A redescription of the extinct snake genus Colombophis is presented, on the basis of new specimens from the late Miocene of southwestern Brazilian Amazonia, and those previously reported for the middle Miocene of Colombia and Venezuela. The reappraisal of Colombophis allows the recognition of a new species, C. spinosus sp. nov. The revised diagnosis of the genus is based on the midtrunk vertebrae, distinct from those of other snakes mainly in the features of the neural arch, position and shape of the neural spine, inclination of the zygapophyses, shape of the centrum, and development of the haemal keel. The affinities of Colombophis with “Anilioidea” are still unresolved; it is distinguished from all known extinct and extant “anilioids” due to its great vertebral size and the frequent presence of paracotylar foramina. The posterior paired apophyses of the haemal keel in some vertebrae, and the high neural spine of C. spinosus also contrast significantly with the “anilioid” genera, making the allocation of the genus into this probably paraphyletic group not well supported. Here, we recognized Colombophis as a basal alethinophidian of uncertain relationships.

A new troodontid dinosaur, Xixiasaurus henanensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous Majiacun Formation of the Xixia Basin, Henan Province, is erected, based on a partial skull. It is characterized by bearing 22 maxillary teeth, a distinct opening on the lateral surface of the base of nasal process of the premaxilla, the rostral end of the upper jaw forming a tapered U-shape, and the mandibular symphyseal region slightly inflected medially. Xixiasaurus is most closely related to the Mongolian Byronosaurus among troodontids. Byronosaurus, Urbacodon, and Xixiasaurus may form a new clade, suggesting an endemic radiation of troodontids across Asia, including multiple taxa without dental serrations. The discovery of Xixiasaurus in the Xixia Basin may imply that the Xixiasaurus-bearing Majiacun Formation is Campanian in age.

The first unambiguous evidence of the presence of osteoderms in sauropod dinosaurs came from the discovery of Saltasaurus loricatus, a titanosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina. The dermal armor of Saltasaurus is composed of bony plates and small dermal ossicles. Here, we analyze the bone microstructure of these elements and provide information regarding its origin and development. The bony plates are composed almost entirely of reconstructed cancellous bone. Remains of primary bone consist of coarse bundles of mineralized collagenous fibers towards the external surface. Also, woven fibered bone tissue appears in the basal and lateral regions. Dermal ossicles lack secondary remodeling, and their matrix is formed by three orthogonal systems of collagenous fiber bundles. Growth lines are present in both bony plates and ossicles. Bone histology reveals that osteoderms mainly originated through direct mineralization (metaplasia) of the dermis, although other mechanisms are also involved (at least in the origin of dermal plates). The common features of development and integumental location of the osteoderms of Saltasaurus and other non-related vertebrates (e.g., lepidosaurs, crocodylomorphs) are linked to the intrinsic skeletogenic properties of the dermis.

Neuquensaurus, from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina and one of the first dinosaurs described from Patagonia, is one of the most derived sauropod dinosaurs, and its proportions and size place it among the smallest sauropods ever known. In this context, Neuquensaurus is central to understanding late stages of sauropod evolution. This contribution offers a full description of the appendicular skeleton of Neuquensaurus. The anatomical analysis reveals that the appendicular skeleton of Neuquensaurus exhibits unique characteristics only shared with closely related saltasaurine titanosaurs; for example, the laterally directed preacetabular lobe of the ilium, the prominent fibular lateral tuberosity, and the presence of an intermuscular line on the femoral shaft, which is proposed here as a synapomorphy of Saltasaurinae. Neuquensaurus also displays many reversals to primitive character states, such as the presence of a prominent olecranon process of the ulna, a trochanteric shelf, a lesser trochanter and an ischial tuberosity. Additional characters that allow its evaluation in a phylogenetic context are here provided. Among them are the extremely deflected femoral shaft, the elliptical femoral cross-section, and the anterolaterally oriented cnemial crest.

The stegosaurian forelimb is usually portrayed with the metacarpals slanted and distally spread. However, manual manipulation of stegosaurian metacarpals reveals that in that configuration they do not articulate with each other nor with the rest of the forelimb. Rather, they do articulate with each other and with the rest of the forelimb when posed vertically and arranged in a compact, semi-tubular configuration, as in sauropods. This configuration agrees with data from articulated specimens and trackways. As with sauropods, this metacarpal configuration makes retention of phalanges awkward for locomotion and may be functionally related to the vestigiality of the manual phalanges of the outer digits.

Scientific literature and museum exhibits are full of explicit and implicit claims about the possible postures and motion ranges of dinosaurs. For the example of the prosauropod Plateosaurus engelhardti I assessed the motion range of limbs and vertebral column in a CAD program using a 3D virtual skeletal mount. The range of motion of the forelimb is very limited, allowing the grasping of objects placed directly ventrally and ventrolaterally of the anterior torso. The manus is adapted for grasping. The powerful fore limb can barely reach in front of the shoulder, making a quadrupedal walking cycle impractical. Only a digitigrade pose of the pes with a steeply held metatarsus is feasible, and the morphology of the stylopodium and zeugopodium indicates a slightly flexed limb posture. Hind limb protraction and retraction are limited by the pelvic architecture. The neck has significant mobility both dorsoventrally and laterally, but blocks torsion. The dorsal vertebral column is flexible to a degree similar to the neck, mainly in the anterior half, but blocks torsion totally in the anterior and posterior thirds. The anterior dorsals are similar in shape to the posterior cervicals and significantly increase the motion range of the neck. The tail is highly flexible due to its large number of elements, showing more lateral than dorsoventral mobility. These results are compared to reconstruction drawings and museum skeletal mounts, highlighting a pattern of errors specific to certain widely used reconstruction methods.

The fin rays and two types of scales (enlarged and regular) of the Devonian sarcopterygian Eusthenopteron foordi are redescribed using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The fin rays consist of lepidotrichia composed of ossified, jointed and branched segment pairs. The basal segments are cylindrical, but more distal elements are crescentic in section. The distribution of Sharpey's fibres varies along the lepidotrichia. In the proximal segments, lateral bundles form a belt connecting adjacent hemisegments. In the distal segments, thin bundles are restricted to the area facing the fin surface. Both enlarged and regular scales have a similar spatial organisation. They are composed of a superficial highly mineralised layer covering a thick basal plate where the fibrils are distributed in superimposed strata forming a plywood-like structure. Nevertheless, the enlarged and regular scales differ in their shape, in the mineralised tissues of the superficial layer, and in the organisation of the plywood-like structure. The superficial layer of the enlarged scales is composed of parallel-fibered bone covering a deeper layer of woven-fibered bone. The basal plate is made of an orthogonal plywood-like structure. The thin, lamellar, imbricated regular scales display the characteristics of elasmoid scales. The mineralised tissue forming the superficial layer resembles that of extant teleost scales. In the basal plate, the twisted plywood-like structure is composed of closely packed fibrils that are preserved down to the ultrastructural level owing to the persistence of bridges connecting the fibrils. The enlarged and the regular scales of Eusthenopteron foordi do not present superficial odontodes, in contrast to ancestral thick rhomboid scales. The disappearance of enamel/enameloid and dentine may be related to the evolutionary trend towards a lightening of the dermal skeleton that would improve the swimming abilities of the animal. The characteristics of the dermal skeleton of Eusthenopteron foordi support the hypothesis that this process began early in osteichthyans.

The oxygen isotopic composition of conodont apatite derived from the Late Triassic (Carnian to lower Norian), Pignola 2 and Sasso di Castalda sections in the Lagonegro Basin (Southern Apennines, Italy) was studied in order to constrain the habitat of Late Triassic conodont animals. Oxygen isotope ratios of conodonts range from 18.5 to 20.8‰ V-SMOW, which translate to palaeotemperatures ranging from 22 to 31°C, assuming a δ¹⁸O of Triassic subtropical sea water of -0.12‰ V-SMOW. These warm temperatures, which are well comparable to those of modern subtropical-tropical oceans, along with the body features of the conodont animal suggest that conodont δ1⁸O values reflect surface water temperatures, that the studied conodont taxa lived in near-surface waters, and that δ¹⁸O values of Late Triassic conodonts can be used for palaeoclimatic reconstructions.

Several specimens of trace fossil Bichordites monastiriensis were discovered in two shallow water Oligocene sandstone beds from Valsugana (Trentino, NE Italy) representing the oldest documented occurrence for this ichnospecies. They are grazing-crawling (pascichnion-repichnion) structures and are occasionally associated with enlarged structures that can be interpreted as resting traces (cubichnia) and assigned to the ichnogenus Cardioichnus. The resulting Bichordites—Cardioichnus compound trace fossil is here described for the first time. In the basal part of some specimens, skeletal remains of Eupatagus ornatus were found in life position. This founding enables to widen the spectrum of known Bichordites trace-makers. Exceptional conditions of preservation of one specimen extending in two beds recording different environmental conditions gave an opportunity to document the effects of various taphonomical histories on the preservation of this traces.

Two new middle Cambrian edrioasteroid (Echinodermata), Protorophus hispanicus gen. et sp. nov., and Isorophida gen. et sp. indet., are described from the early middle Cambrian (Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5) of Spain. These are the oldest and probably the most primitive isorophids, a clade previously known from the upper Cambrian onwards. Specimens are attached to trilobite fragments indicating that edrioasteroids had by this time separated into two lineages each with different strategies for attachment, sediment attachers and hard substrate attachers. The single U-shaped ambulacral flooring plates of Protorophus are unique while Isorophida gen. et sp. indet. shares the presence of spines in common with some pyrgocystitid isorophids. The shift from facultative soft-bottom attachment to obligate hard-ground attachment in edrioasteroids involved the retention of a juvenile trait into adulthood and was already underway by the middle Cambrian.

Linguliform brachiopods were important components of early Cambrian benthic communities. However, exceptionally preserved soft parts in Cambrian linguliform brachiopods are extremely sparse, and the most important findings are from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Konservat Lagerstätte of Kunming, southern China. Here we describe the first record of preserved soft-part anatomy in a linguliform brachiopod from the early Cambrian Guanshan fauna (Wulongqing Formation, Palaeolenus Zone); a unit which is considerably younger than the Chengjiang fauna. The well preserved soft anatomy include linguliform pedicles, marginal setae and, in a few cases, an intact lophophore imprint. The pedicle has pronounced surface annulations, with its proximal-most part enclosing the apex of the ventral pseudointerarea; the pedicle is up to 51 mm long, corresponding to more than 4 times the sagittal length of the shell, and 12% of the maximum valve width. In details of their preservation, these new fossils exhibit striking similarities with the linguliforms from the older Chengjiang fauna, and all specimens are preserved in a compressed state as flattened impressions. The new linguliform has an elongate oval to subtriangular shell and an elongate triangular ventral pseudointerarea; the pedicle emerged from an apical foramen through a poorly preserved internal pedicle tube. The new linguliform is most similar to the mostly organic-shelled siphonotretoid-like brachiopod Acanthotretella spinosa, recently described from the classic middle Cambrian Burgess Shale Konservat Lagerstätte, British Columbia, Canada. The new species Acanthotretella decaius sp. nov. is described; it differs from A. spinosa in having a slightly thicker pedicle, and a larger and more rigid, probably partly mineralised shell, indicating that the mostly organic shell of A. spinosa may represent a secondary reduction of shell mineralisation. However, the spine-like setae of the new species are unfortunately poorly preserved only at the margin of the shell, but the new species is referred tentatively to the Superfamily Siphonotretoidea. The occurrence of A. decaius in the Guanshan fauna is the first lower Cambrian (Series 2, early Stage 4) record of both Acanthotretella and siphonotretoids, and it represents the first description of a lophophore and digestive tract from the siphonotretoid lineage.

Provanna marshalli sp. nov. is described from Early to Middle Miocene-age fossil hydrocarbon seep localities in the East Coast Basin, North Island, New Zealand, adding to 18 modern and three fossil species of the genus described. Modern species are well represented at hydrothermal vent sites as well as at hydrocarbon seeps and on other organic substrates in the deep sea, including sunken wood and whale falls. Described fossil Provanna species have been almost exclusively reported from hydrocarbon seep deposits, with a few reports of suspected fossil specimens of the genus from other chemosynthetic environments such as sunken wood and large vertebrate (whale and plesiosaurid) carcasses, and the oldest occurrences are dated to the Middle Cenomanian (early Late Cretaceous). The New Zealand fossil species is the most variable species of the genus described to date, and its shell microstructure is reported and found to be comparable to the fossil species Provanna antiqua and some modern species of the genus.

Two braconid wasp taxa with enlarged eyes and ocelli indicative of probable nocturnal activity are discussed and described from the lowermost Eocene amber of the Paris Basin.The new tribe Palaeocharmontini nov., for new genus Palaeocharmon with type species Palaeocharmon basalis sp. nov. is described and illustrated in the subfamily Charmontinae. The similarity of this taxon with members of subfamilies Helconinae, Homolobinae, and Brachistinae is shown and the peculiar character [presence of hind wing recurrent vein (m-cu)] unknown previously in non-cyclostome braconids is discussed. A third fossil species of the genus Phanerotoma (Ph. menieri sp. nov.) is described and compared with known species from the Baltic amber.

New diversity curves for agglutinated foraminiferal genera are presented based on the stratigraphic ranges of 764 genera distributed over the 91 Phanerozoic chronostratigraphic subdivisions given in the ICS timescale. The data set for this analysis is based on the stratigraphic ranges of agglutinated genera published in Foraminiferal Genera and their Classification, 218 of which have been modified based upon subsequently published studies and new observations. Additionally, a total of 136 genera have been newly described or reinstated subsequent to the publication of Foraminiferal Genera and their Classification. The revision of stratigraphie ranges is part of the effort by the Grzybowski Foundation's International Working Group on Foraminiferal Classification to compile a new Catalogue of Agglutinated Foraminiferal Genera. The mean standing diversity of agglutinated foraminiferal genera was compiled by counting the number of boundary crossers rather than the number of genera in each stage. This diversity curve displays a general upward trend throughout the Phanerozoic, punctuated by peaks and troughs of variable magnitude. The curve shows a period of initial radiation from the Early Cambrian to the Early Silurian, followed by a plateau to the Late Permian. The Permian/Triassic and the Triassic/Jurassic boundaries are characterised by small dips in the diversity record. The Jurassic begins with an exponential rise in mean standing diversity that continues to the Cenomanian. The Cenomanian to Holocene record of mean standing diversity is characterised by four peaks and troughs that are roughly in line with the cycles of global climate, with reductions in diversity in the end-Cenomanian, end-Cretaceous, and end-Miocene. Excluding modern values, the Phanerozoic maximum in the number of genera with a fossil record is observed in the Cenomanian, whereas the maximum Phanerozoic mean standing diversity is observed in the Langhian stage of the Miocene. The highest per-capita origination rates are observed in the Hettangian, Dapingian, Pleistocene, and Sheinwoodian (mid-Silurian). Linear regression analysis of the origination rates reveals a decrease towards the Holocene, in agreement with findings of Raup and Sepkoski. The highest per-capita extinction rates are observed in the Messinian, late Silurian (Gorstian), Hirnantian (latest Ordovician), and Maastrichtian. The background extinction rate shows an increasing trend towards the Recent, which is in disagreement with the findings of Raup and Sepkoski. We attribute this apparent discrepancy to the Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene extinctions of shallower-water larger agglutinates and the pull of the end-Miocene extinction event.

The response of planktonic foraminifera to changing oceanographic conditions during Middle Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT) ∼14 million years ago (Ma) at ODP Site 747 (Kergeulen Plateau) is investigated. Faunal changes are presented in the background of sea surface temperature (SST) estimates and multi-taxon δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C data presented in other studies. Four faunal transitions are distinguished between 15.0 and 12.2 Ma. The first two affected only a limited number of taxa, and do not lead to large-scale assemblage reorganizations. They are only minor assemblage changes within the pre-MMCT fauna. The first (14.5–14.4 Ma) is marked by a reduction in the Globorotalia zealandica plexus in favor of the Globorotalia praescitula plexus, coupled with the first signs of increased seasonality. The second (14.3–14.2 Ma) is characterized by recovery and diversification of the G. zealandica plexus and an increase in Turborotalita quinqueloba in response to further enhanced seasonality. The third faunal transition across the Middle Miocene Shift (MMS) in δ¹⁸O (13.9–13.8 Ma) affects almost all planktonic foraminifera, leading to dismembering of the pre-MMCT assemblage. These changes were triggered by the SST drop by ∼7°C, followed by reduced sea-surface salinity following the MMS, which favored the opportunistic Neogloboquadrina continuosa. Its dominance spans the transitional period (13.8–13.2 Ma), during which several planktonic foraminiferal events gradually shaped the post-MMCT assemblage. The fourth faunal threshold took place during the hiatus in the ODP Hole 747A record spanning 13.2–12.5 Ma. It is expressed by the establishment of an assemblage dominated by Globorotalia praescitula and Globigerina bulloides in association with diminishing of the low-salinity surface layer. The two dominant taxa exhibit well-defined morphologies, much different from their earlier relatives. The microperforate foraminifera show relatively few morphological changes, probably due to their morphological conservatism. Their changes are thought to herald the large foraminiferal transformations, especially in case of the third and fourth faunal transition thresholds.

A recent contribution published in this journal (Dias-da-Silva and Ilha 2009) reported a dermal skull fragment indicating the presence of a putative plagiosauroid temnospondyl in the Lower Triassic Sanga do Cabrai Formation of the Parana Basin, Southern Brazil. The taxonomic assignation of this specimen was necessarily tentative as it was based on circumstantial evidence, specifically the presence of a dense pustular ornamentation over four partial dermal skull bones, consideration of the described taxa known to bear such ornamentation, and the stratigraphic and paleobiogeographic range of such taxa. Therefore, Dias-da-Silva and Ilha (2009) could not be totally certain about the plagiosauroid affinities of the new specimen and ascribed it to ?Plagiosauridae. It was particularly difficult to make a precise osteological identification of the specimen and six alternative osteological interpretations were made in comparison to both Gerrothorax and Peltobatrachus (see Dias-da-Silva and Ilha 2009: fig. 2). In spite of the poor taxonomic resolution, the new specimen raised interesting questions regarding the presence of plagiosauroid stereospondyls in western Gondwana, as well as their evolutionary patterns, biostratigraphic and paleobiogeographic implications. After Dias-da-Silva and Ilha's (2009) contribution was published, new data from Damiani et al. (2009) raised the possibility of narrowing down the taxonomic identity of the plagiosauroid from Brazil. Accordingly, this brief report provides a more precise taxonomic assignation for this material.