We report here the first crustacean microcoprolites from the Sambosan Accretionary Complex (AC) in Japan. Three species of crustacean (order Decapoda) microcoprolites - Payandea japanica n. sp., Favreina tosaensis n. sp., and a species belonging to the genus Parafavreina? sp. are described from the Late Carnian to Rhaetian shallow-water limestones of the Sambosan AC, which were originated on extinct and subsiding volcanoes forming a mid-oceanic atoll-type buildup in the Panthalassan Ocean. Coprolites, which occur within a lagoonal to back-reef facies, provide new insight into the micropaleontology and sedimentology of the Sambosan limestones. Their presence in this tropical shallow-water depositional setting heightens their status of sedimentary facies indicators of such environments. Furthermore the occurrence of these Tethyan coprolites genera in Japan improves our knowledge of the distribution of Triassic crustacean decapods across the Panthalassan Ocean.

Recently collected specimens of the extinct tayassuine peccary “Cynorca” occidentale (and another indeterminant tayassuid) are described from new excavations along the southern reaches of the Panama Canal. Fossil peccaries were previously unknown from Panama, and these new tayassuid specimens therefore add to the extinct mammalian biodiversity in this region. “Cynorca” occidentale occurs in situ in the Centenario Fauna (new name) from both the upper part of the Culebra Formation and overlying Cucaracha Formation, thus encompassing a stratigraphic interval that includes both of these formations and the previously described and more restricted Gaillard Cut Local Fauna. “Cynorca” occidentale is a primitive member of the clade that gives rise to modern tayassuines in the New World. Diagnostic characters for “C.” occidentale include a retained primitive M1, reduced M3, and shallow mandible, and this species is small relative to most other extinct and modern tayassuine peccaries. Based on the closest biostratigraphic comparisions (Maryland, Florida, Texas, and California), the presence of “C.” occidentale indicates an interval of uncertain duration within the early Hemingfordian (He1) to early Barstovian (Ba 1) land mammal ages (early to middle Miocene) for the Centenario Fauna, between about 19 and 14.8 million years ago. Based on what is known of the modern ecology of tayassuines and previous paleoecological interpretations for Panama, “C.” occidentale likely occupied a variety of environments, ranging from forested to open country habitat mosaics and fed on the diverse array of available plants.

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) occupy an ecological niche characterized by hypercarnivory and cursorial hunting. Previous interpretations drawn from a limited, mostly Eurasian fossil record suggest that the evolutionary shift to cursorial hunting preceded the emergence of hypercarnivory in the Lycaon lineage. Here we describe 1.9—1.0 ma fossils from two South African sites representing a putative ancestor of the wild dog. the holotype is a nearly complete maxilla from Coopers Cave, and another specimen tentatively assigned to the new taxon, from Gladysvale, is the most nearly complete mammalian skeleton ever described from the Sterkfontein Valley, Gauteng, South Africa. the canid represented by these fossils is larger and more robust than are any of the other fossil or extant sub-Saharan canids. Unlike other purported L. pictus ancestors, it has distinct accessory cusps on its premolars and anterior accessory cuspids on its lower premolars—a trait unique to Lycaon among living canids. However, another hallmark autapomorphy of L. pictus, the tetradactyl manus, is not found in the new species; the Gladysvale skeleton includes a large first metacarpal. Thus, the anatomy of this new early member of the Lycaon branch suggests that, contrary to previous hypotheses, dietary specialization appears to have preceded cursorial hunting in the evolution of the Lycaon lineage. We assign these specimens to the taxon Lycaon sekowei n. sp.

The Late Cretaceous to late Paleocene record of glycymeridid bivalves in the region extending from the Alaska Peninsula, southward to Baja California, Mexico is studied in detail for the first time. Glycymeris pacifica (Anderson, 1902), of late Cenomanian to late Turonian age, is the earliest known glycymeridid in the study area. Very locally, it is found with the middle to late Turonian Glycymeris yoloensis n. sp. The latter apparently represents some intermediate state between genus Glycymeris da Costa, 1778 and genus Glycymerita Finlay and Marwick, 1937. In the study area, Glycymerita is represented by Glycymerita veatchii (Gabb, 1864), middle to late Turonian to late Campanian; Glycymerita banosensis (Anderson, 1958) new combination, late Campanian to latest Maastrichtian; Glycymerita aleuta n. sp., known only from Alaska and of early Maastrichtian age; and Glycymerita major (Stanton, 1896) new combination, Selandian to Thanetian. All the studied species lived in warm-temperate, shallow-marine waters and were shallow burrowers in fine-grained siliciclastic sediments. Variability in morphology is common in sizeable populations of the various species, especially Glycymerita veatchii, which increased nearly fivefold in size during its 19.5 million-year-long range and culminated in shells up to 84 mm in length.

Cythere ikeyanoriyukii n. sp., an extant phytal ostracode genus, was obtained from the Middle Eocene McIntosh Formation in the Doty Hills, western Washington State, USA. It was associated with eleven taxa, which are extant phytal and shelfal genera such as Loxocorniculum, Xestoleberis, Ambostracon, Coquimba, and Acanthocythereis. The presence of Cythere in this assemblage is surprising and indicates that the first appearance of this genus was middle Eocene time at the latest, or at least 20 Ma earlier than previously thought. Cythere did not originate in the Pacific Ocean around Japan as previously thought, but instead must have migrated from the northeastern Pacific to the northwestern Pacific between middle Eocene and early Miocene time.

Five new species of Maurotarion Alberti, 1969 from the Silurian Lipeón Formation and Lower Devonian Talacasto Formation of Argentina are recognized. The comparisons with Bolivian and South African species support a Malvinokaffric clade based on librigenal synapomorphies, here erected as Maurotarion (Malvinotarion) new subgenus. The Malvinokaffric origin of the family would not be a migration from lower paleolatitudes but an Early Silurian stock of rare cosmopolitan ancestors which underwent a great Devonian radiation. Two lineages can be recognized within Malvinokaffric Maurotarion. The Silurian-Pragian dereimsi lineage is a plesiomorphic one resembling Silurian representatives and involves M. (Malvinotarion) dereimsi, M. (Malvinotarion) talacastoense new species, M. (Malvinotarion?) new species A, M. (Malvinotarion?) new species B, M. (Malvinotarion) sp., and eventually M. (Malvinotarion?) cf. dereimsi. The isaacsoni lineage ranges from the Lower Pragian to Eifelian exhibiting a defined morphologic trend in the librigena. This lineage comprises M. (Malvinotarion) isaacsoni, M. (Malvinotarion) sp. A from South Africa, M. (Malvinotarion) gaucho new species, M. (Malvinotarion) haudei new species and M. (Malvinotarion) legrandi. A Lochkovian diversification probably took place yet an adequate assessment remains difficult. In contrast, a great evolutionary burst is recognized during the Emsian and is related to Pragian-Emsian global relative sea level curves which are coincident with those proposed from Bolivian and Argentinian basins.

The fluid flow through the complex hydrospires of the spiraculate blastoid Pentremites rusticus was analyzed using the first high-resolution three-dimensional digital image (and animation) of the hydrospires taken from a serially sectioned specimen. Measurements of the cross-sectional areas within the hydrospires, in conjunction with the Principle of Continuity, were used to infer the relative water velocity throughout the structures. Even though the calyx narrows adorally, the hydrospires expand in size, keeping pace with the increasing volume of water that entered through the hydrospire pores. Thus, the water maintained a relatively constant velocity within the hydrospire canals, 3.4 to 4.5 times the incurrent velocity. The spiracular openings are sufficiently large that no substantial increase in the exit velocity of the seawater would have been achieved unless the spiracular cover plates were used to reduce the size of the spiracular openings, which we infer was probably the case. The three-dimensional images underscore the fact that the two hydrospires that lie under each ambulacrum do not share the same spiracle and are not connected. Thus, we here redefine the term “hydrospire set” to refer to the pair of hydrospires that are connected. A number of anomalous accessory pores and canals were identified in the digital images. This initial study is based on a single specimen, and thus we were unable to determine the full range of variation present in Pentremites rusticus. Nonetheless, the digital image and the application of the Principle of Continuity offer new insights into the form and function of these remarkable respiratory structures.

Environmental variability exerts a substantial control on massive, free-living, colonial corals such as Manicina areolata, influencing their shape and size as well as other characters, such as base morphology and colline complexity in meandroid forms. This species is well adapted for life in shallow, wave-swept waters due to its self-righting capabilities. Two different ecophenotypes of M. areolata, as defined by overall shape and base morphology, are present in two approximately coeval Pleistocene localities (PBA Quarry and Holey Land Canal) in southern Florida. These differences reflect adaptation to two depositional settings. Corallum size, shape, and oral complexity allow clear differentiation between these two environments. Greater corallum size, as primarily manifested by significantly greater height, tends to accompany increased grain size. The basal area and weight per cm2 of the coralla appear to be primary limiting factors in M. areolata's growth by controlling the coral's ability to self-right after overturning or causing sinking into less cohesive substrates. Complexity of confluent corallites increases with increasing size and colony volume. Thus, complexity of valley and colline patterns on the oral surface increases as a function of base area, so that collines developed on smaller, soft-substrate-inhabiting colonies are characteristically less complex than are those of larger, higher colonies. These complexities and variation in shape are apparently related to environmental conditions, predominantly substrate, water depth, and physical energy, resulting in recognizable ecophenotypes.

Among weevils of the subfamily Baridinae (548 extant genera and ca. 9,000 species), unique prosternal horns and associated sheaths have evolved independently multiple times. These structures are utilized in a unique form of male-male aggression in which males push, rather than overturn as in most other horned beetles, their competitor. Herein we report the first fossils of male Baridinae exhibiting such prosternal horns. Two males recovered from the middle Eocene Green River Formation in northwestern Colorado serve to provide a minimum age (at ca. 47 million years old) for both the origin of horns and its associated form of male-male combat in Baridinae.

Studies of paleoenvironments have commonly focused on large mammalian herbivores such as ungulates. Many localities, however, have yielded large numbers of small mammalian herbivores, including lagomorphs and rodents. These fossils represent an untapped paleoecological resource. However, the fossils are often in the form of isolated teeth, and microwear analysis cannot be used due to taphonomic alteration. As a result, we use ungulate gross dental wear as a model. The dental wear features of extant western Canadian lagomorphs are identified and used to create dietary categories that can be applied to make predictions about the diets of extinct forms. The Horse Local Fauna of the Cypress Hills Formation of Saskatchewan has yielded approximately 2,500 fossil specimens, of which nearly 300 are lagomorphs. Two leporid species (rabbits and hares) are present in the Horse Local Fauna, Palaeolagus temnodon and Megalagus brachyodon. Qualitative analysis of the gross dental wear of the lagomorphs of the Horse Local Fauna indicates that M. brachyodon was mainly folivorous and P. temnodon was primarily frugivorous, suggesting that the contemporaneous ecosystem was tree dominated. Gross dental wear analysis allows the use of small herbivores and isolated teeth in paleoecological studies. Studying the diets of small herbivorous mammals will allow more nearly complete reconstructions of past environments and will become increasingly important as more detailed reconstructions are required by paleontologists.

The order Asaphida has been characterized by the possession of a globular protaspis and a ventral median suture. the superfamily Dikelocephaloidea was included in the Asaphida, although there has been no reliable ontogenetic information for this superfamily, and thus whether dikelocephaloids had a protaspis of globular shape has remained unclear. the ontogenetic study of the dikelocephaloid trilobite, Asioptychaspis subglobosa, from Korea reveals that the protaspis of A. subglobosa is not of globular morphology but of general benthic adult-like morphology, heralding that the Dikelocephaloidea may not be closely related to other trilobite groups within the Order Asaphida. This protaspid morphology is clearly distinguished from the highly globular protaspis of the Remopleuridioidea, which has been considered the sister group to the Dikelocephaloidea. in addition, the ontogenetic development of the free cheeks shows that A. subglobosa possessed anteriorly yoked free cheeks during the early phase of development but formed a ventral median suture by splitting the yoked cheeks in the later phase of ontogeny. This contrasts with the previously suggested mode of ventral median suture formation of the Order Asaphida. This alternative mode of ventral median suture formation of A. subglobosa, along with non-asaphoid protaspid morphology, warrants removal of the Dikelocephaloidea from the current Order Asaphida. This study further demonstrates that the ventral median suture did not evolve only once in the evolutionary history of trilobites. With the addition of the mode here documented for Asioptychaspis, the ventral median suture is now known to have developed independently and in a different fashion at least three times in the history of Cambrian trilobites.

Conoidal shells of Cornulites celatus n. sp. occur commonly within host coralla of Propora conferta Milne-Edwards and Haime, 1851, sensu lato, from the Laframboise Member of the Ellis Bay Formation (Ashgill: Upper Ordovician) at Pointe Laframboise on western Anticosti Island. Examples have also been found at the same locality in the tabulate corals Paleofavosites sp., Acidolites arctatus Dixon, 1986, and A. compactus Dixon, 1986, and the stromatoporoid Ecclimadictyon sp., but not in other associated tabulate coral species. Growth interference between the shells and their hosts indicates a commensal relationship. C.celatus apparently had a more limited paleoenvironmental range than its principal coral host species, which occurs abundantly elsewhere on the island without its endobiotic partner. The diagnosis of Cornulites is emended to include forms having a two-layered shell wall with a distinctive outer layer consistently preserved as prismatic calcite. This new species extends the known stratigraphic range of cornulitids in commensal relationships with corals and stromatoporoids from the Silurian back to the Upper Ordovician.

New material, including a complete exoskeleton, from the Bromide Formation of Oklahoma, allows a complete evaluation of Probolichas Phleger, 1936 and necessitates a quantitative revision of the lichid tribe Tetralichini Phleger, 1936. A strict consensus tree of nine equally parsimonious trees generated from a branch and bound analysis indicates that the genus Probolichas is monophyletic, and should no longer be restricted as synonymous with, or as a sub-clade of Amphilichas Raymond, 1905. The genus Apatolichas Whittington, 1963 is revised as a synonym of Amphilichas, and the Tetralichini is defined as clade with three genera: Amphilichas, Probolichas, and Lyralichas Weber, 1948. Probolichas kristiae from the Bromide Formation and Amphilichas effnensis from the Effna Formation of Virginia are new species.

Two species of well-preserved phyllocarid crustaceans, Ceratiocaris macroura n. sp. and Ceratiocaris papilio Salter, occur in the Eramosa Formation Lagerstätte of Ontario, Canada, represented by several dozen articulated fossils preserving limbs and thoracic segmentation. Ceratiocaris macroura n. sp. is distinguished by possession of an exceptionally elongate telson in relation to its body length. Ceratiocaris papilio preserves fine detail of the abdominal scale-like ornamentation, allowing reinterpretation and enhanced characterization of this key feature. Ceratiocaris papilio has a wide paleogeographic distribution across Laurentia but is restricted to shallow marine depositional settings within the middle Silurian.

The external morphology and its variability, myocardinal apparatus, and shell structure of both valves of the radiolitid rudist Eoradiolites plicatus (Conrad) are described, based on the examination of about one hundred well-preserved, fairly complete specimens that are free of sediment matrix, found in a single bed of an ammonite-bearing Albian succession ('Knemiceras beds', Zebbag Formation) in central Tunisia. This study provides the most nearly complete knowledge of any Eoradiolites species to date. With this background, all previous records of E. plicatus, as well as the taxonomic status of the other Albian species of the genus, are revised considering both original material, when available, and published papers. As a result, the systematics of Eoradiolites is simplified.

Five new species of Early Permian (late Sakmarian to Kungurian) colonial corals from eastern Nevada and southeastern California, one assigned to a new genus, are described and illustrated. These include Heintzella playfordi n. sp. from the Arcturus Formation in Nevada and the Darwin Canyon Formation in California, Paraheritschioides fergusonensis n. sp. from the Ferguson Mountain and Bird Spring formations in Nevada, and Wendoverella arca n. gen. and n. sp., Permastraea nevadensis n. sp., and Pararachnastraea moormanensis n. sp. from the Pequop Formation in eastern Nevada. These new taxa are distinct from all previously described species, but most are related to other species in the North American miogeocline. Wendoverella arca n. sp., however, is unlike any other species described from North America but is quite similar to a Russian species, indicating faunal communication between the Ural Mountains and the Cordilleran miogeocline at least into Artinskian time.

Despite increasingly intensive paleontological sampling, Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrates from continental Africa remain relatively poorly known, frustrating efforts to characterize paleoecosystems in the region, as well as the paleobiogeography of the southern continents during this interval. Here we describe the partial skeleton of a large-bodied theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (early Aptian, ~125-120 Ma) of Libya. The specimen consists of associated elements (two incomplete dorsal vertebrae, a proximal caudal centrum, a partial proximal caudal neural arch, the distal right femur, and the mostly complete right tibia) and is referable to the widespread ceratosaurian clade Abelisauroidea. The discovery adds to the growing record of abelisauroids from mainland Africa, and firmly establishes the presence of the clade on the continent prior to its final separation from South America. Indeed, the age of the Libyan theropod predates or is penecontemporaneous with the accepted timing of fragmentation of most major Gondwanan landmasses, supporting the hypothesis that abelisauroids could have dispersed throughout the southern continents before land connections between these areas were severed. Moreover, the considerable size of the Libyan form challenges assertions that abelisauroids were ecologically subordinate to basal tetanuran theropods in Early and middle Cretaceous paleoenvironments of Gondwana.

Commensal epizoozoans and episkeletozoans are rarely preserved attached to the external exoskeleton of the Late Ordovician trilobite Flexicalymene. Of nearly 15,000 Flexicalymene specimens examined, 0.1% show epizoozoans or episkeletozoans. Factors limiting Flexicalymene fouling include a shallow burrowing life style, frequent molting of the host, larval preference for other substrates, observational bias caused by overlooking small fouling organisms, and the loss of the non-calcified, outermost cuticle prior to fossilization or as the trilobite weathers from the encasing sediment. Trepostome bryozoans, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods, cornulitids, and a tube-dwelling/boring nonbiomineralized organism represent the preserved members of the Late Ordovician marine hard substrate community fouling Flexicalymene. This assemblage of organisms is less diverse than the hard substrate community fouling Late Ordovician sessile epibenthic organisms. Fouling is not restricted to only large Flexicalymene specimens as observed in previous studies but occurs in medium to large individuals interpreted as early to late holaspid specimens.

Epizoozoans fouling the carcasses or molt ensembles of 16 Flexicalymene specimens provide insight into the life habits of the host and these fouling organisms. Trepostome bryozoans, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods, and cornulitids preferentially attached to elevated portions of the dorsal exoskeleton, and preferentially aligned in either the direct line or lee side of currents generated by Flexicalymene walking on the sea floor or swimming through the water column.

Lower Miocene tide-influenced deltaic deposits from the Chenque Formation, Patagonia, Argentina, contain abundant and well-preserved biogenic structures attributed to locomotion of deposit-feeder protobranch bivalves. These trace fossils, assigned to the ichnogenus Protovirgularia, consist of delicate, inclined-to-horizontal, chevronate structures, mostly symmetrical with respect to a median axis. Identification of Protovirgularia at sandstone sole beds (hypichnion) is quite straightforward. Endichnial, exichnial and epichnial preservation in heterolithic facies, however, provides a wide variety of forms that depart from the archetypal Protovirgularia and challenges ichnotaxonomic classification. Specimens in prodelta and delta-front facies display morphologic features controlled by substrate fluidity, toponomy, and sedimentation rate. Most specimens show sharp, closely spaced chevrons and occur along sandstone/mudstone interfaces of the proximal prodelta and distal delta-front deposits. These forms reflect how tracemakers experienced significant friction while advancing through the sediment, which resulted in relatively smaller increments of movements. In contrast, variants of Protovirgularia formed in muddier beds, such as in prodeltaic facies, show irregular, poorly defined and unevenly spaced chevrons, and are locally asymmetric in relation to the axis, reflecting softer, water-rich, and plastic substrates. This sediment offered relatively low friction but poor anchorage for the foot. These occurrences of Protovirgularia in tide-influenced, marginal-marine deposits suggests that protobranchs were tolerant of fluctuations in salinity, sedimentation rates, turbidity, and oxygen depletion, displaying opportunistic strategies in stressed nearshore environments. Our evaluation of taphonomic controls and appropriate identification of Protovirgularia can provide valuable information for expanding our knowledge of the ethology and paleoecology of protobranch bivalves.

Cladistic parsimony analysis of the subfamily Deiphoninae Raymond, 1913 was conducted to produce a hypothesis of relationship for the group. The genera Deiphon Barrande, 1850 and Onycopyge Woodward, 1880 are found to be monophyletic, while the genus Sphaerocoryphe Angelin, 1854, as it was previously defined, is paraphyletic. A modified Brooks Parsimony Analysis using the phylogenetic hypothesis reveals patterns of biogeography, in particular, vicariance and geodispersal, during the Ordovician-Silurian. The analysis yields three major conclusions about deiphonine biogeography: Eastern Laurentia and Baltica were close enough during the late Ordovician to exchange taxa via sea level rise and fall; chance dispersal occurred between Northwestern Laurentia and Australia; and deiphonine trilobites likely originated in Baltica or Eastern Laurentia.