A previously undescribed tooth from the Muñani Formation at the Laguna Umayo locality, Peru, represents the new didolodontid Umayodus raimondi gen. et sp. nov., here diagnosed by the presence of a well developed metastylid and ectostylid, and a twinned hypoconulid. This taxon is closely related to the middle Paleocene genera Escribania and Raulvaccia from the locality of Punta Peligro in Patagonia, Argentina. Phylogenetic analysis here performed indicates that they constitute a monophyletic group within Didolodontidae, supported by five derived characters: the hypocone well developed and close to the protocone; the strongly concave precingulum; the contact between the postcristid and the entoconid; the contact of the crista pre-paraconular, precingulum and parastyle; and the mesiodistal enlargement of the m3 talonid. Their paleogeographic distribution fit with those of the actual Andean Region of the Austral Kingdom. The previously assumed Thanetian—Ypresian age assignment for the Laguna Umayo LU3 fauna is here reinforced by faunistic comparisons with the earliest Eocene Murgon fauna, in Australia, and the Itaboraian South American Land Mammal Age, represented from faunas of Patagonia, Argentina and São José de Itaboraí, Brazil.

We describe a new avian taxon, Itaboravis elaphrocnemoides, gen. et sp. nov., from the late Paleocene fissure fillings of São José de Itaboraí in Brazil. The species is represented by a coracoid and two humeri, which most closely resemble the corresponding elements of the taxon Elaphrocnemus, a proposed stem group representative of the Cariamae from the late Eocene and Oligocène of the Quercy fissure fillings in France. I. elaphrocnemoides is only the second species of small landbird known from the Paleocene of the Southern Hemisphere. It is tentatively classified in the Cariamae, but we also note morphological similarities of the humerus to that of the palaeognathous Tinamidae. We further describe a carpometacarpus, which exhibits a peculiar morphology not found in any other avian taxon. This bone also shares some features with tinamous and is of a size corresponding to that of I. elaphrocnemoides, but cannot be referred to this taxon with confidence. We finally report four morphologically different distal tibiotarsi, one of which may belong to Eutreptodactylus itaboraiensis, the only other small bird described from Itaboraí.

Argentinosaurus (Cenomanian, Argentina) is generally accepted as being the largest dinosaur so far discovered and is one of several giant titanosaurian sauropods known from the Upper Cretaceous of South America and Asia, but surprisingly not from North America. Here we present the first evidence of giant titanosaurian sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous of North America: two enormous vertebrae and a partial femur, from the Naashoibito Member of the Ojo Alamo Formation, New Mexico, and referred to Alamosaurus sanjuanensis. One of the new vertebrae, a posterior cervical, is comparable in size to a posterior cervical described for Puertasaurus: an Argentinosaurus-sized titanosaurian from the Maastrichtian of Argentina. This makes A. sanjuanensis the largest dinosaur from North America, and among the largest in the world. These findings indicate that A. sanjuanensis is diagnosed based on immature remains, which may have implications for cladistic analyses.

In 1916, a centrosaurine dinosaur bonebed was excavated within the Campanian-aged deposits of what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Specimens from this now-lost quarry, including two parietals, a squamosal, a skull missing the frill, and an incomplete dentary, were purchased by The Natural History Museum, London. The material was recently reprepared and identified herein as a previously unknown taxon, Spinops sternbergorum gen. et sp. nov. Based upon the available locality data and paleopalynology, the quarry lies in either the upper part of the Oldman Formation or the lower part of the Dinosaur Park Formation. The facial region of the partial skull is similar to putative mature specimens of Centrosaurus spp. and Styracosaurus albertensis, with short, rounded postorbital horncores and a large, erect nasal horncore. Parietal ornamentation is consistent on both known parietals and is unique among ceratopsids. Bilateral, procurved parietal hooks occupy the P1 (medial-most) position on the dorsal surface of the parietal and are very similar to those seen in Centrosaurus apertus. Epiparietals in the P2 or possibly P3 position (lateral to P1) manifest as extremely elongate, caudally directed spikes, unlike the condition in C. apertus, S. albertensis, or any other “derived” centrosaurine. Cladistic analysis suggests that S. sternbergorum is closely related to Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus. Historically, based upon the condition in Styracosaurus and related centrosaurines, it was assumed that the medial-most elongated spikes on centrosaurine parietals correspond to the P3 epiparietal position. The exception illustrated in the new taxon suggests that homologies of epiparietals among basal centrosaurines (e.g., Albertaceratops and Diabloceratops) and derived centrosaurines (e.g., Styracosaurus and “pachyrhinosaurs”) should be reconsidered. The medially-placed, caudally-directed “P3” process of basal centrosaurines may, in fact, be homologous with P2.

Reanalysis of the skull of the crested Asian hadrosaurine Saurolophus angustirostris confirms its status as a distinct species from its North American relative, Saurolophus osborni. In addition to its greater absolute size, S. angustirostris is differentiated from Saurolophus osborni by an upturned premaxillary body, a more strongly reflected oral margin of the premaxilla, the absence of an anterior notch in the prenarial fossa, a sigmoidal contour of the ventral half of the anterior process of the jugal, a shallow quadratojugal notch on the quadrate, and by a strongly bowed quadrate in lateral view. Phylogenetic analysis corroborates a sister taxon relationship between S. angustirostris and S. osborni. Saurolophus itself is characterised by a solid, rod-like crest composed of the nasals, frontals, and prefrontals; secondary elongation of the frontal and prefrontal resulting in the backwards extension of the frontal platform; a frontal platform that extends dorsal to the anterior portion of the supratemporal fenestra; a parietal that is excluded by the squamosals from the posterodorsal margin of the occiput; and the presence of two supraorbital elements. Although the palaeobiogeographic history of Saurolophus remains unresolved, at least two possible dispersal events took place across Beringia during the late Campanian leading to the evolution of the clade composed of Kerberosaurus, Prosaurolophus, and Saurolophus.

Skeletal remains, some loose on the surface and others still embedded, have been recovered from the uppermost part of an outcrop of the Permian Cala del Vino Formation located near Torre del Porticciolo (Alghero, Nurra, NW Sardinia). Taphonomic analysis suggests that all the elements pertain to a single individual; ongoing studies indicate the fossil represents a large caseid close (or referable) to Cotylorhynchus; otherwise restricted to a narrow geographic and stratigraphic zone of the central USA. The new finding, the first of a caseid in Italy and one of few in Europe, enlarges the known distribution of the family and provides a significant and key chronostratigraphic constraint for the continental succession of this area and, in turn, helps establish a stratigraphic framework for the Permian units cropping out in Italy and southern France.

The atlas-axis complex has been described in few Palaeozoic taxa, with little effort being placed on examining variation of this structure within a small clade. Most varanopids, members of a clade of gracile synapsid predators, have well preserved atlas-axes permitting detailed descriptions and examination of morphological variation. This study indicates that the size of the transverse processes on the axis and the shape of the axial neural spine vary among members of this clade. In particular, the small mycterosaurine varanopids possess small transverse processes that point posteroventrally, and the axial spine is dorsoventrally short, with a flattened dorsal margin in lateral view. The larger varanodontine varanopids have large transverse processes with a broad base, and a much taller axial spine with a rounded dorsal margin in lateral view. Based on outgroup comparisons, the morphology exhibited by the transverse processes is interpreted as derived in varanodontines, whereas the morphology of the axial spine is derived in mycterosaurines. The axial spine anatomy of Middle Permian South African varanopids is reviewed and our interpretation is consistent with the hypothesis that at least two varanopid taxa are present in South Africa, a region overwhelmingly dominated by therapsid synapsids and parareptiles.

The genus Atherina (Atheriniformes, Teleostei) includes five extant brackish and marine species that inhabit the eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea. Several fossil species are known from the Mediterranean and Paratethyan basins. Here we describe a new fossil species, Atherina atropatiensis sp. nov., from Upper Miocene deposits of the intramontane Tabriz Basin in NW Iran, based on well-preserved, articulated skeletons from the Lignite Beds at Baghmisheh-Marzdaran, near Tabriz. The new fossil species closely resembles the Recent A. boyeri, the only extant species of Atherina in the Caspian Sea, from which it can be distinguished by the different relative development of the ascending and alveolar processes of the premaxilla, and the mutual relationship between pleural ribs and dorsolateral process of the basipterygium. The systematic and Zoogeographic affinities of A. atropatiensis indicate that the Lignite Beds of the Tabriz Basin were deposited in a euryhaline environment and that a connection between the intramontane Tabriz Basin and the Eastern Paratethys (Southern Caspian Sea) once existed.

A new family Vosegidae is described for Vosegus triassicus gen. et sp. nov. from the Anisian (early Middle Triassic) Grès à Voltzia Formation of the Vosges (north-eastern France). This is the oldest Aphidomorpha presenting the combination of characters as: elongate and tapered pterostigma with straight posterior margin, thick common stem of veins Sc R (M) CuA, arcuate RP separated well basad of pterostigma base, three-branched M with free base, CuA forked, veins not differentiated in their thickness. The morphological characters presented by Vosegus are spread among the different extinct and extant lineages of Aphidomorpha, but the combination presented is unique. The relationships of this new family to other Triassic Sternorrhyncha are discussed, concluding its placement in Aphidomorpha: Triassoaphidoidea. The specificity of Grès à Voltzia fossil site in respect to early evolution of aphids is presented, with two competing explanations for size diminution, considering the Early Triassic biotic recovery versus the correlation between early aphid diversification and the exploitation of new niches, new host plants and habitats. This new finding increases the taxonomic diversity of the Grès à Voltzia fauna, expanding our knowledge of Early Triassic Aphidomorpha diversity and evolution.

The present study is the first quantitative comparison of Sarmatian mollusc assemblages from the Central and Eastern Paratethys seas. The assemblages (47,840 shells, 32 samples, 84 species) derive from eight Middle and Upper Miocene localities covering an interval from 12.7–11.0 Ma, when a highly endemic mollusc fauna flourished in the entire Paratethys. Cluster analysis of samples yields two major clusters: one composed of late Sarmatian (Bessarabian) collections and the other composed of early Sarmatian (Volhynian) collections. The Volhynian cluster includes two subclusters: the first reflects a strong stratigraphie signal because it combines samples from the Mohrensternia Zone of the Vienna Basin and the western Ukraine. The second combines samples from the Upper Ervilia Zone of the Vienna Basin with samples from the Mohrensternia Zone of the Vienna Basin and Romania. Cluster analysis of species indicates that the sample clusters represent different palaeoenvironments with distinct molluscan assemblages: The Volhynian well-agitated shore is characterized by the Granulolabium—Venerupis—Ervilia biofacies, the Volhynian muddy foreshore by the Granulolabium—Mohrensternia—Ervilia biofacies, and the Bessarabian shallow to medium deep sublittoral by the Hydrobia—Venerupis—Pseudamnicola biofacies. Although not all biozones and regions of the Sarmatian Sea are covered, we suggest that these biofacies cover a wide range of possible assemblage compositions of Sarmatian nearshore and shallow-water assemblages.

Calcareous tubeworms are common in the Artinskian (Lower Permian) shale and limestone rocks of the Wichita-Albany Group in central Texas. In some units they form small reefs of budding tubes spreading outward from a common origin. These tubular fossils have been traditionally referred to as serpulids, but here we identify them as microconchids (Helicoconchus elongatus gen. et sp. nov.) These microconchids are unusual because of their greatly elongated impunctate tubes with centrally pitted diaphragms. They also show two types of budding: lateral with small daughter tubes that begin as small coils, and binary fission that produced two daughter tubes of equal diameters. These microconchids flourished in shallow marine environments with a fauna dominated by mollusks, echinoids, and foraminifera.

The second part of the monograph of the silicified brachiopod fauna from the Muhua Formation concludes with the descriptions of 36 species belonging to 32 genera and 22 families. Eighteen species are reported in open nomenclature. Two new rhynchonellide species are described: Coledium bruntoni sp. nov. and Pleuropugnoides calcaris sp. nov. The described brachiopod fauna is dominated by spiriferides (16 species), rhynchonellides (9 species), and athyridides (7 species), while spiriferinides and terebratulides are represented by 1 and 3 species, respectively. The brachiopod fauna from the Muhua Formation is characterised by remarkably high species diversity. Together with those species described in the first part of the monograph the fauna includes 69 species. The study of the brachiopod faunal dynamics during the late Famennian—late Tournaisian in southern China reveals that after a decline in the generic diversity at the Devonian—Carboniferous boundary (D—C boundary event), the Early Tournaisian brachiopod fauna shows slight impoverishment. In the middle Tournaisian the brachiopod fauna from South China shows an explosive increase in diversity on generic level which is well exemplified by the material from Muhua. The brachiopod fauna from the Muhua Formation represents a fully recovered high diversity fauna consisting of forms representing a wide spectrum of attachment strategies as well as highly specialised forms (e.g., micromorphs) adapted to special kinds of ecological niches. Numerous evidence of the biotic interaction between brachiopods and other co-occurring fauna have been revealed in the material from Muhua. These are drill holes of predatory origin, borings made on dead shells as post-mortem infestation, shell damages and malformations, and parasitic infestations.

An updated reconstruction of the body plan, functional morphology and lifestyle of the arthropod Isoxys curvirostratus is proposed, based on new fossil specimens with preserved soft anatomy found in several localities of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte. The animal was 2–4 cm long and mostly encased in a single carapace which is folded dorsally without an articulated hinge. The attachment of the body to the exoskeleton was probably cephalic and apparently lacked any well-developed adductor muscle system. Large stalked eyes with the eye sphere consisting of two layers (as corneal and rhabdomeric structures) protrude beyond the anterior margin of the carapace. This feature, together with a pair of frontal appendages with five podomeres that each bear a stout spiny outgrowth, suggests it was raptorial. The following 14 pairs of limbs are biramous and uniform in shape. The slim endopod is composed of more than 7 podomeres without terminal claw and the paddle shaped exopod is fringed with at least 17 imbricated gill lamellae along its posterior margin. The design of exopod in association with the inner vascular (respiratory) surface of the carapace indicates I. curvirostratus was an active swimmer. Morphological comparisons demonstrate that species of Isoxys were diverse in feeding habits and occupied a very broad morphospace, i.e., carapace bivalved or a single shield, the pre-oral limbs antenniform or modified into great appendages, the succeeding endopods slim or stout. This casts doubt on the current taxonomy that assigns all species to a single genus, and on any presumed lifestyle of Isoxys extrapolated to the generic level. Finally, since I. curvirostratus and I. acutangulus carry a pair of great appendages, Isoxys has recently been placed into the great appendage arthropods. Such placement might be inadequate because the homology of the great appendages can not be established.

We present the first record of a euenantiornithine bird from Romania. A small collection of fossil remains from the Maastrichtian add to the known distribution of large euenantiornithines and descriptions of birds from the Haţeg Basin augment the known vertebrate fauna from this famous region of Transylvania. The new specimens referred here to an indeterminate taxon of euenantiornithine further demonstrate that the larger members of this diverse Cretaceous lineage were globally distributed, as many birds are today.

Reports of pathological ichthyosaur fossils are very rare. The identification of a series of healed cuts and an associated gouge on the lower jaw of an adult (ca. 5 metres body length) Platypterygius specimen from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia is therefore significant, because it constitutes direct evidence of bite force trauma sustained during the life of the animal. Based on the close spacing and non-lethal facial positioning of the wounds, they were probably not inflicted by a predator. Alternative explanations might include an accidental aggressive encounter with another large vertebrate, or perhaps an intraspecific interaction such as during courtship or combat over food, mates, or territory.

Kempyninae are a subfamily of osmylid lacewings whose extant representatives are restricted to the austral continents. Three new osmylids, Jurakempynus sinensis gen. et sp. nov., J. bellatulus gen. et sp. nov., and J. epunctatus gen. et sp. nov. are described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. The new genus Jurakempynus is assigned to the subfamily Kempyninae constituting its oldest known occurrence. It is allied to the Australian genus Kempynus, sharing two synapomorphies: extremely expanded MP space and distally forked MP₂ in the hindwing. The occurrence of Jurakempynus gen. nov. in China (Northern Hemisphere) implies a much wider geographic range of the Mesozoic osmylid lacewings in comparison to their modern counterparts.

Isolated sclerites of the genus Wiwaxia are reported from shale interlayers in lower levels of middle Cambrian (unnamed 3^rd Series of Cambrian) Buchava Formation in the Skryje-Týřovice Basin in the Czech Republic interpreted as shallow-water sediments. Geographic distribution of Wiwaxia indicates latitudinal control as all occurrences are obviously restricted to tropical belt.