The Cenomanian hexactinellid assemblages are relatively rare and are known only from England and France. The phosphatized sponges from the Pokuttian Podillia in western Ukraine seem to be taxonomically the most diverse Cenomanian hexactinellid assemblage known from Europe and the world. Several new hexactinellid taxa (Class Hexactinellida) are described from the Cenomanian of Pokuttian Podillia: Myliusia rakovensis n. sp., Verrucocoelia regularis n. sp., Tretochone cretacea n. sp., Heterochone boguckii, Dunikowskiella nezvyskensis n. gen. n. sp., and Moretiella foliacea n. sp. A new lychniscosidan genus Dunikowskiella is established within the family Callodictyonidae. Until now, genus Moretiella was reported only from the Aptian of Spain and the Albian of France. The extant genera Heterochone and Myliusia are also rare as fossils. Heterochone was known from the Campanian of Germany. Myliusia, noted in the Miocene of Spain, is well documented in Late Cretaceous for the first time. Tretochone was known only from recent times. The sponges studied lived in the shelf sea, shallower than most recent hexactinellids occur.

Sphenothallus Hall, 1847, one of the most widely distributed and longest ranging genera in the fossil record, has been documented from all systems of the Paleozoic Erathem except the Permian (Table 1), although it has been stated (e.g., Choi, 1990; Bolton, 1994; Fatka et al., 2012) that the genus also occurs in that system. At present the first appearance of this epibenthic, polypoid medusozoan cnidarian lies in Cambrian Stage 3, while the previously known youngest occurrences are in the Pennsylvanian System. Sphenothallus has been found in numerous formations on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. It occurs in a variety of marine facies ranging from shallow nearshore to deep offshore and has even been found in strata of coastal lacustrine origin, probably as an allochthonous element (Lerner and Lucas, 2011). Many of the rock units known to contain Sphenothallus also contain conulariids (Table 1), an extinct group of marine scyphozoans that may have been closely related to Sphenothallus (Van Iten et al., 1992, 1996). Van Iten et al. (1992) interpreted Sphenothallus as a medusozoan cnidarian of uncertain class-level affinities, but later Dzik et al. (2017) documented internal peridermal structures that may be homologous to similar features in the periderm of coronate scyphozoans (see for example illustrations in Van Iten, 1992, and Van Iten et al., 1996).

Numerous species of “oliviform” gastropods have been recognized in the Paleogene of the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain, many of which have previously been allied to the “Bullia group” in the family Nassariidae, and placed in a variety of poorly defined genera. We review these species, revise their generic and familial placement, and present a phylogenetic analysis. Of 19 species considered valid, all are assigned to Olivoidea, six to Olividae—one to Oliva, five to Agaronia—and the rest to Ancillariidae. The highly variable species Ancillaria altile Conrad is referred in the genus Ancillopsis and appears to have evolved anagenetically over an interval of perhaps 20 million years. Ancillaria tenera Conrad and Ancillaria scamba Conrad are placed in the new genus Palmoliva. Monoptygma Lea is demonstrated to belong to Ancillariidae, and to contain only a single species. Specimens assigned to Lisbonia expansa Palmer are split into adults assigned to Ancillopsis altilis and juveniles (together with several other species) in the long-lived species Anbullina elliptica (Whitfield). Coastal Plain ancillariids may have evolved from one or more species of the Cretaceous–Paleocene genus Eoancilla. We agree with previous authors who have suggested that the late Eocene species Oliva mississippiensis Conrad is the earliest known representative of this genus and the subfamily Oliviinae, perhaps derived from a species of Agaronia. The oldest Agaronia is lower Eocene (Ypresian).

UUID: http://zoobank.org/b7d9f79b-c68b-4385-aba3-bb07c6d6dc87

A new monospecific “caninioid” genus, Preisingerella n. gen., from the lower Permian of the Karavanke Mountains (Southern Alps, Slovenia) is erected. The type species is Preisingerella stegovnikensis n. sp. The new taxon can be differentiated from other Caninia-type genera by its specific ontogeny and features of its dissepimentarium. Corals with such morphology had a wide distribution during the Carboniferous and early Permian, occurring in mostly shallow-water carbonate rocks. The phylogenetic relationships within this group are mostly unclear due to similarities in the adult stages. The earlier stages reveal the main distinguishing features that are decisive for a generic assignment, but these have rarely been well preserved and properly considered. The new taxon is compared with related genera of the Cyathopsidae and species of Caninella Gorskiy, 1938 characterized by lateral dissepiments. Large numbers of specimens of the new species, representing a monospecific assemblage, have been collected from the Born Formation at Mt. Stegovnik. Sedimentological and microfacies characteristics, as well as macro- and microfossil assemblages, underline this correlation. The fusulinoidean assemblage of the Born Formation, with Sphaeroschwagerina carniolica (Kahler and Kahler, 1937), as the predominant species, corresponds to the time span between the Sphaeroschwagerina moelleri-Schwagerina fecunda and Pseudofusulina moelleri zones, indicating a late Asselian to early Sakmarian age in the Southern Urals.

Lower and middle Cambrian strata of the eastern Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada, were deposited in a semi-enclosed basin along the eastern flank of the Mackenzie Arch. The Mount Clark Formation is predominantly composed of nearshore sandstone and is overlain by deeper water siltstone, mudstone, and carbonates of the Mount Cap Formation. The contact between these formations is interpreted as a flooding surface. Trilobite biostratigraphy indicates the presence of the traditional upper Olenellus through Glossopleura zones (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4–Miaolingian, Wuliuan) and suggests the flooding surface is diachronous, spanning the Dyeran-Delamaran boundary. Above the Olenellus Zone, the Amecephalus arrojosensis-Eokochaspis nodosa Zone, the new Aitkenaspis keelensis Zone, the new Albertelloides mischi Zone, and the Glossopleura walcotti Zone are recognized. Whereas the older zones are comparable to those in other areas of Laurentia, the trilobite faunas in the Albertelloides mischi and Glossopleura walcotti zones show a greater abundance of zacanthoidids and dolichometopids. They also have a lower diversity of ptychoparioids and oryctocephalids, and lack agnostoids, eodiscoids, dorypygids, and ogygopsidids. This suggests that zacanthoidids and dolichometopids were able to tolerate conditions that were unfavorable to the other groups, probably related to semi-restricted conditions in the basin. Four endemic species exhibit characteristics that are considered paedomorphic. This developmental process took place in three separate lineages, suggesting that heterochrony was also environmentally provoked.

New taxonomic names are authored by Handkamer and Pratt. New genera are Eobathyuriscus, Sahtuia, Mexicaspidella Aitkenaspis, Dodoella, and Mackenzieaspis. New species are Bolbolenellus dodoensis, Eobathyuriscus mackenziensis, E. macqueeni, Glossopleura youngi, Sahtuia carcajouensis, Aitkenaspis keelensis, Albertelloides eliasi, Dodoella kobayashii, Mackenzieaspis parallelispinosa, and M. divergens.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/a10a2470-853c-4ce8-bf62-7de1d2c99fab.

The Cambrian (Miaolingian; Wuliuan) Spence Shale Lagerstätte of northern Utah and southern Idaho is one of the most diverse Burgess Shale-type deposits of Laurentia. It yields a diverse fauna consisting of abundant biomineralized and locally abundant soft-bodied fossils, along a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf dark shales. Panarthropods are the dominant component throughout the deposit, both in time and space, but whereas the trilobites and agnostoids are abundant, most of the soft-bodied taxa are only known from very few specimens. Additionally, the knowledge of soft-bodied panarthropods is currently largely limited to locations in the Wellsville Mountains of northeastern Utah. This contribution describes 21 new soft-bodied panarthropods from six locations, including the first occurrences of soft-bodied panarthropods in the High-Creek, Smithfield Creek, Spence Gulch, and Two-Mile Canyon localities. Additionally, we report the presence of bradoriids— i.e., Branchiocaris pretiosa Resser, 1929, Perspicaris? dilatus Robison and Richards, 1981, Naraoia? sp. indet., Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, and Tuzoia guntheri Robison and Richards, 1981—for the first time from the Spence Shale Lagerstätte; the first reported occurrence outside of the Burgess Shale for Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia; and the first Wuliuan occurrence of Tuzoia guntheri. We also report on a new hurdiid carapace element and additional specimens of Buccaspinea cooperi? Pates et al., 2021, Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886, Hurdia sp. indet., and Tuzoia retifera Walcott, 1912. This new material improves our understanding of the panarthropod fauna of the Spence Shale Lagerstätte and substantially increases our understanding of the distribution of the described taxa in time and space.

The recent 2014–2017 controlled excavations carried out in quarries of Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, Ural and Western Siberia, are contributing to the knowledge of the middle to late Eocene marine fauna from the Turgay Strait, mainly composed of invertebrates and cartilaginous and bony fishes. Here we present a preliminary report of the bony fishes collected during the campaigns carried out in two Eocene Trans-Urals localities. The sediments of these localities were deposited in a large epicontinental marine basin during the middle to late Eocene, when the Turgay Strait connected the Arctic waters to the North and the Peritethys to the South. Most of the bony fish material examined can be assigned to codfishes (Gadiformes) according to morphological comparison with living and fossil taxa. In particular, nearly complete three-dimensionally preserved lower jaws are confidently assigned to the Merlucciidae, whereas isolated vertebrae and bones are referred to as Gadiformes incertae sedis. This report documents the easternmost occurrence of this group of fishes in the northern hemisphere during the early phases of their radiation, revealing their presence into the Turgay Strait before its closure.

Conodonts from two localities on the western shore of Alberto Island, southeastern Alaska, include Polygnathus alexanderensis n. sp., P. angustipennatus, P. borealis n. sp., P. praetrigonicus n. sp., P. robusticostatus, P. pseudofoliatus, P. linguiformis linguiformis gamma form of Bultynck, P. parawebbi beta form of Chatterton, P. angusticostatus, P. costatus costatus, Polygnathus sp. B of Savage, 1977, Tortodus kockelianus australis, and T. kockelianus kockelianus. The faunas are considered to be of middle to late Eifelian (kockelianus Zone) age. On Prince of Wales Island, just north of Staney Creek, exposures of Wadleigh Limestone include the conodonts Polygnathus trigonicus, P. kennettensis, P. alexanderensis, P. angustipennatus, P. parawebbi beta form, P. eiflius, P. linguiformis linguiformis gamma form, P. borealis, P. angusticostatus, P. robusticostatus, P. costatus costatus, P. pseudofoliatus, Tortodus kockelianus australis, and T. kockelianus kockelianus, also suggesting a middle to late Eifelian (kockelianus Zone) age. Conodonts from the west end of the easternmost of the Alberto Islands include Polygnathus linguiformis linguiformis gamma form, P. parawebbi beta form, P. xylus ensensis, and Ozarkodina brevis, indicating a late Eifelian to early Givetian (ensensis to varcus Zones) age. The presence of Polygnathus kennettensis, P. parawebbi beta form, and P. borealis suggests a biogeographic affinity with other parts of western North America during Eifelian time.

The septate, lamellose, spiriferacean brachiopod genus Tylothyris North, 1920, is considered to be a delthyridid of the subfamily Tylothyridinae Carter, 1972. Herein, the diagnosis of the Tylothyridinae is emended to include forms with micro-ornament, and with a myophragm or median septum on the floor of the pedicle valve.

For the first time, Tylothyris is formally reported from the Traverse Group rocks of Michigan, Givetian through early Frasnian in age. Two species of the genus occur in the Traverse Group. The first, T. subvaricosa (Hall and Whitfield, 1872), previously described by Stainbrook (1943) from the Cedar Valley Limestone of Iowa, is also known from the Milwaukee Formation of Wisconsin and the Mineola Limestone of Missouri. Tylothyris randalia Stainbrook, 1943, also from the Cedar Valley Limestone, is considered to be synonymous with T. subvaricosa. In the Traverse Group, T. subvaricosa occurs in the Bell Shale, Rockport Quarry Limestone, Ferron Point Formation, Genshaw Formation, Alpena Limestone, Gravel Point Formation, Norway Point Formation, and Potter Farm Formation. The second species, T. rockportensis n. sp., occurs only in the Rockport Quarry Limestone, and appears to be endemic to the Michigan Basin.

Tylothyris is considered to have originated in the Illinois area during the late Eifelian, then to have migrated to the Michigan area by the early Givetian. With the onset of Taghanic Onlap during the late Givetian, the genus dispersed from its Illinois–Michigan area of origin, becoming distributed across much of North America during the Frasnian and Famennian, and becoming essentially cosmopolitan in distribution during the Tournaisian. Tylothyris apparently became extinct by the end of the Visean.

We describe two new genera of Triassic Aviculopectinoidea: Cristaflabellum n. gen., which is biconvex and has a strongly plicate shell, and Globodiscus n. gen., which is equiconvex and externally smooth or nearly so. Globodiscus contains the new species G. kiliani n. gen. n. sp. and G. vinzenti n. gen. n. sp. In order to make the taxonomic concept of the superfamily Aviculopectinoidea more consistent with that of its sister group Pectinoidea (scallops), we use tribes rather than families or subfamilies for accommodating the new taxa. Cristaflabellum is placed in the tribe Antijanirini (previously family Antijaniridae), whereas Globodiscus is made the type genus of the new tribe Globodiscini. Both tribes are placed within the family Aviculopectinidae, which is revised to include both equiconvex and inequiconvex taxa. We suggest that tribes are a more appropriate taxonomic rank for many of the previously erected species-poor families and subfamilies of Aviculopectinoidea.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/d143663a-9016-459f-8e24-660102adcf6a

Disc-like fossils from siltstones of the Taozichong Formation (Cambrian) in the Qingzhen area, Guizhou, South China are reported here. They are similar to some Ediacaran and Phanerozoic discoidal fossils, and assigned to Tirasiana? disciformis? Palij, 1976. Based on the study of 43 specimens, dewatering or fluid escape structures, soft-sediment loading, scratch circles or other inorganic origins are ruled out, and the fossil is interpreted as a discoidal body fossil of unknown affinities rather than trace fossils. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elemental mapping analyses reveal that the discoid fossils contain higher concentrations of C, Fe, and P than the surrounding matrix, indicating the possible presence of pyrite, apatite, and organic carbon as a result of authigenic mineralization in association with decay and early diagenetic processes. The possible presence of extracellular polymeric substance suggests that the discs were surrounded by thin microbial mats composed primarily of extracellular polymeric substances, which facilitated their fossilization by promoting conditions that are favorable to secondary mineral precipitation. The new specimens provide useful information about the phylogenetic affinities of these early discoidal fossils and help us to better understand the taphonomic modes of non-biomineralizing organisms in Ediacara-type and Burgess Shale-type biotas.

The Neognathodus Index (NI) is developed as a primary biostratigraphic indicator for the Desmoinesian Series of the Illinois Basin in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. It is based on the gradual evolutionary morphotypic variations of P1 elements of named species of Neognathodus Dunn, 1970. The NI analyses and zonations presented herein are constructed from 472 productive conodont samples from 105 different localities. NIs for the Illinois Basin show morphologic drift in Indiana from the Perth Limestone Member of the Staunton Formation (NI = 2.03) to the Velpen Limestone and Mecca Quarry Shale members of the Linton Formation (NI = 5.04) followed by stability through the Alum Cave (NI = 4.83). Further morphologic drift then occurred through the Providence Limestone Member of the Dugger Formation (NI = 5.43) and continued through the West Franklin Limestone Member of the Shelburn Formation (NI = 6.32) until the extinction of Neognathodus at the end of Desmoinesian. The patterns of drift and stability translate to Neognathodus biozones and are supported by Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests of standardized Neognathodus morphotype distributions. Localized NI variations are due to morphologic shifts and differential evolution in response to localized environmental conditions. Examination of the NI differences in the states of Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana reflect similar morphologic simplification of the P1 element from Perth to Velpen and Mecca Quarry in Indiana (NI = 2.03–5.04) and from Seville to Brereton in Illinois and Kentucky (NI = 2.80–5.00). Post-Brereton in Illinois and Kentucky (NI = 5.00–5.65) and post-Providence in Indiana (NI = 5.43–6.32) saw progressive P1 simplification, but it was much more pronounced in Indiana.

The record of Middle Ordovician (Oretanian, ca. Darriwilian 2) hyolithids from the Ossa Morena Zone of the Iberian Massif in southwestern Spain is increased with the recognition of Robardetlites sevillanus n. gen. n. sp., Andalucilites parvulus n. gen. n. sp., Pauxillites desolatus n. sp., Leolites malinkyi Marek and Gutiérrez-Marco n. sp., and Cavernolites sp. in that region. Andalucilites n. gen. and Robardetlites n. gen. are endemic whereas the other genera are known from coeval strata in the Barrandian region in central Europe, France, and Morocco, giving this assemblage a decidedly “Mediterranean province” character. The discovery of Pauxillites, Leolites, and Cavernolites in Iberia extends their geographic ranges to that region, and Leolites from this area extends its stratigraphic range downward, making its occurrence in Iberia the oldest known for that genus.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/f5b29223-6dac-4c7e-8851-551e634da667

Four trepostome bryozoan species are described from the Upper Triassic of New Caledonia. They include one new genus Metastenodiscus n. gen. The studied fauna shows strong paleobiogeographic relations to New Zealand and less so to Japan. Morphological similarities between Middle Paleozoic and Triassic trepostome bryozoans (e.g., abundant diaphragms) are explained by homeomorphy.

The Devonian of the Carnic Alps (Austria) is developed in different facies. The shallow marine facies is up to 1200 m thick. The Feldkogel Limestone of the Polinik Formation, >330 m thick, was dated as Eifelian–Late Devonian. The Feldkogel Limestone at Mount Polinik is developed in a peritidal facies composed of subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal deposits. Subtidal sediments are represented by dark gray Amphipora limestone and intertidal deposits by laminated and partly bioturbated grainstone and packstone, ostracode wackestone to packstone, and locally intercalated intraclast breccias documenting tidal channel fills. Laminated microbial mats (stromatolites) formed in a supratidal depositional environment. Grainstone and packstone contain abundant unilocular parathuramminid foraminifers. This latter group encompasses a diversified assemblage of ivanovellids, parathuramminids, uralinellids, and irregularinoids; some earlandiids are also present. They are dated herein as late Eifelian–early Givetian. These foraminifers provide a more precise systematics of these taxa, which often have not been studied for more than half a century. The taxonomic problems of their assignment to foraminifers, pseudo-foraminifers, calcitarcha, thaumatoporellaceans, volvocaleans, or other algae are also discussed. Several taxa are emendated: Parathuramminida, Parathuramminoidea, Irregularinoidea, Eovolutinidae, Ivanovellidae, Parathuramminidae, Uralinellidae, Ivanovella, Elenella, Neoarchaesphaera, Parathurammina, Bykovaella, Uralinella, and Paracaligella. The new taxa are: Ivanovella reitlingerae n. sp., Elenella polinikensis n. sp., Uralinella sabirovi n. sp., and Radiosphaerella poyarkovi n. sp.

The trilobite Phacops rana has previously been documented in two life positions: horizontally outstretched and enrolled (Hall and Clarke, 1888). A specimen of Phacops rana was recovered in an unusual life position from the Windom Member of the Moscow Formation (Figure 1). It was collected from a borrow pit along Castle Hill Road, 1 km east of Earlville in Chenango County, New York. The trilobite appears to have burrowed tail first into the substrate, with only part of the cephalon and one or two thoracic segments exposed above the sediment surface. The orientation of the eyes indicate that the visual field was horizontal. The thorax angled into the substrate at an angle of approximately 50° from the horizontal, with the pygidium tilted dorsally relative to the thorax. Compaction effects appear to be slight. Because the specimen was found in situ, no doubt exists as to its orientation with respect to bedding. It is also evident from bedding plane surfaces that this trilobite had burrowed, and was not simply draped over an uneven substrate, as it intersects three bedding planes. There is no evidence of any object over which it could have been draped. No burrow trace, lining, or scratch marks are preserved. No other specimens of Phacops in this position have been reported.

One new calcareous nannofossil genus Senilatus; four new calcareous nannofossil species Calculites favosus, Lithraphidites? charactozorro Self-Trail and Pospichal, Rucinolithus oriens, and Watznaueria bybelliae; and one new combination, Senilatus zipperum n. gen. and comb., are described from Upper Cretaceous (upper Campanian to Maastrichtian) sediments of east-central South Carolina. These new species were described from five coreholes located in marine coastal plain deposits. There is evidence that the presence of one species, Senilatus zipperum, is indicative of nearshore, restricted environments. Scanning electron and light microscope pictures are provided for two species, Cretarhabdus multicavus Bukry, 1969 and Retemediaformis teneraretis Varol, 1991, that have previously been documented only with the transmission electron microscope. The ranges of these two species have been extended beyond those stated in the original descriptions.

A neptunoceratid cephalopod, Texanoceras jacksboroensis n. gen. n. sp., is described from the Virgilian (Upper Pennsylvanian) Graham and Caddo Creek Formations in Texas, North America. The family Neptunoceratidae was previously represented by a single genus, Tetrapleuroceras. This new material provides important emendations to the diagnostic concept of the enigmatic family including shell orientation, mature modification and siphuncular structure. Although higher taxonomic position of Neptunoceratidae is difficult to determine at present, morphologic similarities between the family and the orthoceratid (?) family Brachycycloceratidae are discussed.

Two species of terebratulide brachiopods are described from the upper part of the Bateque Formation (middle Eocene) on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, Terebratulina cf. Terebratulina louisianae Stenzel, 1940, and Terebratalia batequia n. sp. Terebratalia batequia n. sp. is the earliest confirmed record of the genus Terebratalia Beecher, 1893, which has been an important component of Pacific brachiopod faunas through to the present day. The occurrence of Terebratulina cf. Terebratulina louisianae Stenzel is one of the earliest records of the genus from the west coast of North America. These brachiopods, like other elements of the Bateque invertebrate fauna, may record Eocene migration from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean via the Central American seaway.