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Gen. Et Sp. Nov. (gen. + et_sp._nov)
Selected AbstractsA new genus and species of basal actinopterygian fish from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western AustraliaACTA ZOOLOGICA, Issue 2009Brian Choo Abstract A new basal actinopterygian, Gogosardina coatesi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of the Canning Basin, Western Australia. The new taxon is known from four prepared specimens that display the typical exceptional preservation of fossil vertebrates from the region. Gogosardina gen. nov. possesses a series of four small postrostrals, no surangular and a highly gracile body covered with over 140 vertical rows of very small scales, all ornamented with separate horizontal ganoine ridges. One specimen contains conodont elements lodged among the branchial arches, indicating dietary habits and a possible cause of death. [source] A new tooth-plated lungfish from the Middle Devonian of Yunnan, China, and its phylogenetic relationshipsACTA ZOOLOGICA, Issue 2009Tuo Qiao Abstract A new genus and species of tooth-plated lungfish, Sinodipterus beibei gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Qujing Formation (Middle Devonian, late Eifelian) of Zhaotong, Yunnan, China. The new form resembles Dipterus in the skull table, but differs in its tooth-plate: cosmine-like tissue absent near the midline, tooth rows fewer in number (7 to 8) and less divergent radiating, and no reparative dentine layers. Phylogenetic analysis of Devonian lungfish based on a dataset of 150 characters and 33 taxa indicates that the new taxon is more crownward than Dipterus and the clade comprising Adololopas, Sorbitorhynchus and Pillararhynchus. Our results agree broadly with previous cladistic solutions. Diabolepis is placed as a sister group to all other Devonian lungfish. The species referred to Chirodipterus fail to form a monophyletic group. The result shows a large number of convergences corresponding to early radiation of lungfish compressed in time. [source] Verrucophora farcimen gen. et sp. nov. (Dictyochophyceae, Heterokonta),a bloom-forming ichthyotoxic flagellate from the Skagerrak, Norway,JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 5 2007Bente Edvardsen Since 1998, a heterokont flagellate initially named Chattonella aff. verruculosa has formed recurrent extensive blooms in the North Sea and the Skagerrak, causing fish mortalities. Cells were isolated from the 2001 bloom off the south coast of Norway, and monoalgal cultures were established and compared with the Chattonella verruculosa Y. Hara et Chihara reference strain NIES 670 from Japan. The cells in Norwegian cultured isolates were very variable in size and form, being large oblong (up to 34 ,m long) to small rounded (5,9 ,m in diameter) with two unequal flagella, numerous chloroplasts, and mucocysts. The SSU and partial LSU rDNA sequences of strains from Norway and Japan were compared and differed by 0.4% (SSU) and 1.3% (LSU), respectively. Five strains from Norway were identical in the LSU rDNA region. Phylogenetic analyses based on heterokont SSU and concatenated SSU + LSU rDNA sequences placed C. aff. verruculosa and the Japanese C. verruculosa within the clade of Dictyochophyceae, with the picoflagellate Florenciella parvula Eikrem as the closest relative. Ultrastructure, morphology, and pigment composition supported this affinity. We propose the name Verrucophora farcimen sp. et gen. nov. for this flagellate and systematically place it within the class Dictyochophyceae. Our studies also show that C. verruculosa from Japan is genetically and morphologically different but closely related to V. farcimen. The species is transferred from the class Raphidophyceae to the class Dictyochophyceae and renamed Verrucophora verruculosa. We propose a new order, Florenciellales, to accommodate V. farcimen, V. verruculosa, and F. parvula. [source] MORPHOLOGY, REPRODUCTION, AND THE 18S rRNA GENE SEQUENCE OF PIHIELLA LIAGORACIPHILA GEN.JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 5 2003ET SP. Pihiella liagoraciphila gen. et sp. nov. (Rhodophyta) is described for a minute endo/epiphyte that is commonly associated with members of the Liagoraceae ( Nemaliales, Rhodophyta). Algae are discoid or subspherical and grow to a maximum diameter of 400 ,m. Attachment is via isolated elongate rhizoids that penetrate into the loosely filamentous structure of the host or by a pad of several coalesced rhizoids where the host has a more cohesive cortex. Elongate surface hairs are common. Gametophytes are dioecious, the spermatangia arising on surface cells, and carpogonia with elongate trichogynes borne directly on undifferentiated surface supporting cells. Large sporangia form on stalk cells across the upper surface of the plants, these appearing to be either monosporangial or the result of fertilization of the carpogonia and equivalent to undivided zygotosporangia. Carposporophytes and tetrasporangia are unknown. 18S rRNA gene sequence analyses indicate that Pihiella constitutes a clade of long branch length most closely related to the Ahnfeltiales. The unique morphology and reproduction of Pihiella, combined with a substantial genetic divergence from the Ahnfeltiales, suggest that it is sufficiently distinct to warrant placement in a new family and order. We therefore describe the family Pihiellaceae and the order Pihiellales to accommodate the new genus. [source] Ultrastructure of Lobocharacium coloradoense, gen. et sp. nov. (Chlorophyta, Characiosiphonaceae), an unusual coenocyte from ColoradoJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Paul Kugrens Light and electron microscopic descriptions are provided for Lobocharacium coloradoense, gen. et sp. nov., a unicellular coenocytic green alga isolated from a power plant's retaining pond in north-central Colorado. Vegetative cells range from 120,230 ,m in length and 80,120 ,m in diameter in culture. The large vegetative cells are attached to substrates by small discoid attachment pads. The cells are multinucleate and consist of distinct cytoplasmic lobes, with each lobe containing a chloroplast and a basal nucleus. Chloroplasts are somewhat cone-shaped in profile and stellate or lobed when viewed from the surface, and each has a central, basal pyrenoid. Hundreds of these cytoplasmic lobes occur within a cell, and thin cytoplasmic bridges interconnect the lobes. When a vegetative cell matures, each of the cytoplasmic lobes cleaves to form numerous fusiform zoospores or spherical isogametes. The biflagellate isogametes range in size from 4,10 ,m, they lack a cell wall, they have a cup-shaped chloroplast with a pyrenoid and stigma, and they have a nucleus close to the basal bodies. Isogametes are incapable of forming vegetative cells. Zoospores are biflagellate and fusiform, measuring 8,12 ,m in length and 4,6 ,m in diameter. Each zoospore has a cell wall, a single parietal chloroplast with a prominent pyrenoid in the center of the chloroplast, and a long oval stigma. Gamete and zoospore release involves a dissolution of the entire vegetative wall. Released zoospores usually settle and cluster near the vegetative cell from which they were produced, attach to the substrate with their flagella, and, shortly after losing their flagella, extrude mucilage through the flagellar pores in the wall to form a small discoid attachment pad. The incipient vegetative cell is fusiform and uninucleate, but it becomes more rounded and multinucleate as enlargement occurs. Most vegetative cells in culture become dormant, and the chloroplast becomes orange in color. Some cells form single aplanospores that can withstand desiccation, but occasionally numerous aplanospores may also be formed later in the larger vegetative cells. [source] Stalireduvius, a new harpactorine genus (Heteroptera, Reduviidae) from VietnamMITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE IN BERLIN-DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, Issue 1 2004Masaaki Tomokuni Abstract A new harpactorine reduviid, Stalireduvius nodipes Tomokuni & Cai, gen. et sp. nov., from Vietnam is described. A key to related genera is provided. [source] New anomalocaridid appendages from the Burgess Shale, CanadaPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2010ALLISON C. DALEY Abstract:, The complex history of description of the anomalocaridids has partly been caused by the fragmentary nature of these fossils. Frontal appendages and mouth parts are more readily preserved than whole-body assemblages, so the earliest work on these animals examined these structures in isolation. After several decades of research, these disarticulated elements were assembled together to reconstruct the anomalocaridid body plan, and a total of three Burgess Shale genera, Anomalocaris, Laggania and Hurdia, were described in full. Here we present new frontal appendage material of additional anomalocaridid taxa from the ,Middle' Cambrian (Series 3) Burgess Shale Formation in Canada, showing that the diversity of anomalocaridids in this locality is even higher than previously thought. Material includes Amplectobelua stephenensis sp. nov., the first known occurrence of this genus outside of China; Caryosyntrips serratus gen. et sp. nov., which is similar to the Anomalocaris appendage but has a straighter outline and a different arrangement of spines; and an appendage that may be either the Laggania appendage or a third morph of the Hurdia appendage. The new anomalocaridid material is contemporaneous with the previously described taxa Anomalocaris, Laggania, and Hurdia, and the differences in morphology between the frontal appendages may reflect different feeding strategies. The stratigraphically lowest locality, S7 on Mount Stephen, yields material from all anomalocaridid taxa, but the assemblages in the younger quarries on Fossil Ridge are dominated by Anomalocaris and Hurdia only. [source] Neoselachian sharks from the Callovian,Oxfordian (Jurassic) of Ogrodzieniec, Zawiercie Region, southern PolandPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2010JAN REES Abstract:, Callovian and Oxfordian strata in Ogrodzieniec near Zawiercie, southern Poland, have yielded two shark tooth assemblages that collectively include 14 neoselachian taxa. A previously unrecognised member of the Orectolobiformes, Akaimia altucuspis gen. et sp. nov., is described and characterised by a dentition remarkably similar to modern wobbegong sharks (Orectolobidae) by convergence. The assemblages also include the first anterior teeth ever found of the palaeospinacid ,Synechodus'prorogatus Kriwet, in addition to teeth from two other palaeospinacids, Sphenodus spp., four different orectolobiforms, two hexanchids and Protospinax spp. These shark tooth assemblages contribute to the poorly known Callovian and Oxfordian neoselachian faunas and indicate that the diversity was higher than previously appreciated, particularly within the Orectolobiformes. [source] A well-preserved ,charadriiform-like' fossil bird from the Early Eocene Fur Formation of DenmarkPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2010SARA BERTELLI Abstract:, We describe a new, exceptionally well-preserved fossil bird recovered from marine deposits of the Early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Morsoravis sedilis gen. et sp. nov. is known by a single specimen that consists of a three-dimensional skull, vertebral column, ribs, pelvis, and left hindlimb and associated parts of the right hindlimb. Comparisons based on overall morphology and particularly characters of the skull, vertebrae and pelvis indicate that the new specimen is morphologically similar to charadriiform birds (the shorebirds and relatives). This similarity is also expressed by a phylogenetic analysis of higher neornithine (modern birds) taxa, which supports a close relationship between the new fossil and modern charadriiforms. The morphology of the hindlimbs, in particular, shows that the new fossil corresponds to a new taxon that is distinguishable from modern charadriiform clades. One interesting aspect of its morphology is the presence of hindlimb specializations that are most commonly found among perching birds , these suggest that ecologically the new Danish fossil bird may have differed from the wading habits typical of most charadriiforms. [source] INTRAMARGINAL VEINED LAURACEAE LEAVES FROM THE ALBIAN,CENOMANIAN OF CHARENTE-MARITIME (WESTERN FRANCE)PALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 2 2009CLÉMENT COIFFARD Abstract:,Eucalyptolaurus depreii gen. et sp. nov. is proposed for angiosperm leaves newly collected from uppermost Albian , lowermost Cenomanian of Charente-Maritime (western France). They consist of simple, narrow, elongate laminas with entire margins and intramarginal veins. The epidermal cells of adaxial cuticle shows small, rounded, blunt papillae outward that protrude inward and fuse together as rolls along and parallel to the margins, while the adaxial cuticle bears brachyparacytic stomatal apparatus that exhibit sunken guard cells and hair bases consisting of a thick-walled pore surrounded by radially arranged differentiated cells. Resin bodies occur inside the mesophyll. These characters closely resemble the lauroid taxa ,Myrtophyllum' and Pandemophyllum from the Cenomanian of the Czech Republic and Dakota (USA) respectively. The narrow angle of basilaminar secondaries and the whole suite of features in the guard cells (sunken guard cells embedded into subsidiary cells and stomatal ledges) strongly support close affinity with the Lauraceae. From the Cenomanian lauraceous reproductive organs and their related leaves already showed high disparity and diversity. In addition they displayed a broad ecological range from freshwater floodplains to brackish swamps. This combined to high diversity of reproductive organs suggest ecological radiation of Lauraceae by the Cenomanian. [source] A NEW SPINICAUDATAN GENUS (CRUSTACEA: ,CONCHOSTRACA') FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF MADAGASCARPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 5 2008ALYCIA L. STIGALL Abstract:, A new spinicaudatan genus and species, Ethmosestheria mahajangaensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Anembalemba Member (Upper Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of the Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, Madagascar. This is the first spinicaudatan reported from the post-Triassic Mesozoic of Madagascar. The new species is assigned to the family Antronestheriidae based on the cavernous or sievelike ornamentation on the carapace. Of well-documented Mesozoic spinicaudatan genera, Ethmosestheria mahajangaensis is most closely related to Antronestheria Chen and Hudson from the Great Estuarine Group (Jurassic) of Scotland. However, relatively poor documentation of the ornamentation of most Gondwanan Mesozoic spinicaudatan species precludes detailed comparison among taxa. Ethmosestheria mahajangaensis exhibits ontogenetic trends in carapace growth: a change in carapace outline from subcircular/subelliptical to elliptical, and from very wide juvenile growth bands to narrow adult growth bands. Ornamentation style, however, does not vary with ontogeny. Ethmosestheria mahajangaensis individuals lived in temporary pools in a broad channel-belt system within a semiarid environment; preserved desiccation structures on carapaces indicate seasonal drying out of pools within the river system. Specimens of Ethmosestheria mahajangaensis are preserved with exquisite detail in debris flow deposits; these are the first spinicaudatans reported from debris flow deposits. These deposits also contain a varied vertebrate fauna, including dinosaurs, crocodyliforms, turtles, and frogs. Rapid entombment of the spinicaudatan carapaces likely promoted early fossil diagenesis leading to highly detailed preservation. [source] A NEW AMPHICYONINE (CARNIVORA: AMPHICYONIDAE) FROM THE UPPER MIOCENE OF BATALLONES-1, MADRID, SPAINPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2008STÉPHANE PEIGNÉ Abstract:, The vertebrate community of the late Miocene locality of Batallones-1, Madrid Province, Spain, is mainly composed of mammals of the order Carnivora, which represents 98 per cent of the total number of macro-mammal fossils. Here, we describe craniodental remains of approximately 12 individuals of a new, highly specialized member of the Amphicyonidae, previously assigned to Amphicyon sp. cf. A. castellanus. A phylogenetic analysis of Amphicyoninae shows that this new form, named Magericyon anceps gen. et sp. nov., is markedly distinct from all other known Amphicyoninae, specifically in its hypercarnivorous features (strongly compressed upper canines, absence of dP1/dp1 and P2/p2, single-rooted p3, absence of a metaconid on the lower molars, and reduction of M2 relative to M1). [source] PERMIAN OSTRACODS FROM THE LERCARA FORMATION (MIDDLE TRIASSIC,CARNIAN?), SICILY, ITALYPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2008SYLVIE CRASQUIN Abstract:, A rich, diverse Permian ostracod fauna has been recovered from the red and grey, laminated shales and quartz-rich shales of the Triassic Lercara Formation. Forty-seven species have been identified, 13 of which are newly described here; they belong to 26 genera of which three are new: Anahuacia lercaraensis sp. nov., Aurigerites siciliaensis sp. nov., Bairdia portellaensis sp. nov., Cristanaria? katyae sp. nov., Fabalicypris gruendeli sp. nov., Lethiersa salomonensis gen. et sp. nov., Lethiersia sinusoventralis gen. et sp. nov., Portella trapezoida gen. et sp. nov., Siciliella elongata gen. et sp. nov., Siciliella infernespinosa gen. et sp. nov., Siciliella prima gen. et sp. nov., Siciliella quadrata gen. et sp. nov., and Siciliella spinorobusta gen. et sp. nov. The assemblages contain or are composed of palaeopsychrospheric forms, which are regarded as index fossils for deep environments. The bathymetry of the different associations in life is evaluated. [source] TWO NEW PARROTS (PSITTACIFORMES) FROM THE LOWER EOCENE FUR FORMATION OF DENMARKPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2008DAVID M. WATERHOUSE Abstract:, Two new fossil psittaciform birds from the Lower Eocene ,Mo Clay' (Fur Formation) of Denmark (c. 54 Ma) are described. An unnamed specimen is assigned to the extinct avian family of stem-group parrots, Pseudasturidae (genus and species incertae sedis), while a second (Mopsitta tanta gen. et sp. nov.) is the largest fossil parrot yet known. Both specimens are the first fossil records of these birds from Denmark. Although the phylogenetic position of Mopsitta is unclear (it is classified as family incertae sedis), this form is phylogenetically closer to Recent Pstittacidae than to other known Palaeogene psittaciforms and may, therefore, represent the oldest known crown-group parrot. [source] THE FIRST DAMSELFLIES FROM THE LOWERMOST EOCENE OF DENMARK, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBFAMILY (ODONATA, ZYGOPTERA: DYSAGRIONIDAE)PALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2008JES RUST Abstract:,Eodysagrion mikkelseni gen. et sp. nov., type species of the new subfamily Eodysagrioninae, and the dysagrionine Primorilestes madseni sp. nov., the first thaumatoneurid damselflies from the lowermost Eocene of Denmark, are described. They confirm the presence of this American family in the Palaeogene of Western Europe. [source] THE FIRST FOSSIL PROSCOPIIDAE (INSECTA, ORTHOPTERA, EUMASTACOIDEA) WITH COMMENTS ON THE HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION OF THE FAMILYPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 2 2008SAM W. HEADSArticle first published online: 14 MAR 200 Abstract:,Eoproscopia martilli gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation Lagerstätte of Ceará State, north-east Brazil. The new taxon is assigned to the extant family Proscopiidae and represents the first occurrence of the group in the fossil record. Eoproscopia is similar to crown group proscopiids in its stick-like habitus, elongate prothorax and absence of the cryptopleuron, but differs in the presence of well-developed wings, the short head with a small, simple fastigium, the prothoracic legs being inserted near the posterior margin of the prothorax, and the absence of spines on the metathoracic tibiae. The discovery of Eoproscopia extends the geological range of the family by approximately 110 myr and confirms the presence of stem-group proscopiids in the Atlantic rift zone of South America during the Early Cretaceous. [source] TRACING BACK THE ORIGIN OF THE INDO-PACIFIC MOLLUSC FAUNA: BASAL TRIDACNINAE FROM THE OLIGOCENE AND MIOCENE OF THE SULTANATE OF OMANPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2008MATHIAS HARZHAUSER Abstract:, Two new tridacnine species are described from the Chattian and Aquitanian of the Arabian Peninsula. For these, the new names Omanidacna eos gen. et sp. nov. and Tridacna evae sp. nov. are erected. Omanidacna is interpreted as an Oligocene ancestor of Hippopus, being the oldest record of this tridacnine lineage. The Aquitanian Tridacna evae is the first occurrence of the genus Tridacna. These Arabian taxa imply that the modern tridacnine lineages are rooted in the Palaeogene and early Neogene of the East African-Arabian Province, although their Eocene ancestors, such as Byssocardium, are Western Tethyan taxa. During the Neogene they successfully settled the Indo-Polynesian Province and became typical elements of the entire Indo-West Pacific Region. The tridacnines are thus an example of a successive transformation and gradual eastward dispersal of an originally Tethyan element contributing to late Neogene diversity in the Indo-West Pacific. [source] FIRST RECORD OF AN AQUATIC BEETLE LARVA (INSECTA: COLEOPTERA) FROM THE PARSORA FORMATION (PERMO-TRIASSIC), INDIAPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 6 2007S. C. GHOSH Abstract:, The fossilized larva of an aquatic beetle, Protodytiscus johillaensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from a ferruginous micaceous siltstone bed of the Permo-Triassic Parsora Formation of the South Rewa Gondwana Basin, Madhya Pradesh, India, and its systematic position and ordinal relationships within the coleopterous suborder Adephaga are discussed. Hitherto, the oldest known fossils of the hydradephagan superfamily Dytiscoidea have been Jurassic. The discovery of P. johillaensis extends the range of the Dytiscoidea back to the Permo-Triassic period. [source] A NEW GENERALIZED PAUCITUBERCULATAN MARSUPIAL FROM THE OLIGOCENE OF BOLIVIA AND THE ORIGIN OF ,SHREW-LIKE' OPOSSUMSPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 5 2007FRANCISCO J. GOIN Abstract:, Insights into the origin of ,shrew-like' oposssums of South America are gained thanks to a new fossil from the Oligocene Salla Beds in Bolivia. The specimen described here consists of a partial rostrum, palate and postcanine teeth, and shows several generalized features (cranial and dental) in the context of the Paucituberculata. On this basis we recognize Evolestes hadrommatos gen. et sp. nov. In order to evaluate the affinities of the new taxon, we performed a phylogenetic analysis including representatives of the Caenolestidae, Pichipilus and allies (not regarded here as caenolestids), Palaeothentidae, and Abderitidae, with three outgroups. Evolestes is the basalmost ,caenolestoid', and provides clues to the morphological changes involved in the origin of caenolestids. [source] A NEW SEA SPIDER (ARTHROPODA: PYCNOGONIDA) WITH A FLAGELLIFORM TELSON FROM THE LOWER DEVONIAN HUNSRÜCK SLATE, GERMANYPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 5 2006MARKUS POSCHMANN Abstract:, A new Lower Devonian sea spider (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from the Hunsrück Slate, Germany, is described as Flagellopantopus blocki gen. et sp. nov. This is only the sixth fossil pycnogonid species to be described. Its most remarkable and unique aspect is the long, flagelliform telson. Although our fossil apparently lacks chelifores (an apomorphy), the retained telson and the segmented trunk end behind the last pair of legs resolve F. blocki to a fairly basal position in the pycnogonid stem lineage. It probably lies between Palaeoisopus problematicus Broili, which has a lanceolate telson and the most trunk segments of any sea spider, and all other Silurian,Recent Pycnogonida. Our new material shows that at least two fossil pycnogonids retained a telson, albeit with very different morphologies, and further supports the idea that a greater diversity of body plans existed among the Palaeozoic pycnogonid taxa. [source] A NEW TITANOSAUR FROM WESTERN SĂO PAULO STATE, UPPER CRETACEOUS BAURU GROUP, SOUTH-EAST BRAZILPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2006RODRIGO MILONI SANTUCCI Abstract:, Material from a new titanosaur from the Bauru Basin (Bauru Group), Brazil is described and compared with well-known titanosaurs. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai gen. et sp. nov. is based on six articulated anterior caudal vertebrae and two haemapophyses collected from the Adamantina Formation, which is considered to be Campanian,Maastrichtian? in age. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai is characterized by the following combination of characteristics: anterior caudal vertebrae with straight or slightly backwardly-projecting neural spines with strongly expanded distal ends, stout prespinal lamina, very wide pre- and postzygapophyseal articular facets, and concave postzygapophyseal articular facets on anterior caudal vertebrae. Although our cladistic analysis has produced equivocal results, Adamantisaurus mezzalirai shares with DGM ,Series B' (Peirópolis titanosaur) and Aeolosaurus the presence of postzygapophyses with concave articular facets, and shares with DGM ,Series B' the presence of laterally expanded neural spines and stout prespinal lamina. Additionally, A. mezzalirai shares with DGM ,Series' C (other titanosaur from Peirópolis) the presence of short neural spines. [source] TELYCHIAN (LLANDOVERY, SILURIAN) BIVALVES FROM SPAINPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Abstract:, Twenty species of bivalves (14 new) and 14 genera (six new) are described from two localities in the Silurian, upper Telychian, Oktavites spiralis Biozone of Spain: Cardavia cathleenae gen. et sp. nov., C. hafi sp. nov., C. stefani sp. nov.; Copenychia franta gen. et sp. nov., C. pristina sp. nov.; Stolidotus marco sp. nov.; Telycardia malinka gen. et sp. nov.; Silurinka vetula gen. et sp. nov.; Bolsopteria lentilka gen. et sp. nov.; Nennapteria ibericola gen. et sp. nov., N. ollicula sp. nov.; Actinopteria dakryodes sp. nov., A. isabelae sp. nov. and Dceruska hispanica sp. nov. They comprise two closely related communities, the Copenychia-Cardavia-Actinopteria Community and the Dceruska-Copenychia-Stolidotus Community, which belong to the Snoopyia Community Group. The occurrence of Dceruska Barrande, 1881, Dualina Barrande, 1881, Patrocardia Barrande, 1881, Silurinka, gen. nov., Slava Barrande, 1881 and Stolidotus Hede, 1915 in the Telychian of the Central Iberian Domain, Spain, supports palaeogeographical relationships with other Lower Silurian regions of north Gondwanan and Perunican Europe: the Carnic Alps (Austria), the Montagne Noire (France), Sardinia (Italy) and the Prague Basin (Bohemia), and also to Avalonia: the Welsh Borderland (Great Britain) and Baltica,Skĺne (Sweden). These genera together with the new genera Cardavia, Copenychia (the earliest known representatives of the Silurian family Cardiolidae), Telycardia (the oldest known representative of the family Praecardiidae) and Silurinka belong to a Bohemian type of bivalve. Bolsopteria lentilka is closely related to Bolsopteria elliptica (Hind, 1910) from the Aeronian (middle Llandovery) of Scotland. [source] A Re-evaluation of Small Tetrapods from the Middle Triassic Otter Sandstone Formation of Devon, EnglandPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2002P. S. Spencer Material of small sauropsids from the Otter Sandstone Formation of east Devon (Sherwood Sandstone Group; Middle Triassic; Anisian) includes remains that were formerly attributed to a primitive procolophonid. In the light of new specimens, this material is instead found to contain remains of a diapsid and a procolophonine procolophonid. Among these fossils, the medium-sized procolophonine, Kapes bentoni sp. nov., is the first record of this Russian genus in the British Triassic. Coartaredens isaaci gen. et sp. nov. is a small diapsid tentatively assigned to Lepidosauromorpha. The heterodont lower dentition of Coartaredens comprises a row of large, conical posterior teeth and tightly packed, procumbent incisiforms. Two additional specimens are distinguished on the basis of distinctive dentary remains. One of these is of possible procolophonid affinity, while the dentition of the second resembles that of the aberrant Early Triassic parareptilian genus Sclerosaurus. [source] Fossil Woods From Williams Point Beds, Livingston Island, Antarctica: A Late Cretaceous Southern High Latitude FloraPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 6 2001Imogen Poole The wood flora from Williams Point, Livingston Island, contains 12 wood types of gymnosperm and angiosperm origin. Recent collections of material have increased the biodiversity of a postulated species-rich vegetation. The gymnosperm wood can be readily assigned to four form-genera: Araucarioxylon Kraus, Araucariopitys Jeffrey, Podocarpoxylon Gothan and Sahnioxylon Bose and Sah. This indicates a diversity of coniferous araucarian and podocarp trees alongside woods of uncertain affinity (Sahnioxylon; Bennettitales). Two angiosperm morphotypes are assigned to the organ genera Hedycaryoxylon Su¨ss (Monimiaceae) and Weinmannioxylon Petriella (Cunoniaceae). The remaining four taxa of angiosperm wood cannot be confidently placed in extant families as they exhibit features that suggest relationships with the Magnoliidae, Hamamelidae and Rosidae. This paper presents the first comprehensive taxonomic revision of the wood flora from Livingston Island and discusses the palaeoecology that prevailed at a latitude of about 60 degrees south during the Late Cretaceous. Newly described taxa are Araucarioxylon chapmanae sp. nov., Araucariopitys antarcticus sp. nov., Podocarpoxylon chapmanae sp. nov., P. verticalis sp. nov., P. communis sp. nov., Weinmannioxylon ackamoides sp. nov., Antarctoxylon livingstonensis gen. et sp. nov., A. multiseriatum gen. et sp. nov., A. heteroporosum gen. et sp. nov. and A. uniperforatum gen et sp. nov. [source] A Primitive Late Triassic ,ictidosaur' from Rio Grande Do Sul, BrazilPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 4 2001José F. Bonaparte A primitive ,ictidosaur' from lower Norian beds of southern Brazil, Riograndia guaibensis gen. et sp. nov., represented by a fragmentary skull and a lower jaw bearing a complete dentition, shows a more generalized morphology than Chaliminia from the Upper Triassic of Argentina and PachygenelusDiarthrognathus from the Lower Jurassic of South Africa, Canada and Greenland. The frontal bone borders the orbit, and ventrally contacts the dorsal process of the palatine. The secondary bony palate extends back to the last postcanine. I1 and i2 are reduced, whereas I2-3 and i1 are hypertrophied. Both PC 1,7 and pc 1,7 have blade-like crowns without cingula and with 5,9 small sharp cuspules. The upper postcanine crowns are semicircular in labial view with the cuspules around their margins. The lower postcanine crowns are asymmetrical with most of the cuspules dorsodistally distributed. The possible origin of this peculiar dentition is interpreted as the retention of the juvenile dentition of ancestors. The hypothesis that Riograndia guaibensis and the so-called ,ictidosaurs' might have been derived from gomphodont cynodonts is presented. [source] A Skate in the Lowermost Maastrichtian of Southern SwedenPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Mikael Siverson A new skate, Walteraja exigua gen. et sp. nov., is described from the lowermost Maastrichtian Belemnella lanceolata Zone of Balsvik quarry, Kristianstad Basin, southern Sweden. It is the earliest known skate with a largely modern tooth morphology and the only known pre-Cenozoic rajoid displaying a very marked gynandric heterodonty, comparable to that in many living forms. The occurrence of W. exigua in the basal Maastrichtian at Balsvik coincides with a mass occurrence of the small ,deep-water' squaloid shark Proetmopterus hemmooriensis. Most living skates, and virtually all extant squaloids closely related to P. hemmooriensis, inhabit deep and/or cool water environments and do not occur in warm temperate to tropical coastal waters. The Walteraja/Proetmopterus association in a marginal, relatively shallow-water facies of the B. lanceolata Zone adds to other, recently described, unexpected occurrences of Late Cretaceous rajoids and etmopterids/centroscymnids in warm temperate to subtropical shelf environments. [source] Upper Devonian Sponges from the Holy Cross Mountains, Central PolandPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2001J. Keith Rigby The rich fauna of Late Devonian (Late Frasnian) siliceous sponges from the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland is composed of 15 species and 11 genera. Both astylospongid demosponges (lithistids) and hexactinosan hexactinellids are present. The following new genera and/or species are proposed: D regulara Rigby and Pisera sp. nov., Jazwicella media Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Astyloscyphia irregularia Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., A. turbinata Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Astylotuba modica Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Paleoregulara cupula Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Paleoramospongia bifurcata Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Cordiospongia conica Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Paleocraticularia elongata Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., P gigantia Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Polonospongiadevonica Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., P fistulata Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., Urnospongia modica Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov., and Conicospongia annulata Rigby and Pisera gen. et sp. nov. The investigated fauna contains the youngest astylospongiids known and the oldest well-preserved, and most diversified Palaeozoic hexactinosans. The sponge fauna constituted a significant element of a brachiopod-coral-sponge assemblage that inhabited a deep slope of the local Dyminy Reef structure, during its final phase of growth, in a clearly hemipelagic setting. This fauna is limited to the intrashelf depression within an incipiently drowned carbonate platform. [source] First Mesozoic Scutigeromorph Centipede, from the Lower Cretaceous of BrazilPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Heather M. Wilson The first Mesozoic scutigeromorph centipede (Myriapoda: Chilopoda), Fulmenocursor tenax gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of north-east Brazil. Previously described fossil Scutigeromorpha are known from Dominican and Baltic amber, the Carboniferous (Westphalian D) Francis Creek Shale of Mazon Creek, Illinois, the Silurian and Devonian of Britain, and the Devonian of New York State. [source] A New Jawless Vertebrate from the Middle Devonian of ScotlandPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 1 2001M. J. Newman A new jawless vertebrate, Cornovichthys blaauweni gen. et sp. nov., is described from a single complete specimen from the Achanarras fish bed at Achanarras Quarry in Caithness, northern Scotland. The Achanarras fish bed consists of lacustrine laminites and was deposited in a major deep-water phase of the Orcadian lake during the deposition of the cyclic Caithness Flagstone Group. The Achanarras fish bed is of Middle Devonian (Eifelian) age. The new animal compares closely with Euphanerops, one ofthe Frasnian ,anaspids' (Hyperoartii) of the Escuminac Formation at Miguasha, Quebec, Canada. [source] The first named Ediacaran body fossil, Aspidella TerranovicaPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 3 2000James G. Gehling Aspidella terranovica Billings, 1872 was first described from the late Neoproterozoic Fermeuse Formation (St. John's Group) on the Avalon Peninsula of eastern Newfoundland, approximately 1km stratigraphically above the famous Ediacaran biota at Mistaken Point, and several kilometres below the base of the Cambrian. Aspidella has been reinterpreted perhaps more than any other Precambrian taxon, and has variously been regarded as a fossil mollusc or ,medusoid', a gas escape structure, a concretion, or a mechanical suction mark. Our studies indicate that Aspidella includes a wide variety of preservational morphs varying from negative hyporeliefs with a raised rim and ridges radiating from a slit (Aspidella -type preservation), to flat discs with a central boss and sharp outer ring (Spriggia preservation), to positive hyporeliefs with concentric ornamentation (Ediacaria preservation). Specimens occur in a continuum of sizes, with preservational styles dependent on the size of the specimen and the grain size of the host lithology; the elongation of specimens is tectonic. Aspidella is confirmed as a body fossil from observations of complex radial and concentric ornamentation, mutually deformed borders in clusters of specimens, and occurrence on the same bedding planes as certain distinctive Ediacaran taxa. Aspidella is indistinguishable from, and has priority over, several of the most common genera of late Neoproterozoic discoidal body fossils worldwide. Similar fossils from Australia are interpreted as holdfasts of frond-like organisms. The density of specimens in the Aspidella beds suggests levels of benthic biomass in the Neoproterozoic that could rival those of modern marine communities. The serial growth forms, PalaeopascichnusIntrites, Neonereites renariusYelovichnus, associated with Aspidella, are interpreted as body fossils of unknown affinities rather than trace fossils. A new, trilobed, Ediacaran body fossil, Triforillonia costellae gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Aspidella beds of the Fermeuse Formation. [source] | |||||||||||||