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The oldest cryptospores and miospores have great significance in studies of the evolution of land plants: the former may represent the earliest direct evidence of such organisms and the latter may provide evidence for rhyniophytoid land plants as they have been recovered from the sporangia of Cooksonia pertoni Lang in the late Silurian. In the type Llandovery area, two distinct sporomorph assemblages are described from a composite section through uppermost Ordovician, Rhuddanian, Aeronian and basal Telychian strata.

• Read more about Silurian cryptospores and miospores from the type Llandovery area, south-west Wales

The Great Estuarine Group contains the most diverse conchostracan fauna so far described from the Jurassic or Cretaceous of Europe, comprising twelve species in seven genera. Estheria murchisoniae Jones was described in the last century; it is now referred to Pseudograpta Novojilov and is the youngest member (latest Bathonian?) of the fauna described here. Euestheria trotternishensis and Neopolygrapta lealtensis spp. nov. occur near the base of the Great Estuarine Group and probably close to the Bajocian-Bathonian boundary. Dendrostracus hebridesensis sp. nov.

• Read more about The conchostracan fauna of the Great Estuarine Group, Middle Jurassic, Scotland

A new genus of tapinocephaline dinocephalian, Tapinocaninus pamelae, is described from the lowermost biozone of the Beaufort Group in South Africa. Tapinocaninus is older than any dinocephalian previously discovered in Africa, being early Late Permian (Ufimian-Kazanian) in age. It is considered to belong to the subfamily Tapinocephalinae but retains plesiomorphic features which are absent in the Tapinocephalinae and were previously considered characteristic of the more primitive Titanosuchinae. Th

• Read more about A new primitive dinocephalian mammal-like reptile from the Permian of southern Africa

Lisboasaurus estesi from the Upper Jurassic of Guimarota, Portugal was first described as an anguimorph lizard. Reexamination of the holotype and referred specimens has revealed the presence of thecodont teeth and an antorbital fossa, leading to the conclusion that L. estesi represents a small archosaur and not a lizard. Features of the dentition including labio-lingually compressed crowns with unserrated carinae, waisting between the root and the crown, and expanded roots, suggest that L.

• Read more about The Upper Jurassic diapsid Lisboasaurus estesi – a maniraptoran theropod

The morphologic diversification of the Trilobita is investigated using a Fourier description of the cranidia of Cambrian and Ordovician trilobites from North America. Morphologic diversity increases from the Early Cambrian to the Middle Ordovician, but does not correlate well with patterns of generic or family diversity. Suprageneric taxa of trilobites are shown objectively to represent morphotypes. Morpholog dispersion among suprageneric taxa and the distinctness of these taxa both increase from the Cambrian to the Ordovician.

• Read more about Morphologic patterns of diversification: examples from trilobites

We describe a new skull of the phytosaur Paleorhinus bransoni from Palo Duro Canyon, Randall County, Texas. The genus Paleorhinus (synonyms, Mesorhinus, Promystriosuchus, Francosuchus, Ebrachosuchus, Mesorhinosuchus, Parasuchus) contains four valid species: P. bransoni (synonyms P. parvus, P. scurriensis), P. neukami, P. magnoculus, and P. hislopi. Other nominal species based on specimens that we assign to Paleorhinus are nomina dubia.

• Read more about The Paleorhinus biochron and the correlation of the non-marine Upper Triassic of Pangaea

Biometrical description of large samples (N > 300) of the rhynchonellide brachiopod Eocoelia from the Kilbride Formation (upper Telychian) in the west of Ireland and the Lower Camregan Grits (lower Telychian) of the Girvan district, south-west Scotland, suggests the refinement of the stratigraphically important Eocoelia lineage in the upper Llandovery. The Irish and Scottish species have previously both been assigned to Eocoelia curtisi Ziegler. However, the Girvan population is significantly different from type and topotype specimens from Tortworth and from the Irish material.

• Read more about The rhynchonellide brachiopod Eocoelia from the Upper Llandovery of Ireland and Scotland

The independent appearance of many taxa of cementing bivalves during the early Mesozoic coincided with the marked increase in predation pressure described by Vermeij (1977, 1987). A causal link is implied by experimental work in which predators were offered the choice of byssate or cemented bivalve prey: cementation confers a significant selective advantage by inhibiting manipulability. The example illustrates the potential value to palaeontology of studies in behavioural ecology.

• Read more about The role of predation in the evolution of cementation in bivalves

The Lower Devonian ostracoderm Phialaspis symondsi differs sufficiently from the type species of the Traquairaspididae, Traquairaspis campbelli, to place it within a separate family, the Phialaspididae. This family also includes Toombsaspis pococki comb, nov., T. sabrinae comb. nov. and Munchoaspis denisoni comb, nov. The Traquairaspididae includes Traquairaspis campbelli and Rimasventeraspis angusta comb. nov. A new reconstruction of the carapace of Phialaspis symondsi is given and, from an examination of immature plates, a possible mode of growth is outlined.

• Read more about The ostracoderm Phialaspis from the Lower Devonian of the Welsh Borderland and South Wales

The following trilobite species from the Llanvirn to Llandeilo of north and central Portugal a recorded or described and their stratigraphical ranges are discussed: Colpocoryphe aff. rouaulti (Henr C, cf. thoralis conjugens Hammann, C. grandis (Snajdr), Salterocoryphe salteri salteri (Rouault), Prionocheu mendax (Vanek), P. cf. pulcher (Barrande) and Valongia wattisoni (Curtis). Actinopeltis tejoensis sp. nov. a: Prionocheilus costal (Thadeu) from the upper Ordovician of central Portugal are described.

• Read more about Trilobites from the Ordovician of Portugal