Two partial “macrobaenid” shells are described from a single Late Paleocene (Clarkforkian 1) quarry at Burns Mine near Washoe, Carbon County, Montana, USA, and are referred to “Clemmys” backmani, a taxon typified in the Paleocene Ravenscrag Formation of Saskatchewan, Canada. Though tentative, morphological, temporal and spatial arguments highlight similarities between “Clemmys” backmani and the Campanian taxon Judithemys sukhanovi, and we therefore suggest the new combination Judithemys backmani. Judithemys sukhanovi and Judithemys backmani both originate from the eastern margins of the western landmass Laramidia and exhibit a pronounced ridge along the visceral side of the first costal and C-shaped bridge peripherals into which the flat thoracic ribs insert superficially, characters that must be interpreted as symplesiomorphies. By contrast, the coeval taxon Osteopygis emarginatus originates from the eastern shores of the eastern landmass Appalachia, lacks the visceral ridge of the first costal, and possesses massive, triangular peripherals into which the peglike thoracic ribs insert deeply.

Molecular phylogenetic studies of Garcinia have identified a large clade whose component species can be identified by flowers that have nectariferous antesepalous appendages or intrastaminal rings and disks. One current hypothesis is that within Clusiaceae these structures represent an outer whorl of stamens, but the position of these structures in some mature flowers of Garcinia does not support this. To better understand the nature of these structures in Garcinia, the floral anatomy of mature staminate and pistillate flowers was studied in G. nervosa and G. xanthochymus. These detailed anatomical studies do not support the hypothesis that the nectariferous appendages or the rings and disks are of staminal origin, because they do not share any unique features with the stamens of staminate flowers or the staminodes of pistillate flowers. Disks in staminate flowers are supplied by several traces that arise directly from the floral stele, while the stamen bundles are supplied by a single trace arising from a petal-stamen bundle. The antesepalous appendages in pistillate flowers receive traces from the floral stele and from the antepetalous staminodes, while the antepetalous staminodes receive their vascularization directly from the stele.

During a survey of the commensal barnacles of nesting and foraging sea turtles from the coastal waters of Florida and Georgia, USA, an undescribed species of platylepadid coronuloid barnacle was encountered, embedded within the carapace and plastron regions of host turtles. This new genus and species is described herein as Calyptolepas bjorndalae gen. et sp. nov. and is compared with other members of the family Platylepadidae. While similar in some respects to members of currently recognized platylepadid subfamilies, particularly Cylindrolepas darwiniana Pilsbry (Cylindrolepadinae Ross and Frick) and Platylepas decorata Darwin (Platylepadidae Newman and Ross), this new species bears an amalgamation of characters from these two subfamilies that require it to be placed into a new subfamily, Calyptolepadinae subfam. nov., also described herein.

The Yale University Prehistoric Expedition to Nubia collected zoological specimens and archeological artifacts from Egypt and the surrounding region from 1962 to 1965. A total of 2486 herpetological specimens were collected during this time, representing 51 species and 13 families. Among the herpetological specimens is a series of 1232 Chalcides ocellatus and a recently described species of spitting cobra (Naja nubiae). Because most of the collection sites are now under Lake Nasser, most specimens represent extirpated populations. Some specimens are of taxa now considered endangered species in Egypt. Although the primary purpose of the YUPEN expedition was to preserve the rich anthropological history south of Aswan, the herpetological specimens that were preserved provide a valuable temporal snapshot into the historical ecosystems that were present in Lower Egypt.