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A new specimen of fossil ape is described from the late Miocene of Turkey. It consists of a complete palate and lower face, with much of the nasal and zygomatic regions preserved and part of the right orbit. It is considered to belong to the same species as the previously described Ankarapithecus meteai from the same deposits, and it is confirmed that the affinities of this taxon are with the genus Sivapithecus. Detailed comparisons with the other species of Sivapithecus, however, demonstrate that it is different from them, and its synonymy with S.

• Read more about A revision of the Turkish Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus meteai

An unnamed formation from near La Tagua, Colombia, and the Pebas Beds of Peru contains ostracod faunas that provide new information on the environment of deposition and the probable age o sediments. The ostracods are a mixture of freshwater, brackish, and marine species, from what was essenl a brackish-water environment. Fifteen species, of which nine are new, are described, together with two subspecies. Three genera—Botulocyprideis, Otarocyprideis, and Rhadinocytherura—are new.

• Read more about Plio-Pleistocene ostracods from the upper Amazon of Colombia and Peru

Many of the faunal changes that occur in vertical sections through the late Pleistocene coral reefs of the Kenya coast can be interpreted within the context of ecological succession. A number of instances of one set of species 'preparing the ground' for the next were found but these are all restricted to the earliest stages of primary successions. Clearly defined vertical zones are rare and much of the succession on established reefs appears to have been rather random and unstructured.

• Read more about Succession and diversity in the Pleistocene coral reefs of the Kenya coast

The variation in the tube foot morphology of twenty species of Recent irregular echinoids, with representatives from all four principle groups, is described and correlated with the structure of the associated ambulacral pores. Tube feet are often highly modified and sensory, respiratory, suckered, feeding, and funnel-building tube feet are all described.

• Read more about The structure, function, and evolution of tube feet and ambulacral pores in irregular echinoids

The generalized early colony development of Ordovician trepostome bryozoans includes two distinct stages: an earlier triangular colony, or protoecial cone, followed by a later circular colony, or ancestrular disc, in which vestiges of the protoecial cone are observable. Monticules, polymorphic zooid clusters characteristic of later astogeny, reproduce the structure of the zone of early development, including a replicate of the ancestrula, the monarchozooid. A second type of ancestrular replicate, the basilozooid, is found within the axial zones of colony branches.

• Read more about The interrelationship of early colony development, monticules and branches in Palaeozoic bryozoans

Ichthyosaurs from low in the Hettangian of Britain, with fore limbs showing a mixture of longipinnate and latipinnate characters, unusual cranial features, differing vertebral column functions, and differing hind-limb proportions, suggest that latipinnates evolved from Hettangian or late Triassic longipinnates and not from the Middle Triassic mixosaurs as has long been held.

• Read more about The affinities of Liassic and later ichthyosaurs

The Dukamaje Formation in north-western Nigeria was deposited in and around a shallow embayment of the Tethys Sea which existed in the south-central Saharan region during the Middle and Late Maastrichtian. An entirely arenaceous foraminiferal assemblage occurs in the lower and upper shales of the Dukamaje Formation, while the middle marl band contains both calcareous and arenaceous species. Thirteen new arenaceous foraminiferal species are described, namely: Haplophragmoides hausa, H. nigeriense, H. sahariense, H. saheliense, H. talokaense, Miliammina inflata, M.

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Isolated rounded teeth from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight are shown to belong to the small crocodilian Bernissartia, hitherto known only from the Wealden of Belgium. A partial skeleton from the Wealden of Hastings, described by Owen as 'Crocodilus saulii', is also referred to this genus. Similar rounded teeth have also been found in the Wealden of eastern Spain, and possibly in the Lower Cretaceous Trinity Formation of Texas. The crushing posterior teeth of Bernissartia are probably indicative of a specialized diet including a large proportion of hard-shelled molluscs.

• Read more about The crocodilian Bernissartia in the Wealden of the Isle of Wight

Ironstone nodules from the Francis Creek Shale (Middle Pennsylvanian) near Morris, Illinois, have yielded both fertile and sterile pinnae of Pecopteris unita Brongniart. Partly petrified pinnae bear decurrent pinnules at approximately 90° angles. Pinnules have entire downturned margins, taper slightly apically, measure 4-8 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, and have unbranched, apically curved lateral veins. Synangia are abaxial and composed of 5-7 radially arranged, laterally appressed sporangia that are free at their apices.

• Read more about Morphology of fertile Pecopteris unita from the Middle Pennsylvanian of Illinois

The ammonite family Perisphinctidae, on which the standard zonation of the Middle and Upper Oxfordian has hitherto been based, is poorly represented in the Boreal Province. A new scheme is proposed based wholly on the family Cardioceratidae. It has been worked out from extensive collections from a complete section at Staffin, Isle of Skye, with supporting material from East Greenland, the Scottish mainland, Yorkshire, East Anglia, and Dorset. Published evidence indicates that it should be applicable to the whole of the Boreal Province including Canada, Alaska, and the northern U.S.S.R.

• Read more about The Amoeboceras zonation of the Boreal Upper Oxfordian