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The new species Acdestis maddeni is described based on the most complete skull of a palaeothentid marsupial known so far. The skull preserves most of the upper dentition and of the ear region, the latter an anatomical region previously unknown in this extinct family. A right maxillary fragment including C-M2 also belongs to the new species. The specimens come from the middle Miocene localities of Rosario and Quebrada Honda in southernmost Bolivia.

• Read more about New palaeothentid marsupial from the middle Miocene of Bolivia

The proximal development of Parisograptus Chen and Zhang is described from three-dimensionally preserved specimens. The unique development features an origin of proximal thecae like a string of pearls vertically upon each other on the reverse side of the rhabdosome with the dorsal sides of the initial stipes placed side by side. The development differs strongly from that found in the superficially similar Arienigraptus in which the first thecal pairs grow downwards side by side, even though the rhabdosome shapes are quite similar.

• Read more about Proximal structure and development in the Ordovician graptolite Parisograptus Chen and Zhang, 1996

The braincase of the Late Devonian tristichopterid sarcopterygian Mandageria fairfaxi, from Canowindra, NSW, Australia, differs radically from the conservative pattern present in other 'osteolepiforms' (stem-group tetrapodomorph fishes) and non-dipnoan sarcopterygian fishes in general. The basioccipital region is short, displaced anteriorly, and either unossified or loosely articulated to the exoccipital, leaving most or all of the notochordal tunnel open ventrally.

• Read more about The braincase and palate of the tetrapodomorph sarcopterygian Mandageria fairfaxi: morphological variability near the fish-tetrapod transition

Trackways attributed to a xiphosurid (arthropod) maker are described for the first time from the Middle Jurassic Saltwick Formation, Ravenscar Group, of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire. The trackways are assigned to Kouphichnium aff. variabilis (Linck, 1949) and clearly demonstrate the heteropody and varied behaviour of the maker. Their occasional asymmetry indicates a slight rotation of the body relative to the direction of locomotion.

• Read more about The first record of xiphosurid (arthropod) trackways from the Saltwick Formation, Middle Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin, Yorkshire

A brachiopod fauna including 19 species of 17 genera from an exotic block in the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone in southern Tibet is described and illustrated. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Martinia elegans and two new taxa: Jinomarginifera lhazeensis gen. et sp. nov. and Zhejiangospirifer giganteus sp. nov. The fauna is closely comparable with those from the middle and upper parts of the Wargal Formation and the Chhidru Formation in the Salt Range of Pakistan, the Chitichun Limestone in southern Tibet, and the Basleo area of West Timor, and these correlations suggest a Wuchiapingian age.

• Read more about A Wuchiapingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna from an exotic block in the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone, southern Tibet, and its palaeobiogeographical and tectonic implications

The basal clade Burnetiamorpha is known from only two specimens representing two genera, Proburnetia from the Severodvinskian horizon of the Vyatka River Basin in the Kotelnich district of Russia, and Burnetia from the Dicynodon Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group of South Africa. Both genera are of Late Tatarian (Late Permian) age. This paper describes the cranial morphology of a new genus of burnetiamorph, Bullacephalus, from the Late Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group of South Africa.

• Read more about A new burnetiamorph (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia) from the Lower Beaufort Group of South Africa

The skull of a small anomodont therapsid, from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Abrahamskraal Formation, Beaufort Group, Upper Permian) in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, represents a new basal dicynodont and is described in detail. Colobodectes cluveri gen. et sp. nov. is distinguished from other dicynodonts by an anteroposteriorly extensive caniniform process, parietals that were broadly overlapped posterolaterally by posterodorsal processes of the postorbitals, diverging anterior palatal ridges, and a dorsoventrally low foramen magnum.

• Read more about A new basal dicynodont from the Upper Permian of South Africa

Examples of four types of pathologies have been found on specimens of large pterodactyloid pterosaurs. Osteoarthritis of the intersyncarpal, carpometacarpal, or metacarpophalangeal joints, indicated by grooving of the articular surfaces in the direction of joint motion, is present on at least four pterosaur specimens from the Cambridge Greensand. This pathology has not been found in Pteranodon despite comparably large samples of specimens. Pteranodon most commonly exhibits deformed bones and lumps apparently resulting from injury, necrosis, and subsequent repair.

• Read more about A survey of pathologies of large pterodactyloid pterosaurs

The postcranial skeleton of the Permian dicynodont Diictodon is described, major skeletal muscles restored and functional aspects of the skeleton analyzed. The humerus was caudolaterally oriented and articulated in a near sagittal plane. This reduced the transverse component of thrust during locomotion. Throughout the stride, the femur, which is relatively longer than the humerus, was held in a parasagittal position. Diictodon probably had a hindlimb gait similar to the high walk of crocodilians.

• Read more about Functional aspects of the postcranial anatomy of the Permian dicynodont Diictodon and their ecological implications

Previously known only from the Middle Ordovician of the Baltic, Pollicina corniculum (Eichwald) is reported here from the Middle Ordovician of Wales and the Welsh Borderland. A review of the taxonomic position of Pollicina in the light of this new material combined with the recent redescription of the Russian type material suggests that it is best placed in the order Cyrtonellida of the molluscan class Tergomya.

• Read more about Systematic position of Pollicina corniculum (Eichwald, 1860) (Mollusca, Tergomya) from the Middle Ordovician of the United Kingdom