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The growth dynamics of the Early Triassic non-mammalian cynodont Thrinaxodon liorhinus were assessed through bone histology. Several limb bones of various sizes were examined, revealing a rapidly deposited, uninterrupted, fibro-lamellar bone tissue. A region of slowly deposited parallel-fibred bone occurs peripherally in most skeletal elements studied, becoming more extensively developed in the larger limb bones.

• Read more about Growth patterns of Thrinaxodon liorhinus, a non-mammalian cynodont from the Lower Triassic of South Africa

A new genus and species of hipposiderid bat is described from an early Miocene cave deposit (Bitesantennary Site) in the Riversleigh World Heritage fossil property, northern Australia. Eight hipposiderid genera are now recorded from Riversleigh's Miocene sediments: Hipposideros, Brachipposideros, Rhinonycteris, Riversleigha, Xenorhinos, Miophyllorhina, Archerops and Brevipalatus gen. nov.

• Read more about A new hipposiderid genus (Microchiroptera) from an early Miocene bat community in Australia

This paper describes a new genus and species of dyrosaurid, Chenanisuchus lateroculi gen. et sp. nov. (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Thanetien (Late Palaeocene) of the Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. This new taxon has a particularly short snout, as well as widely separated and laterally facing orbits. In the holotype, the mandible exhibits a retroarticular process that is strongly depressed posterior to the glenoid fossa, bringing the ventral margin of the medial wing of the articular to the same level as the ventral margin of the retroarticular process.

• Read more about A short-snouted dryosaurid (Crocodyliformes, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Palaeocene of Morocco

The diets of ornithomimosaurian dinosaurs (Theropoda: Ornithomimosauria) have proved to be contentious owing to a dearth of unambiguous evidence in support of carnivory, omnivory or herbivory. Re-assessment of anatomical, taphonomical and palaeoecological evidence, and estimates of daily minimal energy budgets for two derived ornithomimosaurian genera, indicate that suspension-feeding and carnivory were unlikely. The combined presence of a keratinized rhamphotheca and gastric mill is strongly indicative of a herbivorous habitus for these dinosaurs.

• Read more about The diet of ostrich dinosaurs (Theropoda: Ornithomimosauria)

A diverse assemblage of late Early Cambrian brachiopods is described from the Bastion and Ella Island formations of North-East Greenland. The fauna includes nine species, representing all three extant brachiopod subphyla in addition to the stem group brachiopod Mickwitzia cf. occidens. Four linguliforms: Eoobolus priscus, Botsfordia caelata, Micromitra bella, Vandalotreta sp., three rynchonelliforms: Obolella crassa, Kutorgina reticulata, and an unidentified chileid plus a possible craniiform species occur.

• Read more about Early Cambrian brachiopods from North-East Greenland

The holotype and only known specimen of Geikia locusticeps (von Huene, 1942) from the Kawinga Formation (Tatarian) of Kingori, south-west Tanzania, is redescribed. It is compared to the type specimen of the Tanzanian geikiid Pelanomodon tuberosus von Huene, 1942. It is demonstrated that G. locusticeps is a juvenile specimen of P. tuberosus. Ontogenetic changes in the skull of this taxon are recorded. They mainly concern the degree of skull ornamentation, whereas the major osteological and proportional features remain remarkably constant.

• Read more about Reappraisal of Geikia locusticeps (Therapsida: Dicynodontia) from the Upper Permian of Tanzania

A new taxon of plant hopper, Celinapterixini, is erected based on Celinapterix bellissima gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Palaeocene Maiz Gordo Formation, north-west Argentina. Its phylogenetic relationships within the Fulgoroidea and Nogodinidae are discussed. The Danish Eocene species Hammapterix paucistrata (Henriksen) is transferred to the Nogodinidae and placed in a new genus, Henriksenopterix, based on wing-venation characters. The new plant hopper is an unusual case of articulated preservation from the Maiz Gordo Formation.

• Read more about A plant hopper (Nogodinidae) from the Upper Palaeocene of Argentina: systematics and taphonomy

Description of the postcranial skeleton of the basal stereospondyl amphibian Lydekkerina huxleyi from new material shows it to be heavily ossified with large processes for muscle attachment and well-developed articulation surfaces. The structure of the postcranial skeleton implies a substantial capability for terrestrial locomotion, rather than a primarily aquatic existence as has been suggested for most other stereospondyls.

• Read more about A terrestrial stereospondyl from the Lower Triassic of South Africa: the postcranial skeleton of Lydekkerina huxleyi (Amphibia: Temnospondyli)

The Upper Yangtze region yields a Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) graptolite fauna that includes 41 species assigned to 13 genera. This fauna is particularly important for understanding the Late Ordovician mass extinction event because it is the most diverse known from this interval. In addition, it records the survival, well into the Hirnantian, of many taxa of the Dicranograptidae-Diplograptidae-Orthograptidae (DDO) fauna, which was previously regarded as having gone extinct at the beginning of the Hirnantian.

• Read more about Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) graptolites from the upper Yangtze region, China

The family Thryonomyidae is represented in the Lower Miocene of Saudi Arabia by a single species, Paraphiomys knolli sp. nov. This new taxon differs from all other thryonomyids in being small, lower molars having a short metalophulid II and an isolated anterolabial cuspid, and upper molars being antero-posteriorly compressed and pentalophodont. A cladistic analysis involving all extinct and extant species of thryonomyids is provided. Paraphiomys knolli branches as the sister-species of Paraphiomys pigotti, type species of the genus.

• Read more about New species of Paraphiomys (Rodentia, Thryonomyidae) from the Lower Miocene of As-Sarrar, Saudia Arabia