Ernietta plateauensis Pflug, 1966 is the type species of the Erniettomorpha, an extinct clade of Ediacaran life. It was likely a gregarious, partially infaunal organism. Despite its ecological and taxonomic significance, there has not been an in-depth systematic description in the literature since the original description fell out of use. A newly discovered field site on Farm Aar in southern Namibia has yielded dozens of specimens buried in original life position. Mudstone and sandstone features associated with the fossils indicate that organisms were buried while still exposed to the water column rather than deposited in a flow event. Ernietta plateauensis was a sac-shaped erniettomorph with a body wall constructed from a double layer of tubes. It possessed an equatorial seam lying perpendicular to the tubes. The body is asymmetrical on either side of this seam. The tubes change direction along the body length and appear to be constricted together in the dorsal part of the organism.

Catenipora is one of the most common tabulate coral genera occurring in various lithofacies in the Upper Ordovician Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai in South China. A combination of traditional multivariate analysis and geometric morphometrics is applied to a large number of specimens to distinguish and identify species. Based on three major principal components extracted from 11 morphological characters, three major groups as determined by the cluster-analysis dendrogram are considered to be morphospecies. Their validity and distinctiveness are confirmed by discriminant analysis, descriptive statistics, and bivariate plots. Tabularium area and common wall thickness are the most meaningful characters to distinguish the three morphospecies. Geometric morphometrics is adopted to compare the morphospecies with types and/or figured specimens of species previously reported from the vicinity of Zhuzhai. Despite discrepancies in corallite size, principal component analysis and discriminant analysis, as well as consideration of overall morphological characteristics, indicate that the morphospecies represent C. zhejiangensis Yu in Yu et al., 1963, C. shiyangensis Lin and Chow, 1977, and C. dianbiancunensis Lin and Chow, 1977.

Catenipora occurs in seven stratigraphic intervals in the Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai, representing a variety of heterogeneous environments. The coralla preservation is variable due to differential compaction; coralla preserved in limestones are commonly intact and in growth position, whereas those in shales are mostly crushed or fragmentary. The size and shape of corallites are considered primarily to be species-specific characters, but are also related to the depositional environments. In all species, morphological characters, including corallite size, septal development, and shape and size of lacunae, show high variability in accordance with lithofacies and stratigraphic position. The intraspecific differences in corallite size at various localities in the Zhuzhai area may indicate responses to local environmental factors, but may also reflect genetic differences if there was limited connection among populations.

A new monospecific “caninioid” genus, Preisingerella n. gen., from the lower Permian of the Karavanke Mountains (Southern Alps, Slovenia) is erected. The type species is Preisingerella stegovnikensis n. sp. The new taxon can be differentiated from other Caninia-type genera by its specific ontogeny and features of its dissepimentarium. Corals with such morphology had a wide distribution during the Carboniferous and early Permian, occurring in mostly shallow-water carbonate rocks. The phylogenetic relationships within this group are mostly unclear due to similarities in the adult stages. The earlier stages reveal the main distinguishing features that are decisive for a generic assignment, but these have rarely been well preserved and properly considered. The new taxon is compared with related genera of the Cyathopsidae and species of Caninella Gorskiy, 1938 characterized by lateral dissepiments. Large numbers of specimens of the new species, representing a monospecific assemblage, have been collected from the Born Formation at Mt. Stegovnik. Sedimentological and microfacies characteristics, as well as macro- and microfossil assemblages, underline this correlation. The fusulinoidean assemblage of the Born Formation, with Sphaeroschwagerina carniolica (Kahler and Kahler, 1937), as the predominant species, corresponds to the time span between the Sphaeroschwagerina moelleri-Schwagerina fecunda and Pseudofusulina moelleri zones, indicating a late Asselian to early Sakmarian age in the Southern Urals.

Middle Ordovician lingulacean, trematid, and craniid brachiopods are described and illustrated for the first time from the uppermost part of San Juan Formation limestones of the Precordillera Basin, west-central Argentina. Sampled beds fall within the Ahtiella argentina brachiopod Zone, which, according to associated conodonts, is of early-mid Darriwilian age. The fauna consists of the linguloideans Glossella cuyanica n. sp. and Lingulasma? sp., the discinoidean Trematis sp., the siphonotretid Chilcatreta tubulata n. gen. n. sp., and a conical shell that is referred provisionally to the order Craniida. The linguliforms from the Cuyania (Precordillera) terrane, although still poorly known, display close similarities to those inhabiting low-to-intermediate latitude palaeocontinents, particularly Laurentia and Baltica, in accordance with evidence from rhynchonelliform brachiopods.

The order Spiriferinida represented a significant group whose extinction is linked to the early Toarcian mass extinction event. The genus Cisnerospira Manceñido, 2004, conspicuous representative of this group in the Early Jurassic of the western Tethys, is analyzed from a systematic standpoint, grounded mainly on evidence from the Subbetic domain, and its initial diagnosis is revised accordingly. A definitive suprageneric position within the subfamily Paralaballinae is formally proposed in the light of new data herein provided. Both external and internal diagnostic features and the generic and intraspecific variability are described through the analysis of the Cisnerospira species recorded in the easternmost Subbetic area, i.e., Cisnerospira adscendens (Deslongchamps, 1858), C. aff. adscendens, C. angulata (Oppel, 1861), and C.? sylvia (Gemmellaro, 1882). In addition, their interrelation with other records from several Tethyan basins is addressed, and the generic spectrum has been extended to include several species with high morphological affinity. This characterization thus contributes to clarify certain ambiguities in the systematics of the spiriferinids, which entails a complex taxonomy mainly based on the external features, where the ribbing pattern was given foremost classificatory value due to the lack of more reliable generic diagnostic criteria. Furthemore, a morphofunctional analysis performed in Cisnerospira reveals a presumable epibenthonic libero-sessile way of life, and two alternative adaptive strategies are discussed: resting on and/or sticking in substrates with different degree of consolidation, providing a significant hydrodynamic stability to the shell.

Some Silurian-Devonian Argentinian trilobites characterized by infaunal behavior during molting are considered. After a taxonomic reappraisal, a species previously referred to a lineage of the phacopid Paciphacops is proposed as Echidnops taphomimus new species, from the Lower Devonian (probably late Lochkovian) of the Talacasto Formation, Argentine Precordillera. The visual surface of E. taphomimus indicates that a irregular pattern of lens arrangement, typical of early phacopids such as the Ordovician Ormathops, can also be recognized in more derived Devonian relatives, providing new insights on some evolutionary aspects of visual development. Echidnops is recognized in Australia and Argentina, recording an unusual distribution pattern in trilobites from the Lower Devonian of southern South America, otherwise mostly linked to faunas of related Gondwanan, austral circum-polar Devonian basins of the Malvinokaffric Realm. In accordance with proposed increasing predation pressure in the context of the Mid Paleozoic Marine Revolution, evidence indicates that the infaunal molting behavior, as defensive strategy, arose in several trilobite groups during Silurian-Devonian times, rather than in a single endemic lineage of Paciphacops species.

A large assemblage of small specimens of Tridactylastacus sinensis Feldmann, Schweitzer, and Zhang in Feldmann et al., 2012, from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Luoping Biota, Yunnan Province, China, permitted cladistic analysis confirming their placement within Litogastridae in the superfamily Glypheoidea. Orientation of 86 specimens closely spaced on a single slab from one bedding surface revealed a preferred orientation suggestive of mild current activity. The specimens were interpreted to have been victims of a mass kill, possibly an algal bloom, within the water column.

Two new Raninoida crabs from the Cretaceous of Texas are described, Planocorystes robreidi new genus new species, and Texicancer new genus to accommodate Necrocarcinus renfroae. All the previously described raninoid-like decapods from the Pawpaw Formation have been reassigned according to Karasawa et al. (2014). Cretaceous raninoid-like crabs are the dominant taxa amongst the fossil decapods found in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, with hundreds of specimens collected. All of these fossils have been collected from limonitic nodules, and most of them present a good degree of preservation, with articulated pereiopods, pleons, venter and in rare occasions even the gills. The decapod fauna of the Pawpaw Formation represents a diverse population, with a large number of taxa in high abundance. One specimen of P. robreidi appears to exhibit a lethal bite mark.

Based on a single right cheliped from the Cape de Naze Formation (middle-upper Maastrichtian), Senegal, a new genus and species of hermit crab with capsulated setae is described. Paracapsulapagurus poponguinensis n. gen. n. sp. is characterized by platy, scale-like, non-spinose tubercles with setae arranged in curved rows. This is only the third record of a fossil hermit crab with capsulated setae. These are documented in detail using SEM-imaging. For the first time, capsulated setae are also figured for the Early Jurassic hermit crab Schobertella.

Rhuddanian crinoid faunas are poorly known globally, making this new fauna from the Hilliste Formation of western Estonian especially significant. The Hilliste fauna is the oldest Silurian fauna known from the Baltica paleocontinent, thus this is the first example of the crinoid recovery fauna after the Late Ordovician mass extinction. Hiiumaacrinus vinni n. gen. n. sp., Protaxocrinus estoniensis n. sp., Eomyelodactylus sp., calceocrinids, and five holdfast types are reported here. Although the fauna has relatively few taxa, it is among the most diverse Rhuddanian faunas known. Similar to other Rhuddanian crinoid faunas elsewhere, the Hilliste crinoid fauna contains crinoids belonging the Dimerocrinitidae, Taxocrinidae, Calceocrinidae, and Myelodactylidae; most elements of the new fauna are quite small, perhaps indicative of the Lilliput Effect.

The Actinocrinitidae were among the most abundant crinoids worldwide during the Lower Mississippian. Recent systematic revisions of the family allow a revised genus- and species-level understanding of these crinoids globally and a more precise means by which to understand the temporal and facies distribution of genera and species in this important Mississippian family. Two genera with a total of five species of Actinocrinitidae (and five additional forms left in open nomenclature) are recognized from the Fort Payne Formation, including Actinocrinites jugosus (Hall, 1859), Actinocrinites spp. indeterminate, Thinocrinus gibsoni (Miller and Gurley, 1893), Thinocrinus lowei (Hall, 1858), Thinocrinus probolos (Ausich and Kammer, 1991), Thinocrinus akanthos new species, Thinocrinus sp. aff. T. gibsoni, Thinocrinus spp. indeterminate, and two taxa recognized as only Actinocrinitidae genus and species indeterminate. Actinocrinites tripus Ehlers and Kesling, 1963 is recognized as a junior synonym of Thinocrinus gibsoni. Thinocrinus, rather than Actinocrinites as previously thought, is the dominant Fort Payne Formation actinocrinitid. Fort Payne Formation carbonate buildup facies (wackestone buildups and crinoidal packstone buildups) each have characteristic species of Thinocrinus. Actinocrinites is relatively rare in the Fort Payne Formation, but occurs preferentially in crinoidal packstone buildups.

A new Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) asteroid (Echinodermata) faunule from the Swift Formation of Montana includes representatives of four genera including the new genus and species Atalopegaster gundersoni (Stichasteridae), Eokainaster sp. indet. (Astropectinidae), an indeterminate probable member of the Goniasteridae, and a species indeterminate beyond the class level. Because of weathering at the outcrop, preservation is poor.

Although representing an unusual depositional occurrence, overall faunule composition appears comparable to that found in a similar modern environment. The faunule is comparable in age and regional location to earlier Jurassic asteroid discoveries, suggesting wide distribution during a geologically brief time interval of favorable conditions. Asteroids are only rarely reported from the Mesozoic of the North American continental interior, and co-occurrence of multiple fossil taxa is unusual on a global basis.

A co-occurrence of the ichnogenus Phymatoderma and a star-shaped horizontal trace fossil was discovered from Neogene deep-marine deposits (Misaki Formation, central Japan), and is described herein for the first time. Phymatoderma consists of a straight to slightly curved tunnel that shows first- or second-order branches. The tunnels are 5.30–27.25 mm in diameter and are filled with ellipsoidal pellets. The relatively well-preserved star-shaped trace fossil is a large horizontal structure (∼18 cm × 19 cm) that consists of at least 10 spokes with diameters ranging from 11.49–20.96 mm. As compared to modern analogous surface-feeding traces produced by abyssal echiuran worms and their burrow morphology, it is highly likely that the star-shaped trace fossil and Phymatoderma found from the Misaki Formation are feeding and fecal traces of ancient deep-sea echiurans, respectively. Difference in preservation potential between surface and subsurface traces may result in rare occurrence of star-shaped trace fossils as compared to Phymatoderma. Microscopic observation of the pelletal infill of Phymatoderma also reveals that the trace-maker fed on organic debris and microorganisms such as diatoms and radiolaria.

The present study of the Eifelian icriodid conodonts is based on collections from Belarus and the Michigan Basin (USA). It is here proposed that forms originally included in Icriodus orri Klapper and Barrick, 1983 can be attributed to I. retrodepressus Bultynck, 1970, Icriodus orri sensu stricto, and Icriodus michiganus new species, each displaying a distinct morphology, stratigraphical range, and geographic distribution. Icriodus retrodepressus, characterized by a triangular spindle, deep depression in its posterior part, and a well-pronounced spur and antispur, appeared in the lower partitus Zone of the lowermost Eifelian and disappeared in the upper Eifelian kockelianus Zone. Icriodus michiganus n. sp., distinguished by a lachrymiform spindle with a shallow posterior depression, ranges from the lower costatus Zone to the upper kockelianus Zone. Icriodus orri differs from the other two species by the occurrence of transverse denticle rows with lateral denticles displaying sharp edges. It ranges from the upper kockelianus Zone to the ensensis Zone of the uppermost Eifelian. Icriodus retrodepressus first occurred in the European part of the Euramerican continent and later migrated into the North American area. Icriodus michiganus n. sp. has been found in the interior part of the North American Craton and near the eastern Euramerican margin. Icriodus orri occurs in the North American interior, in British Columbia (Canada), and in the eastern part of Euramerica (Belarus). The introduction of I. retrodepressus can be related to the transgressive Choteč Event, whereas that of I. orri to a transgressive stage of the Ie eustatic cycle.

Eight new species of the conodont Neogondolella are described from the Anisian (Middle Triassic) of northeastern British Columbia. The subtlety of morphological variation in this conodont genus has hampered biostratigraphical correlation, but large, often independently dated collections have enabled the description of N. cuneiforme, N. curva, N. hastata, N. dilacerata, N. indicta, N. panlaurentia, N. tenera, and N. vellicata n. spp. Several of these species are widespread, as specimens of N. curva, N. hastata, N. indicta, N. panlaurentia, N. tenera, and N. vellicata are found in contemporary collections from Nevada, whereas N. panlaurentia has also been recovered from the Canadian Arctic. This distribution promises to significantly improve correlation among Anisian sections in North America.

Three new species of the new genus Phyllonaspis are described from Early Devonian localities in the western United States. Phyllonaspis laevis, P. serratus, and P. taphensis are broad, flattened cyathaspids with lateral brims and fine dermal ornament, that show a close relationship to the cyathaspids Boothiaspis and Alainaspis from the late Silurian and Early Devonian of the Canadian Arctic. These taxa are here accommodated within the new subfamily Boothiaspidinae within the family Cyathaspididae. This relationship supports previous evidence of faunal connection between these two areas and indicates dispersal around the Old Red Sandstone Continent from a center in the Canadian Arctic. Isolated oral plates allow a reconstruction of the oral cover and increase our knowledge of the range of oral structures in this family.

Recently discovered specimens of the marsupial Herpetotherium merriami (Stock and Furlong, 1922) from the John Day Formation, Oregon, are described. The species was previously known only from a single (type) specimen. These additional specimens have allowed for a revised diagnosis of the species based on the presence of an additional stylar cusp on the upper molars, as well as the relative size of the stylar cusps. This new material also allows for an examination of the variability within the species and establishes a time range for the species, which extends through most of the Arikareean (late Oligocene: Ar1–Ar3: late Rupelian-Aquitanian). Herpetotherium merriami is distinct within the genus because it is among the larger of the species, but one of the latest occurring, whereas the general pattern of the genus is a reduction in size through time.

We diagnose a new species of Brontotheriidae from a middle Eocene locality, the Clarno Nut Beds, from the Clarno Formation, John Day Basin, Central Oregon. Though renowned for its richness in fossil flora, fossil vertebrates are rare in the Clarno Nut Beds and this new species is the most abundantly represented mammal. Radiometric dating constrains the age of the Nut Beds fauna to about 43.76 Ma within the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age. This new taxon, represented by numerous cranial, mandibular, and dental specimens, is comparatively small for a brontothere and notable for its cranio-caudally shorted nasal incision, a trait shared with three larger-bodied middle Eocene species, Metatelmatherium ultimum. Wickia brevirhinus, and Sthenodectes incisivum. Phylogenetic analysis suggests the sister taxon of the Nut Beds brontothere could be one of two species—Wickia brevirhinus from the Sand Wash Basin of Colorado and Washakie Formation of Wyoming, or Metatelmatherium ultimum, a pan-Beringian species known from the Uintan Formation of Utah (and other Uintan age deposits) and the “Irdin Manha” Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. Phylogenetic results also indicate that the Nut Beds brontothere is a dwarf taxon. Though brontotheres are renowned for having evolved very large body sizes, this new brontothere is one of several discovered in recent decades that suggest evolutionary reductions in body size may have been relatively common in Brontotheriidae.