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Wenlock trilobites and brachiopods from the Mackenzie Mountains, north-western Canada

Silicified Wenlock trilobites representing at least fifteen genera are reported from argillaceous carbonates within the upper beds of the Whittaker Formation and lower beds of the Delorme Formation, Delorme Range, south-western District of Mackenzie, Canada. The associated brachiopod fauna is of low diversity (six genera), small physical size, and is dominated by neanic stages of development. Elements of this brachiopod fauna are poorly known elsewhere in north-western Canada.

Plant-bearing coprolites from North American Pennsylvanian coal balls

Well-preserved coprolites are described from North American Middle Pennsylvanian age coal balls. They are composed exclusively of plant material and are divided into three types on the basis of content and gross morphology. Type A are homogeneous in composition and average 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 mm in size. Type B coprolites are of heterogeneous composition, measure 6.5 x 3.5 x 3.1 mm, and are the most commonly occurring type. Type C coprolites, the least common type, are amorphous in composition and have an average size of 4.5 x 2.5 x 1.8 mm.

Evolutionary brachiopod lineages from the Llandovery Series of eastern Iowa

Stricklandia-Costistricklandia and Pentamerus-Pentameroides-Callipentamerus lineages provide stratigraphical control confirming the repetition of distinct faunas in the lower Silurian Hopkinton Dolomite of eastern Iowa. Traced laterally over the geographical extent of the outcrop area, the lineages also demonstrate that deposition of the Hopkinton Dolomite was phase-like and nearly synchronous. The prominent features that evolved in these brachiopods are the internal, skeletal structures.

Barremian earliest angiosperm pollen

The first 'angiosperm' fossils from palaeolatitude Cretaceous 35° N. or more, appear to be tectate pollen from the English upper Wealden. This pollen with angiospermid characters is always less than 1% of Barremian palynomorph assemblages, and the usual grain diameter is less than 25 microns; it has, therefore, been necessary to study it by direct SEM search of strew mounts, enabling sculpture characters well below one micron to be used in correlation.

Live and dead faunas from coralline algal gravels, Co. Galway

A visual assessment, supported by multivariate statistical analysis, of the fauna from seventy-one benthic samples from Mannin Bay shows the existence of five communities, which are coincident with the sedimentary facies of the area. The Bank Community is found in algal banks constructed by the free-living corallines Lithothamnium corattioides and Phymatolithon calcareum. This community is characterized by a varied and abundant epifauna living on the algal thalli. The Muddy Algal Gravel Community also has a rich epifauna but has a more diverse burrowing infauna.

Statoliths of Cenozoic teuthoid cephalopods from North America

Statoliths of fossil teuthoids are described in detail for the first time. Several hundred statoliths collected at eleven North American sites including Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene deposits are from fourteen kinds of teuthoid. These include six species of the family Loliginidae. Five new species, Loligo applegatei n. sp., L. mississippiensis n. sp., L. barkeri n. sp., L. valeriae n. sp., and L. stillmani n. sp. are extinct; L. opalescens is still living off California. The new ommastrephid species Dosidicus lomita n. sp. and Symplectoteuthis pedroensis n. sp.

The horse Cormohipparion theobaldi from the Neogene of Pakistan, with comments on Siwalik hipparions

A well-preserved skull of a three-toed horse, which is one of only a few known from the Neogene Middle Siwaliks of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan, is referred to Cormohipparion theobaldi. This conclusion is based on cranial, dental, and size criteria that are diagnostic of this genus and species and differentiate it from the small Siwalik hipparions. The Siwalik hipparions appear to represent a polyphyletic assemblage of at least two, and probably three, forms.

Micropalaeontological studies of the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of Andøya, northern Norway

Seventy species of foraminifera are recognized and grouped into three assemblages. Assemblage 1, entirely dominated by Haplophragmoides represents a restricted, marginal marine environment and is confined to the lower part of Ratjonna Member of the Middle Volgian. Assemblage 2, dominated by Haplophragmoides in association with Lenticulina, represents a shallow, open marine environment and is confined to the upper part of Ratjonna Member of the Ryazanian.

Two new early Cretaceous dinocyst species from the northern North Sea

Two new species of dinocyst, Oligosphaeridium abaculum and Systematophora silyba, are described from a Barremian assemblage obtained from the northern North Sea north-east of the Shetlands. O. abaculum is the first-known hystrichosphere with plate-centred tubular processes on which a clearly defined paratabulation is present and this is described in detail. The paratabulation is of the Gonyaulax-type, and it is inferred that chorate cysts with similar morphology are also of this type.

Taxonomy, functional morphology and palaeoecology of the Ordovician cystoid family Hemicosmitidae

Morphological aspects of the Middle-Upper Ordovician genus Hemicosmites are discussed. Most of the important features are related to respiratory functions, and the distribution and functions of the rhombs are evaluated. Five different patterns of rhomb distribution are outlined. Phyletic changes occur throughout the Ordovician in: (1) respiratory structures, (2) expansion of oral area, including addition of new plates, and (3) increased size of the arms.
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