Bivalves comprise a major component of the faunules of the Mississippian Mauch Chunk Group in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Twenty-eight species representing 22 genera have been recognized. Of these, three new species are proposed—Limipecten greerensis, Streblochondria tiltoni, and Prothyris (Prothyris) acuticarinata.

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

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

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

Two additional specimens of Tristratocoelia rhythmica Senowbari-Daryan and Rigby, 1988, have also been found. They allow further definition of characteristics of this sponge, which was initially described from a single specimen from Djebel Tebaga.

A single phyllodont tooth plate was identified in core from the Permian San Andres Formation of the Palo Duro Basin, Texas Panhandle. This is the first vertebrate fossil recorded from the San Andres Formation, and extends the Permian range of phyllodont dentitions into the lower Guadalupian Stage. The life environment is inferred to have been normal marine to marginally hypersaline, based on the occurrence of the specimen near the top of a carbonate unit in a carbonate-evaporite cycle.

Boulders of late Cambrian age in conglomerates in Quebec and Newfoundland have been intensively collected and have yielded some 18 species which were referred by Ludvigsen et al. (1989) to either Theodenisia Clark, 1948, or to Peracheilus Ludvigsen, 1986. Most specimens are cranidia, rarely having the free cheek in place, and all 3 mm or less in length (sag.). Similar cranidia from strata in Vermont (Clark and Shaw, 1968), Maryland (Rasetti, 1959), Oklahoma (Stitt, 1971), Texas (Winston and Nicholls, 1967) and Alberta (Westrop, 1986) appear to be few and are in need of further study. No even partially complete exoskeleton has been found, so that isolated pygidia cannot confidently be referred to a particular species; no hypostome is known. The cranidium provides a limited basis on which to diagnose a genus, and while each of the species displays distinctive characters, it is difficult to discern one or more related groups among them. The present investigation of the holotypes of type species and material of four additional species shows how problematic is the use of current generic categories. I begin my account by pointing out differences in appearance between individual specimens. Such contrasts are greatest between the external surface of the exoskeleton and a mold of the inner, visceral surface, lesser differences resulting from exfoliation of the laminated outer layer of the exoskeleton (Fig. 1) at different levels. The holotype cranidium of Theodenisia, T. eminens (Clark, 1924) is a unique specimen, none other like it having been recovered, despite the intensive collecting. It has distinctive features, but because of its uniqueness I advocate that the name Theodenisia should only be used for this holotype (Fig. 2.1–2.3, 2.5, 2.6). The holotype and additional specimens of Peracheilus marcoui (Raymond, 1924), the type species of the genus Peracheilus, are described (Fig. 2.4, 2.7–2.15), together with four other species. These show (Figs. 3, 4) part of the range of morphology that exists, but there is little in common between them. For example, not all have S1 and S2 prominent, nor is the glabella widest anteriorly in all. Renewed intensive collecting, including from areas other than Quebec and Newfoundland, is needed in the hope of obtaining more nearly complete knowledge of the exoskeleton. Such knowledge may show whether or not a group, or groups, of related species can be recognized. As a temporary expedient I use Peracheilus? as a genus in which to include, with question, three of the species, and adopt the more recently proposed name Calculites Fortey, 1983 for the type species Acheilus microps Rasetti, 1944. In recording the material examined, I include isolated pygidia associated with cranidia in Rasetti's collection to show that they are present, but not to confirm that I consider they belong to the same species as the cranidium.

The cassiduloid echinoid Calilampas californiensis n. gen. and sp. is described from middle lower Eocene (“Capay Stage”) shallow-marine sandstones in both the middle part of the Bateque Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and the lower part of the Llajas Formation, southern California. The new genus is tentatively placed in family Pliolampadidae. The cassiduloid Cassidulus ellipticus Kew, 1920, previously known only from the “Capay Stage” in California, is also present in “Capay Stage” shallow-marine sandstones of the Bateque Formation.

Adult intercolony fusion occurs in Paleofavosites capax (Billings) and P. asper (d'Orbigny) in the Silurian of Anticosti Island. This represents the first documented example of allogeneic fusion seen in tabulate corals. The occurrence of allogeneic fusion and non-fusion and the documentation of agonistic behavior in the same species attest to the presence of some degree of allorecognition specificity, now well established for modern corals, already in these Silurian corals. The implication is that the evolution of allorecognition systems, probably by polymorphism at allorecognition loci, was already well established 400 million years ago in corals. Banding, probably seasonal, appears to be more likely environmentally than genetically controlled.

New collections from the Marshalltown Formation and basal Mount Laurel Sand along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in Delaware clarify the ammonite dating of the interval. The Marshalltown Formation yields Pachydiscus (Pachydiscus) sp., Menuites portlocki (Sharpe, 1855) complexus (Hall and Meek, 1856), a subspecies restricted to the Baculites gregoryensis and Baculites scotti zones in the Western Interior of the United States, and Didymoceras binodosum (Kennedy and Cobban, 1993a) known only from the B. scotti zone of the Western Interior and correlatives in Arkansas and Texas. The basal part of the Mount Laurel Sand contains a complex assemblage preserved as phosphatic molds: Nostoceras (Nostoceras) monotuberculatum Kennedy and Cobban, 1993a, Nostoceras (N.) sp., Didymoceras platycostatum (Kennedy and Cobban, 1993b), D. stevensoni (Whitfield, 1877) (previously thought to be from the Marshalltown) and Exiteloceras jenneyi (Whitfield, 1877). The last two are index species of their eponymous zones in the Western Interior. This sequence is compatible with ammonites from the Wenonah Formation, which lies between the Marshalltown and Mount Laurel to the north and contains ammonites indicative of the Baculites scotti zone, and the fauna from higher in the Mount Laurel Sand, which includes elements of the Didymoceras cheyennense and Baculites compressus zones of the Western Interior sequence.

The early Albian to mid-Albian cosmopolitan genus Douvilleiceras is represented in the Haida Gwaii archipelago of western British Columbia by five species, D. mammillatum (Schlotheim), D. offarcinatum (White), D. scabrosum Casey, D. spiniferum (Whiteaves), and D. aff. spiniferum (Whiteaves). Specimens of one of these taxa, D. spiniferum, are particularly abundant on Haida Gwaii and the species is discussed with respect to its morphological variability and ontogenetic development. The important morphological features for taxonomic criteria of the genus Douvilleiceras are the mode of tuberculation, the pattern of ribbing, and the proportions of the shell in the middle growth stage.

The condensed Upper Albian to Lower Cenomanian deposits of the Helvetic Shelf of France and Switzerland yield diverse ammonite faunas including representatives of the family Lyelliceratidae, subfamily Stoliczkaiinae that is the origin of the Upper Cretaceous Acanthoceratidae and its descendants, as well as representatives of the dwarf stoliczkaiine offshoot, the family Flickiidae, subfamily Salaziceratinae. The following are described and referred to the Upper Albian Mortoniceras inflatum Zone: Neophlycticeras (N.) brottianum (d'Orbigny, 1841), N. (N.) rhodanense Delamette, 1983, N. (Protissotia) itierianum (d'Orbigny, 1841), and Zuluscaphites helveticus n. sp. From the Upper Albian Stoliczkaia dispar Zone come Neophlycticeras (N.) blancheti (Pictet and Campiche, 1859), N. (Paradolphia) priscum Casey, 1965, Stoliczkaia (5.) notha (Seeley, 1865), S. (S.) tenuis Renz, 1968, S. (Lamnayella) tetragona Neumayr, 1875, Cenisella bonnetiana Pictet, 1847, Zuluscaphites orycteropusi Van Hoepen, 1955, Salaziceras (S.) salazacense (Hébert and Munier-Chalmas, 1875), and S. (S.) breistrofferi Scholz, 1979. The Lower Cenomanian Mantelliceras mantelli Zone, Neostlingoceras carcitanense Subzone yields Stoliczkaia (Stoliczkaia) villoutreysi Casey, 1965, S. (Lamnayella) tetragona Neumayr, 1875, and S. (Shumarinaia) hashimotoi Matsumoto and Inoma, 1975.

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.

Recent work on new anthracothere (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) specimens from the Jebel Qatrani Formation, early Oligocene, Fayum, Egypt, has revealed the presence of a new genus. Nabotherium new genus is described on the basis of a partial skull, several mandibular and maxillary specimens, and isolated teeth. The new genus exhibits a distinctive combination of features not seen in other Paleogene anthracotheres. The most noticeable characteristics of the new genus include the presence of large and well-developed upper and lower canines, caniniform third incisors, the presence of only a short diastema between the canine and first premolar, and broad, bunodont cheek teeth. This is in contrast to other contemporary anthracotheres, including other forms from the Fayum, which show a spatulate third incisor, a reduced canine, a much longer canine-premolar diastema, and more narrow, bunoselenodont cheek teeth. The presence of a relatively short rostrum with closely packed incisors, low-crowned and simple premolars, and low-crowned, bunodont molars indicates that members of the new genus would have been more efficient at crushing foods than slicing vegetation, and suggests a more varied herbivorous and frugivorous diet than was favored by other, more bunoselenodont Fayum anthracotheres.

When i described the Mazon Creek tanaidacean crustacean and named it Cryptocaris hootchi Schram, 1974, two problems presented themselves. First, all specimens but one were in private collections, and none of their owners then seemed inclined to donate them to an established natural history museum. Second, the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago at that time contained only a single specimen, P32053, of what appeared to be the Mazon Creek tanaidacean. This specimen is peculiarly preserved and of only mediocre quality. Consequently, I based the description of the Mazon Creek tanaidacean almost entirely on the privately held specimens, noting their numbers and private repositories, but designated the Field Museum specimen, P32053, as the holotype. A subsequent review of all fossil tanaidaceans (Schram et al., 1986) focused exclusively on the privately held specimens collected from Mazon Creek sites.

The Nunn Member (early Osagean) of the Lake Valley Formation of New Mexico is known for its abundance and diversity of crinoids. Although crinoids were first reported in the late 1800s, no comprehensive study of the crinoids has been conducted and a complete list of the crinoid taxa does not exist. All subclasses of crinoids occur in the Lake Valley, but the camerates are by far the dominant group. Study of the Macurda collection from the University of Michigan, the Laudon collection from the University of New Mexico, and new collections provided more than 7000 specimens, 4,500 of which were identifiable camerates. Sixty-one species of camerates are recognized in the Nunn Member, including five new species: Blairocrinus macurdai, Iotacrinus novamexicanus, Agaricocrinus alamogordoensis, Uperocrinus kuesi, and Collicrinus laudoni. This camerate fauna is very similar to that of the lower Burlington Limestone of the Mississippi Valley. An update of the crinoid taxa in the Lake Valley Formation allows for a better understanding of the temporal and geographic relationships of crinoid faunas across North American during the Early Mississippian when camerates were at their global diversity maximum. The majority of the camerates come from the western New Mexico outcrops where the Nunn Member is thicker and the marine shelf was shallower, but several also occur in association with the deep-water Waulsortian mounds.

A brachiopod fauna from the Hogan Formation near Skunk Springs, western Utah, in the eastern Great Basin, USA, includes only the new taxon Duartea bruntoni n. sp., and other brachiopod taxa described for the first time in North America. the faunas are considered to be late Moscovian (late Desmoinesian) in age, which represents the first record of post-middle Desmoinesian brachiopod faunas within the Pennsylvanian of the Great Basin. Systematic analyses of the faunas suggest strong affinities with brachiopods previously described in South America and Russia, confirming the idea of faunal migration into the Great Basin. the migration of these faunas appears to correlate with the development of new oceanic currents in response to paleogeographic changes related to the formation of the Late Paleozoic Pangea.

Based on abundant topotype specimens from the Oil Creek Formation at the type locality in southern Oklahoma, Histiodella labiosa is described and revised. The morphological variation of the Pa, Pb, and M elements of this previously little-known species is also systematically documented and illustrated. The revised species definition, with formal designation of a lectotype and a new diagnosis supported by morphological comparison with its ancestral and descendent species, has enhanced its value for correlation of the lower Darriwilian. The inferred phylogeny of Histiodella that resulted from this study is based on both cladistic and morphological analyses. It supports the monophyletic grouping of Histiodella species and their evolutionary relationships. This has wide biostratigraphic implications because many Histiodella species are valuable for detailed global correlation of upper Dapingian to middle Darriwilian strata.

Four species of rugose corals (one new) are described from the Silurian of the Kurosegawa Terrane, Southwest Japan. They are Neobrachyelasma japonica n. sp., Pseudamplexus sp., Amsdenoides sp., and Amplexoides sp. aff. A. chaoi (Grabau, 1925). These species occur in the Middle Member of the Gionyama Formation, which is Late Llandovery to Early Ludlow in age. Neobrachyelasma is reported for the first time from Japan. This genus occurs in the Lower Llandovery to Upper Silurian of Japan, South China, Kazakhstan, and the Altai and might be distributed only in South China and Japan during the Late Llandovery. Its occurrence in Japan may support a paleogeographic proximity of ‘Proto-Japan’ and the South China Block during the Silurian.

The Wamp Spring section of the Bird Spring Group consists of approximately 1,600 feet of carbonate rocks subdivided into a basal platy limestone member, lower cliff-forming member, and upper cliff-forming member. Triticites, Schwagerina, and Schubertella kingi in the platy limestone member indicate an early Wolfcampian age. Schwagerina, Schubertella kingi, and a distinctive assemblage of brachiopods, similar to the West Texas fauna, including Kozlowskia kingi, Elliottella aff. E. multicostata, Leurosina sinesulca, Gypospirifer cf. G. infraplicus, and Composita cf. C. apheles, indicate that the upper cliff-forming member is late Wolfcampian. The lower cliff-forming member is tentatively assigned to the middle Wolfcampian. The Wamp Spring sequence correlates temporally with the BSe “formation” of the Bird Spring Group.

In addition to the previously mentioned taxa, the fossil-rich upper cliff-forming limestone member includes the new species Pontisia boodi, Crurithyris wampensis, and Calliprotonia(?) n. sp. A, as well as Hustedia culcitula, Crenispirifer(?) sp., Cenorhynchia(?) sp., Kutorginella(?) sp., marginiferids, lyssacine hexactinellid sponges, pleurotomarid and bellerophontid gastropods, cidaroid echinoids, rugose corals, cylindrical cryptostome bryozoans, and nuculids.

Testudo antiqua is one of the few fossil turtle names to have survived the past 200 years of taxonomic reshuffling with its original genus and specific epithet intact. The nine currently known specimens were collected from the middle Miocene Hohenhöwen locality in southern Germany. Because the available Hohenhöwen material was never fully described, we here completely document all known specimens. It is unclear which of these specimens formed the original T. antiqua type series, so we herein selected the best preserved representative as the neotype. A phylogenetic analysis places T. antiqua in a basal polytomy within the clade Testudo, indicating that T. antiqua may represent the ancestral morphology of Testudo. As with a number of other published studies, ours was unable to resolve relationships between the three extant Testudo lineages (the hermanni-group, the graeca/kleinmanni/marginata group, and the horsfieldii-group). Finally, with a view toward locating more turtles and in order to better understand the geological and ecological context of these tortoises, we visited Hohenhöwen several times to search for the original collection sites, but we were unable to locate the original fossil quarries described in the literature.

A new arthropod, Haifengella corona new genus new species is described from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Series 2, Stage 3), Yunnan Province, southwest China. It is readily assignable to helmetiida based on gross morphology of the tergum. The new helmetiid is unique in having the marginal spines extending over one-third of the total body width. The weakly sclerotized tergum consists of six thoracic tergites with edge-to-edge tergite articulations. The sub-trapezoidal cephalic shield has a pair of long spines projecting from each posterolateral corner. A prehypostomal sclerite (anterior sclerite) recesses in the anterior margin of the cephalic shield, and a pair of bulges that are close to the prehypostomal sclerite in the cephalic shield are presumed to be the position of ventral eyes. Each of the thoracic tergites exhibits a pair of long spines projecting from the posterolateral corners. The semicircular pygidium carries one terminal spine and two pairs of lateral spines.

IN 1993, Lucas and Williamson coined the name Schochia for a Paleocene mammal (taeniodont) from New Mexico. Michael Oliver has informed me recently that the name Schochia Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1895, is the name of an extant South American grasshopper (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Therefore, in accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, to resolve this homonymy, Robertschochia (type species Schochia sullivani Lucas and Williamson, 1993) is here proposed as a replacement name for Schochia. Robertschochia is named for taeniodont expert Robert Schoch.