Predatory drillholes (boreholes) are known from fossils as old as the late Precambrian (Bengtson and Zhao, 1992). The presence of predatory drillholes has been documented in a large number of shelly invertebrates including bivalves, gastropods, scaphopods, crabs, ostracodes, brachiopods, and many others (e.g., Sohl, 1969; Bishop, 1975; Bromley, 1981; Vermeij, 1987; Kabat, 1990; and references therein). We document here, for the first time, a drillhole in a lingulid brachiopod.

McRoberts (1992, figs. 4.13, 4.14, 6.8) illustrated the shell microstructure of late Triassic Gryphaea (Gryphaea) arcuataeformis Kiparisova, 1936, and Gryphaea (Gryphaea) nevadensis McRoberts, 1992. McRoberts (1992, p. 33) described the left valve of G. arcuataeformis as showing “neomorphosed calcite with multiple laminae of ?prismatic structure perpendicular to [the] outer shell surface ….” He described the left valve of G. nevadensis as consisting of two distinct layers of neomorphosed calcite:“…an outer layer with ?prismatic structure occasionally with bands of dark material (?micritic matrix), and a much thinner inner layer with ?cross-foliated structure ….” Subsequent study has shown these microstructural diagnoses to be inaccurate. They are revised as follows.

In 1904 R. Lasswitz described a collection of Cretaceous ammonites from Texas, most of which were collected in 1846 by Ferdinand Roemer. Apart from the historical value of the collection, Lasswitz described several new species, which also makes the collection important from a taxonomic point of view. According to Lasswitz, in his plate descriptions, all the original (figured) specimens of the (Roemer) collection were housed in the “Königlich Geologisches Museum” in Breslau. Adkins (1928) in his Handbook of Texas Cretaceous Fossils referred to the collection at “University of Breslau” and figured several specimens that he had photographed prior to 1928. He also made casts of some of the specimens (see, e.g., Young, 1979, p. 52).

The paleontological Research Institution (PRI) was founded in 1932 by Gilbert Dennison Harris (1864-1952), professor of geology at Cornell University from 1894 to 1934. Approaching retirement, Harris was concerned about the fate of his large fossil collections and library, as well as the continuation of his two journals, Bulletins of American Paleontology (begun in 1895) and Palaeontographica Americana (begun in 1916). He therefore founded his own scientific enterprise, built a building for it behind his house, and received a charter as an educational institution from the State of New York in 1936. The Institution moved to its current location across Cayuga Lake from Cornell in 1968.

The editor has the final word. Here it is. It generally has been a pleasure to serve as Associate Editor (1986-1988) and as Managing Editor (1989-1994) of the Journal of Paleontology these past nine years. I am grateful to the members of the editorial staff, the authors, the reviewers, the Council of The Paleontological Society, and the staff at Allen Press for their assistance and support.