the mutually exclusive stratigraphic occurrences of the species 1) Syringostroma astrorhizoides, 2) Stromatoporella congregabilis and 3) Stachyodes crebrum. Chronologically, the zones range from late Emsian to early Frasnian. Lithofacies of the Cedar City are not restrictive as to the stromatoporoid species they contain.
The polyplacophoran“Chiton” carbonariusStevens, 1858, in North America and new related species
Authors: Hoare R. D. , Mapes R. H.
Published: August 2016

“Chiton” carbonariusStevens, 1858, is reassigned as the type species toGlaphurochitonRaymond, 1910. This species evolved from an unknown Mississippian ancestor, and spread rapidly into the Midcontinent region, Eastern Interior, and Appalachian basins during the Morrowan.Glaphurochiton carbonariusserved as the root stock for development of several species:G. concinnus(Richardson) during the Desmoinesian andG. subcircularisn. sp. during the Virgilian in the Eastern Interior basin andG. elimatusn. sp. in the Appalachian basin and possiblyG.?riddlei(Frederickson) in the Midcontinent region during the Missourian.

Glaphurochitonis believed to have been essentially restricted to a mud bottom based upon its occurrence and relative abundance. Commonly the only taxon present, often abundantly, in black and gray shales,Glaphurochitonis rare to absent in limestones, algal limestones, reefs, and shales with an abundance of crustose calcareous algae. The latter lithologies commonly support a diverse polyplacophoran fauna essentially lackingGlaphurochiton.
New bivalves from the Datang Stage, Lower Carboniferous, Guangdong Province, China
Authors: Zhang Renjie , Pojeta John
Published: August 2016

This paper documents 22 species of lower Carboniferous bivalves (Visean) from the Ceshui Formation (Datang Stage) of Guangdong Province, South China. Among these, the genus Glyptoconcha and the species Glyptoconcha elegans, Palaeoneilo guangdongensis, and Neocypricardinia simplex are new. This study enriches the early Carboniferous bivalve record and provides information for biostratigraphic subdivision of the lower Carboniferous of South China.
A new prosciurine rodent from Shantung Province, China
Authors: Rensberger John M. , Chuan-Kuei Li
Published: August 2016

A lower molar of a new species of rodent,Prosciurus?shantungensis, from the subsurface of eastern China adds to the diversity of the known Asian prosciurine aplodontids and increases the likelihood that aplodontids were widespread in Eurasia during the Oligocene. This form is structurally close to the North American prosciurine aplodontids, especiallyProsciurus relictusfrom the middle Oligocene. The metaconid is strongly compressed and reduced in height, a condition partially developed inP. relictusbut here more extreme. Height of the mesoconid and the degree of lophodonty are more advanced than in North American species ofProsciurus. P.?shantungensisdiffers from the prosciurine-like lower dentitions from Kazakhstan and Mongolia described by Argyropulo (1939) and Kowalski (1974) in crest development and in details of the cusp morphology. Types of the Asian prosciurine or presumed prosciurine species are upper dentitions for which associated lower dentitions are unknown, yet the slope of the crests inProsciurus lohiculusis too low to match the occlusal surface inP.?shantungensisand the degree of lophodonty inP. arboraptusis less than would be expected for the upper dentition of the Shantung form.
The cephalic skeletal structure of Jurassic “Eucyrtidium” (Radiolaria)
Authors: Takemura Atsushi , Nakaseko Kojiro
Published: August 2016

Almost all nassellarians possess some skeletons, comprised of cephalic skeletal elements, at the base of their cephalis. Observations using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) have been made on the internal structures of Jurassic “Eucyrtidium” from manganese carbonate ore deposits in the Mino Terrane, central Japan. Jurassic “Eucyrtidium” possesses only a median bar and apical spine as cephalic skeletal elements. Because this structure is quite different from that of Cenozoic Eucyrtidium, which possess MB, A, V, L, l, and D, a new genus, Monosera, is proposed for the Jurassic forms. One new species, Monosera gujoensis, is described.
Xenacanthid shark teeth in Middle Devonian limestones of the Rhenish Schiefergebirge, West Germany
Authors: Stritzke Rüdiger
Published: August 2016

During investigations in the Rhenish Schiefergebirge, West Germany, concerning the Devonian biostratigraphy of forereef limestones in the Brilon area (Figure 1) several diplodont teeth of fossil sharks were discovered by chance. Remains of xenacanthid teeth from marine Givetian beds are rare. They have been described by Hotton (1952) of probable Givetian/Frasnian age from North America, by Gross (1973) from Middle Devonian Hunsrück Shales, and by Young (1982) from Middle/Upper Devonian strata of Australia and Antarctica.
Sponges and chancelloriids from the Cambrian of western Argentina
Authors: Beresi Matilde S. , Rigby J. Keith
Published: August 2016

Anthaspidellid sponges are reported from the La Laja Formation in the Chica de Zonda Range in the Precordillera Oriental, Argentina. These are generically unidentifiable fragments of trabs and more or less well-defined dendroclone spicules. They occur as skeletal elements in small transported fragments and are the only Cambrian occurrence of anthaspidellids known thus far from South America.

Walcott (1920) proposed to include an array of dissociated spicules, including triradiate prodiaenes, hexactines, and probable monactine spicules, in the genus Kiwetinokia. Assemblages tentatively identified as Kiwetinokia utahensis? Walcott, 1920, are reported from the Estancia San Martin Formation, of latest Early Cambrian and early Middle Cambrian age from San Isidro Gulch near Mendoza. Similar spicule assemblages occur in the La Laja Formation from the Chica de Zonda Range, in the Precordillera Oriental near San Juan, and in the Los Sombreros Formation in the Tontal Range of the Precordillera Occidental.

Sclerites of the sponge-like Chancelloria eros Walcott, 1920, are described from the upper Lower to lower Middle Cambrian La Laja Formation. Chancelloria sclerites are also reported here from rocks of the Middle Cambrian Glossopleura Zone in the San Isidro Formation in Empozada Gulch in the San Isidro area of the Precordillera Austral, west of Mendoza, in Mendoza Province. Sponges and chancelloriids from the Cambrian of Argentina are known basically from dissociated skeletal elements.