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In the 1970s the Upper Triassic strata of the Argana Basin yielded archosaurian remains that were tentatively attributed to the rauisuchian Ticinosuchus. Restudy of this material together with new remains reveal new anatomical data and show that it in fact belongs to a new taxon, Arganasuchus dutuiti gen. et sp. nov. The systematics of the Rauisuchia are still unresolved; nevertheless, a monophyletic suprageneric group can be defined within the probable non-monophyletic rauisuchians.

• Read more about A new rauisuchian (Archosauria, Suchia) from the Upper Triassic of the Argana Basin, Morocco

Isolated lobopodian plates are reported from Early Cambrian strata at five localities in southern China. A wide variety of morphologies is represented, reflecting a considerable diversification within the phylum at this time. The new taxon Microdictyon jinshaense is erected and new observations are recorded on established taxa, based on examination of more than 600 well-preserved plates; irregular patterns of node distribution and the presence of large spines are documented on some taxa for the first time.

• Read more about Development and diversification of trunk plates of the Lower Cambrian lobopodians

Twenty-nine Arenig and Llanvirn trilobite species, representing 20 genera in the Asaphidae, Cyclopygidae, Dikelokephalinidae, Nileidae, Raphiophoridae, Remopleurididae, Taihungshaniidae and Trinucleidae, are treated in a taxonomic review of the South Chinese Asaphida. This review is based on large collections of trilobite material made from five formations at nine localities in western Hubei, northern Hunan and southern Shaanxi, representing a wide range of benthic marine environments across the Yangtze Platform and Jiangnan Transitional Belt regions of the South China Plate.

• Read more about Asaphoid trilobites from the Arenig–Llanvirn of the South China Plate

The jaws and an allegedly associated orbitotemporal region of a shark braincase are described from the Lower Carboniferous (Upper Visean, Brigantian Stage, Clackmannan Group, Lower Limestone Formation) of Lugton, Ayrshire, Scotland. The braincase specimen is important because it is associated with a tooth of Cladodus elegans Newberry and Worthen, 1870, a form considered to be close to the type species Cladodus mirabilis Agassiz, 1843. An occipital fragment, a basicranium and a fragment of palatoquadrate from the same locality are also described.

• Read more about The braincase and jaws of Cladodus from the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland

Material collected in 1969 by the CNRS-MNHN expedition to Spitsbergen includes a new species of Gigantaspis, G. minima, which is the smallest known species of this genus. The revision of Gigantaspis leads to the inclusion of Zascinaspis laticephala Blieck and Goujet in this genus. The phylogenetic analysis presented herein suggests that Gigantaspis is close to Zascinaspis, as suggested by Blieck. Moreover, it is also close to generalized representatives of the Protaspididae. Their shared character states allow the definition of a possible ancestral morphotype for the Protaspididae.

• Read more about The genus Gigantaspis Heintz, 1962 (Vertebrata, Heterostraci) from the Lower Devonian of Spitsbergen

The Laventan Quebrada Honda Fauna of southern Bolivia is one of the best sampled middle Miocene South American faunas. The present study describes the toxodontid, interatheriid and mesotheriid notoungulates from Quebrada Honda and summarizes the present state of knowledge of the fauna. Toxodontid specimens from Quebrada Honda include two isolated molars, one upper and one lower. The upper molar compares favourably with Paratrigodon and may represent a new species, but too little material is known to make an adequate diagnosis.

• Read more about The Middle Miocene (Laventan) Quebrada Honda Fauna, Southern Boliva and a Description of its Notoungulates

The cranial anatomy of Neoaetosauroides engaeus Bonaparte, 1969 from the upper part of the Los Colorados Formation, western Argentina, is addressed herein. This description is based on material collected recently, which permits a complete restoration of the skull; previously, a partial lower jaw and premaxillary and maxillary fragments were the only cranial remains known. Unlike other aetosaurs for which the premaxillary dentition is known, in N.

• Read more about Cranial Morphology of the Late Triassic South American Archosaur Neoaetosauroides Engaeus: Evidence for Aetosaurian Diversity

Sixteen species from the Lower Silurian (mostly Aeronian and rarely Telychian) of South China have been assigned previously to the brachiopod family Pentameridae, mainly to the genus Pentamerus. Study of intrapopulation variation suggests that 13 species from the upper Aeronian Lojoping Formation of the Yichang area, western Hubei Province, can be synonymized with Sulcipentamerus dorsoplanus, the most abundant pentamerid species of South China but confined to the Yichang area.

• Read more about Early Silurian Sulcipentamerus and Related Pentamerid Brachiopods from South China

The Much Wenlock Limestone Formation of the Dudley inliers, West Midlands, contains one of the world's richest and most exquisitely preserved Silurian marine biotas. However, for most museum specimens, little is known of their exact provenance and mode of preservation. Detailed comparisons between outcrops and museum collections allow the identification of five faunal-lithological associations and numerous horizons of exceptional skeletal preservation.

• Read more about Carbonate Depositional Environaments, Sequence Stratigraphy and Exceptional Skeletal Preservation in the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation (Silurian) of Dudley, England

An association of a new permineralized flora with preserved anatomy and decalcified trilobite remains is described from early crenulata Zone (mid Tournaisian; Early Carboniferous) calcareous siltstones in a predominantly shale and minor limestone sequence low in the Ruxton Formation of the eastern Clarke River Basin, north-east Queensland.

• Read more about New Permineralized Flora and Trilobites form the Mid Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous) Ruxton Formation, Clarke River Basin, North-East Australia