Archive

Despite an extensive described fossil record of Galliformes (Aves: 'landfowl'), very few specimens have been considered within a phylogenetic context. Here we present a cladistic analysis and description of a new, well-preserved and well-dated fossil specimen from the Middle Eocene Bridger Formation of Wyoming (c. 50 Ma). Amitabha urbsinterdictensis gen. et. sp. nov.

• Read more about A crown-group galliform bird from the Middle Eocene Bridger Formation of Wyoming

Two Santacrucian borhyaenoids, Borhyaena tuberata and Prothylacinus patagonicus, are analyzed from a functional-adaptive perspective. Seven extant placental and marsupial models are examined in order to interpret the locomotor adaptations of the two fossils. These carnivorous models are characterized by various hunting types and locomotor habits, and the association of their skeletal adaptive features with diet, substrate preference, and locomotor performance permits a functional interpretation of the postcranium of Borhyaena and Prothylacinus.

• Read more about Functional adaptations of the postcranial skeleton of two Miocene borhyaenoids (Mammalia, Metatheria), Borhyaena and Prothylacinus, from South America

The gastropod fauna of the Upper Devonian Baggy and Pilton formations in south-west England is revised and includes some 30 taxa. The topmost part of the Upper Famennian succession in Devon is represented by clastic near-shore and shallow shelf sediments, indicating a short-term transgressive phase ('Strunian Transgression'). The sequence yields a highly diverse fauna dominated by brachiopods and ostracodes, locally supplemented by crinoids, bryozoans, trilobites and molluscs. The taxa 'Patellostium'britannicum sp. nov., Angyomphalus (Angyomphalus) junius sp. nov.

• Read more about Late Famennian Gastropoda from south-west England

A fossil burrow system containing a food cache was discovered in coastal facies in the Lower Rhine Embayment near Cologne, Germany, in the lignite sequences of the Garzweiler open-pit mine. Because these sediments are of Burdigalian age (late Early Miocene), this cache appears to be the geologically oldest food cache to date. The burrow occurs in the Morken Sand beds (horizon 5D), and it is hypothesized here that it was excavated by a Miocene burrowing animal from the surface of a palaeosol into the underlying dune sand in an interdune area.

• Read more about A Miocene rodent nut cache in coastal dunes of the Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany

The generally accepted theory of a U-mode sutural ontogeny of prolecanitid ammonoids and their descendants is refuted. The basic suture formula of the order Prolecanitida is E A L U I (not E L U2 U1 I), resembling that of derived members of the suborder Tornoceratina (their phylogenetic ancestors), and of the suborder Goniatitina. During phylogeny of the prolecanitids, secondary umbilical lobes are introduced and lead to multilobate forms. In early ceratites, the original L lobe disappeared, and an increase in sutural elements took place by the introduction of supplementary U lobes.

• Read more about The A-mode sutural ontogeny in prolecanitid ammonoids

The sirenid salamander Habrosaurus is revised and redescribed based on skull elements and vertebrae from the middle Campanian-middle Palaeocene of the North American Western Interior. Habrosaurus differs from the Cenozoic (Eocene-Recent) sirenids Siren and Pseudobranchus in a suite of cranial and vertebral plesiomorphies, one vertebral character of uncertain polarity and five apomorphies describing the structure of the dentary, atlas and tooth crowns. Two species are identified based on dental characters: the type species H.

• Read more about Revision of Habrosaurus Gilmore (Caudata; Sirenidae) and relationships among sirenid salamanders

One of the oldest known helcionelloid molluscs, Anabarella Vostokova, is redescribed on the basis of type material from the lower Cambrian of north Siberia. Published records of the type species, Anabarella plana Vostokova, show a very wide range in morphology, but studies of variation through ontogeny and in taphonomy confirm assignment to a single variable species. Other described species are reviewed.

• Read more about The early Cambrian helcionelloid mollusc Anabarella Vostokova

The early larval development of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus sp. is analyzed, based on 38 specimens from the Lower Rotliegend (Permo-Carboniferous boundary) of the Saar-Nahe Basin (south-west Germany). The study focuses on the smallest larval specimens, which exemplify changes in both proportions and ossification patterns. In comparison with dissorophoid larvae, the skull ossifies more fully and at a much faster rate; the smallest specimens already have completely formed circumorbital bones that are sutured throughout.

• Read more about Early larval ontogeny of the Permo-Carboniferous temnospondyl Sclerocephalus

Well-preserved topotype material of Holmia inusitata Ahlberg and Bergström, in Ahlberg et al., from the Lower Cambrian of Lauselva, southern Norway, allows a redescription of the species. Intraspecific variation of characters, such as the expansion and relative length (sagittal) of the anterior glabellar lobe and the curvature and length of the ocular lobes, is shown. The species is, however, considered a typical member of Holmia. A discussion of character variation and distribution within species of Holmia further demonstrates a great degree of intrageneric variation.

• Read more about Redescription of Holmia inusitata (Trilobita) from the Lower Cambrian of Scandinavia

Spinicaudatans and ostracods form two components of the diverse arthropod fauna from the Montceau Lagerstätte (Stephanian, France). Spinicaudatans are represented by Montcestheria orri gen. and sp. nov. and Euestheria feysi sp. nov., and ostracods by a single species, Carbonita sp. aff. salteriana (Jones, 1862). Allied forms such as Montcestheria sp. aff. orri, Montcestheria sp. and Euestheria cebennensis (Grand'Eury, 1890), all from coeval localities in France, are also described. Montcestheria gen. nov. has carapace features, external (possibly sexual) dimorphism, preserved soft parts (e.g.

• Read more about Spinicaudatans and ostracods (Crustacea) from the Montceau Lagerstätte (Late Carboniferous, France): morphology and palaeoenvironmental significance