The Cambrian (Miaolingian; Wuliuan) Spence Shale Lagerstätte of northern Utah and southern Idaho is one of the most diverse Burgess Shale-type deposits of Laurentia. It yields a diverse fauna consisting of abundant biomineralized and locally abundant soft-bodied fossils, along a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf dark shales. Panarthropods are the dominant component throughout the deposit, both in time and space, but whereas the trilobites and agnostoids are abundant, most of the soft-bodied taxa are only known from very few specimens. Additionally, the knowledge of soft-bodied panarthropods is currently largely limited to locations in the Wellsville Mountains of northeastern Utah. This contribution describes 21 new soft-bodied panarthropods from six locations, including the first occurrences of soft-bodied panarthropods in the High-Creek, Smithfield Creek, Spence Gulch, and Two-Mile Canyon localities. Additionally, we report the presence of bradoriids— i.e., Branchiocaris pretiosa Resser, 1929, Perspicaris? dilatus Robison and Richards, 1981, Naraoia? sp. indet., Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, and Tuzoia guntheri Robison and Richards, 1981—for the first time from the Spence Shale Lagerstätte; the first reported occurrence outside of the Burgess Shale for Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia; and the first Wuliuan occurrence of Tuzoia guntheri. We also report on a new hurdiid carapace element and additional specimens of Buccaspinea cooperi? Pates et al., 2021, Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886, Hurdia sp. indet., and Tuzoia retifera Walcott, 1912. This new material improves our understanding of the panarthropod fauna of the Spence Shale Lagerstätte and substantially increases our understanding of the distribution of the described taxa in time and space.

A new eryopid temnospondyl, Stenokranio boldi n. gen. n. sp. is described based on well-preserved cranial and postcranial material from fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Permo-Carboniferous (Gzhelian/Asselian) Remigiusberg Formation at the Remigiusberg quarry near Kusel, Saar–Nahe Basin, southwest Germany. The new taxon is characterized by three autapomorphies within the Eryopidae: (1) the relatively narrow posterior skull table, therefore nearly parallel lateral margins of the skull; (2) the short postparietals and tabulars; and (3) the wide ectopterygoid. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a monophyletic Eryopidae with the basal taxa Osteophorus, Glaukerpeton, and Onchiodon labyrinthicus forming a polytomy. Actinodon may be either a basal eryopid or a stereospondylomorph, and the genus Onchiodon is not monophyletic. Stenokranio n. gen. is found as a more derived eryopid forming the sister taxon to Eryops. Stenokranio n. gen. was among the largest predators of the Saar–Nahe Basin. Its semiaquatic lifestyle enabled Stenokranio n. gen. to browse riverbanks and lake shorelines for prey, but most likely it fed on aquatic vertebrates. Stenokranio n. gen. was part of a faunal assemblage of aquatic, semiaquatic, and fully terrestrial vertebrates, such as sarcopterygian and actinopterygian fishes, xenacanthid sharks, a dvinosaurian temnospondyl, different “lepospondyls”, diadectomorphs, and synapsids. This is in general accordance with the vertebrate community from the Permo-Carboniferous of North America and from the early Permian localities of Manebach (Thuringian Forest Basin) and Niederhäslich (Döhlen Basin). It is notable that the occurrence of Stenokranio n. gen. and other eryopids in these localities excluded the presence of other large temnospondyls such as Sclerocephalus. However, a previously described isolated eryopid mandible from the Remigiusberg locality differs from that of Stenokranio n. gen. in several characters, implying that probably two different eryopid taxa lived at the same locality.

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Olson (1970) erected the genus Goniorhynchus for a Lower Permian microsaur amphibian from Oklahoma. Carroll and Gaskill (1978) used this genus as the type of a new family, Goniorhynchidae. Schultze and Foreman (1981) noted that the name Goniorhynchus Olson, 1970, was preoccupied by Goniorhynchus Hampson, 1896, and they proposed the replacement name Rhynchonkos; however, they retained the family name as Goniorhynchidae.

A small faunule of hypercalcified agelasiid demosponges has been recovered from outcrops of the Silurian Heceta Formation on Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska. Included are abundant Girtyocoeliana epiporata (Rigby and Potter, 1986), of the Girtyocoeliidae Finks and Rigby, 2004; fragments of Alaskaspongiella laminosa n. gen. and sp., Polyplacospongia nodosa n. gen. and sp., and Monolaminospongia gigantia n. gen. and sp., of the Auriculospongiidae Termier and Termier, 1977, and Cladospongia alaskensis n. gen. and sp., Virgulaspongia uniforma n. gen. and sp., and Stipespongia laminata n. gen. and sp. of the Preperonidellidae Finks and Rigby, 2004. Also included are a few fossils of uncertain taxonomic placement, including Turbospongia biperforata n. gen. and sp., along with a small, chambered, tubular fragment and several porous tubular stems that may be additional poriferans. Some isolated octactine-based heteractinid spicules were also recovered from the etched residues.

The calcareous heteractinid sponge Wewokella solida Girty, 1911, is reported from Colorado for the first time. Triactine-based skeletons are well preserved and dermal and gastral layers are composed of smaller spicules than those in the main wall of the many specimens. A fragment of an unnamed demosponge, possibly related to Heliospongia Girty, 1908, and fragments of root tufts occur with Wewokella in the Middle Pennsylvanian Minturn Formation near McCoy, in Eagle County, Colorado.

Previous descriptions of Tucetona lack a consistent system using diagnostic characters and only two recent Caribbean ‘species' are recognized. In this study, textural and structural features of the Tucetona shell are examined and used as the basis for comparison to other glycymerids and in the recognition of morphospecies. Standard diagnostic characters based mainly on the cross-sectional shape of ribs and on hinge teeth ontogeny are presented and used to distinguish six recent Caribbean morphospecies. The shell texture has been examined by light and scanning electron microscopy, showing the interior of glycymerid hinge teeth structured by two bundles of crossed lamellar texture. Whereas European Glycymeris examined for comparison correspond in their hinge plate textures to the one found in Tucetona, differences from a Caribbean Glycymeris sp. are described. Simple lamellar, crossed-lamellar and cone complex crossed-lamellar textures showed the same basic crystallite subunits.

Givetian species of Chinese brachiopods previously assigned to the genus Spinatrypa or Spinatrypina reveal an internal structure characteristic of other species referred to the Eifelian genus Kerpina and the cosmopolitan Frasnian genus lowatrypa. Serial sections clarify the nature of the Middle Devonian Chinese species, which are described here as a new genus, Invertina (type species, Atrypa aspera var. sinensis Kayser, 1883). The internal structure of the Late Devonian type species of Iowatrypa, Atrypa owenensis Webster, 1921, is illustrated for the first time for comparison. These three genera, as well as three other genera, are referred to a new Devonian (Emsian-Frasnian) subfamily, the Invertininae, allocated to the family Atrypidae.

In 1892 the Swedish paleontologist Johan Christian Moberg described and illustrated what he interpreted as a fossil insect (Hemiptera) from beds of early Ordovician age in the southernmost limestone quarry at Killeröd, Smedstorp Parish in Skåne [Scania], southern Sweden. In a later paper in the same year (Moberg, 1892b), he also made a further passing reference to the presence of the same fossil when describing the accompanying graptolite fauna from Killeröd. One of his main reasons for recording this find was his conclusion (Moberg, 1892a, p. 122) that “it is evidently of great interest with full certainty to be able to prove the presence of airbreathing (terrestrial) animals as far back in time as that during which the oldest strata of the lower Silurian [i.e., Ordovician] were formed” [translation from Swedish].

Plant fossils from the Tertiary strata of the Great Plains are relatively common and have been reported for over 100 years (Stansbury, 1852; Elias, 1942; Thomasson, 1979, 1985, 1991; Gabel, 1987). However, fossils of the family Cyperaceae are uncommon at most sites in Tertiary strata of central North America.

Endothyroid foraminifers are common in most marine Pennsylvanian units in the Appalachian Basin. The genera Planoendothyra Reitlinger, 1959, and Endothyranella Galloway and Harlton, 1930, are the dominant taxa. Scarce Endothyra Phillips, 1846, are restricted below the Desmoinesian. The greatest change in stratigraphic distribution of taxa occurs at the Atokan-Desmoinesian boundary.

Sixteen taxa are recognized. Five new species are proposed, including Planoendothyra orbiculata, P.? associata, Endothyranella kentuckyensis, E. inflata, and E. intermissa. Most taxa are assigned previously described American species using a cf. designation. Description and thin section illustration provide a basis for nomenclatural acceptance of these taxa.

Morphometric analysis demonstrates that Strepsidura ficus (Gabb) of Harris (1895), from the lower middle Eocene Reklaw and Queen City Formations of Texas, is specifically distinct from Whitneya ficus Gabb (1864) of the Californian Eocene. Accordingly, the new name Strepsidura harrisi is proposed for the Texas species. Strepsidura s.s. is represented in North America by S. ficus (Gabb), S. harrisi n. sp., and an unnamed species closely related to S. harrisi in the upper Paleocene Sequin Formation of Texas. Strepsidura s.s. apparently originated in the Old World Tethyan Realm during the Paleocene and subsequently spread to North America.

Members of the Lyttoniidae Waagen, 1883 (Lyttonioidea Waagen, 1883, Brachiopoda) are characterized by numerous peculiarities, including their disproportionately inequivalve, rudimentary articulatory apparatus and asymmetrically developed muscle scars. The ventral valve of lyttonioids usually possesses a posterior flap and complementary septal apparatus and the dorsal valve has corresponding lobes and slits to fit around the ventral septa (Noetling, 1905; Fredericks, 1926; Wanner, 1935; Williams, 1953; Grant, 1976; Williams et al., 2000). Externally, the Lyttoniidae have been previously described as being smooth or having some growth banding, lines, or disturbances only (Cooper and Grant, 1974; Williams et al., 2000). Spines were previously reported by Sarytcheva (1964), but subsequently not confirmed by Cooper and Grant (1974, p. 387) and Williams et al. (2000). Radial ornamentation has never been reported prior to this study. In 2002, two specimens with Linoproductus-like costellae and Old-hamina-like septal apparatus were found by one of the authors (CLR) from the Middle Permian Xiala Formation at the Xinji Section in the Xainza area (89–91°E, 30–31°N) in northern Tibet (Fig. 1.1, 1.2) during 1:250,000 mapping. We consider that the present specimens represent another distinct phylogenetic branch within the Lyttoniidae, although only two specimens were found. Further collecting is currently impossible because of the inaccessibility of the remote area in northern Tibet. In this paper we aim to propose a new subfamily of Lyttoniidae based on the specimens found from northern Tibet.

Several specimens of biogenic structures somewhat resembling plug-shaped ichnofossils have been collected in two muddy deposits, Sicilian (Early Pleistocene) in age (Bossio et al., 1987), outcropping near Lecce, southern Apulia, Italy. One sequence is exposed in an unused quarry located at the eastern side of the Cutrofiano–Supersano road, 31 km post; the other one is in an active quarry, southwest of Lecce, near the village of San Pietro in Lama (Figure 1). The diagnostic features of the traces differ from those of the five ichnogenera recognized by Pemberton et al. (1988) for plug-shaped ichnofossils. The minor ichnogenera related to plug-shaped trace fossils, as indicated by those authors, are also different from the present structure. A new ichnogenus is proposed to cover this form.

Trilobites of this suborder from Europe and North America have not been studied in detail, in contrast to the attention given to relationships within the orders Agnostida and Ptychopariina. The basis of the Corynexochina is the type species of Corynexochus from the middle Cambrian of Sweden. The type material redescribed here is only the cranidium, and is inadequate for diagnosis of the genus. A species attributed to this genus occurring in the Cambrian of southern France is represented by entire dorsal exoskeletons and is urgently in need of redescription. Similar material is recorded in northern Spain. Both complete exoskeletons and growth stages of Corynexochina have been described from Cambrian strata in Russia, Australia, Morocco and China, showing the wide geographical range and varied morphology of the Suborder. The type species of two genera from boulders of middle Cambrian age found in Quebec, Canada, are redescribed from exceptionally well preserved, though small, specimens. They appear to represent a distinct group related to some of the Zacanthoididae. Families of Corynexochina are inadequately discriminated one from another, so that a family name can only be used with question. Until this is remedied, diagnosis of a new group is not possible.

Anticosti Island, eastern Canada, records an exceptionally thick and well-exposed Ordovician/Silurian boundary section that hosts a series of diverse marine invertebrate faunas across the Late Ordovician mass extinction. However, the base of the terminal Ordovician stage, the Hirnantian, has been difficult to identify on Anticosti due to the lack of a traditional Hirnantia fauna within the Upper Ordovician Ellis Bay Formation. Previously, the eponymous taxon of the Hirnantia fauna, and type species of the genus Hirnantia, H. sagittifera (M'Coy, 1851) has been reported only from the uppermost Ellis Bay Formation, leading to uncertainty as to the age of the lower Ellis Bay Formation. Here we report Hirnantia notiskuani n. sp. from the lowermost Ellis Bay Formation. This new species is similar to the type species, H. sagittifera, but is distinguished by its strongly dorsibiconvex shell in mature forms and variously developed uniplicate anterior commissure. Occurrences of these two similar species of Hirnantia, H. notiskuani and H. sagittifera, within the lower and uppermost Ellis Bay Formation, respectively, indicate a Hirnantian age for the entire Ellis Bay Formation, a finding that is supported by recent palynological and chemostratigraphic studies. Brachiopod assemblages within the Ellis Bay Formation therefore are best characterized as a unique and diverse Hirnantia fauna, consisting of genera from both the typical Hirnantia fauna and the epeiric seas of Laurentia.

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Systematic analysis shows that the Southern Hemisphere bivalve genus Retrotapes includes the Antarctic species R. antarcticus, R. newtoni, and R. robustus and recognizes for the first time the presence of Katelysia represented by K. florentinoi. Two new genera were erected in this study: Marciachlys new genus to include M. inflata new combination, and Adelfia new genus, which includes A. austrolissa new combination and A. omega new species from the Eocene of Antarctica, and the late Eocene Chilean A. arenosa new combination. Eurhomalea carlosi was synonymized with K. florentinoi; Cyclorismina marwicki with R. antarcticus; Gomphina iheringi was considered an indeterminate species; and Cockburnia lunulifera was excluded from the Tapetinae. These systematic assignments are supported by a phylogenetic analysis, which recognizes an Austral clade of Tapetinae, comprising all the genera mentioned above, along with Marcia, Paleomarcia, Atamarcia, and Protapes.

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The record of Middle Ordovician (Oretanian, ca. Darriwilian 2) hyolithids from the Ossa Morena Zone of the Iberian Massif in southwestern Spain is increased with the recognition of Robardetlites sevillanus n. gen. n. sp., Andalucilites parvulus n. gen. n. sp., Pauxillites desolatus n. sp., Leolites malinkyi Marek and Gutiérrez-Marco n. sp., and Cavernolites sp. in that region. Andalucilites n. gen. and Robardetlites n. gen. are endemic whereas the other genera are known from coeval strata in the Barrandian region in central Europe, France, and Morocco, giving this assemblage a decidedly “Mediterranean province” character. The discovery of Pauxillites, Leolites, and Cavernolites in Iberia extends their geographic ranges to that region, and Leolites from this area extends its stratigraphic range downward, making its occurrence in Iberia the oldest known for that genus.

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Disc-like fossils from siltstones of the Taozichong Formation (Cambrian) in the Qingzhen area, Guizhou, South China are reported here. They are similar to some Ediacaran and Phanerozoic discoidal fossils, and assigned to Tirasiana? disciformis? Palij, 1976. Based on the study of 43 specimens, dewatering or fluid escape structures, soft-sediment loading, scratch circles or other inorganic origins are ruled out, and the fossil is interpreted as a discoidal body fossil of unknown affinities rather than trace fossils. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elemental mapping analyses reveal that the discoid fossils contain higher concentrations of C, Fe, and P than the surrounding matrix, indicating the possible presence of pyrite, apatite, and organic carbon as a result of authigenic mineralization in association with decay and early diagenetic processes. The possible presence of extracellular polymeric substance suggests that the discs were surrounded by thin microbial mats composed primarily of extracellular polymeric substances, which facilitated their fossilization by promoting conditions that are favorable to secondary mineral precipitation. The new specimens provide useful information about the phylogenetic affinities of these early discoidal fossils and help us to better understand the taphonomic modes of non-biomineralizing organisms in Ediacara-type and Burgess Shale-type biotas.