The mountainous Gorny Altai in southern Siberia constitutes the western part of the Altai–Sayan Folded Belt in the northwestern part of the Central Asian orogenic belt, which contains precious records of the lost major Proterozoic–Paleozoic ocean called the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO). This paper briefly introduces the latest microfossil (radiolarian and conodont) information recovered from the Lower Paleozoic siliceous and carbonate sequences of the Gorny Altai. The fossils of planktonic biota inhabited in PAO range back to the early Cambrian, in which the world's oldest radiolarians are included. In addition, numerous well-preserved conodonts as well as graptolites were recovered from Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian strata in the Gorny Altai. These recorded the Early Paleozoic biodiversity and their secular change both in pelagic and continental margin settings within PAO.

The Paleozoic Era experienced 4 major mass extinctions; i.e., end-Ordovician, Late Devonian, end-Guadalupian, and end-Permian episodes. As a cause of significant biodiversity decline, non-biological environmental change on global scale was inevitable; nonetheless, popular claims of bolide impact and/or large igneous province (LIP) with too many ad-hoc assumptions have not yet been accepted as common/universal explanations for the Paleozoic extinctions. Recent research on extinction causes evolved through two stages; i.e., the heyday of the bolide impact scenario in the 1980s, and the overtaking by a LIP-mantle plume scenario in the 1990–2000s. Lately, we may sense a return trend to extraterrestrial causes since the late 2000s, which is not a simple revival of the old bolide-impact model but a new proposal for a cosmoclimatological scenario relevant to extra-solar processes; i.e., supernovae explosions and relevant migration of dark clouds over the Solar System. This short article reviews the current status of extinction-related research, which emphasizes two key issues; i.e., the categorization of extinction causes and new perspectives on non-bolide extraterrestrial causes. The categorizing of extinction causes at four distinct levels is effective in separating “global triggers” on the Earth's surface from more essential “ultimate cases” within the Earth and/or on outside of the planet. Causes of extinction can be grouped into four distinct categories in a hierarchy, from small to large scale: i.e., Category 1 – direct kill mechanism for each local biota, Category 2 – background change in global environment, Category 3 – major geological phenomenon on the planet's surface, and Category 4 – ultimate cause from the interior and exterior of the planet. Recent advances in He isotope analysis for extinction-related sedimentary records suggest extraterrestrial causes, not of bolide impact but of the encounter with a dark cloud (nebula). Emerging new perspectives of cosmoclimatology leads to an alternative extinction scenario; e.g. 1) increased flux of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) with extensive cloud cover and 2) passage of a dark cloud (nebula) enriched with micro-dusts (IDPs) enveloping the Solar System. Both meteoric cloud coverage and IDP-screen can induce lowering/shutdown of solar irradiance, which may drive global cooling and sea-level drop associated with biodiversity decline. The past star-burst events detected in the Milky Way Galaxy apparently coincide in timing with the cooling episodes associated with major extinctions of the Paleozoic, i.e., at the end-Ordovician, Late Devonian, and Late Permian. Given such astronomical processes associated with global cooling in the past, much older global freezing episodes, i.e., Proterozoic snowball Earth events developed under high atmospheric CO₂ levels, can be likewise explained. The study of mass extinctions on the Earth is entering a new stage under new astrobiological perspectives.

A new Miocene phidoloporid, Iodictyum akaishiensis sp. nov., was collected from the Moniwa Formation (Langhian) near the Akaishi Bridge, Sendai City, Japan. It is the first fossil record of Iodictyum in Japan, and the fifth discovery of Miocene fossils of the genus from the Indo-Pacific area. The species resembles some Recent species from the western Pacific, especially in the large marginal pores, an open peristomial sinus and shaft, and subtriangular ooecial labellum. The characteristics of Iodictyum from Eocene to Recent are compared, and the trend of evolution in the genus is inferred.

The Baghamshah Formation was previously assigned to Jurassic age in Iran, based on stratigraphic distribution of ammonites. But, recent studies of calcareous nannofossils in the Lut Block show that the age of this formation should be assigned to the Early Cretaceous (early Berriasian to early Barremian). This study analyzed stratigraphic distribution of calcareous nannofossils of the Baghamshah Formation in the Esfandiar section located in the southeast of the Tabas Block (close to the type section). Examinination of samples identified 39 calcareous nannofossil and 6 didemnid ascidian spicules species belonging to 19 genera, corresponding from CC1 to CC5 biozones with the age of early Berriasian to early Barremian. Index nannofossil species in the succession indicate that the sedimentary basin of the Baghamshah Formation in the Esfandiar section was located in low latitudes of the Tethyan realm with warm surface water toward the top of the section. Also, the oceanic basin was an oligotrophic type with low-fertility, as its nutrient supply dropped toward the top of the section. The oligotrophic paleoenvironment during the late Berriasian to early Valanginian in the study area in eastern Iran may have corresponded to a global low sea-level.

An isolated theropod tooth was found in the Hauterivian–Barremian Itsuki Formation of the Tetori Group in the Kuzuryu district, Ono City, Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. The present specimen, OMFJ V-1, shows a thick lanceolate basal cross-section and small mesial and distal denticles. A cladistic analysis based on the dental characters suggested that OMFJ V-1 be classified as belonging to Allosauroidea or Tyrannosauroidea. Principal component and linear discriminant analyses also suggested that OMFJ V-1 belongs to either of these two theropod clades. The posterior probabilities obtained in the linear discriminant analyses indicated that the confidence of the classification as Allosauroidea is slightly higher than that for Tyrannosauridae. However, because these analyses also supported possibilities of OMFJ V-1 belonging to other theropod clades to lesser extents, its taxonomic referral remains ambiguous. If OMFJ V-1 belongs to Tyrannosauroidea, it would indicate that a medium-sized tyrannosauroid already appeared in central Japan during the Hauterivian–Barremian age. On the other hand, if OMFJ V-1 belongs to Allosauroidea, it would indicate that at least two medium-to-large-sized theropods, allosaurids and tyrannosaurids, lived almost coevally in this region. The third possibility is that OMFJ V-1 belongs to Megaraptora. If such affinities are established, it would represent the oldest record of this clade of theropods.

The Jahrum Formation is characterized by abundant benthic Foraminifera in carbonate beds, partly marly and dolomitic limestones in the Kuh-e-Soukhteh (Shahrekord region). This formation covers a huge stretch of the Zagros Zone which is a part of the central Tethyian realm during the Paleogene time. Bio-stratigraphic analysis of the larger benthic Foraminifera distinguishes one assemblage zone assigned to the late middle Eocene (Bartonian). This new biostratigraphic range is represented by the index fossil Rhabdorites malatyaensis (Sirel) and is correlated with calcareous rocks in the Shiraz area (south Iran), Dhofar section (Oman), and Socotra Island (Yemen). The Jahrum Formation is dominated by rich miliolids-agglutinated Foraminifera with rare small rotaliids and without Nummulites Lamarck and Alveolina d'Orbigny indicating that the formation was deposited in a shallow water environment (nearshore lagoonal zone) with low energy.

The Isanacetus-group is one of the most enigmatic groups of cetaceans. Although their phylogeny is still controversial, many previous studies suggested that they are a paraphyletic group of baleen whales, including an ancestor of Balaenopteridae and Eschrichtiidae. A new fossil from an Isanacetus-group baleen whale has been recovered from the Minamishirado Formation (latest early Miocene, Burdigalian), Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The specimen consists of a cranium, mandible, and postcranial elements, including cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae, scapula, ulna, and ribs. We describe and diagnose the specimen as a new genus and species, Jobancetus pacificus. A unique combination of morphological characters characterized the specimen, e.g. frontals forming a triangular elevated plateau at the vertex, sharp, and well-developed transverse crest on the supraorbital process of frontal, sagittal crest formed by frontals and parietals, and large squamosal fossa, which is posteriorly extended well beyond the level of the posterior surface of the occipital condyle. Phylogenetic analysis under equal weighting suggests that J. pacificus is a stem group of Pligogulae, whereas the phylogenetic analyses under implied weightings suggest that J. pacificus is a stem group of Balaenopteridae + Eschrichtiidae. The discovery of J. pacificus expands our knowledge of the enigmatic Isanacetus-group.