We report the discovery of an ancient forest bed near Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, the second such ancient deposit identified on the South Atlantic island archipelago that is today marked by the absence of native tree species. Fossil pollen, spores and wood fragments preserved in this buried deposit at Tussac House show that the source vegetation was characterized by a floristically diverse rainforest dominated by Nothofagus-Podocarpaceae communities, similar to cool temperate Nothofagus forests/woodlands and Magellanic evergreen Nothofagus rainforests. The age limit of the deposit is inferred from the stratigraphic distribution of fossil pollen species transported by wind, birds or ocean currents from southern Patagonia, as well as similar vegetation types observed across the broader region. The deposit is suggested to be between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene, making it slightly older than the previously analysed Neogene West Point Island forest bed (200 km west of Tussac House). The combined evidence adds to our current knowledge of the role of climate change and transoceanic dispersal of plant propagules in shaping high-latitude ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere during the late Palaeogene and Neogene.

A pycnodont premaxilla bearing a large incisiform tooth with an unusual crown morphology is described from the Palaeocene (Thanetian) phosphate deposits of Morocco. This peculiar tooth shows a broad, fan-shaped multicuspid crown with nine cusps, well adapted for benthic macroalgal scraping. This morph, assigned to a new species of Pycnodus (P. multicuspidatus sp. nov.), emphasizes the phenotypic plasticity of the group and documents an additional trophic specialization among Palaeogene pycnodontiform fishes. In the post-K/Pg boundary marine ecosystem of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, P. multicuspidatus sp. nov. may have opportunistically replaced Maastrichtian fish taxa with a similar front dentition and feeding behaviour, such as the putative specialized pycnodontiforms Stephanodus and Hadrodus.

Modern baleen whales (Mysticeti), the largest animals on Earth, arose from small ancestors around 36.4 million years ago (Ma). True gigantism is thought to have arisen late in mysticete history, with species exceeding 10 m unknown prior to 8 Ma. This view is challenged by new fossils from Seymour Island (Isla Marambio), Antarctica, which suggest that enormous whales once roamed the Southern Ocean during the Late Eocene (c. 34 Ma). The new material hints at an unknown species of the archaic mysticete Llanocetus with a total body length of up to 12 m. The latter is comparable to that of extant Omura's whales (Balaenoptera omurai Wada et al. 2003), and suggests that gigantism has been a re-occurring feature of mysticetes since their very origin. Functional analysis including sharpness and dental wear implies an at least partly raptorial feeding strategy, starkly contrasting with the filtering habit of living whales. The new material markedly expands the size range of archaic mysticetes, and demonstrates that whales achieved considerable disparity shortly after their origin.

All taxa of Orthoptera known from the latest Eocene deposits of the Isle of Wight are redescribed or discussed, based on the study of their type material. The following new taxa are described: Ontogryllus gen. nov., O. rossi sp. nov. (type species), Achetomorpha gen. nov., A. irregularis sp. nov. (type species), and Proeneopterotrypus gen. nov. The latter genus is here proposed for Pteroplistes danicus Rust, described from the Palaeocene/Eocene of Denmark, as this find is important for understanding the systematic position of the genus Eneopterotrypus Zeuner. Remarks about the taxonomy of the taxa studied, age of these deposits, and ecology are given.

The Maastrichtian-Palaeogene series of the Western High Atlas and Meseta Basins in Morocco are particularly rich in palygorskite. The present work is aimed at clarifying the genesis of palygorskite from the interbedded facies and gaining an understanding of their relationships with the depositional environment. The mineralogical characteristics of palygorskite from these series were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy (SEM/TEM). The palygorskite content and microstructure show large geographical and stratigraphical variations in the deposits studied. The palygorskite occurrence is directly related to palaeobathymetry, since it is the dominant clay mineral in shallow marine and restricted environments. According to the morphology of palygorskite crystallites, four types of textures were distinguished. These types of palygorskite are polygenetic, formed by chemical precipitation, by the recrystallization of smectite clays or reworked by wind or water from sub-aerial environments. The difference between the two studied sub-basins with respect to palygorskite occurrence is attributed to the palaeomorphology of the hinterlands, to the tectonic differentiation and to the physical-chemical conditions of seawater.

J. Golonka, M. Krobicki, A. Waśkowska, M. Cieszkowski & A. Ślączka reply: We welcome the comments by our Slovakian colleagues and their critique of our results, particularly as we have discussed and published papers together several times about our ideas, sometimes, more or less, disputable (Aubrecht et al.2003, 2006; Krobicki et al.2003; Krobicki, Aubrecht & Golonka, 2003; Golonka et al.2006; Pieńkowski et al.2008). We are pleased to see such warm reaction to our work/paper, which is focused on one of the rudimentary questions in the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) area. How many/what kind of olistoliths/olistostromes occur within the inner structure of the PKB, and when and why did they originate mostly during the Palaeogene part of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic history of this region? We expected this discussion earlier. The content of our paper was presented at the 6th Meeting of the Central European Tectonic Studies Group (CETeG) in Upohlav, Pieniny Klippen Belt, Slovakia (Cieszkowski et al.2008), and later, at the XIX Congress of the Carpathian–Balkan Geological Association in Thessaloniki, Greece (Cieszkowski et al.2010; Golonka et al.2010). Some ideas were also briefly mentioned in the paper by Cieszkowski et al. (2009) in a journal issue edited by D. Plašienka. We assume that the comments are based on recent investigation, because the authors list the grants received to conduct the research. Therefore, the submitted comments sometimes present a point of view different from that published previously by some of the authors of the comments (RA, JM) (see Aubrecht et al.2003; Krobicki, Aubrecht & Golonka, 2003; Wierzbowski et al.2006; Pieńkowski et al.2008). The statement, ‘Certainly there are many still unresolved problems in the geology of the PKB, and it ought to be said that the co-authors of this discussion also do not fully agree with all interpretations formulated and illustrated by the first author’ perhaps explains this controversy. Of course, we agree that ‘there are many still unresolved problems in the geology of the PKB’. We also agree with the statement ‘olistostromes and olistoliths are quite frequent, but not omnipresent’. We depicted the distribution of the olistoliths and their relationship to the non-olistolith tectonic units of the PKB in Golonka et al. (2015, figs 3, 8).

D. Plašienka, J. Michalík, J. Soták & R. Aubrecht comment: In their recent paper, Golonka et al. (2015) described the Cretaceous and Palaeogene olistostromes and other types of mass-transport deposits occurring within the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) of the Western Carpathians. After a short introduction into the olistostrome concept and an overall description of the PKB structure, the authors presented their views on the composition and evolution of the PKB with olistostromes as the leading phenomenon. Although novel in some aspects, the model they present is largely oversimplified and partly erroneous in our opinion. In the following, we shall comment on the several most disputable statements and interpretations offered in the discussed paper.

Eggshell fragments attributed to large birds have been known from the Palaeogene of southern France for half a century, but reconstructing their original dimensions and identifying the birds that laid the eggs has been fraught with difficulties. On the basis of numerous newly collected specimens and using geometrical calculations, the original size of the thick-shelled eggs is reconstructed, showing that they were slightly larger than ostrich eggs, with a greatest length of 17.8 cm and a mean diameter of 12.0 cm in transversal section. The estimated volume is 1330.4 cm3. The fossil eggs from southern France are thus among the largest known avian eggs, being only surpassed by Aepyornis and some moas. Estimated egg mass is about 1.4 kg. On the basis of egg mass, the body mass of the parent bird is estimated at between 135.4 kg and 156.4 kg, assuming that the hatchlings were precocial. These calculations are in good agreement with the dimensions and mass estimates for the Palaeogene giant bird Gastornis, a probable anseriform, which lived in Europe at the time the eggs were laid. Other large Early Tertiary birds from Europe (Remiornis, Palaeotis) are too small to have laid these eggs. In all likelihood, the large eggs from the Palaeogene of southern France were laid by gastornithid birds.

The red-bed deposits in northern Iraq are situated in an active foreland basin adjacent to the Zagros Orogenic Belt, bound to the north by the Iranian plate thrust over the edge of the Arabian plate. The red-bed successions are composed of alternating red and brown silty mudstones, purplish red calcareous siltstone, fine- to coarse-grained pebbly sandstone and conglomerate. The red beds in the current study can be divided into four parts showing a trend of upward coarsening with fine-grained deposits at the top. A detailed petrographic study was carried out on the sandstone units. The clastic rocks consist mainly of calcite cemented litharenite with rock fragments (volcanic, metamorphic and sedimentary), quartz and minor feldspar. The petrographic components reflect the tectonic system in the source area, laterally ranging from a mixed orogenic and magmatic arc in Mawat–Chwarta area to recycled orogenic material rich in sedimentary rock fragments in the Qandel area. The Cretaceous–Palaeogene foreland basin of northern Iraq formed to the southwest of the Zagros Suture Zone and the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone of western Iran. During Palaeogene time deposition of the red beds was caused by renewed shortening in the thrust sheets overlying the Arabian margin with uplift of radiolarites (Qulqula Formation), resulting in an influx of radiolarian debris in addition to continuing ophiolitic detritus. Mixed sources, including metamorphic, volcanic and sedimentary terranes, were present during deposition of the upper part of the red beds.

The first fossil avian feather from Antarctica is reported here, from the early to middle Eocene Fossil Hill Formation at Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica. Characteristics such as its form, asymmetry of vanes, closed-pennaceous vanes with barbules and a deep ventral groove indicate that the feather was used for flight. The site from which the feather was collected is known to yield a variety of well-preserved trace fossils, palaeobotanical and palaeoenvironmental remains, suggesting a shorebird ecotype for the owner of this feather, certainly belonging to a Neornithes. The continental position, preservation as an external mould and type of feather makes this specimen a novel and an exceedingly rare record.

Molluscs from the Insect Limestone of the Bembridge Marls Member are described. The gastropods Lymnaea (Galba) longiscata (Brongniart 1810), Planorbarius discus (Edwards 1852), Gyraulus similis Férussac, 1814, Hippeutis headonensis Jodot, 1942, Viviparus lentus (Solander 1766) and Viviparus angulosus (J. Sowerby 1817) indicate freshwater alkaline conditions. The cerithioid gastropod Tarebia acuta (J. Sowerby 1822) probably represent more brackish conditions. Polymesoda (Pseudocyrena) obovata (J. Sowerby 1817) is the only bivalve present. All were potentially washed into the depocentre. Despite a wide outcrop of the Insect Limestone on the Isle of Wight's northwest and northeast coasts, there are no records of molluscs other than from the Gurnard/Thorness Bay area on the northwest coast of the island.

We present an overview of all known fossil scombroid fishes (Scombroidei, Perciformes) of the former USSR, many taxa of which are described in a language other than Russian for the first time. Also new is the application of a cladistic framework for these taxa. For each taxon, short taxonomic synopses with the most relevant characteristics (synapomorphies, meristic counts) are presented in a form useful for future cladistic analysis. As an exception, we present an extensive systematic description of the billfish †Hemingwaya sarissa Sytchevskaya & Prokofiev, because we disagree with earlier interpretations. The ‘gempylid’ †Hemithyrsites maicopicus Daniltshenko retains its generic name, which is considered the valid name of what is also known as Promethichthys Gill. A new tribe, †Eocoelopomini, is erected to contain the genera †Eocoelopoma Woodward, †Palaeothunnus Bannikov, and †Micrornatus Monsch. It is questioned whether species previously described as belonging to Thunnus South should be classified in that genus. A new species of tribe Scomberomorini, †Neocybium parvidentatum, is described from the Bartonian of W Kazakhstan. A specimen of †Auxides (questionably Maastrichthian, Iran), also reported here, possibly extends the radiation of †Auxides, and scombroids as a whole, further back in time. The fossil record of the Blochiidae is probably extended downwards to the Thanetian.

The first articulated skeleton of a penguin from the late Eocene of Antarctica is described. MLP 96-I-6-13 comes from the upper Submeseta Allomember (La Meseta Formation) of Isla Marambio (locality DPV 10/84). The significance of this finding in the context of the Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi biozone is discussed. An osteologic description of the recovered elements and a brief discussion of its systematic determination are provided. MLP 96-I-6-13 is the first articulated skeleton with sure specific assignment to Palaeeudyptes gunnari (Wiman, 1905), a species previously known only through isolated tarsometatarsi and included in the groups of Wiman.

The Punta Peligro fauna includes some of the oldest Cenozoic South American mammals, and the oldest ones for Patagonia. In addition to frogs, turtles, and crocodiles, an unusual mammalian assemblage is formed by a mixture of Mesozoic lineages of Gondwanan origin and therians (eutherians and metatherians) derived from Laurasian immigrants. This paper describes new remains of the Didolodontidae ‘condylarth’ genus Escribania Bonaparte, Van Valen & Kramarz, 1993. The new material includes an isolated right lower third molar with talonid morphology different from the homologous structure of the type species Escribania chubutensis Bonaparte, Van Valen & Kramarz, 1993, justifying the recognition of a new species. The derived nature of the didolodontid ‘condylarths’ from the Banco Negro Inferior, their differences with the Mioclaenidae Kollpaniinae from the early Paleocene of Tiupampa, and the record of bona fide litoptherns in the Banco Negro Inferior (BNI) suggest an early radiation of the panameriungulates.

Eight taxa of marine invertebrates, including two new bivalve species, are described from the Low Head Member of the Polonez Cove Formation (latest early Oligocene) cropping out in the Vauréal Peak area, King George Island, West Antarctica. The fossil assemblage includes representatives of Brachiopoda (genera Neothyris sp. and Liothyrella sp.), Bivalvia (Adamussium auristriatum sp. nov., ?Adamussium cf. A. alanbeui Jonkers, and Limatula (Antarctolima) ferraziana sp. nov.), Bryozoa, Polychaeta (serpulid tubes) and Echinodermata. Specimens occur in debris flows deposits of the Low Head Member, as part of a fan delta setting in a high energy, shallow marine environment. Liothyrella sp., Adamussium auristriatum sp. nov. and Limatula ferraziana sp. nov. are among the oldest records for these genera in King George Island. In spite of their restrict number and diversification, bivalves and brachiopods from this study display an overall dispersal pattern that roughly fits in the clockwise circulation of marine currents around Antarctica accomplished in two steps. The first followed the opening of the Tasmanian Gateway at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, along the eastern margin of Antarctica, and the second took place in post-Palaeogene time, following the Drake Passage opening between Antarctic Peninsula and South America, along the western margin of Antarctica.