Detailed analysis of c. 900 trilobite specimens from the Cambrian Series 2 of the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland, assigned hitherto to Comluella oratrix Orłowski, 1985 and Comluella igrzycznae Orłowski, 1985, has shown that the two species constitute in fact a monospecific assemblage representing Berabichia oratrix (Orłowski, 1985). The differences pointed out in the original diagnoses are obviously caused by taphonomic processes. To test the hypothesis of a monospecific assemblage, six sagittal and exsagittal and five transverse parameters were measured and calculated for 182 best-preserved cranidia; from this dataset, 121 cranidia with the complete set of measurements were subjected to bivariate and multivariate morphometric analyses and discriminant analysis. Results of the morphometric analysis point to the significant role of tectonic deformation in the variation of the studied sample that could have led Orłowski (1985) to distinguish two separate species. Application of graphic techniques on photographs of distorted specimens lying in different directions with regard to the stress field allowed to obtain specimens statistically indistinguishable in terms of their sagittal and transverse proportions, thus confirming the tectonic overprint on the morphology of the analyzed trilobite sample.

Polymerolepis whitei Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968 was described based on isolated polyodontode scales recovered from the Ukraine, and originally was thought to be heterostracan (Agnatha). Additional scales with neck canals were described years later, and as a result, P. whitei was reclassified as a bradyodont holocephalan because it had scales similar to those of Listracanthus Newberry & Worthen, 1870. Until now, no articulated body fossils were known, and so the classification of this taxon has remained uncertain and based only on the original authors opinion. New specimens of P. whitei from the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada, show articulated scale patches from the head, with the best specimen showing part of an anal fin, caudal peduncle, and caudal fin. This new material confirms that the original account of scale variation was accurate, but also that P whitei possesses an anal fin spine, a feature that, until recently, was thought to be a synapomorphy of acanthodian fishes among Palaeozoic fishes. Several primitive chondrichthyans (Obtusacanthus Hanke & Wilson, 2004; Lupopsyroides Hanke & Wilson, 2004; Kathemacanthus Gagnier & Wilson, 1996; Seretolepis Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968a, 1968; Doliodus Traquair, 1893; Antarctilamna Young, 1982, and also problematic taxa such as Gyracanthides Woodward, 1902, and now Polymerolepis Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1968a, 1968), are known from articulated remains and show a fin-spine complement like that of acanthodian fishes. They also have placoid scales or polyodontode scales that grew by areal rather than superpositional accretion. These taxa blur the distinction that exists in historic literature between acanthodians and early chondrichthyans.

Calcareous and sandy deposits from the basal members of the Enmakaj and Pil'hikaj formations in coastal exposures along the De Long Strait in central Chukotka, Arctic far-eastern Russia, have yielded two assemblages of fossil fish comprising heterostracan plate fragments, turiniid and other thelodont scales, acanthodian scales and a partial tooth, typical of the Old Red Sandstone facies. Exceptional are acanthothoracid placoderm platelets characteristic of marine facies. In addition a sarcopterygian fragment have been found in Member 1 of the Enmakaj Formation. Some scale surfaces show an unusual, scoured preservation. A Lochkovian age, and most probably basal Lochkovian, is supported for the Enmakaj assemblage, and a somewhat later Lochkovian age is supposed for the Pil'hikaj assemblage. The palaeobiogeographic affinities of these assemblages based on the heterostracans and thelodonts are with other Lochkovian occurrences in Arctic regions such as Severnaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and the northern and north-eastern Old Red Sandstone Continent in general.

Brachiopods from the Upper Oligocene (Chattian), Aquitaine Basin, southwestern France comprise nine species in seven genera: Novocrania Lee & Brunton, 2001, Terebratulina d'Orbigny, 1847, Megathiris d'Orbigny, 1847, Argyrotheca Dall, 1900, Joania Álvarez, Brunton & Long, 2008, Megerlia King, 1850, and Lacazella Munier-Chalmas, 1880. One megathyridid is described as a new species, Joania peyrerensis n. sp., characterized by ornamentation of 6–8 distinct, sharp ribs and by triangular, plate-like teeth. With the exception of Megathiris detruncata (Gmelin, 1791) and Lacazella mediterranea (Risso, 1826), all species are recorded for the first time from the Oligocene of the Aquitaine Basin. In taxonomic composition this brachiopod fauna displays close affinity with the Miocene faunas of the Mediterranean Province and Central Paratethys. The dominance of micromorphic megathyridids and thecideides in the Peyrère assemblage, characteristic of cryptic habitats suggests the presence of submarine caves and/or crevices, thus supporting the previous interpretations of this faunistic assemblage as a cave biocenosis. Frequency of gastropod drillings observed on the investigated brachiopods is low (4%) as is in most Cenozoic brachiopod populations. The paleotemperatures calculated from the δ¹⁸O values of brachiopod shells (21 to 24°C) correspond well to a paleoenvironmental interpretation based on paleoecology of other taxonomic groups.

Accumulations of “Gigantopecten restitutensis (Fontannes, 1884) (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pectinidae) in the Upper Burdigalian age in the Menerbes and Lacoste quarries (Vaucluse, Apt Basin, SE France): analysis and explicative hypothesis.

The present study relates to the calcareous beds with accumulations of the large pectinid Gigantopecten restitutensis (Fontannes, 1884) in the Lower Miocene of the Apt Basin (Vaucluse). Analysis of the observed thanatocœnoses shows that G. restitutensis predominates in the bioclastic limestones of the Baquis quarries. On the contrary, the sea urchin Tripneustes planus (Agassiz, 1840) predominates in the Soubeyran quarry. These observations led to the hypothesis that these clusters of well-preserved fossils could result of obrution phenomena originated by earthquakes and increasing instability of sedimentary slopes generated by the uplift of the Luberon Mountain during the Upper Burdigalian.

The present article is dealing with some rhinocerotid teeth from the Middle Miocene mammal locality Chryssavgi (CHR), which is situated in the Mygdonia Basin (Macedonia, Greece). The material was incorrectly described earlier as Diceros pachygnathus (Psarianos, 1958) or Dicerorhinus orientalis (Dimopoulos, 1972) and considered as Late Miocene to Early Pliocene in age. The morphological characters of the CHR rhinocerotid and its comparison with the Eurasian ones indicate that it belongs to Brachypotherium brachypus (Lartet, 1851). The correlation of the studied material to the local stratigraphy, as well as to the micromammalian fauna, found in CHR, suggests a Late Astaracian age, MN 7 8. The presence of the taxon in CHR corresponds to first occurrence of Brachypotherium Roger, 1904 in Greece from where was previously unknown. The geographic and biostratigraphic occurrence of B. brachypus in the Eastern Mediterranean region is also discussed. The species is quite common in Turkey but rare in the Balkans, known from the localities of Ahmatovo, Bulgaria and Chryssavgi, Greece. It mainly occurs in the Late Orleanian to Astaracian of Eastern Mediterranean but there is an evidence for its Turolian presence in Ahmatovo, Bulgaria.

From the extensive fossil record of insects found in the Early Miocene of the Rubielos de Mora basin (Teruel Province, Spain) a single, well-preserved specimen of the subfamily Eucoilinae Thomson, 1862 (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Figitidae) has been identified. The palaeoentomological site of Rubielos de Mora is a Konservat-Lagerstätte constituted by lacustrine oil-shales. The specimen is the first fossil Eucoilinae from a Tertiary outcrop and it represents a new genus and species of a family (Figitidae Thomson, 1862) extremely scarce in the fossil record: Palaeogronotoma nordlanderi n. gen, n. sp. The genus belongs to Gronotoma group (Diglyphosemini Belizin, 1961 tribe) and it is closely related to the genus Gronotoma Förster, 1869, from which mainly differs in the antennal configuration, which is especially well preserved, although other diagnostic characters are studied in this paper.

Part of the problem of interpreting fossil suids has been the misplacement or loss of material described during the 19^th Century, which makes comparisons difficult because usually only occlusal views of teeth were illustrated and the illustrations, although labelled as “natural size” often differ from the real dimensions, sometimes by as much as 10%. Some of the fossils attributed by Blainville (1847) and Gervais (1850, 1859) to Sus provincialis Blainville, 1847 are preserved at the University of Montpellier II (some are mislabelled due to the fact that several of the illustrations are reversed) and one original specimen and a set of casts is preserved at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Fossils found after Gervais’ publications reveal that the deposits in the neighbourhood of Montpellier contain four species of suid, Dasychoerus arvernensis (Croizet & Jobert, 1828), Dasychoerus sp. from Kvabebi, “Sus” provincialis Blainville, 1847 and Dasychoerus strozzii (Meneghini, 1862) and that ever since Blainville's (1847) publication, as well as those of Gervais (1850, 1859) and above all the monograph of Stehlin (1899–1900) the concept of the species “Sus” provincialis has been based on a chimera of two taxa (“Sus” provincialis and Dasychoerus strozzii). In order to ensure stability of nomenclature, it is necessary to avoid nominating a lectotype that might belong either to Dasychoerus arvernensis or to Dasychoerus strozzii. For this to succeed a detailed revision of the Montpellier suids is necessary.

Turtles from the Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Morocco) and nearby Mio-Pliocene localities.

The Late Pliocene locality Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Morocco) yielded a fauna of cryptodiran testudinoid turtles, all of them related to extant African forms. Two terrestrial and one freshwater species are recognized. First, a new small species of the palaearctic genus Testudo Linnaeus, 1758, T. oughlamensis n. sp., is abundantly represented and is closely related to T. kenitrensis Gmira, 1993, from the Middle Pleistocene of Kenitra, Morocco. It is compared to other new remains of Testudo from nearby localities of similar age, including Dehar Mouak and Ar Rehamna. Together with T. kenitrensis, it constitutes a new clade within Testudo, providing a minimum age for the divergence between this clade and T. graeca Linnaeus, 1758 from Morocco. Secondly, the giant ?Centrochelys marocana n. sp., is probably related to the extant C. sulcata (Miller, 1779). Its description gives the opportunity to examine the earliest member of this genus in Morocco, from the nearby Late Miocene/Early Pliocene locality of Lissasfa. Comparisons with Miocene to extant genera of large size from Europe and northern Africa are made. The freshwater species from Ahl al Oughlam is close to the extant species Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812). It is the earliest record in Morocco of this second palaearctic genus. Thus, the fossil turtle fauna of Casablanca demonstrates the antiquity in Morocco of the three extant genera. Their geographical origin is considered.