A second species of the microchoerine omomyid genus Melaneremia, M. schrevei sp. nov. is described. It has been collected from the upper shelly clay unit of the Woolwich Formation, earliest Ypresian, Eocene, of Croydon, Greater London, UK. Phylogenetic analysis shows M. schrevei to be the most primitive member of the main clade of the Microchoerinae and demonstrates the initial dental evolution that separated this European subfamily from other omomyids. Calibration of the Woolwich upper shelly clay unit to the later part of the Paleocene—Eocene Thermal Maximum shows that speciation leading to the Microchoerinae took place within 170 ky of the beginning of the Eocene. Tentative identification of M. schrevei in the Conglomérat de Meudon of the Paris Basin suggests close time correlation with the upper part of the Woolwich Formation.

The living tapir Tapirus terrestris is widely distributed in Venezuela, occurring mainly south of the Orinoco, while being absent from arid, high Andean and insular areas. Here, we describe new material of fossil tapirs from two Pleistocene localities of Venezuela: Zumbador Cave and El Breal de Orocual. Based on its size and morphology, the material from Zumbador Cave (skull, mandible and postcrania) is assigned to the extant T. terrestris, and represents the most northwestern fossil record of this species in South America. By contrast, the remains from the tar seep of El Breal de Orocual are more gracile, and differ from T. terrestris and other fossil and living species from South America in the presence of a metastylid on the lower cheek teeth. We tentatively assign the latter remains to Tapirus sp., based on juvenile and isolated dentary material. However, the possibility that these specimens may represent a new species or an immigrant from North America cannot be completely excluded.

Several recent studies have clarified the link between microwear features and diet among living carnivorans, but it is still unclear whether previously interpreted evolutionary trends for dietary specialization, based on examination of enamel microstructure, are consistent with such insights from microwear analysis. This study examined the relationship between microwear and microstructure features using a sample of fossil hyaenids and canids. Hunter-Schreger Bands (HSB) and microwear features were examined at the same magnification level using optical stereomicroscopy. Multiple trials conducted on each specimen showed higher variance of smaller (<0.03 mm) microwear features compared to large (>0.03 mm) features. The number of pits was positively correlated with more derived HSB in both p4 and m1; fossil teeth with derived HSB possessed microwear features similar to patterns found in modern spotted hyenas. Microscopic scratches were not as closely associated with HSB patterns, but large scratches were more tightly linked to HSB than smaller ones on p4. An examination of evolutionary trends in HSB specialization in the two carnivoran lineages showed that derived HSB patterns evolved prior to the highly robust craniodental characteristics typical of later bone-cracking ecomorphologies. Therefore, the increase of hard food in the diet of less specialized hyaenids and canids was accompanied by a mosaic mode of evolution, with microstructural changes preceding key macrostructural morphological adaptations.

Hyaenids reached their peak diversity during the Mio-Pliocene, when an array of carnivorous species emerged alongside dwindling civet-like and mongoose-like insectivorous/omnivorous taxa. Significantly, bone-cracking morphological adaptations were poorly developed in these newly-emerged species. This, their general canid-like morphology, and the absence/rarity of canids in Eurasia and Africa at the time, has led researchers to hypothesise that these carnivorous Mio-Pliocene hyaenas were ecological vicars to modern canids. To shed further light on their diets and foraging strategies, we examine and compare the dental microwear textures of Hyaenictitherium namaquensis, Ikelohyaena abronia, Chasmaporthetes australls, and Hyaenictis hendeyi from the South African Mio-Pliocene site of Langebaanweg with those of the extant feliforms Crocuta crocuta, Acinonyx jubatus, and Panthera leo (caniforms are not included because homologous wear facets are not directly comparable between the suborders). Sample sizes for individual fossil species are small, which limits confidence in assessments of variation between the extinct taxa; however, these Mio-Pliocene hyaenas exhibit surface complexity and textural fill volume values that are considerably lower than those exhibited by the living hyaena, Crocuta crocuta. Dental microwear texture analysis thus supports interpretations of craniodental evidence suggesting low bone consumption in carnivorous Mio-Pliocene hyaenas.

Pleistocene camels from Mexico include representatives of llamas and camels. Their record spans from the Early Blancan to the Late Pleistocene, based on several localities in the northern, northwestern and central parts of the country, with members of the genus Hemiauchenia being particularly well represented. New specimens of a small llama, collected in the state of Hidalgo, central Mexico, are assigned to Hemiauchenia gracilis owing to a combination of cranial and postcranial characters, including a short upper premolar-molar series, the presence of a two-rooted P3, molars covered by a thin layer of cementum, U-shaped molar crescents, well-developed styles and ribs, a small degree of crenulation, a relatively short lower tooth row, the lack of p1 and p3, weakly developed anteroexternal stylids, a shallow and slender mandible, and long and slender metatarsals and phalanges. The material described here extends the Pleistocene geographic distribution of H. gracilis from northern to central Mexico, and its biochronological range from the Early Blancan to the Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean), thus making it the southernmost record and the geochronologically youngest occurrence of this species in North America. The mesowear pattern of the material from Hidalgo suggests that these animals were mainly browsers. Their estimated body mass resembles that of Blancan specimens from Guanajuato, implying that this species maintained approximately the same body mass throughout its biochronological range in central Mexico.

From a skull and mandible, we describe a new genus and species of a primitive insectivore (Mammalia: Insectivora: Leptictida: Leptictidae). Its large body size and higher-crowned teeth indicate a different feeding ecology from other leptictid insectivores. With evidence of some heavy, flat wear on the molariform teeth, its shift in diet was likely to greater herbivory. Unlike the narrow snout of Blacktops, this new leptictid retains a broad snout, suggesting that small vertebrates were still important dietary components. The specimen was collected from the floodplain deposits of the lower or middle White River Group of South Dakota, which represent the latest Eocene to earliest Oligocene (Chadronian and Orellan North American Land Mammal “Ages”).

We describe a new avian taxon (Sanshuiornis zhangi gen. et sp. nov.) from Middle Eocene black oil shales in the Huayong Formation of Guangdong Province, south China. The specimen consists of a distal tibiotarsus and a complete foot with tarsometatarsus and pedal digits in articulation. A preliminary phylogenetic analysis does not resolve the affinities of the fossil, but the bones show resemblances to some “ciconiiform” birds. The peculiar hypotarsus morphology, which is block-like and exhibits four cristae, resembles that of the early Eocene Rhynchaeites, which is a stem group representative of the Threskiornithidae. The new Chinese fossil has, however, proportionally longer legs than Rhynchaeites and its phylogenetic affinities probably cannot be resolved without further material.

The holotype of Olorotitan arharensis from the Maastrichtian Udurchukan Formation in Kundur, Far Eastern Russia, is the most complete dinosaur discovered in Russia and one of the best preserved lambeosaurines outside western North America. This taxon is diagnosed by following autapomorphies: large helmet-like hollow crest higher than the rest of the skull and extending caudally well beyond the level of the occiput; very high postorbital process of jugal (ratio height of postorbital process/length of jugal = 1); rostral portion of the jugal shorter than in other lambeosaurines, with a perfectly straight rostral margin; very asymmetrical maxilla in lateral view, with ventral margin distinctly downturned; very elongated neck composed of 18 cervical vertebrae; tibia as high as the femur; shorter cnemial crest, about one fifth of tibia length. A phylogenetic analysis, based on 118 cranial, dental, and postcranial characters, indicates that Olorotitan is a member of the Corythosaurini clade, and is the sister taxon of Corythosaurus casuarius, Hypacrosaurus stebingeri, and Hypacrosaurus altispinus. The high diversity and mosaic distribution of Maastrichtian hadrosaurid faunas in the Amur-Heilongjiang region are the result of a complex palaeogeographical history and imply that many independent hadrosaurid lineages dispersed readily between western America and eastern Asia at the end of the Cretaceous.

The Cretaceous rocks of the Prince Creek Formation contain the richest record of polar dinosaurs found anywhere in the world. Here we describe a new species of horned dinosaur, Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum that exhibits an apomorphic character in the frill, as well as a unique combination of other characters. Phylogenetic analysis of 16 taxa of ceratopsians failed to resolve relationships between P. perotorum and other Pachyrhinosaurus species (P. canadensis and P. lakustai). P. perotorum shares characters with each of the previously known species that are not present in the other, including very large nasal and supraorbital bosses that are nearly in contact and separated only by a narrow groove as in P. canadensis, and a rostral comb formed by the nasals and premaxillae as in P. lakustai. P. perotorum is the youngest centrosaurine known (70–69 Ma), and the locality that produced the taxon, the Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry, is close to the highest latitude for recovery of ceratopsid remains.

Chitracephalus dumonii was named based on some of the most complete turtle remains from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe, and yet the taxon has barely been mentioned since. Indeed, new specimens were erroneously attributed to a new taxon, ldquo;Salasemys pulcherrima”. The synonymy is recognized here, and this extends the geographical range of this turtle and provides examples of individuals at different stages of ontogenetic development. The peculiar structure of its shell, and its ontogenetic development, are unique to this taxon. The systematic position of C. dumonii was previously unclear, usually being referred to Testudinata incertae sedis. Here, it is placed in a cladistic analysis, which shows that C. dumonii, and the recently described Hoyasemys jimenezi form part of a Lower Cretaceous European clade of Cryptodira that includes “macrobaenid”, “sinemydid”, and panchelonioidean turtles.

The paper focuses on patterns of the evolution of the simplest and longest-ranging (approximately 18 Ma) Silurian graptolite Pristiograptus dubius. The Pristiograptus dubius species group consists of the P. dubius stem lineage represented by a sequence of a number of subspecies displaying only small morphological changes as well as derivative species produced from the stem lineage by means of iterative speciation. This long raging graptolite lineage is the only one, apart of one retiolitid, which survived the most severe environmental event for graptolites, the Cyrtograptus lundgreni Event. Based on three-dimensional, isolated material two P. dubius groups taxa are distinguished. One group has an obtuse angle between the thecal lip and the succeeding thecal wall, the second group has a right or acute angle. Other characters differentiating P. dubius forms are: the shape of the apertural lips, differences in rhabdosome shape and size, and a different number of sicular rings. Sixteen species and subspecies of Pristiograptus from the East European Platform, Poland and Lithuania are discussed. Five new subspecies P. dubius magnus, P. dubius paezerensis, P. dubius praelodenicensis, P. dubius postfrequens; and P. dubius postmagnus are proposed.

The Silurian crinoids of Estonia are re-evaluated based on new collections and museum holdings. Nineteen species-level crinoid taxa are now recognized. All crinoid names applied to Estonian Silurian crinoids during the middle 19^th century are disregarded. Especially significant is the fauna reported herein from the Pridoli because coeval crinoids are very poorly known from the Baltic region and elsewhere. One new genus and four new species are described from Estonia, namely Calceocrinus balticensis sp. nov., Desmidocrinus laevigatus sp. nov., Eucalyptocrinites tumidus sp. nov., and Saaremaacrinus estoniensis gen. et sp. nov.

To achieve a better understanding of predation pattern recorded in the fossil record it is essential to study predator-prey interactions in the modern seas. It includes the data collected from the field observations as well as from the experiments in captivity. Such an approach allows recognition of the bioeroders, its description and also provides quantification of these interactions. This work offers a case study of the traces of predation resulting from the predator-prey interactions between three mussels: Mytilus chilensis, Brachidontes purpuratus, and Aulacomya atra; and their five natural enemies: the gastropods Trophon geversianus, Xymenopsis muriciformis, and Acanthina monodon, and the asteroids Cosmasterias lurida and Anasterias antarctica living along the intertidal and/or subtidal rocky shores in Tierra del Fuego. The predatory damage to mussel shells varies according to the predator and prey species and techniques for attacking prey are highly specialized. A. monodon drills a hole in B. purpuratus but uses the outer lip of its shell as a wedge to open the valves of M. chilensis and A. atra. T. geversianus always makes holes, but while it drills the valve walls of M. chilensis, it prefers to drill the valve edges of A. atra and B. purpuratus, with different characteristic patterns. Usually the shells of mussels killed by C. lurida do not suffer from any mechanical damage, but some other shells were crushed or fractured along the margins. Comparatively, time required to successfully attack a prey was shorter in C. lurida (24 hours), followed by A. monodon (36 hours), and longer in T. geversianus (9 to 10 days). Traces of predation are not randomly distributed across size classes of mussel prey, reflecting selectivity for a particular size class. Also, drill holes are usually placed at specific sectors of the shell, indicating site selectivity. These observations offer some paleontological implications for investigating the pattern of predation in fossil record. They show that different patterns of shell damage can be due to different predator species (e.g., wall vs. edge drillings), although the same predator species can leave different marks when consuming different prey (e.g., T. geversianus). Most disconcerting for paleontologists are cases of predation which do not leave any marks on the prey shell detectable in the fossil record (e.g., predation by asteroids), or leave ambiguous marks (A. monodon when preying with the spine). In conclusion, besides the opportunity to identify some traces of predation by drilling gastropods in fossil mussels, this work gives criteria to address predation in some particular paleontological cases that would otherwise be dismissed by researchers.

Strata with cyanobacterial-sponge buildups of Middle to Late Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) age in the southern Polish Uplands document the earliest known members of the Pylochelidae. Two new Late Jurassic species of “symmetrical” hermit crabs, Ammopylocheles robertboreki and Jurapylocheles iwonae, are described. A new term, the massetic region, is introduced to describe the equivalent in paguroids of the hepatic region in brachyuran carapaces, because in the former, this region does not reflect the position of the liver but rather an attachment zone of the mandibular muscles.

A new species of diogenid paguroid, Eopaguropsis nidiaquilae, the earliest known member of the family to date, is recorded from sponge-reefal strata of Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) age in the southern Polish Uplands. Morphological features of the carapace suggest that the family Diogenidae diverged from other paguroid lineages such as the Pylochelidae and Parapaguridae, long before the Oxfordian Stage (161.2–155.7 Ma). The typically deep, V-shaped cervical groove of diogenids most likely was the product of fusion of the branchiocardiac and cervical grooves of their predecessors.

We report an isolated frontal of a large-bodied theropod from the Cenomanian “Kern Kern beds” of Morocco with an unusual morphology that we refer to a new carcharodontosaurid distinct from the sympatric Carcharodontosaurus. The specimen shows an unique combination of plesiomorphic and potentially autapomorphic features: very thick and broad bone with a complex saddle-shaped dorsal surface, and a narrow vertical lamina between the prefrontal and lacrimal facets. This study supports the hypothesis that a fourth large theropod was present in the Cenomanian of Morocco together with Carcharodontosaurus, Deltadromeus, and Spinosaurus.

Fossil remains of the extinct boine snake Bavarioboa, thus far known exclusively from several localities of western and central Europe, are reported for the first time outside Europe. The new fossil record is from the Mendikdere Formation in easternmost Turkey, dated Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. The finding provides strong evidence of links connecting ophidian faunas of Europe and southwestern Asia in the past, and confirms the supposition that Anatolia may have had close terrestrial connections with Europe around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary.