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A new eurypterid, Rhenopterus waterstoni sp. nov., is described from the Gogo Formation (Frasnian, Upper Devonian) of Western Australia. This species is distinguished from related forms by the tuberculation of the anteriormost tergite and crenulated posterior margins of the carapace and opisthosomal segments. It is the only eurypterid specimen known from the Gogo Formation, the most complete eurypterid from Australia, and also the youngest representative of Rhenopterus in the fossil record.

• Read more about A new eurypterid (Chelicerata: Eurypterida) from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia, with a review of the Rhenopteridae

Vertebrate fossils from many different formations fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. In this paper field observations and controlled experiments in the Chadron Formation (White River Group, late Eocene) of Wyoming are used to assess the utility of searching for fossils at night using ultraviolet light. The results indicate that, especially for very small teeth and egg-shell fragments, searching with ultraviolet light at night can result in significantly more specimens than searching during daylight hours.

• Read more about A new method for finding small vertebrate fossils: ultraviolet light at night

The majority of fossil and Recent cheilostome bryozoans brood their larvae in ovicells. These double-walled, hood-like skeletal structures are thought to have arisen through modification of spines belonging to the zooid distal of the maternal zooid. Support for this hypothesis comes from the existence of ovicells constructed of multiple spines in a few Upper Cretaceous species belonging to two groups, microporids and cribrimorphs.

• Read more about Systematics of Upper Cretaceous calloporid bryozoans with primitive spinose ovicells

Diverse and abundant assemblages of chitinozoans allow the recognition of the upper part of the Margachitina margaritana Biozone in the uppermost Llandovery and lowermost Wenlock series of the Hughley Brook section. The Cingulochitina bouniensis and Salopochitina bella biozones are identified in the lower part of the Buildwas Formation, Wenlock Series. The chitinozoan data indicate that the base of the Wenlock Series most probably correlates with a level in the upper centrifugus or lower murchisoni graptolite biozones.

• Read more about Chitinozoan biostratigraphy of the basal Wenlock Series (Silurian) Global Stratotype Section and Point

Biomineralisation can only be understood as an interplay between organic and mineral phases. With this objective, we conducted an investigation of coccoliths using atomic force microscopy (AFM), an ultra-high resolution technique that requires no surface coating and can be used in air or under solution at ambient conditions of temperature and pressure. The detailed morphology, crystal structure, organic scales and organic coating of the coccolith species Coccolithus pelagicus, Helicosphaera carteri and Oolithotus fragilis were investigated.

• Read more about Coccolith biomineralisation studied with atomic force microscopy

Fishes from the late Eocene and Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of the Fayum, Egypt, have been collected for many years, but have not been extensively studied. Collections from various sites in the formation, predominantly representing riverine and shallow lake deposits, include remains of several fishes not known previously.

• Read more about Late Eocene and early Oligocene teleost and associated ichthyofauna of the Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum, Egypt

A diverse Late Carboniferous (Westphalian D; Moscovian) vertebrate ichnofaunal assemblage from the Alveley Member (Salop Formation, Warwickshire Group) of Alveley, southern Shropshire, UK, is a significant example of an early, transitional tetrapod community. Positive tetrapod footprint casts (convex hyporeliefs) within fine- and medium-grained sandstone red-beds were formed subaqueously in an alluvial floodplain setting.

• Read more about A multivariate taxonomic analysis of the Late Carboniferous vertebrate ichnofauna of Alveley, southern Shropshire, England

Six charophyte, 13 mollusc, four ostracod and nine fish otolith taxa are taxonomically described, and one fruit, one seed and two foraminiferal taxa are briefly noted from the Lower Cyrena Beds and the Lower Coloured Molasse of the Sindelsdorf section near Penzberg (approximately 50 km south of Munich). Our palaeoecological and lithological data from the Lower Cyrena Beds suggest a delta plain with lagoons, estuaries, slowly flowing rivers, lakes and swamps. Faunal and floral elements of the Lower Coloured Molasse indicate lacustrine environments.

• Read more about Biota, palaeoenvironments and biostratigraphy of continental Oligocene deposits of the South German Molasse Basin (Penzberg Syncline)

Current phylogenetic hypotheses for the dicynodonts conflict, probably because the characters used, especially those of the jaws and facial region, show considerable convergence. Characters of the braincase and basipterygoid articulation of the Late Permian-Middle Triassic dicynodonts Diictodon, Dicynodon, Kingoria, Lystrosaurus, Rechnisaurus, and 14 other genera, may have phylogenetic value.

• Read more about The basicranium of dicynodonts (Synapsida) and its use in phylogenetic analysis

The anatomy of the arthropod Squamacula clypeata Hou and Bergstrom, 1997 from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstautte is redescribed based on four newly excavated specimens. The new material was collected from localities recently discovered in the Kunming area, Yunnan Province, south-west China, and preserves remarkable details of the ventral morphology, revealed by preparation. Squamacula clypeata is dorsoventrally flattened and rounded in outline. The cephalon was covered by a wide, short shield, with a large doublure and a pair of uniramous antennae on the ventral side.

• Read more about Redescription of the Chengjiang arthropod Squamacula clypeata Hou and Bergström, from the Lower Cambrian, south-west China