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Middle Eocene Pelagornithidae and Gaviiformes (Aves) from the Ukrainian Paratethys

We describe avian remains from Novopskov, a new middle Eocene marine locality in Ukraine. The fossils constitute the most substantial collection of Palaeogene bird bones from Eastern Europe and contribute to a better knowledge of the Paratethyan seabird fauna. Most of the specimens belong to Pelagornithidae (bony-toothed birds), and two species of very different size can be distinguished. The larger of these is tentatively referred to Dasornis sp., the smaller to Odontopteryx toliapica.

Remarkable preservation of a new genus and species of limuline horseshoe crab from the Cretaceous of Texas, USA

A single specimen, part and counterpart of a carapace, of a horseshoe crab from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Glen Rose Formation in north-central Texas, forms the basis for the definition of a new genus and species, Crenatolimulus paluxyensis. The discovery represents only the fifth limuline known from the Cretaceous. Its preservational style is remarkable in that the carapace exterior is faithfully replicated by a massive overgrowth of serpulid worms.

New remains of Egatochoerus jaegeri (Mammalia, Suoidea) from the late Eocene of Peninsular Thailand

We report here additional remains referred to Egatochoerus jaegeri from the late Eocene locality of Ban Mark in the Krabi basin, Thailand. The new material described, comprising upper and lower cheek teeth, deciduous premolars and partial cranial remains, makes E. jaegeri the best-documented Eocene representative of Old World Suoidea at present. Detailed study and comparison of their cheek teeth structure reveal a homogeneity of the molar crest and groove patterns of Old World and New World Palaeogene suoids.

Remains of Hipparion (Equidae, Perissodactyla) from Puente Minero (Teruel Province, Spain) and their implications for the systematics of the Turolian Hipparionini

Morphological and biometrical variability of the equid Hipparion from Puente Minero and other localities from the Teruel Basin, Spain (MN10–MN13), is analysed. Three species of Hipparion are recognized in Puente Minero, H. laromae, H. matthewi and Hipparion sp. cf. H. longipes, through comparison with other Spanish and Eurasian species (Samos, Greece; Höwenegg, Germany; Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, small and large forms; Akkasdagi, Turkey; and the following Spanish sites, La Roma 2, Los Aljezares, Concud, Milagros, Las Casiones and Venta de Moro).

Palaeohistology and external microanatomy of rauisuchian osteoderms (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia)

The presence of postcranial dermal armour is plesiomorphic for Archosauria. Here, we survey the external microanatomy and histology of postcranial osteoderms (i.e. dorsal paramedian and caudal osteoderms) of rauisuchians, a widely distributed assemblage of extinct predatory pseudosuchians from the Triassic. The osteoderms of eight rauisuchian taxa were found to be rather compact bones, which usually lack significant bone remodelling or large areas of cancellous bone.

Ontogeny of the eodiscoid trilobite Tsunyidiscus acutus from the Lower Cambrian of South China

The morphology and ontogeny of the eodiscid trilobite Tsunyidiscus acutus Sun is described on the basis of numerous calcified specimens collected from the Lower Cambrian Shuijingtuo Formation in Yichang and Changyang, Hubei Province, South China. An ontogenetic series is established based on the articulated material including the previously unknown protaspides and meraspides (degrees 0 and 1).

The hand structure of Carnotaurus sastrei (Theropoda, Abelisauridae): implications for hand diversity and evolution in abelisaurids

Carnotaurus sastrei is an abelisaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina that has very reduced, but robust, forelimbs and derived hands with four digits, including a large, conical-shaped metacarpal IV lacking an articulation for a phalanx. The analysis presented in this work highlights a series of additional autapomorphies of C. sastrei. For example, the proximal phalanges are longer than the metacarpals in digits II and III, and digit III includes only one phalanx besides the ungual.

The long-term history of dispersal among lizards in the early Eocene: new evidence from a microvertebrate assemblage in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, USA

Early Eocene mammal faunas of North America were transformed by intercontinental dispersal at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary, but lizard faunas from the earliest Eocene of the same area were dominated by immigrants from within the continent. A new lizard assemblage from the middle early Eocene of Wyoming sheds light on the longer-term history of dispersal in relation to climate change.

Problematic megafossils in Cambrian palaeosols of South Australia

Red calcareous Middle Cambrian palaeosols from the upper Moodlatana Formation in the eastern Flinders Ranges of South Australia formed in well-drained subhumid floodplains and include a variety of problematic fossils. The fossils are preserved like trace fossil endichnia but do not appear to be traces of burrows or other animal movement. They are here regarded as remains of sessile organisms, comparable with fungi or plants living in place, and are formally named as palaeobotanical form genera under provisions of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.

Dark bands on pyritic internal moulds of the Early Jurassic ammonites Oxynoticeras and Cheltonia from Gloucestershire, England: interpretation and significance to ammonite growth analysis

Thin, radiating, darker bands occur on pyritic internal moulds of the Early Jurassic ammonites Oxynoticeras and Cheltonia from Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire. They closely resemble true colour patterns preserved in Early Jurassic Calliphylloceras from Kutch, India, and false colour patterns reported in Carboniferous and Triassic ammonoids. Up to five dark bands occur within the body chamber, suggesting that they do not represent serially repeated anatomical structures, but the same feature repeatedly formed during growth.
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