Hypnomys morpheus is a giant endemic dormouse from the Pleistocene deposits of Mallorca and Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). The present paper aims to interpret the morphological divergence between the mandibles of Hypnomys and of its extant relative Eliomys, the outline of the mandible being used as a marker of the morphological divergence. By comparison with the mandible of Eliomys, the more massive mandible of Hypnomys has recorded an ecological shift of the insular lineage towards a more abrasive diet, including hard vegetable matter, and a different niche. A microwear analysis of the teeth of Hypnomys was simultaneously performed as it can shed light on the diet, and is independent from the comparison of the mandibles. Hypnomys possibly ate harder food items than Eliomys, and likely occupied most of the island environments. Hypnomys appears to have differentiated from its ancestral type toward a more generalized morphology because of the lack of competitors.

Knowledge of the latest Late Cretaceous mammalian fauna in the South America was, until now, mostly based on dentally known taxa recovered at Los Alamitos (Río Negro, Argentina). Here we describe new mammalian remains collected in outcrops of the La Colonia Formation (Campanian—Maastrichtian) exposed in Chubut Province, Argentina, warranting the recognition of a new mesungulatid: Coloniatherium cilinskii gen. et sp. nov. The mammalian high-level taxonomic compositions of the localities in the La Colonia Formation and at Los Alamitos are roughly similar (Reigitheriidae, Mesungulatidae, and Ferugliotheridae are represented in both localities), but gondwanatheriids and the more plesiomorphic dryolestoids from Los Alamitos are missing from La Colonia. The most abundant mammalian remains collected at La Colonia correspond to large-sized mesungulatids. Coloniatherium cilinskii is recognized by the dentition and lower jaw, and we assign five isolated petrosal bones, focusing our study primarily on the analysis of the ear regions. The morphology of the petrosals suggests a phylogenetic position similar to Vincelestes, but sharing some derived features, possibly convergent, with therians. Attribution of the petrosals to the mesungulatid Coloniatherium cilinskii is supported by overall morphology, size, and relative abundance among the mammalian remains from La Colonia.

The neck posture of sauropod dinosaurs has long been controversial. Recent reconstructions position the cervical vertebrae and skull in an “osteological neutral pose” (ONP), the best fit arrived at by articulating the vertebrae with the zygapophyses in maximum contact. This approach in isolation suggests that most or all sauropods held their necks horizontally. However, a substantial literature on extant amniotes (mammals, turtles, squamates, crocodilians and birds) shows that living animals do not habitually maintain their necks in ONP. Instead, the neck is maximally extended and the head is maximally flexed, so that the mid-cervical region is near vertical. Unless sauropods behaved differently from all extant amniote groups, they must have habitually held their necks extended and their heads flexed. The life orientation of the heads of sauropods has been inferred from the inclination of the semi-circular canals. However, extant animals show wide variation in inclination of the “horizontal” semi-circular canal: the orientation of this structure is not tightly constrained and can give only a general idea of the life posture of extinct animals' heads.

The German Late Triassic archosaur Teratosaurus suevicus is a historically important taxon, being the first described rauisuchian. Unfortunately the holotype is a single element, a maxilla, which is poorly preserved and incomplete. We redescribe this maxilla and identify a single potential autapomorphy. The fragmentary type specimen complicates attempts to refer additional material to this taxon, and other unassociated archosaur and rauisuchian specimens from the Mittlerer Stubensandstein of Germany cannot be referred to T. suevicus with any degree of confidence. The stratigraphically older T. silesiacus, from the upper Carnian of Poland, is represented by a much more complete and better preserved specimen. Comparison of the maxillae of T. suevicus and T. silesiacus reveals that the two are distinct taxa, contra recent suggestions, but also that they do not share any synapomorphies or a unique combination of characters relative to Postosuchus kirkpatricki and other rauisuchians. Thus, the Polish material must be transferred to a new genus, Polonosuchus gen. nov. Both Polonosuchus and Teratosaurus are very similar to Postosuchus kirkpatricki, and the three taxa are likely closely related.

Cervical vertebrae of azhdarchid pterosaurs were discovered in two Upper Cretaceous (Baynshire Suite) dinosaur localities, Bayshin Tsav and Burkhant, in the Gobi Desert. These are the first discoveries of pterosaur remains in the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. The Burkhant specimen includes a nearly complete atlas-axis complex, which has rarely been described in this clade of pterosaurs. Although all elements comprising this complex are fused together, a wing-like atlas neural arch is still discernable. The postzygapophyseal facet of the axis is long anteroposteriorly and convex dorsally, and would likely have allowed a fairly large range of dorsoventral flexion at the axis-third cervical joint unlike in other well-known ornithocheiroids such as Pteranodon and Anhanguera. Both Mongolian localities represent inland, terrestrial environments, which were apparently not typical habitats of pterosaurs, thus adding further evidence for the ubiquity of Azhdarchidae during the Late Cretaceous.

Dissepiments or connecting bars between adjacent stipes in rhabdosomes of dendroid graptolites were studied by means of electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). The material, chemically isolated from rock matrix, originating from the Ordovician of Estonia and glacial boulders of Baltic origin found in Poland, is assigned provisionally to the genus “Dictyonema” sensu lato. Early growth stages of dissepiments are made only of the fusellar component. Older dissepiments are composed of the central core and the outer envelope: the central core is made of rather irregularly arranged growth units made of the fusellar tissue, whereas the outer envelope has a distinct cortical appearance. TEM observations indicate that the fusellar component is made of both typical fusellar and microfusellar tissues (the latter with complete and reduced microfuselli). The cortical component of dissepiments is made both of dependent and independent cortex. The opinion is advanced that the dissepiments were constructed externally by the mortaring activities of zooids, similar to that of Recent Cephalodiscus. Our observations indicate that bizooids were most probable dissepiment constructors. These results, in general, does not support earlier opinions that dissepiments are made of cortical tissue acquiring a fusellar aspect in some cases, and that dissepiments were produced by the extrathecal membrane surrounding the rhabdosome.

Gogia parsleyi Zamora sp. nov. and Gogia sp. are described from two different echinoderm assemblages, both from the middle Cambrian of the Murero Formation (Iberian Chains, NE Spain). Gogia parsleyi is reconstructed and described on the basis of fifteen complete or partial specimens and numerous isolated plates. It is characterised by spiralled brachioles, simple epispires, sometimes covered by stereomic domes or tiny cover plates, and by thecal plates arranged in subregular circlets. This gogiid population comprises juveniles, advanced juveniles and mature individuals. The material was found in the upper part of the Murero Formation (upper Caesaraugustian—lower Languedocian). Gogia sp. is represented by two almost complete specimens and several isolated plates from the lower part of the Murero Formation (lower Caesaraugustian). The genus Gogia was first described in Western Gondwana from the Languedocian (upper middle Cambrian) of France, but the material from Spain is older and represents the oldest record of this genus in Gondwana, suggesting an early migration from Laurentia. The gogiids are well preserved in two echinoderm Lagerstätten, which, together with other echinoderms, comprise the majority of the fossil fauna. Both levels are derived from obrution deposits produced in calm and open marine conditions, sometimes affected by sporadic storms. Their holdfast morphology suggests that these gogiids were low-tier suspension feeders, living attached to trilobite fragments in a soft, muddy environment.

New collections of bryozoans from the Middle Jurassic (Late Bajocian and Bathonian) of Poland add significantly to our knowledge of the diversity and biogeography of the Cyclostomata at a time when they were the dominant bryozoan order in the fossil record. A total of 16 species and one form-genus (“Berenicea”) are present. Most are encrusters, predominantly on hiatus concretions. A single erect species was found in deposits interpreted as regurgitates of a marine vertebrate. The following new species are described: Microeciella annae sp. nov., M. kuklinskii sp. nov., M. maleckii sp. nov., M. mokrskoensis sp. nov., M. magnopora sp. nov., Reptomultisparsa harae sp. nov., and Hyporosopora bugajensis sp. nov. The taxonomic importance of the morphology of both the gonozooids and pseudopores is underlined, especially for encrusting species of the “Berenicea” type that are otherwise difficult to distinguish from one another. The described bryozoan assemblage encrusting hiatus concretions from the Polish Middle Jurassic is the richest that has been documented globally from this kind of substrate.

Latest Famennian (UD-VI, “Strunian”) brachiopod fauna from Kowala (Kielce Region, Holy Cross Mountains, Poland) consists of eighteen species within 6 orders, eleven of them reported in open nomenclature. Characteristic taxa include: Schellwienella pauli, Aulacella interlineata, Sphenospira julii, Novaplatirostrum sauerlandense, Hadyrhyncha sp., Cleiothyridina struniensis. New morphological details of Schellwienella pauli, Sphenospira julii, and Aulacella interlineata are provided. The described latest Famennian brachiopod fauna is distinctly richer than that from underlying upper Famennian deposits (11 species within 4 orders). Majority of species from Kowala seem to have been adapted to deep water settings and/or poor nutrient availability. The stratigraphic separation between Planovatirostrum in the UD-III to UD-V and Novaplatirostrum in the UD-VI observed in Sauerland and in Thuringia is valid also in the Holy Cross Mountains. This is the first comprehensive report of a relatively diversified latest Famennian brachiopod fauna from surface outcrops of Poland.

Brachiopods and phoronids are widely recognised as closely related lophophorate phyla, but the lack of morphological intermediates linking the bivalved bodyplan of brachiopods with tubular phoronids has frustrated precise phylogenetic placement. Here we describe Lingulosacculus nuda gen. et sp. nov., a new “soft-shelled” brachiopod from the Early Cambrian Mural Formation of western Alberta which provides a plausible candidate for a phoronid stem-group within (paraphyletic) Brachiopoda. In addition to its non-biomineralised shell, L. nuda had a ventral valve with an exceptionally long, pocket-like extension (pseudointerarea) that would have allowed the transformation of criss-crossing brachiopod-type musculature to the longitudinal arrangement typical of phoronids. “Soft-shelled” linguliform brachiopods have previously been reported from both the Chengjiang and Burgess Shale Lagerstätten which, together with L. nuda, probably represent two independent losses of shell mineralisation in brachiopods.

The paper examines the systematics, phylogeny and biogeographical history of Barnea (Anchomasa), which is one of the most abundant and diversified of modern pholadid bivalves. The range of morphology of its distinctive characters and comparisons with other pholadoidean taxa are described in detail. An extensive cladistic analysis based on morphological characters at genus and subgenus levels allowed the inclusion of B. (Anchomasa) into the phylogeny of Pholadoidea and the establishment of its most appropriate taxonomic position. The analysis confirms that Barnea s.s. and B. (Umitakea) are its closest relatives and that the morphological similarities to other taxa are mainly due to plesiomorphies. The fossil record and the data on the present-day distribution contributed to trace the biogeographical history of B. (Anchomasa). The present-day biogeography is marked by the disjunct distribution of species. Species are distributed mainly either along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the American continent (American group) or in the Indo-West Pacific region (Indo-West Pacific group). Both these groups have distinct morphological features and biogeographical structures. The fossil record and the known geodynamic scenario suggest a relationship of direct derivation between the Indo-West Pacific group and a stock of north-eastern Atlantic to Paratethyan species. This reflects a vicariant event related to the closure of the connection between western Tethys and the Indian Ocean in the middle Miocene. The American group presumably arose from the European stock during the Late Pliocene by dispersal towards the eastern coasts of North America and rapid southward diffusion. A relative differentiation within the American group is probably related to the last phases of emergence of the Panama Isthmus. The cladistic analysis also gives suggestions for the reconstruction of the phylogeny of the superfamily Pholadoidea. It confirms the interpretation of several characters sustained by previous authors. However, it also shows remarkable differences to the previous taxonomic arrangements. Pholadinae includes only taxa having the protoplax and it appears to be the sister-group of a major clade composed mainly of two groups, namely Martesiinae-Jouannetiinae and Xylophagainae—Teredinidae. The Martesiinae are paraphyletic whereas the obligate wood-boring Xylophagainae and Teredinidae form a well-supported monophyletic group.

Famennian Stromatoporoidea from the Quasiendothyra communis Foraminiferal Zone and slightly younger strata from the Dębnik anticline, southern Poland, form a succession of three consecutive assemblages. Assemblages 1 and 3 consist of representatives of the order Clathrodictyida, while assemblage 2 is dominated by the order Labechiida. The clathrodictyids are represented by the genus Gerronostroma, and labechiids are represented by the genus Stylostroma. Species assigned here to the genus Gerronostroma show a network of amalgamated pillars in the central part of the columns, a feature regarded by previous authors as typical of the genus Clavidictyon. Two new species, Stylostroma multiformis sp. nov. and Gerronostroma raclaviense sp. nov., are described. Stromatoporoids from southern Poland differ from the Famennian fauna of western Europe, showing affinity to eastern European and Siberian Stromatoporoidea.