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Margachitina margaritana is a distinctive, chain-forming chitinozoan taxon of the uppermost Telychian Stage (Llandovery Series) to lower Homerian Stage (Wenlock Series). M. margaritana is shown to be the end member of a morphological lineage that developed from Calpichitina densa via the intermediate Margachitina banwyensis sp. nov. A local M. banwyensis Biozone, which correlates with the upper lapworthi graptolite Biozone, is proposed for the Banwy River section.

• Read more about A chitinozoan morphological lineage and its importance in Lower Silurian stratigraphy

Oonops seldeni sp. nov. and Mysmenopsis lissycoleyae sp. nov. are described from male specimens preserved in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic and are the first fossil records of these extant genera. Gamasomorpha incerta Wunderlich, 1988 is transferred to Stenoonops. Two females previously described as Orchestina dominicana? Wunderlich, 1981 are transferred to Orchestina sp. indet., and one new specimen of a male of Orchestina dominicana Wunderlich, 1988 is identified. Oonopidae is reported for the first time from Cretaceous ambers of Burma, Lebanon and New Jersey.

• Read more about Miocene spiders in Dominican amber (Oonopidae, Mysmenidae)

Several finely capillated brachiopod genera are re-examined based on new material obtained from the Lower Permian of the Tarim Basin, north-western China and previously published information. A new genus, Tarimoplecta, is proposed. Comparison with other related genera reveals that Liraplecta Jin and Sun and Tarimoplecta gen. nov. represent a new tribe, Liraplectini, of the Dictyoclostidinae Stehli. The stratigraphical and geographical distributions of both Liraplecta and Tarimoplecta indicate that they are restricted to the Sakmarian to Kungurian (Lower Permian) of the Tethyan Realm.

• Read more about A new tribe of dictyoclostid brachiopods from the Lower Permian of the Tarim Basin, north-west China

Loriolella Fucini is an enigmatic and poorly understood Early Jurassic sea-urchin that has been interpreted both as a regular and an irregular echinoid. The discovery of new and well-preserved material of the type species L. ludovicii (Meneghini) from the Upper Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Lombardy, Italy, has clarified the morphology of this genus for the first time. Loriolella resembles regular echinoids in having a large (almost certainly monocyclic) apical disc enclosing the periproct, and large primary interambulacral tubercles and spines.

• Read more about Loriolella, a key taxon for understanding the early evolution of irregular echinoids

New cranial material of Hondalagus altiplanensis, from the middle Miocene of southern Bolivia, allows a rediagnosis of the genus and an assessment of its palaeobiology and phylogenetic relationships with other argyrolagid marsupials. The new specimens demonstrate several derived (synapomorphic) cranial features shared by Hondalagus and Argyrolagus: a globular braincase, ventrally directed occipital condyles, a broad zygomatic arch, and a short, deep dentary with a flat and long coronoid notch.

• Read more about Cranial anatomy and palaeobiology of the Miocene marsupial Hondalagus altiplanensis and a phylogeny of argyrolagids

A new psittaciform bird from the Lower Eocene (Ypresian) London Clay of England is described. This taxon, Pulchrapollia gracilis gen. et sp. nov., is assigned to the order Psittaciformes (parrots) on the basis of several distinctive structures of the tarsometatarsus, namely the trochlea for metatarsal III (trochlea metatarsi III) bearing a tubercle on its lateral side and the trochlea for metatarsal IV (trochlea metatarsi IV) completely retroverted (fully zygodactyl foot). Comparisons with other fossil and Recent taxa further support this conclusion.

• Read more about A new psittaciform bird from the London Clay (Lower Eocene) of England

The Burrellian trilobite faunas of the Leinster terrane comprise at least 31 species from a spectrum of faunal associations. Strong faunal links with the Anglo-Welsh area confirm the likely close proximity of these parts of Avalonia during the mid Caradoc but together with existing magmatic and palaeomagnetic data, the Leinster faunas also indicate that the existing simple structural models of the relationship between these areas need to be reappraised.

• Read more about Trilobite faunas of the Duncannon Group: Caradoc stratigraphy, environments and palaeobiogeography of the Leinster terrane, Ireland

Scleractinian corals are the most important constituents of modern coralgal reefs. For many years, it was thought that they first appeared in the Middle Triassic and subsequently underwent explosive radiation. However, abundant scleractinian-like corals with ancestral morphological traits have recently been recovered from Middle Permian sponge reefs in China, which not only confirms a role in Permian reef ecology but also suggests a possible Palaeozoic origin for the group. Two species of a new Permian scleractiniamorph genus from China are described herein as Houchangocyathus wangi gen.

• Read more about Palaeoecological and phylogenetic implications of a new scleractiniamorph genus from Permian sponge reefs, South China

The rhynchonellid family Erymnariidae Cooper includes the new genus Costerymnaria together with Erymnaria Cooper, which comprises all the known erymnariids, and Erymnaria matensis (Capasso) from the Cenomanian of the Matese Mountains in southern Italy, which is revised herein. Costerymnaria includes three new forms: Costerymnaria italica sp. nov. and Costerymnaria sp. from the Cenomanian of the Matese Mountains, and Costerymnaria apula sp. nov. from the uppermost Campanian of the Salentine Peninsula, also in southern Italy.

• Read more about First occurrence of the brachiopod family Erymnariidae Cooper in the Upper Cretaceous of southern Italy

The Paleocene-Miocene deposits of the Carnarvon Basin of Western Australia contain a rich fauna of brachiopods, but only two species, Tegulorhynchia boongeroodaensis and Westralicrania allani, both from the Paleocene, have previously been described. One new genus, Giraliathyris, and eight new species are described herein. They are Giraliathyris mcnamari, G. kaitrinae, G. jubileensis, Liothyrella longorum, Victorithyris decapello, V. cardabiaensis, V. blakeorum, V. tulkiensis, Diedrothyris cf. johnstoniana and Paraldingia timi.

• Read more about The Cenozoic brachiopods of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia