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The early Albian sediments of Zululand yield abundant specimens of a keeled phylloceratid, Carino-phylloceras collignoni gen. et sp. nov., superfically homeomorphous with the desmoceratid Damesites. Investigation of the suture line confirms the phylloceratid affinities of the genus, which is an independent Cretaceous relative of the P. (Hypophylloceras) velledae (d'Orbigny) group, and unrelated to the keeled Jurassic phylloceratids Harpophylloceras Spath, 1927 and Menegheniceras Hyatt, 1900.

• Read more about A new carinate phylloceratid ammonite from the early Albian (Cretaceous) of Zululand, South Africa

Two chondrostean fish from the Triassic are redescribed: Dicellopyge from Bekker's Kraal, South Africa; and Belichthys from Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of the dermal skull bones in early chondrosteans shows that three distinctive patterns occur, and that there is some evidence that there is a fundamental dichotomy within the Chondrostei.

• Read more about Two Triassic fish from South Africa and Australia, with comments on the evolution of the Chondrostei

The crinoid fauna of the Pentland Hills consists of six species, of which five are new: Macrostylocrinus silurocirrifer, Ptychocrinus longibrachialis, Dimerocrinites pentlandicus, Herpetocrinusparvispinifer, and Dendrocrinus extensidiscus. Pisocrinus campana Miller is also known from the Silurian (upper Llandovery to Ludlow) of the North American Mid-continent. Pentland Hills crinoids are generally rare and show low taxonomic diversity compared to many crinoid faunas of similar age, suggesting a marginal habitat for crinoids.

• Read more about Silurian crinoids from the Pentland Hills, Scotland

Thiermann's (1963) argumenls for establishing Endemoceras as a distinct genus are rejected and it is considered a junior synonym of Lyticoceras Hyatt.

• Read more about The Hauterivian ammonite genus Lyticoceras Hyatt, 1900 and its synonym Endemoceras Thiermann, 1963

The only bird hitherto known from the upper Cretaceous (supposed Maestrichtian) of Transylvania is the pelecaniform Elopteryx nopscai Andrews (1913), based on the proximal half of a femur; referred material includes the distal ends of three tibiotarsi from the same beds. Re-examination of these tibiotarsi, however, shows that they belong to the owls (Strigiformes); they represent the oldest owls known and are described and named as two species in new genera, Bradycneme and Heptasteornis.

• Read more about The Bradycnemidae, a new family of owls from the upper Cretaceous of Romania

Revision of Australian Carboniferous cryptostome fenestrate bryozoans has resulted in the recognition of a new genus, Septatopora, which has been defined on the basis of nine species, four of which, S. flemingi, S. gloucesterensis, S. nodosa, and S.(?) williamsensis, are new, with the remaining five species having been previously assigned to Fenestella Lonsdale or Polypora M'Coy.The existence of eight apertural septa and an additional orifice on the branch surface proximal to each aperture, place the affinities of the genus in doubt.

• Read more about A new ?bryozoan from the Carboniferous of eastern Australia

The ostracod Paraparchites minax sp. nov., from the early Permian of the Pre-Donetz Depression of the Rostov area of the Soviet Union, is described and figured. Particular attention is paid to the muscle scars, to mandibular and frontal scars and especially to the adductor muscle scars, which are in the form of a cluster of up to 190 spots. An outline of the ontogenetic development of the scars is given.

• Read more about The ostracod Paraparchites minax Ivanov, sp. nov. from the Permian of the U.S.S.R., and its muscle-scar field

The communities recently described by Calef and Hancock are considered to provide an inadequate picture of Ludlow faunas and their palaeoecological significance. Alternative assemblages, including the important non-brachiopod benthos, have been compiled from the evidence of published faunal lists. It is here maintained that these four assemblages reflect more accurately than those of Calef and Hancock the faunal distribution within the Ludlow rocks but no special significance is claimed for them; each contains subdivisions which may be more readily explained in palaeoecological terms.

• Read more about Ludlow benthonic assemblages

The species and subspecies of the late middle Cambrian agnostid trilobite Lejopyge are reviewed. Lejopyge cos Opik is shown to be a junior synonym of Lejopyge laevigata armata. In Sweden the middle-upper Cambrian boundary is placed at the boundary between the Lejopyge laevigata and Agnostuspisiformis Zones. The reassignment of L. cos to L. l. armata and other criteria suggest that this boundary in Australia should be drawn within the Mindyallan Cyclagnostus quasivespa Zone between the L.

• Read more about The trilobite Lejopyge Hawle and Corda and the middle–upper Cambrian boundary

Scanning and transmission electron microscopy, ultra-thin sectioning and light microscopy are employed in this investigation of Azolla prisca, which is placed in Section Trisepta sect. nov. of the genus. The columella and structural modifications of the proximal megaspore wall of A. prisca are compared with other species, both fossil and modern, and the phylogenetic interrelationship of these structures are discussed. The complex megaspore wall reveals an exine and two-layered perine, the outer perine layer being further subdivided into four zones.

• Read more about Megaspores and massulae of Azolla prisca from the Oligocene of the Isle of Wight