A new species of rhynchodipterid lungfish, Soederberghia simpsoni, sp. nov., is described on the basis of a complete skull roof, and an incomplete but articulated head plus body, from the Upper Devonian Mandagery Sandstone near Canowindra, New South Wales (NSW, ^{Fig. 1A,}), Australia. It is compared with Soederberghia material from the upper part of the Catskill Formation, Pennsylvania ^{(Fig. 1B)}, and the Cloghnan Shale at Jemalong near Forbes, NSW, Australia. The Catskill and Cloghnan Shale material, consisting of two incomplete skull roofs, appears to be conspecific with the type species, Soederberghia groenlandica from the Famennian Remigolepis Series of Greenland. This is congruent with a recent suggestion that the Mandagery Sandstone is late Frasnian in age, whereas the upper Catskill Formation and Cloghnan Shale are Famennian. At the Famennian localities, Soederberghia is associated with tetrapods. Articulated postcranial material of Soederberghia, including the pectoral girdle, cranial and pleural ribs, unpaired fins and fin supports, is described for the first time. The presence of cranial ribs and a parasphenoid with a posterior stalk suggest that Soederberghia gulped air and probably inhabited a non-marine or shallow near-shore marine environment. The occurrence of Soederberghia groenlandica in the Famennian Old Red Sandstone of North America, Greenland and Australia thus furnishes evidence for contact or close proximity between Gondwana and Laurussia at this time, in conflict with some recent paleomagnetic data. The sister group of Soederberghia is Rhynchodipterus elginensis from the Famennian of Rosebrae near Elgin, Scotland; together they form the Family Rhynchodipteridae. Griphognathus, previously included in the Rhynchodipteridae, lacks a stalked parasphenoid and cranial ribs, and has a quite different dermal bone pattern from Soederberghia and Rhynchodipterus. We remove it from the group on these grounds, and interpret it as less crownward than the Rhynchodipteridae.

Traumatic injury to the dentition of dipnoans, indirectly as a result of jaw fracture, or directly from damage to the tooth tissues, is present throughout the history of this group, in fossil and in Recent material. Bones heal, but traces of the injury are retained in the tooth tissues, permanently if the proliferative regions of the tooth plate are injured, or until the damaged dentines are removed by wear if the growing regions are left intact. Lack of resorption and repair of damaged dental hard tissues in dipnoans has implications for some models of tooth plate growth in lungfish with a permanent dentition, because this indicates that lungfish tooth plates may not have the capacity to form reparative dentine as part of the normal growth processes.

A partial fish skull with a nearly complete rostrum, a cup-shaped sclerotic bone, and cycloid scales (UCMP 123170) from the Yaquina Formation (late Oligocene, Oregon) is described and identified as †Aglyptorhynchus maxillaris, sp. nov. Unusual features of the rostrum include a fused premaxillary segment with a low dorsal keel, and a maxilla with both a flat flange on its postero-ventral margin and a large condyle that presumably allowed dorso-ventral movement of the rostrum to increase the gape. The Yaquina Formation was estimated to have been deposited at a water depth of over 100 m and a sea surface temperature of at least 20°C, conditions that are similar to the preferred habitats of extant billfish and postulated paleoenvironments of blochiids from the Ashley River Formation, Belgian Basin, London Clay, and Monte Bolca. This is the first record of a blochiid from a deposit bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is hypothesized that †A. maxillaris or its ancestor emigrated from the warm Gulf Stream of the Atlantic into the Pacific via the Panama Seaway.

New temnospondyl material is described on the basis of cranial and postcranial remains from the Gai-As Formation of the Huab Basin, Namibia. An Early Permian age is indicated by U/Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons from fallout tuff beds occurring immediately above the temnospondyl remains. This material represents the oldest known amphibian with stereospondylous vertebrae and has implications for temnospondyl evolution, biogeography and Permo–Triassic Gondwanan basin development models.

The skeleton of the archosauriform Turfanosuchus dabanensis Young, 1973 is redescribed on the basis of further preparation. For the first time a set of derived features is recognised for diagnosing this species. Re-examination of the specimen reveals the presence of palatal teeth in the pterygoid; the ventral entrance of the internal carotid arteries posterior to the basipterygoid processes; the calcaneal tuber shaft taller than broad; the absence of flaring of the distal end of the calcaneal tuber; the calcaneal tuber shaft convex laterally and concave medially; and the tibial facet on the astragalus simply concave. These features are strongly indicative that T. dabanensis is not a suchian and not even a crurotarsan, which sharply contrasts with its recently-proposed basal suchian status.

Body mass is an important determinant of most biological functions, and knowing the mass of extinct animals is essential in order to learn about their biology. It was the aim of this paper to develop a method of mass estimation which would make it possible to determine allometric length-mass relationships for the different groups of dinosaurs. Mass is calculated from graphical reconstructions of fossils, or from photos of skeletal mounts or live animals. Body shape of animals is described by high order polynomial equations. Integration of the polynomial gives body mass of a ‘round’ animal, which is then corrected for animal width by intersection with a second equation (Y = 1 − ax²). The method was validated by predicting body mass of extant animals of known mass and with complex body shapes (kangaroos, emu, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros). Body mass increased allometrically with total length in all groups of dinosaurs (Ankylosauria, Ceratopsia, Ornithopoda, Prosauropoda, Sauropoda, Stegosauria and Theropoda), but 95% confidence intervals were very large for Ankylosauria and Stegosauria so that, for those groups, the resulting regression equations have little predicting power. Scaling exponents were least for the Sauropoda which may have grown less massive to function at their great body size. Scaling exponents were greatest for the Theropoda, but it was speculated that small coelurosaurs, as the precursors of birds, may have grown less massive compared to other theropods. Mass estimated by the ‘polynomial’ method presented here did not differ significantly from mass estimates in the literature where these were available.

Postcranial axial anatomy of six Jurassic ichthyosaurs is described and used to define a generalized pattern of regional anatomy with four structural units (neck, trunk, tail stock, fluke). Functional interpretation of each unit predicts a generalized swimming mode that used a laterally compressed, laterally oscillating caudal fluke as the propulsive organ. Fluke displacement was accomplished by the undulation of a dorsoventrally compressed posterior tail stock acting on a stabilized anterior tail stock. The trunk was largely uninvolved in locomotion. Osteological predictors of postcranial flexibility in living aquatic axial locomotors are reviewed and used to identify the existence of a range of swimming styles within this generalized pattern among surveyed ichthyosaurs.

This paper describes the skull of Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa, 1928 and provides the first complete diagnosis of the species. The description of the holotype, which comes from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Valioara in the Hateg Basin of Romania (Late Maastrichtian), is included with those of other undescribed specimens from the uppermost Cretaceous of Spain and southern France. All the specimens preserve the same anatomical region as the holotype and provide new relevant information on the genus Allodaposuchus and its phylogenetic position. The phylogenetic context of A. precedens is discussed in the context of a recent cladistic analysis of Eusuchia and its crown-group Crocodylia. Allodaposuchus is unambiguously the sister taxon of the crown-group Crocodylia, sharing with this clade the absence of a lingual to maxillary occlusion of the dentary teeth, and the extension of the ectopterygoid that does not reach the posterior tip of the lateral pterygoid flange, among other characters. The phylogenetic analysis also raises the problem of the ambiguous definition of Eusuchia, since the characters traditionally used in its diagnosis are multiply derived. Allodaposuchus is an outstanding crocodyliform providing new anatomical evidence concerning the stem-group of Crocodylia, and filling the gap between the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Hylaeochampsa and the earliest common ancestor of Crocodylia.

Szalinia gracilis, gen. et sp. nov. is a new “didelphoid” marsupial from the early Paleocene beds of the Santa Lucía Formation at Tiupampa (Bolivia). It is characterized by a short rostrum and a strong anteroposterior compression of the molars. Stylar cusp C is small and stylar cusp A is very large, strongly projecting anteriorly. Like most of the other marsupial genera from Tiupampa, S. gracilis presents greater similarities with other South American “didelphoids” (e.g., Incadelphys, Tiulordia, Marmosopsis, Derorhynchus, Carolopaulacoutoia) than with any of the North American basal marsupials (Kokopellia, Aenigmadelphys, Anchistodelphys, Iqualadelphys, and the Alphadon group). Szalinia is, in many respects, more plesiomorphic than the “didelphoids” from Itaboraí (late Paleocene) and is part of a basal stock for the South American “didelphoids.” Szalinia appears to be morphologically intermediate between basal North American taxa (e.g., Kokopellia, Aenigmadelphys, Anchistodelphys, Iqualadelphys) and the later “didelphoids” of South America. This is consistent with a North American origin of the South American “didelphoids.” Limited available data on Late Cretaceous and early Paleocene South American tribosphenic mammals suggests that their dispersal from North America was complex and may have involved several distinct events. The fact that Szalinia and structurally similar taxa from Tiupampa form a diverse assemblage that already possesses some apomorphies of South American “didelphoids” suggests that they arrived before the “condylarths” and pantodonts also present at Tiupampa.

The cranial anatomy of Megalohyrax eoceanus Andrews, 1903, a pliohyracid (Hyracoidea, Mammalia) from Oligocene levels of the Jebel Qatrani Formation of the Fayum Depression in Egypt, is described. Megalohyrax is the largest of the Fayum hyracoids, its skull is 391 mm long and the specimen described here is probably the best-preserved pliohyacid skull known. Megalohyrax has a strong lambdoid crest, a primitive alisphenoid canal, a notch for the minor palatine neurovascular group, orbits which are not anteriorly displaced, and a broad contact between the maxilla and frontal. In all of these features, Megalohyrax differs from modern hyracoids. Contrary to previous suggestions, the dental formula of Megalohyrax is 3.1.4.3, not similar to early sirenians (which have 5 premolars). Basioccipital morphology suggests that Megalohyrax may have had a eustachian sac.

We report here the discovery of the first well identified “condylarths” from Africa, from the phosphatic beds of Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, of probable early Ypresian age, which have also yielded the oldest known proboscidean. Abdounodus hamdii n. gen., n. sp. and Ocepeia daouiensis, gen. et sp. nov., show closest relationships with Mioclaenidae and Phenacodonta respectively. Both taxa also have resemblances with South American primitive ungulates, especially Abdounodus which resembles kollpaniine mioclaenids in several derived features, mostly related to a similar crushing specialization. However divergent specializations in Abdounodus and kollpaniines strongly suggest their parallelisms, in accordance with their age disparity. Some features of Abdounodus appear to be even original with respect to known mioclaenids. Though Ocepeia shares peculiar derived features with phenacodontids, it is strikingly specialized in its secondarily simplified p4, indicating sister-taxa relationships within Taxeopoda (Phenacodonta, Pantomesaxonia). Moreover, Ocepeia shares a remarkable derived feature with more advanced pantomesaxonian ungulates (Perissodactyla, Hyracoidea, Tethytheria and extinct relatives): the development of an entolophid. This raises the alternative question of their sister-taxa relationships within Taxeopoda and indeed the question of an African origin of Pantomesaxonia, which is congruent with the Paenungulata hypothesis.Though still poorly documented, these new Ouled Abdoun taxa show that early Paleogene African mammal faunas might provide key-data for the problem of the origin and basal phylogeny of main pantomesaxonian ungulate lineages. These fossils show again the importance of the African scene in the early evolution of (modern) eutherians and the poor state of our knowledge there.

“Carpodaptes” jepseni is a morphologic intermediate between Carpodaptes and Carpolestes, with the number and position of cusps on p4 more consistent with placement in Carpodaptes but relative size of p4 more like Carpolestes. The type and only previously known specimen of “C.” jepseni, a partial dentary with p4–m2, is from Divide Quarry (Tiffanian Land-Mammal Age) in the Fort Union Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. New specimens of “C.” jepseni from Divide Quarry include a nearly complete dentary with p4–m3 and alveoli for all anterior teeth, and the first known upper dentitions with P1–M2 and an alveolus for C1. Specimens of Carpodaptes cygneus are also described from Divide Quarry, demonstrating the occurrence of two distinct carpolestid species at the same locality.

Stratocladistic analysis of the thirteen known carpolestid species, using thirty-two morphologic characters and stratigraphic order, produced eight most-parsimonious phylogenetic trees associated with a single cladogram. The topology of the cladogram generated using stratocladistics is identical to that of the single most-parsimonious cladogram from cladistic analysis of the same morphologic data, but stratocladistics allows greater resolution than cladistics at the level of phylogenetic trees. New specimens demonstrate extreme shortening of the anterior jaw of C. jepseni, a derived state not present in other carpolestids. This suggests that C. jepseni occupies a side-branch close to, but not at, the ancestry of the Carpolestes clade (an ancestor-descendant lineage composed of the sequence C. dubius, C. nigridens, and C. simpsoni, in that order). “C.” jepseni is here placed in a new genus, Carpomegodon.

Significant new material of the plesiadapiform Elphidotarsius russelli is described from Montana and Alberta. Previously the most poorly documented carpolestid, this species is now known from numerous isolated teeth and many jaw fragments. New material from the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana substantially extends its known geographic range and shows that E. russelli is the most derived species of Elphidotarsius, with many features that foreshadow characteristics of Carpodaptes; consequently, emending the diagnosis of Elphidotarsius has been necessary. A phylogenetic analysis based on 73 characters scored for all species of Elphidotarsius, Pronothodectes, and Saxonella, as well as Purgatorius unio, Purgatorius janisae, Pandemonium dis, Chronolestes simul, and Carpodaptes hazelae, indicates that Elphidotarsius is a paraphyletic stem taxon at the base of Carpolestidae. Numerous crossing synapomorphies among these taxa show that a single anagenetic lineage can no longer represent the evolution of early carpolestids. This analysis also clarifies basal plesiadapoid relationships. Carpolestidae is the sister taxon to Plesiadapidae, and Saxonellidae is sister group to the carpolestid/plesiadapid clade. Contrary to previous hypotheses, Chronolestes and Pandemonium are found to lie outside of a clade including the other members of Carpolestidae, Saxonellidae, and Plesiadapidae, implying that they are basal plesiadapoids that diverged before the evolution of the common ancestor to the three main plesiadapoid families.

A new early Irvingtonian (latest Pliocene) rodent fauna is reported here from Inglis 1C, Citrus County, Florida. This sinkhole deposit near the west coast of the state contains 33 species of mammals, including 11 rodents, of which six are now extinct. A new species of Peromyscus, P. sarmocophinus, sp. nov., is described from this locality and the slightly older Inglis 1A. Inglis 1C contains the oldest records of three rodents (Peromyscus polionotus, Reithrodontomys humulis, and Atopomys texensis) and the youngest occurrences of two others (Reithrodontomys wetmorei and Ondatra idahoensis). Additionally, the paleogeographic range of two taxa, R. wetmorei and Baiomys sp., is extended east of the Mississippi River.

Deposition at Inglis 1C was nearly contemporaneous with, the better-known, early Irvingtonian Inglis 1A fauna. The two localities share Sciurus sp., Glaucomys sp., Orthogeomys propinetis, Sigmodon curtisi, P. sarmocophinus, sp. nov., R. wetmorei and O. idahoensis. A slightly younger age at Inglis 1C is implied by the presence of P. polionotus, R. humulis, and Atopomys texensis. This fauna serves as an older complement to Florida's other well studied Irvingtonian localities, Leisey Shell Pits, Hillsborough County, and Coleman 2A, Sumter County.

Red Queen hypotheses maintain that biotic interactions are the most important drivers of evolutionary change, whereas Court Jester hypotheses regard physical-environmental perturbations, such as climate change, as most important. Tests for the biotic effects of climate change that are conducted on too large a geographic scale can falsely reject the Court Jester because climate is so complex its manifestation is in opposite directions in different geographic areas. Consequently, faunal responses vary from place to place, and lumping of data from different climate zones averages out any local faunal responses. Likewise, tests that are conducted at inappropriate temporal scales will not be effective at distinguishing between the Red Queen and Court Jester.

A test at a temporal and geographic scale that takes the above considerations into account suggests a biotic response of mammals to a climatic warming event in the northern Rocky Mountains 18.5–14.0 Ma (the late-Early Miocene climatic optimum). During the environmental perturbation, mammalian species richness possibly increased, faunal turnover was pronounced, and taxa adapted to warm, arid environments became more abundant in numbers of species and density of individuals. The data are consistent with environmental change—the Court Jester—driving evolutionary change at sub-continental spatial scales and temporal scales that exceed typical Milankovitch oscillations. The Red Queen may be active at smaller temporal and geographic scales.