The historical biogeography of the lizard clade Iguanidae is complicated. In addition to difficulties within the New World, where most of the more than 900 living species are found, two extant iguanid clades, Brachylophus and Oplurinae, occur well outside it. Moreover, there is a small set of Eocene species in Europe, most notably those placed in the genus Geiseltaliellus. To examine the relevance of Geiseltaliellus to iguanid biogeography, I redescribe several well-preserved specimens (nearly complete skeletons with epidermal scales) from the middle Eocene lake deposits of Messel, Germany. These specimens were previously referred to the type species, G. longicaudus, but comparison with the type material reveals differences that warrant specific distinction. Messel Geiseltaliellus resembles extant Basiliscus in squamation and parietal growth. Phylogenetic analysis of morphological data using Bayesian and parsimony methods suggests the following about the evolution of pleurodont iguanians: (1) Iguanidae is monophyletic, its members united by unique features of the snout; (2) Iguanidae is divided into two major clades, one consisting of Polychrotinae* Corytophaninae, Iguaninae Hoplocercinae and Crotaphytinae (Clade A), the other of Phrynosomatinae, Tropidurinae* and Oplurinae (Clade B); (3) Polychrotinae* and Corytophaninae are sister taxa; and (4) Geiseltaliellus is on the stem of Corytophaninae. The presence of Geiseltaliellus in Europe during the warm, humid Eocene suggests dispersal from North America and a more northerly distribution of the corytophanine stem than the crown. Geiseltaliellus represents a separate invasion by Iguanidae of the Old World and an evolutionary dead end. On the basis of its fossil record and modern distribution, Clade A is interpreted as ancestrally North American. Persistent conflict of morphological with molecular genetic data on iguanid relationships remains to be resolved.

The many fossil turtle remains collected by Princeton University throughout the 1950s and 1960s from Paleocene sediments in Montana and Wyoming include two new species of plastomenine softshell turtles (Trionychidae) that are referred to Hutchemys gen. nov., which corresponds to the previously used informal taxon “Plastomenine Type A.” Hutchemys is unique among trionychids in having a broadly rounded entoplastron that is underlain by a large rectangular callosity and fully immobilized through lateral processes of the hyoplastra. Hutchemys rememdium sp. nov. is documented by specimens from the Torrejonian of Montana and the Tiffanian of Wyoming, whereas Hutchemys arctochelys sp. nov. is only known from a collection of shells from a single Clarkforkian locality in Montana. The holotype of a third taxon, Aspideretes nassau Hay 1908, is diagnostic for Hutchemys, but cannot be diagnosed to the species level and is thus considered a nomen dubium. A phylogenetic analysis places the new species in a clade that is sister to Plastomenus aff. thomasii along the phylogenetic stem of Cydanorbinae, thus tentatively confirming monophyly of Plastomeninae and a close relationship to cyclanorbines. However, given that many supposedly diagnostic postcranial characters of Plastomeninae are often found among trionychines as well, in particular characters pertaining to the extensively ossified plastron, we suggest that a wide and rounded entoplastron is a more useful character in diagnosing this clade. Representatives of Hutchemys seem to have preferred swampy habitats and their shell converges on that of testudinoid or pleurodiran pond turtles in the degree of ossification and the presence of an anterior plastral hinge.

Recent investigations of darter phylogeny have been based almost entirely on analyses of DNA sequence data. External morphological characters have, at times, been used to infer phylogenetic relationships among species in specific darter clades, but these types of characters are most often used in the discovery and description of darter species. Datasets that comprise more than a dozen discretely coded characters from osteology and myology are surprisingly absent from the investigation of darter phylogeny. It is unknown whether phylogenetic analyses of discretely coded morphological characters can result in resolved hypotheses of darter phylogeny, and whether these inferences would agree with those resulting from phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data. This study uses a dataset of 135 discretely coded morphological characters scored for 83 darter species originally presented in an unpublished doctoral dissertation. The phylogenetic utility of this morphological dataset was investigated with both maximum parsimony and a model-based Bayesian method. The phylogenies resulting from these analyses had limited phylogenetic resolution, with limited bootstrap pseudoreplicate and Bayesian posterior probability support for inferred nodes. Aspects of the morphological phylogenies were in agreement with previous analyses using DNA sequence data. Many darter taxonomic groups (e.g., subgenera) sampled with more than one species were not monophyletic in the resulting parsimony and Bayesian inferred phylogenies, including Percina, Belophlox, Hololepis, Catonotus and Oligocephalus. On the other hand, Ozarka, Microperca and Nothonotus were monophyletic in both analyses. In the context of these results, we conclude that morphological data have limited utility in resolving the phylogenetic relationships of darters; however, the phylogenies inferred using this dataset could highlight problematic areas of the darter phylogeny and may offer results that contrast with trees inferred in molecular phylogenetic analyses. Discretely coded morphological characters could find their greatest value in advancing the investigation of darter phylogeny when used in combination with DNA sequence data sampled from mitochondrial and nuclear genes.

Despite more than 150 years of research, to date a concise summary of the spatial distribution of Connecticut's freshwater fish fauna is lacking. Here we compile the spatial data assigned to more than a century's worth of collection efforts. Our survey summarizes specimen data previously deposited within 10 museums, comprising a total of 1305 specimen lots for 84 species. We assigned each lot to the township where it was collected, the first detailed summary of the distribution of Connecticut's freshwater fishes, with the ultimate goal of providing a framework for further local studies of freshwater fish conservation biology, ecology, evolution and management. Our records also reveal several populations not yet documented, including previously overlooked stickleback records that could have broader evolutionary implications.

We describe a commensal relationship between small (approximately 6 to 9 cm) deep-sea cusk eels, one tentatively identified as Barathrites sp. (Osteichthyes: Ophidiidae), and pancake urchins, both Hygrosoma petersi and Phorosoma placenta (Echinodermata: Echinothuriidae). These interactions were observed in situ using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), deployed at depths of 1410 to 1775 m on three seamounts in the western North Atlantic (Bear and Rehoboth seamounts in the New England Seamounts and Yakutat Seamount in the Corner Rise Seamounts). Full motion video and still frames documented individual cusk eels associated with urchins in open fine-grained sediment and coral rubble habitats. Cusk eels foraged around the periphery of urchins and took refuge at the base and among the long spines on the aboral surface. We suggest that such associations provide juvenile cusk eels with shelter from predators or flow (or both) and access to prey far from other forms of refugia.

In north Florida and Georgia, gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) were originally reported courting from April to June, laying eggs from May to June, and producing hatchlings in August and September. We report on seasonality, courtship, nesting and hatchlings at a site in South Florida. Courtship behavior occurred in every month of the year and mounting was observed in summer, fall and winter. Very young tortoises of sizes close to hatching were encountered throughout the year. Freshly depredated nests were found in fall and winter. This suggests that the reproductive season may be more extended in the southern end of this species' geographic range.