Archive

Leptosuchus Case, 1922 (Reptilia: Phytosauria) from the Late Triassic of the American West is represented by many specimens. Here, I present complete morphological descriptions of the skull material of a new taxon from the Sonsela Member (Chinle Formation) of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, with the first rigorous phylogenetic analysis focused on the interrelationships of Leptosuchus. The new taxon is recovered as the sister taxon to Pseudopalatinae.

• Read more about A new taxon of phytosaur (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) from the Late Triassic (Norian) Sonsela Member (Chinle Formation) in Arizona, and a critical reevaluation of Leptosuchus Case, 1922

The family Acrochordiceratidae Arthaber, 1911 ranges in age from latest Spathian to the middle/late Anisian boundary, and it represents a major component of ammonoid faunas during that time. The middle Anisian genus Acrochordiceras Hyatt, 1877 is the most widespread taxon of the family and occurs abundantly worldwide within the low paleolatitude belt. However, there is a profusion of species names available for Acrochordiceras.

• Read more about Revision of the genus Acrochordiceras Hyatt, 1877 (Ammonoidea, Middle Triassic): morphology, biometry, biostratigraphy and intra-specific variability

A new oviraptorid is described on the basis of a partial forelimb collected from the Upper Cretaceous redbeds of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia. Machairasaurus leptonychus, gen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by slender, weakly curved manual unguals, reduced flexor tubercles, penultimate phalanges that are subequal in length to the preceding phalanges, and short, robust manual digits. Machairasaurus is found to be a member of the Ingeniinae, along with Ingenia yanshini, Heyuannia huangi, Conchoraptor gracilis, and Nemegtomaia barsboldi.

• Read more about A new oviraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia

Acid preparation of samples of a bonebed from the Cenomanian of central Canada yielded several thousand well-preserved chondrichthyan teeth, in addition to numerous other vertebrate remains. Teeth and other remains of one species of chimaeroid, one species of hybodont shark, three species of Ptychodus, 10 species of neoselachian sharks and two species of batoid were recorded. The family Archaeolamnidae fam. nov., genera Meristodonoides gen. nov. and Telodontaspis gen. nov. and species Ptychodus rhombodus sp. nov., Telodontaspis agassizensis gen et sp. nov., Eostriatolamia paucicorrugata sp.

• Read more about Chondrichthyans from a Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) bonebed, Saskatchewan, Canada

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.

• Read more about Neoselachian sharks from the Callovian-Oxfordian (Jurassic) of Ogrodzieniec, Zawiercie Region, southern Poland

A systematic account of highly diverse cyrtocrinid faunules from Upper Jurassic strata of Štramberk type (Oxfordian–Tithonian) in southern Poland (Polish Carpathians) is presented. Fourteen taxa (Phyllocrinus malbosianus, Ph. stellaris, Ph. sp., Psalidocrinus armatus, Sclerocrinus compressus, S. polonicus sp. nov., Hemicrinus aff. kabanovi, Ancepsicrinus parvus gen. et sp. nov., Tetracrinus baumilleri sp. nov., Eugeniacrinites alexandrowiczi, E. cf. moravicus, E. sp., Eudesicrinus gluchowskii sp. nov. and Hemibrachiocrinus tithonicus sp. nov. are described and illustrated.

• Read more about Cyrtocrinids (Echinodermata, Crinoidea) from Upper Jurassic Stramberk-type limestones in southern Poland

A new genus and species of basal non-Viverravidae Carnivoramorpha, Dawsonicyon isami, is named and described. This new taxon is based upon DMNH 19585, an almost complete skeleton, which was collected from the Black's Fork Member (informal 'Bridger B' subunit) of the Bridger Formation in southwestern Wyoming, USA. The specimen is incorporated into an existing craniodental data matrix, and the associated phylogenetic analyses support the identification of this species as a new basal carnivoramorphan.

• Read more about A new basal carnivoramorphan (Mammalia) from the 'Bridger B' (Black's Fork Member, Bridger Formation, Bridgerian NALMA, middle Eocene) of Wyoming, USA

The marine upper Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) Elnes Formation of southern Norway contains very rich and diverse invertebrate faunas. Stratigraphically detailed recent collections of these well-preserved faunas have permitted a more thorough description of the various faunal groups and their preferences in the late Middle Ordovician of the Oslo Region, southern Norway, than ever before. The brachiopod faunas are described in the present article, which include a new genus and a new species respectively Wandaasella modheimrensis and Cyclomyonia vikersundi.

• Read more about Brachiopod associations from the Middle Ordovician of the Oslo Region, Norway

A new genus and species of diminutive anomalurid rodent, Shazurus minutus, is described on the basis of 15 isolated teeth from the earliest late Eocene (approximately 37 Ma) Birket Qarun Locality 2 in the Fayum Depression of northern Egypt. Shazurus is surprisingly specialized for its age, being most similar in dental morphology to early Miocene Paranomalurus and extant Anomalurus, and is quite different from the roughly contemporaneous anomaluroid genera Nementchamys and Pondaungimys from Algeria and Myanmar, respectively.

• Read more about A highly derived anomalurid rodent (Mammalia) from the earliest late Eocene of Egypt

The Pliensbachian gastropods described by De Toni in 1912, coming from an isolated boulder at the foot of Mt Vedana (eastern margin of Trento Platform, Venetian Southern Alps, Italy) are revised. The fauna consists of 13 species representing nine families and eight superfamilies. Despite the low number of species, the assemblage represents the most diverse Early Jurassic gastropod fauna known for the Venetian Southern Alps.

• Read more about Pliensbachian gastropods from Venetian Southern Alps (Italy) and their palaeobiogeographical significance