A new Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) asteroid (Echinodermata) faunule from the Swift Formation of Montana includes representatives of four genera including the new genus and species Atalopegaster gundersoni (Stichasteridae), Eokainaster sp. indet. (Astropectinidae), an indeterminate probable member of the Goniasteridae, and a species indeterminate beyond the class level. Because of weathering at the outcrop, preservation is poor.

Although representing an unusual depositional occurrence, overall faunule composition appears comparable to that found in a similar modern environment. The faunule is comparable in age and regional location to earlier Jurassic asteroid discoveries, suggesting wide distribution during a geologically brief time interval of favorable conditions. Asteroids are only rarely reported from the Mesozoic of the North American continental interior, and co-occurrence of multiple fossil taxa is unusual on a global basis.

The small, Lower Cretaceous, iron ore deposit at Zengővárkony (Mecsek Mountains, southern Hungary, Europe) contains new brachiopod taxa of kingenoid relationships. Dictyothyropsis vogli, Zittelina hofmanni, and Smirnovina ferraria are described as new species from late Valanginian to earliest Hauterivian strata. The new taxa strengthen the presence of Early Cretaceous biogeographical connections with the Western Carpathians and the Pieniny Klippen Belt of southern Poland. The newly described taxa have significantly larger dimensions than their closest relatives from the type localities, which is in line with previous research on brachiopods from this environment. These brachiopods lived in a nutrient-rich, unique environment related to iron-ore deposition linked to former hydrothermal activity on the seafloor that might have contributed to the large size of these brachiopods. Larger than normal rhynchonellide and terebratulidine brachiopods have previously been recorded from this locality.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/353882-2838-4eb7-b21a-8cc665d13408

Crinoid faunas from the Lower Devonian of South America are poorly known. Two new taxa are described from the Emsian Icla Formation at Cerro Kochis in the Cochabamba Department: the rhodocrinitid, Lutocrinus boliviaensis n. gen. n. sp. and Griphocrinus pirovanoi n. sp. Two additional camerates are reported from the Emsian Belèn Formation of the Altiplano region in the La Paz Department, including Ctenocrinus branisai n. sp. and Boliviacrinus isaacsoni McIntosh, 1988. In addition, a specimen of the blastoid, Pachyblastus dicki Bremier and Macurda, 1972, was recovered from the Altiplano region. These crinoids and material previously collected by Leonardo Branisa, including specimens of C. branisai n. sp., Apurocrinus sucrei McIntosh, 1981, B. isaacsoni McIntosh, 1988, and L. boliviaensis n. sp., are described and revised. The specimens give new insights into the Lower Devonian Malvinokaffric Realm of Bolivia, a relatively new frontier in crinoid paleontology.

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).

Pulvinites lawrencei n. sp. is described from the upper Paleocene (Landenian Stage) Paspotansa Member of the Aquia Formation in Stafford County, Virginia. This is the first report of a member of the pteriacean family Pulvinitidae in the Tertiary on either side of the Atlantic, the only other post-Mesozoic records of Pulvinites being in the Paleocene of California and the present-day Pacific off southeast Australia. The stratigraphic setting and co-occurring molluscan assemblage of the new species indicate shallow-shelf, open-marine conditions with near normal salinities.

Two fossil wing specimens from adult cockroaches (order Blattaria) were discovered during field investigations at the Cretaceous outcrop of the Cobb's Creek site (NE1/4, sec. 4, T109N, R30W; Brown County) near New Ulm, Minnesota. Prior to the present investigation, no adult fossil insect parts from Minnesota have been described from deposits as old as the Cretaceous. Lewis (1970) described immature caddisfly cases (Trichoptera) from the Cobb's Creek site.

An interval of the Early to Middle Pleistocene history of the California Borderland was assessed using multivariate analysis of foraminifera from the Santa Barbara Formation at Bathhouse Beach, Santa Barbara, California. A census of 93 species of benthic foraminifera and nine species of planktonic foraminifera was compiled from 11 samples from the shelly marls, silts, and sands of the lower member. Most species of benthic foraminifera are rare and only 38 species comprise one percent or more of the population in one or more samples.

Paleoenvironment of the sea floor was determined based on benthic foraminifera. R-mode cluster analysis defined five associations which are similar to those of the present-day banks and terraces of the California Borderland. Q-mode cluster analysis grouped samples into four biofacies which characterize shallow banks near 50 meters water depth and off-shore ridges and deep banks averaging 150 meters water depth. The stratigraphic succession of biofacies indicates two transgressive cycles separated by an apparent disconformity between 7.5 and 8.9 meters above the base of the section (between samples 3 and 4).

Paleoceanography of surficial waters was interpreted from planktonic foraminifera. Paleotemperature was assessed from the proportion of sinistral to dextral morphs and from the proportion of encrusted, compact morphs to reticulate, globular morphs of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma. The coiling morphs show a warm interval from the base of the section to about 12 meters (between samples 5 and 6), and a cooler interval from about 12 meters to about 24 meters (between samples 10 and 11), and an interval of intermediate paleotemperature in the topmost sample of the section. Changes in the planktonic assemblage do not coincide with the transgressive cycles inferred from the benthic biofacies.

The Bathhouse Beach section can be placed chronostratigraphically based on planktonic foraminiferal coiling shifts and strontium isotopic data. The isotopic age range of 400 to 900 Kyr brackets the 600 Kyr age assigned by Lagoe and Thompson (1988) to the Neogloboquadrina pachyderma coiling dominance interval CD9/CD8 boundary which occurs midway in the section, between samples 5 and 6.

Gedinnian (Early Devonian) orthoceratid cephalopods were previously not well known in Japan. Five species are described from the Fukuji Formation of Gifu Prefecture, central Japan: Michelinoceras yamakoshii n. sp., Michelinoceras yoshikiense n. sp., Plagiostomaceras? sp., Polygrammoceras sp., and Metaspyroceras insignis n. sp. Growth and position of the cameral deposits in Michelinoceras indicate that the deposits precipitated from cameral fluids and living Michelinoceras maintained the shell horizontally in swimming orientation.

Until the late 1960's, most of Nicholson's types of Paleozoic bryozoans were not available for study. We present a set of coded characters of many of Nicholson's types, which should assist in bringing his species into conformity with current taxonomic standards so that his species can be consistently recognized and used in biostratigraphic, paleobiogeographic, and evolutionary studies.

Cladistic and phenetic analyses of these species permit comparisons between inferred phylogenies of Nicholson specimens, adaptive morphospace, and treatise-based systematic relationships. Specimen-based cladistic and phenetic analyses of Nicholson's species both produce clusters that are congruent with existing family-level taxonomic assignments of species in the collection. However, cladistic analysis more fully retrieves the pattern of branching, or degree of relatedness, among higher taxa. Phenetic clusters represent adaptive peaks in morphospace for these specimens, but higher level “phenons” are strongly affected by multiple evolution of the same character states.

Arnebolagus leporinus Lopatin and Averianov, 2008, known previously from a single tooth (P3) from the early Eocene Bumban Member of Naran Bulak Formation at Tsagan-Khushu locality in Mongolia, is redescribed based on additional specimens from the type locality. Phylogenetic relationships of Eocene stem lagomorphs from Asia and North America are reconstructed for the first time based on a parsimony analysis of 54 morphological characters and 32 taxa. Two new node-based clades are proposed, stemming from the most-recent common ancestor of Lepus Linnaeus, 1758 and Dawsonolagus Li, Meng, and Wang, 2007 (Eulagomorpha new clade, ‘lagomorphs of the modern aspect’) and from the most-recent common ancestor of Lepus and Gobiolagus Burke, 1941 (Epilagomorpha new clade). Arnebolagus Lopatin and Averianov, 2008 is geologically oldest and the most plesiomorphic eulagomorph, similar to Dawsonolagus from the early Eocene Arshanto Formation of China in its weakly pronounced, unilateral hypsodonty of the upper cheek teeth and its brachyodont lower cheek teeth with separate roots. Arnebolagus is more plesiomorphic than Dawsonolagus in having two roots of P4. Arnebolagus is the oldest known eulagomorph, the only taxon known from the earliest Eocene Bumbanian Asiatic Land Mammal Age (ALMA). The other Asiatic early Eocene eulagomorphs (Dawsonolagus, Aktashmys Averianov, 1994, and Romanolagus Shevyreva, 1995) come from the Arshantan ALMA.

The ammonite Hybonoticeras authariformis new species [M] is erected from the lower Tithonian of Mexico, adding a new example of endemism for the genus Hybonoticeras in records from epicontinental areas. The newly described species is the first evidence of unequivocal lowermost Tithonian macroconchiate hybonoticeratines reported from the Mexico-Caribbean area. Precise biostratigraphic control based on bed-by-bed sampling is first reported for the combined record of macroconchiate Hybonoticeras Breistroffer, 1947 with Mazapilites Burckhardt, 1919 in Mexico, indicating an early but not earliest Tithonian age. A preliminary revision of the type material of species assigned to the genus Mazapilites points to an inconclusive understanding of both intraspecies diversity and the real meaning of the nominal species formulated by Burckhardt, thus revealing defective knowledge about precise biostratigraphy at both the genus and species levels. Published hybonoticeratines and mazapilitines from Mexico and Cuba are revisited to update precise interpretation of their systematics, biostratigraphy, and correlation potential, and to investigate their combined occurrence. Previous information about Cuban hybonoticeratines and mazapilitines is too limited to be conclusively interpreted; their combined record cannot be demonstrated in Cuba. Special relevance is given to a potential occurrence of Mazapilites in uppermost Kimmeridgian horizons in Cuba. The obtained results update the biostratigraphic meaning and systematic interpretation of the investigated ammonites, and signal topics for future research of interest in their paleobiological and palebiogeographic interpretation.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/References/78c89620-fa2e-4de5-985d-819421a858f9

Systematic paleontology of three new species of Petalocrinidae (Crinoidea) are documented from the carbonate-dominated units of the Shihniulan and equivalent Leijiatun formations (Llandovery, Silurian) of the Baisha, Fengxiang, and Shuibatang sections in Guizhou (China). New taxa are from the Upper Yangtze Epicontinental Sea of the South China Block. The new taxa include Petalocrinus stenopetalus new species, Spirocrinus circularis new species, and S. dextrosus new species. They have a narrow spatial and temporal (Aeronian) distribution. Evolutionary patterns of the four genera of Petalocrinidae are outlined based on the specialized characters of the fused arm plates. Phylogenetic analysis was used to assess morphological relationships within the Petalocrinidae. Petalocrinus inferior represents the plesiomorphic condition for the group and nests as a sister group of P. stenopetalus n. sp. and the Spirocrinus species used in this analysis and the clade exclusively comprised of Sinopetalocrinus. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that Petalocrinus, as currently defined, might be a paraphyletic genus.

A new actinocerid genus, Kobayashiceras, is defined on the basis of Kobayashiceras gifuense new species from the Lochkovian (Early Devonian) of the Fukuji Formation, central Japan. This genus shares with known actinocerids in the apical shell morphology, but is diagnosed by its orthocerid like stenosiphonate form in the adoral shell. Its taxonomic and paleobiogeographic implications are discussed.

Ohiocrinus byeongseoni n. sp. from the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) Jigunsan Formation of South Korea in the Sino-Korean (North China) block is the oldest species of Ohiocrinus of the Cincinnaticrinidae and the first record outside Laurentia. O. byeongseoni is characterized by a loosely clockwise-coiled anal sac, isotomous branching throughout arms, long, slender xenomorphic column, and small lichenocrinid-type holdfast. The new species occurs in association with a deep-water siliciclastic environment, unlike the Laurentian species with a shallow-water carbonate environment. The monospecific crinoid assemblage is interpreted as parautochthonous, considering that the crinoids were reworked by relatively weak down-current probably caused by storm but preserved within the environment where they lived. The occurrence of O. byeongseoni presents a considerable spatiotemporal gap and ecologic disparity in evolution of Ohiocrinus and the Cincinnaticrinidae.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/240417a4-8d33-4f45-aedb-afcc07f1ecbb

An unusual worm, previously interpreted as the earliest leech, is described from the early Silurian (Llandovery, Telychian) Brandon Bridge Formation Lagerstätte (Waukesha Biota) of Wisconsin (~437 Ma). Lacking preserved internal organs, it is up to ~16 cm long, 8.2 mm wide, with ~250 annulations and a circular structure at one end, interpreted here as the broken end of a molt. It is therefore referred to Cycloneuralia incertae sedis.

The limited record of the bactritoid-like coleoid cephalopods is here expanded due to discovery of a late Carboniferous (Moscovian) orthocone comprising a phragmocone and a body chamber with a proostracum-like structure, a sheath-like rostrum, an ink sac, and a muscular mantle preserved on top of the conch. The specimen comes from the Wewoka Formation in the vicinity of the city of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, which previously yielded an orthocone indicative of an evolutionary branch of the Carboniferous cephalopods described as the order Donovaniconida Doguzhaeva, Mapes, and Mutvei, 2007a within the subclass Coleoidea Bather, 1888. Here, we describe from that site a bactritoid-like coleoid, Oklaconus okmulgeensis n. gen. n. sp. in Oklaconidae n. fam. A broad lateral lobe of the suture line and a compressed conch with a narrowed dorsal side and a broadly rounded ventral side distinguish this genus from Donovaniconus Doguzhaeva, Mapes, and Mutvei, 2002b. The muscular mantle is preserved as a dense sheet-like structure, with a crisscross pattern and a globular-lamellar ultrastructure. Recent knowledge on the early to late Carboniferous coleoids is discussed. Carboniferous coleoids show a high morphological plasticity with a capacity for being altered to create the diverse combinations of ‘bactritoid’ and ‘coleoid’ structures. This could be the principle evolutionary driver of their radiation in the late Carboniferous.

This paper describes the first silicified Upper Triassic (Early Norian) hypercalcified sponges known from the Alexander terrane, southeast Alaska. Sponges consist of five taxa from the Cornwallis Limestone of Keku Strait, southeast Alaska: Amblysiphonella Steinmann, Parauvanella Senowbari-Daryan and Di Stefano, Nevadathalamia cylindrica (Seilacher), N. minima n. sp., and Stellispongia (S. cf. subsphaerica Dieci, Antonacci, and Zardini). The hypercalcified sponges of the Alexander terrane as described in this paper provide paleogeographic linkage with other far-flung terranes of western North America, namely the Western Great Basin of Nevada, Stikinia of the Yukon, as well as the Antimonio terrane of northwestern Mexico. In addition, Parauvanella cf. ferdowensis is known from the Upper Triassic Nayband Formation, Iran. Finally Stellispongia cf. subsphaerica is known from the Upper Carnian Cassian Formation of the Dolomite Alps.

Sponges (particularly hypercalcified inozoans, sphinctozoans, chaetetids, and sponge-like organisms) are known worldwide from many Upper Triassic reef and nonreef sites. Although Upper Triassic deposits within the Cordilleran terranes and cratonal North America do not typically contain reeflike buildups, hypercalcifying sponge-like organisms were noted as occurring as part of the intricate paleoecological structure within a biostrome along the western shoreline of Gravina Island, southeast Alaska (southern Alexander terrane). This is in contrast to Keku Strait, southeast Alaska (central Alexander terrane), where hypercalcified sponges were identified from limestone beds within nonreef deposits.

Crowns of four crinoid species, Talarocrinus planus Weller, 1920, Phacelocrinus longidactylus (McChesney, 1860), Ampelocrinus mundus? Kirk, 1942, and Phanocrinus maniformis (Yandell and Shumard, 1847) are reported from the limestones of the Wymps Gap Member of the Greenbrier Formation in northern West Virginia. Collectively these species indicate an early Chesterian age for the Wymps Gap Member, with the occurrence of T. planus indicating correlation with the Ridenhower (Paint Creek) Formation of the Illinois Basin. A review of the 17 species currently placed in Talarocrinus suggests that the Talarocrinus zone ranges no higher than the Ridenhower Formation in the Upper Gnathodus bilineatus conodont zone of the late Visean. The new occurrence of A. mundus extends its range upwards from the Genevievian substage of the Chesterian.

Previous studies have used sequence stratigraphy to correlate the Wymps Gap Member with the lower part of the Union Limestone Formation of the Greenbrier Group in southern West Virginia, which in turn has been correlated with the Ridenhower Formation. The occurrence of T. planus in the Wymps Gap Member provides independent confirmation of the correlations based on sequence stratigraphy between the Appalachian and Illinois basins. Correlation of the overlying Reynolds Member of the Mauch Chunk Formation with the Glen Dean Formation of the Illinois Basin suggests a significant unconformity between the Greenbrier Formation and Mauch Chunk Formation in northern West Virginia.

Cretaceous carbonates in the Geyik Dağı area (Central Taurides, southern Turkey) are represented by two successions with different paleoenvironmental settings: open shelf to slope succession of Cenomanian to Danian age and inner platform succession of Albian to Maastrichtian age, which is interrupted by a post-Cenomanian disconformity. Outcropped lowermost part of the platform-type one is composed of rudistid limestones corresponding to the Urgonian-type carbonates and belongs to the Geyik Dağı Unit (=Anamas-Akseki Carbonate Platform). It contains a rich assemblage of larger benthic foraminifera including orbitolinid, chrysalidinid, cuneolinid, nezzazatid, and miliolid taxa, which has been illustrated and documented here for the first time from the upper Albian of the Tauride Carbonate Platform. The occurrence of such a diversified foraminiferal fauna indicates a prominent high diversity that took place in the Tauride Carbonate Platform during the late Albian time, which corresponds to a major emersion period in some parts of the platform.