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In hyolithids the skeleton consists of four elements: a conch, an operculum and a pair of long, logarithmically curved 'spines' called helens. These last elements are rarely preserved, and have therefore remained poorly known and enigmatic. We have studied three-dimensionally preserved helens of the species 'Hyolithes'lanceolatus, from the Permian of New South Wales, Australia, and 'Hyolithes'groenwalli, from the Cambrian of Bornholm, Denmark. Helens were massive calcareous elements.

• Read more about Skeletal microstructure of helens, lateral spines of hyolithids

The type material of Mastodonsaurus is revised and its complicated taxonomic history resolved. The genus was erected by Jaeger in 1828 without a species name, which was added subsequently by Holl (1829) who named the type species Mastodonsaurus jaegeri. The large tooth on which Jaeger based his Mastodonsaurus is chosen herein as lectotype of the type species.

• Read more about Revision of the type material and nomenclature of Mastodonsaurus giganteus (Jaeger) (Temnospondyli) from the Middle Triassic of Germany

Insights into the origin of 'shrew-like' oposssums of South America are gained thanks to a new fossil from the Oligocene Salla Beds in Bolivia. The specimen described here consists of a partial rostrum, palate and postcanine teeth, and shows several generalized features (cranial and dental) in the context of the Paucituberculata. On this basis we recognize Evolestes hadrommatos gen. et sp. nov.

• Read more about A new generalized paucituberculatan marsupial from the Oligocene of Bolivia and the origin of 'shrew-like' opossums

Well-preserved floras from the Alpine Early-Middle Triassic are rare, and thus our understanding of the vegetation in this area during this period of time continues to be incomplete. As a result, every new find represents a significant piece of information that deserves thoughtful consideration. Anisian (Middle Triassic) sphenophytes and pteridosperms have recently been recovered from the Kuhwiesenkopf locality (Monte Pra della Vacca) in northern Italy.

• Read more about Horsetails and seed ferns from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) locality Kühwiesenkopf (Monte Prà della Vacca), Dolomites, northern Italy

A new synziphosurine, Anderella parva gen. et sp. nov., extends the known range of this group from the Silurian to the Carboniferous and is the youngest known so far from the fossil record. Previously the youngest synziphosurine, Kasibelinurus, was from the Devonian of North America. Anderella parva has a semi-oval carapace with pointed genal regions, nine freely articulating opisthosomal segments and a long styliform tail spine.

• Read more about A Carboniferous synziphosurine (Xiphosura) from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana, USA

The poorly understood osteostracan genus Auchenaspis, from the Upper Silurian of England, belongs to the thyestidians (Thyestiida), a controversial and important group that is key to the understanding of the evolution of the Osteostraci and paired pectoral fins. The two under-studied species of this genus are comprehensively reviewed using anatomical and novel statistical approaches. No reliable anatomical characters can be used to distinguish between the two species, yet discriminant analysis finds significant separation with respect to size. Potential causes of this conflict are discussed.

• Read more about A review of the problematic osteostracan genus Auchenaspis and its role in thyestidian evolution

The Early Cambrian tabulate-like corals Flindersipora cancelli sp. nov. and Blinmanipora hawkerensis gen. et sp. nov. occur together with Flindersipora bowmani Lafuste, Moorowipora chamberensis Fuller and Jenkins, and Arrowipora fromensis Fuller and Jenkins in the Moorowie Formation of the eastern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Some of the corals occur in growth position in large allochthonous clasts of calcimicrobe-archaeocyathan boundstones considered to have slid as talus from the frontal slope of a zoned reef complex into relatively deep water.

• Read more about Reef corals from the Lower Cambrian of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia

Specimens of the large eurypterid Pterygotus from the Early Devonian Campbellton Formation outcropping at Atholville, New Brunswick, are identified as Pterygotus anglicus Agassiz. The locality, in the Atholville beds near the western end of the Campbellton Formation exposure, is best known for its vertebrate fauna of ostracoderms, arthrodires, acanthodians and chondrichthyans, first described in 1881. Although a significant series of pterygotid fossils was acquired by the Natural History Museum, London, in 1892, it received little attention.

• Read more about Pterygotus anglicus Agassiz (Chelicerata: Eurypterida) from Atholville, Lower Devonian Campbellton Formation, New Brunswick, Canada

Recent collecting from the Pawpaw Shale in north-east Texas has yielded several hundred teeth of anacoracid sharks. The material allows for a much-needed revision of the Late Albian anacoracids from North America. The previously recognized Squalicorax sp., also referred to as S. volgensis in more recent publications, is a mix of two different species: S. priscoserratus sp. nov. and S. pawpawensis sp. nov. In addition to these two new species, a single tooth is assigned to S. aff. S. baharijensis.

• Read more about Anacoracid sharks from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Pawpaw Shale of Texas

Soft-tissue preservation of the hind gut, or anal sac, in the tegmen of Tubulusocrinus (gen. nov.) doliolus (Wright) from the Mississippian (Visean, Asbian) Pittenweem Formation at St Andrews, Scotland, is the first of its kind known in crinoids; it sheds important new light on the nature of the cladid tegmen. Many cladid crinoids had a calcite-plated anal sac that may have functioned like a chimney to prevent fouling of the ambulacra.

• Read more about Soft-tissue preservation of the hind gut in a new genus of cladid crinoid from the Mississippian (Visean, Asbian) at St Andrews, Scotland