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The discovery of well preserved and almost complete fossil coleoid cephalopods near Osteno in northern Italy has allowed the original study of a single specimen by Pinna (1972) to be enhanced. The unusual structure of the ten arms, showing a clear differentiation in the shape of the arm hooks (long and thin on six arms and short and stocky on the other four), is a distinctive character which is not present in any Jurassic family of coleoids known to date. We distinguish two new genera: Ostenoteuthis, with the species O. siroi sp. nov., and Uncinoteuthis, with the species U. cuvieri sp. nov.

• Read more about A new family of coleoids from the Lower Jurassic of Osteno, northern Italy

Living lingulid brachiopods are ubiquitous in low-latitude, marine infaunas. Lingula occurs throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans with the only Atlantic species, L. parva, confined to West Africa. Glottidia is restricted to offshore America from Virginia to California and Peru, and is assumed to have descended from a Pacific Lingula during the early Tertiary. Lingulid organophosphatic shells differ structurally. That of Glottidia is characterized by trellised rods (baculate); that of Indo-Pacific species of Lingula by spheroidal and rod-like microstructures (virgose); and that of L.

• Read more about Provenance of Atlantic lingulid brachiopods

Abundant well-preserved and variable species of Undichna are described from the Permian of the Falkland Islands. The environment is considered to be non-marine and the traces are associated with turbidite and rhythmite deposits. There are strong similarities between the Undichna and other ichnogenera of the Falkland Islands and those of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, thus strengthening the view that the missing eastern end of the Permian Karoo Basin is present in the Falklands. Undichna bina and U.

• Read more about The ichnogenus Undichna, with examples from the Permian of the Falkland Islands

An articulated dragonfly from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of northern Switzerland is described. The specimen is assigned to Liassogomphus brodiei (Buckman). This is the first description of an articulated member of the family Liassogomphidae, hitherto known from isolated wings only. Almost identical wings were previously described as Phthitogomphus angulatus (Handlirsch) and Palaeogomphus propinquus (Bode). The latter is now treated as synonymous with Liassogomphus brodiei, and the genus Palaeogomphus Handlirsch is therefore a junior synonym of Liassogomphus Cowley.

• Read more about An articulated dragonfly (Insecta, Odonata) from the upper Liassic Posidonia Shale of northern Switzerland

The descriptions and diagnoses of the type species of Paramblypterus, Paramblypterus decorus, and the type species of Amblypterus, Amblypterus latus, which is very similar to Paramblypterus, are revised. The skulls of Paramblypterus decorus, P. duvernoyi, and A. latus are restored in three-dimensional models, and their diagnoses are emended. Intra-specific variation of P. decorus and P. duvernoyi concerns dermohyal, 'suborbital' and extrascapular bones, and dermohyal, rostral, parietal and extrascapular bones, respectively.

• Read more about A revision of paramblypterid and amblypterid actinopterygians from Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian lacustrine deposits of central Europe

Pohlsepia mazonensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Mazon Creek Konservat Lagerstatte (Carboniferous) of Illinois is an exceptionally preserved soft-bodied fossil coleoid, with well-defined body and arms. Lacking an internal shell and possessing eight subequal and two modified arms, Pohlsepia can be compared with both the living cirrate octopods and the decabrachian sepiardarids, both of which lack a well-developed internal skeleton. Given its sac-like body, lack of a well-defined head and presence of fins, Pohlsepia can be safely compared with modern cirrate octopods.

• Read more about Pohlsepia mazonensis, an early 'octopus' from the Carboniferous of Illinois, USA

The first late Late Cambrian basinal-facies trilobites to be described from Tasmania are from a succession exposed 8.5 km west of Birch Inlet, south-western Tasmania. Twenty-one taxa are described; the six agnostoid species include a new species of Leiagnostus, L. inletensis. The polymeroids include five new species: Hedinaspis uniformis, Proceratopyge longa, Niobella birchensis, Skljarella expansa and Ivshinaspis reticulata. Skljarella and Ivshinaspis are described for the first time from Australia.

• Read more about Late Late Cambrian trilobites from near Birch Inlet, south-western Tasmania

A computer-based parsimony analysis of the brachiopod genus Orbirhynchia (Late Albian-Middle Campanian) is described. The resulting cladogram indicates that the genus divided into two distinct lineages soon after its appearance in the Late Albian. One group is known only from marly and sandy facies of Cenomanian age, while the second, more diverse, group appeared later in the Cenomanian but persisted into the Campanian. These two groups exhibit distinct morphological trends which may be related to different ecological niches, perhaps with respect to local sedimentary environment.

• Read more about Phylogeny of Orbirhynchia Pettitt, 1954 (Brachiopoda, Rhynchonellida)

Brachiopods from the Otar Member (upper Caradoc) of the Dulankara Formation, Kazakhstan, are revised. Twenty-one species are represented of which the orthoid genus Bokotorthis and strophomenoid genus Karomena are new. New species are Phaceloorthis recondita, Plaesiomys fidelis, Anoptambonites kovalevskii, Karomena squalida and Dzhebaglina plicata. Three ecological associations are identified, the Altaethyrella-Nalivkinia (Pronalivkinia) Association, the Ctenodonta-Sowerbyella Association and the Dinorthis Association, all living in shallow-water (BA2) environments.

• Read more about Late Ordovician brachiopods from the Otar Member of the Chu-Ili, south Kazakhstan

A new neoretziid brachiopod genus, Coveenia, from the Lower Carboniferous of western Europe is erected; the type species is Coveenia ulothrix (de Koninck, 1843), and C. buchiana (de Koninck, 1843, sensu 1887) and C. tilsleia sp. nov. are included, diagnosed and described. Neotypes are selected and illustrated for C. ulothrix and C. buchiana.

• Read more about A review of two de Koninck retzioid brachiopod species, and description of a new genus from the Carboniferous of Europe