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Exceptionally preserved conulariids and an edrioasteroid from the Hunsruck Slate (Lower Devonian, SW Germany)

Nineteen partial specimens of Conularia sp., together with an articulated agelacrinitid edrioasteroid and several discinid brachiopods, occur in close association with a probable biological substrate on a small slab of silty Hunsrück Slate (Lower Devonian, Emsian) from Bundenbach, Germany. Most of the conulariids occur in V-like pairs or in a single cluster of 12 specimens arranged in a fan-like radial pattern.

Nektaspid arthropods from the Lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstatte, South Australia, with a reassessment of lamellipedian relationships

The lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, contains the only known Cambrian Burgess Shale-type biota in Australia. Two new lamellipedian arthropods, Emucaris fava gen. et sp. nov. and Kangacaris zhangi gen. et sp. nov., from the Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte are described as monotypic genera that are resolved cladistically as a monophyletic group that is sister to Naraoiidae + Liwiidae and classified within the Nektaspida as a new family Emucarididae.

Bony-toothed birds (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Middle Eocene of Belgium

We describe well-preserved remains of the Pelagornithidae (bony-toothed birds) from the middle Eocene of Belgium, including a sternum, pectoral girdle bones and humeri of a single individual. The specimens are tentatively assigned to Macrodontopteryx oweniHarrison and Walker, 1976, which has so far only been known from the holotype skull and a referred proximal ulna. Another species, about two times larger, is represented by an incomplete humerus and tentatively identified as Dasornis emuinus (Bowerbank, 1854).

Limb bone histology and growth in Placerias hesternus (Therapsida: Anomodontia) from the Upper Triassic of North America

Patterns of bone deposition are reported and deduced from mid-shaft sections of 21 limb bones of the dicynodont Placerias hesternus from the Placerias Quarry (Upper Triassic), Arizona, USA. All sampled elements of P. hesternus have a large medullary cavity completely filled with bony trabeculae surrounded by dense cortical bone. Dense Haversian bone extends from the perimedullary region to at least the mid-cortex in all sampled bones. Primary bone in the outer cortex of limb elements of P. hesternus is generally zonal fibrolamellar with a peripheral layer of parallel-fibred bone.

Dentition and histology in titanosaurian dinosaur embryos from Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina

Exceptionally preserved sauropod embryos from the Late Cretaceous Anacleto Formation in Auca Mahuevo (Neuquén Province, Argentina) have provided fundamental information on titanosaurian ontogeny. This paper describes the dental composition, disposition and microstructure of the specimens. Embryonic teeth show size disparity, with lengths that vary from 1 to 3 mm and diameters ranging from 0.15 to 0.26 mm, with the most frequent length values between 2.5 and 3 mm. Apparently, a typical 'pencil-like' tooth morphology and a dental formula of Pm 4, M 7–8/D10?

The first articulated specimen of Plumulites canadensis (Woodward, 1889) from the Upper Ordovician of Ontario, with a review of the anterior region of Plumulitidae (Annelida: Machaeridia)

Articulated plumulitid machaeridians are rarely preserved intact. Here, we describe a complete specimen of Plumulites canadensis (Woodward, 1889) retaining much of the head region. The two anteriormost pairs of shell plates are quite distinct from the rest in outline, density of concentric rugae, and especially the radial ornamentation of the second pair. We demonstrate that the latter condition is present in other complete plumulitids and therefore widespread, which elucidates a larger diversity in morphology of plumulitids than realized previously.

New observations and reinterpretation on the enigmatic taxon Colombitherium (?Pyrotheria, Mammalia) from Colombia

The controversial taxon Colombitherium tolimense (Mammalia) (probably Late Eocene in age) from Colombia, although known for nearly 40 years, still bears much mystery. Aside from the problematic ordinal attribution of the holotype and only specimen, its determination as an upper or lower jaw remains a highly debated issue. New observations include the presence of a contact facet on the distal face of the most posterior tooth, which indicates that the fragmentary jaw preserves three premolars and two molars; the M3, unpreserved but present, being most probably reduced.

Records of bizarre Jurassic brachycerans in the Daohugou biota, China (Diptera, Brachycera, Archisargidae and Rhagionemestriidae)

Four new Brachycera fossils were collected from the Daohugou biota, China. Among these, two impressions demonstrating peculiar wing venation can be designated as two new species of a new genus (Mostovskisargus portentosus gen. et sp. nov. and M. signatus sp. nov.) referred to a new subfamily Mostovskisarginae (subfam. nov.) within Archisargidae. The third impression belongs to a new species (Calosargus (Pterosargus) sinicus sp. nov.) referred to the subgenus Pterosargus Mostovski, 1997 of Calosargus Mostovski, 1997 within Archisarginae, Archisargidae.

A new ichthyodectiform (Actinopterygii, Teleostei) from the Lower Cretaceous Marizal Formation, north-east Brazil

A new genus and species, Ogunichthys triangularis, from the Early Cretaceous Marizal Formation in the Tucano Basin, Bahia State, Brazil, can be assigned to the teleost order Ichthyodectiformes and to the suborder Ichthyodectoidei by the presence of ten synapomorphies of these clades. Ogunichthys gen. nov.

A revision of the sauropod dinosaur genus 'Bothriospondylus' with a redescription of the type material of the Middle Jurassic form 'B. madagascariensis'

The sauropod dinosaur 'Bothriospondylus', originally named on the basis of Late Jurassic remains from England, is demonstrated to be invalid, and the characters used to diagnose it are shown to be obsolescent features which are widespread throughout Sauropoda. Material referred to this genus spans a temporal range from the Middle Jurassic until the early Late Cretaceous and has been described from five different countries, across three continents.
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