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Diverse brachiopod faunas are recorded and partly described from the Korotkinskaya Formation of the central Taimyr Peninsula, northern Siberia, Russia. The lowest fauna (Beds 2 and 3) includes eight species of indeterminate late Ordovician age, the main fauna (Bed 4) consists of 39 species of mid Ashgill age, and the highest fauna (Beds 8 and 9), four species of late mid Ashgill age. The new species Amphiplecia bondarevi, Cyclospira orbus, Eospirigerina vetusta and Plectatrypa laticostata are described.

• Read more about Late Ordovician brachiopods from Taimyr, Arctic Russia, and their palaeogeographical significance

Exceptionally well preserved and abundant corallites of Hexaphyllia are recorded from limestones of the Lower Carboniferous Castleton Reef Belt, north Derbyshire, UK. Details of corallite morphogenesis are presented and the growth attitude of corallites is determined. Tabulae curve down at their margins and fuse together to form the tabulotheca. Conversely, spines curve upward and point in the direction of corallite growth.

• Read more about Hexaphyllia: a spiny heterocoral from Lower Carboniferous reef limestones in Derbyshire, England

The extraction of fossil plants and insects from Lebanese amber is possible by dissolving the amber in chloroform. The fossils can be prepared like Recent material and mounted in Canada Balsam. This method enables better observation of the morphological details of the fossils.

• Read more about A new method for extracting plant and insect fossils from Lebanese amber

A large number (> 1 per cent.) of fossil fish from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Lower Cretaceous) of north-east Brazil, occurs at a high angle, or even vertical, to bedding. Petrographic and taphonomic analyses of such occurrences indicate that the laminated argillaceous sediments were soupy and allowed sinking dead fish to penetrate the sediment to depths greater than the total body length of the fish.

• Read more about Fish oblique to bedding in early diagenetic concretions from the Cretaceous Santana Formation of Brazil – implications for substrate consistency

Although relatively uncommon in the dominantly calcareous upper Ordovician (Cincinnatian) sedimentary rocks in the North American Midcontinent, graptolites have been recorded from many localities during some 150 years of study. A revision of these faunas, the first general review for half a century, is based on new collections from about 20 key localities as well as on museum specimens. These epicontinental faunas are locally rich in individuals but diversity is low, with only about 20 species recognized herein.

• Read more about Late Ordovician graptolites from the North American Midcontinent

The non-marine bivalve superfamily Trigonioidoidea has been considered to be restricted to the Cretaceous of east Asia. It is a distinctive taxon of unionoids, characterized by separated anterior adductor and anterior pedal retractor muscle scars, and an ornament which typically comprises chevron-forming ribs. Well preserved bivalves (with chevron-forming ribs) from the Wealden Group (Barremian and ?

• Read more about The first recorded trigonioidoidean bivalve from Europe

Boreopricea funerea from the Lower Triassic of northern Russia is a prolacertiform diapsid, superficially similar to Prolacerta from the Lower Triassic of South Africa. The skull is damaged, but relatively complete. The lower temporal bar is absent. Some parts of the skeleton of Boreopricea, in particular some of the vertebrae and the foot, are well preserved, and offer clear evidence of prolacertiform affinities. Nineteen species of prolaeertiform have been described. Their affinities are difficult to resolve because available specimens for many of the taxa are incomplete.

• Read more about Boreopricea from the Lower Triassic of Russia, and the relationships of the prolacertiform reptiles

The lower Ordovician conodont genus Paroistodus has previously been interpreted as a two-element apparatus, although with wide variation among its 'drepanodontiform' elements. Collections of conodonts from a series of Swedish sections include almost 75 000 elements of four successive species of Paroistodus: P. numarcuatus from the upper Tremadoc, P. proteus from the uppermost Tremadoc and lowermost Arenig, P. parallelus from the lower Arenig, and P. originalis from the lower middle Arenig to the lower Llanvirn.

• Read more about Reinterpretation of the Lower Ordovician conodont apparatus Paroistodus

The descriptive terminology applicable to coccoliths and other calcareous nannofosils is reviewed and revised. A listing of about 400 terms is given with brief explanations and explanatory figures. General terms are given first, followed by terms for specific taxonomic groups. Appendices list terms we have not used and summarize terms, such as caneolith, which have been proposed for particular types of coccoliths.

• Read more about Guidelines for coccolith and calcareous nannofossil terminology

Amino acid analysis was carried out on intracrystalline organic material from fossil and recent mollusc shells from South Wanganui Basin, New Zealand, ranging in age from 3-6 My old to Recent, absolute abundance of amino acids is highly variable but shows a gradual decline through time due to diagenetic effects. The proportion of peptide-bound amino acids decreases with time, and there corresponding increase in free amino acids as proteins are broken down by natural hydrolysis.

• Read more about Diagenesis and survival of intracrystalline amino acids in fossil and recent mollusc shells