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From thinly laminated marlstones of the Hesseltal Formation, representing the Late Cenomanian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 2, at Lengerich in the Teutoburger Wald (Westfalen, north-west Germany), 17 sediment-compacted baculitid ammonites with carbonised and partially phosphatised soft parts are recorded. Some preserve remains of the buccal mass, including jaws (occasionally articulated) and radulae, as well as of the cephalic cartilage, such as eye capsules. Such have not yet been recorded previously for the order Ammonoidea.

• Read more about Soft–part preservation in heteromorph ammonites from the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event (OAE 2) in north–west Germany

Tridactyl bird footprints preserved in Lower Eocene sandstone of the Chuckanut Formation in Whatcom County, Washington, USA, were made by a species of giant ground bird that walked along the subtropical lowland riverbank. The morphology and age of the tracks suggest the track maker was Diatryma (? = Gastornis). Although these birds have long been considered to be predators or scavengers, the absence of raptor-like claws supports earlier suggestions that they were herbivores.

• Read more about Giant Eocene bird footprints from Northwest Washington, USA

Since the 1960s, huge progress has been made in reconstructing the multielement skeletons of conodont species and developing a biologically defensible taxonomy. Nevertheless, a widespread prejudice remains that certain parts of the conodont skeleton, particularly the P1 elements, are more informative than others with regard to taxonomy and evolutionary relationships. Here, we test these views.

• Read more about Cladistic tests of monophyly and relationships of biostratigraphically significant conodonts using multielement skeletal data –Lochriea homopunctatus and the genus Lochriea

Newly collected phosphatised hexactinellid sponges are recorded from upper Cenomanian strata in the villages of Nezvys’ko and Rakovets’ of Podillia, south-west Ukraine. Sponges from Nezvys’ko were first described in the late 19th century by Emil H. Dunikowski, but the original specimens appear to have been lost. Five neotypes of the hexactinellids Laocoetis maxima, Callodictyonella regularis, Plocoscyphia podolica, Toulminia polonica and Leiostracosia crassa are here designated.

• Read more about Redescriptions of Cenomanian hexactinellid sponges from Podillia (South-West Ukraine) and designation of neotypes

Sixteen different Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian Courceyan to Chadian age, Mississippian) chondrichthyan teeth types have been extracted from Triassic erosional/aeolian fills in shallow karst systems found in the limestone quarry at Cromhall, Gloucestershire, England. These Carboniferous teeth have been found within a much larger assemblage of disarticulated bones and teeth belonging to small late Triassic terrestrial reptiles, for which Cromhall quarry is famous. The Carboniferous teeth are derived fossils, released during subaerial dissolution of the surrounding limestones.

• Read more about A carboniferous chondrichthyan assemblage from residues within a Triassic karst system at Cromhall quarry, Gloucestershire, England

A new family, Sinoalidae Wang and Szwedo fam. nov., is described from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota (Inner Mongolia, China). Two new genera with three new species (Sinoala parallelivena Wang and Szwedo gen. et sp. nov., Jiania crebra Wang and Szwedo gen. et sp. nov., and Jiania gracila Wang and Szwedo sp. nov.) are erected based on well-preserved whole-bodied specimens. The morphological characters of Procercopidae and the new family are given, and a key to the species of Sinoalidae is presented.

• Read more about New Jurassic Cercopoidea from China and their evolutionary significance (Insecta: Hemiptera)

Two European species of the Diomedeoididae, an extinct family of procellariiform (tube-nose) birds, have hitherto been distinguished primarily by size of their limb bones. Here, we describe an Early Oligocene (Rupelian) procellariifom coracoid that in all probability represents the larger species, Diomedeoides lipsiensis, and compare it to the coracoids of smaller diomedeoidids and extant procellariiforms.

• Read more about Anatomy of the coracoid and diversity of the Procellariiformes (Aves) in the Oligocene of Europe

Most studies of the adequacy of the fossil record have been carried out at a global or continental scale, and they have used sampling proxies that generally do not incorporate all aspects of sampling (i.e. rock volume, accessibility, effort). Nonetheless, such studies have identified positive correlations between apparent diversity and various sampling proxies. The covariation of fossil and rock record signals has been interpreted as evidence for bias or for a common cause, such as sea level change, or as evidence that the signals are in some ways redundant with each other.

• Read more about Completeness of the fossil record and the validity of sampling proxies at outcrop level

‘Totanus’lartetianus, Elorius paludicola and ‘Tringa’gracilis are the three scolopacid birds from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy described by the French palaeontologist Milne-Edwards in the 19th century. Since then, no revision of these taxa has been performed. Our re-examination revealed that not much of the material originally assigned to ‘Totanus’lartetianus can be retained within the species.

• Read more about An assessment of the diversity of early Miocene Scolopaci (Aves, Charadriiformes) from Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France)

The taxonomic origin of the white shark, Carcharodon, is a highly debated subject. New fossil evidence presented in this study suggests that the genus is derived from the broad-toothed ‘mako’, Carcharodon (Cosmopolitodus) hastalis, and includes the new species C. hubbelli sp. nov. – a taxon that demonstrates a transition between C. hastalis and Carcharodon carcharias. Specimens from the Pisco Formation clearly demonstrate an evolutionary mosaic of characters of both recent C. carcharias and fossil C. hastalis.

• Read more about Origin of the white shark Carcharodon (Lamniformes: Lamnidae) based on recalibration of the Upper Neogene Pisco Formation of Peru