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A trigonotarbid (Arachnida: Trigonotarbida) from the oldest known terrestrial ecosystem (Silurian, Pridoli Series) of Ludford Lane, Shropshire, UK is described as Eotarbus jerami gen. et sp. nov., and is the earliest known non-scorpion arachnid. This specimen predates Rhyme Chert and Gilboa trigonotarbids which show more plesiomorphic characters, and is similar to some Early Devonian trigonotarbids from Alken an der Mosel and other German localities of similar age. Eotarbus jerami is too poorly preserved to be assigned unequivocally to a family, but most closely resembles the Trigonotarbidae.

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The first Mesozoic solifuge, from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of Ceara province, Brazil, is described and named as Cratosolpuga wunderlichi Selden, gen. et sp. nov. and placed in the extant family Ceromidae. There are two previously described fossil solifuges: from Palaeogene Dominican amber and the Carboniferous (Westphalian D) Francis Creek Shale of Mazon Creek, Illinois. The latter specimen (Protosolpuga carbonaria), redescribed herein, is poorly preserved but provides evidence for the presence of the order in the Carboniferous.

• Read more about The first Mesozoic Solifugae (Arachnida), from the Cretaceous of Brazil, and a redescription of the Palaeozoic solifuge

This paper presents the first full morphological description of Macroneuropteris macrophylla, the type species of its genus. The fronds are very similar in size to the more widely distributed Neuropteris, but are significantly less divided; the M. macrophylla pinnules are homologous to segmented, tertiary pinnae in Neuropteris. M. macrophylla is known only from westernmost Europe and easternmost North America.

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Multivariate statistical analyses are used to distinguish species of the common reef-building coral Tarbellastraea at Oligocene and Miocene localities within the Aquitaine Basin, western Mediterranean, and central Paratethys regions; and to trace their distributions through geological time. Thirteen measurements or counts are made on thin sections of 126 colonies collected at 13 widely scattered localities, whose geological ages are newly updated.

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Remains of metriorhynchid crocodilians are rare in the British Kimmeridgian. A new partial metriorhynchid skull, recently discovered at Westbury, Wiltshire is provisionally assigned to Metriorhynchus superciliosus, a common narrow-skulled species previously described from the Oxford Clay (Callovian) sequences of Peterborough. It is covered with encrustations on both dorsal and ventral surfaces, indicating a long period of exposure on the sea floor, in relatively oxic conditions, before burial. There is evidence for both predator damage and a phase of post-depositional deformation.

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All available material of the late Oligocene salamandrid amphibian Brachycormus noachicus is redescribed, with a reconstruction of its skeleton and an evaluation of its range of variation. This neotenous salamandrid is strikingly similar, in the shape of its visceral skeleton, to larvae of the contemporary Triturus in the final stages of metamorphosis, and to neotenous specimens of Triturus alpestris. However, in contrast to the latter facultative neotenous larvae, Brachycormus, though morphologically underdeveloped, was fully ossified.

• Read more about The salamander Brachycormus noachicus from the Oligocene of Europe, and the role of neoteny in the evolution of salamanders

Outline analysis cannot be expected to yield good results when applied to foraminifera because of the uncertain relationship between outlines and three-dimensional morphology. Foram test morphology can often be described efficiently by means of a suite of geometrical parameters controlling chamber shape, size and accretion. These parameters can be obtained from images by an iterative optimization technique. The method has yielded good results when tested by application to simulated images.

• Read more about Estimation of parameters of foraminiferal test geometry by image analysis

Twenty-three species of perisphinctid ammonite, belonging to the genera Perisphinctes, Decipia and Microbiplices, are described from the lowest Upper Oxfordian Upper Calcareous Grit Formation of North Yorkshire. A new species, Decipia ravenswykensis, is described, and Pseudopomerania is proposed as a new subgenus of Perisphinctes, to include some until now little understood perisphinctids previously assigned to Decipia. A comparison is made with successions of the same age elsewhere in Britain and in continental Europe.

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A detailed Pan-European sclerochronological study was carried out on two Jurassic corals, Thamnasteria concinna (Goldfuss) and Isastraea explanata (Goldfuss), the aim of which was firstly, to identify the controls on the deposition of growth bands, on both a regional and local scale, and secondly, to assess the potential value of Mesozoic sclerochronology as a tool for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic interpretations.The results indicate that Isastraea explanata was the faster growing of the two species with growth rates reaching 4.0 mm/yr where conditions were optimal for coral growth (

• Read more about The use of Late Jurassic coral growth bands as palaeoenvironmental indicators

Records of non-marine bivalves similar to Carbonicola aldamii (Brown) are listed and, where possible, specimens are figured. This species, originally described from Whitehaven, Cumbria has not so far been recorded again in collections from that district. Most known specimens referred to the species come from the Midlothian and Douglas coalfields of Scotland.

• Read more about Taxonomy and distribution of the Upper Carboniferous non-marine bivalve Carbonicola aldamii