Reassessing Devonotarbus, a phalangiotarbid arachnid from the Lower Devonian (Siegenian and Emsian) of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (SW Germany)

Seven further specimens of the hitherto only known Devonian phalangiotarbid Devonotarbus Poschmann, Anderson and Dunlop, 2005 are described. Thus, the genus is recorded from four different localities of Siegenian (Hombach and Burglahr) and Lower Emsian (Willwerath and Alken) age, respectively, but the specific identity of Siegenian and Emsian specimens remains unproven. The new material suggests that this Devonian phalangiotarbid possessed more than six eye lenses, tergites five and six fused into a diplotergite, and an almost terminally situated anal operculum. It thus notably deviates morphologically from its younger Permocarboniferous relatives, and a new family, Devonotarbidae nov. fam., is proposed to accommodate Devonotarbus.     

New arthropods from the Lower Devonian Hunsru¨ck Slate (Lower Emsian, Rhenish Massif, western Germany)

Four new genera and species of arthropod, Cambronatus brasseli Wingertshellicus backesi Eschenbachiellus wuttkensis and Magnoculus blindi , are described from the Hunsru¨ck Slate (Lower Emsian) of Germany. All four occur in the Wingertshell Member in the vicinity of Bundenbach. They preserve remarkable details of the ventral morphology, including the appendages, as a result of pyritization. In each case the body consists of just two tagmata, a cephalon and a large number of similar trunk somites. Both Cambronatus Wingertshellicus have fluke-like appendages making up a tail fan. The affinities of these arthropods lie with the Crustacea, apart from Magnoculus , which is an arachnomorph, but they do not fall within those clades with modern representatives. They show that morphologies other than those represented by trilobites and modern arthropod groups persisted long after the Cambrian, at least in muddy bottom marine settings.     

Brachiopods from the family Ambocoeliidae George (Order Spiriferida) from the Emsian (Lower Devonian) of northeastern Russia

Brachiopods from the family Ambocoeliidae George from the Emsian (Lower Devonian) of northeastern Russia are described: Bisinocoelia despecta sp. nov.; Yakutospirifer gen. nov. with the type species Y. krivensis sp. nov.; Micospirifer gen. nov. with the type species M. simplex sp. nov.; Kolymospirifer gen. nov. with the type species K. optatus sp. nov. (subfamily Ambocoeliinae); Datnospirifer gen. nov. with the type species D. alius sp. nov.; Khalimospirifer gen. nov. with the type species Kh. microscopicus sp. nov.; Gerospirifer gen. nov. with the type species G. normalis sp. nov., and G. gerensis sp. nov.; Dogdospirifer gen. nov. with the type species D. yolkini sp. nov. (subfamily Rhynchospiriferinae).     

On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Slate Mountains: 5. Rare and poorly known eurypterids from Willwerath, Germany

In addition to the previously known eurypterid taxa from Willwerath, remains ofParahughmilleria hefteri, Erieopterus sp., andJaekelopterus rhenaniae are described and figured. Body parts of small pterygotids are interpreted as representing juveniles ofJ. rhenaniae. To further substantiate this interpretation an analysis of telson ontogeny in the SilurianAcutiramus macrophthalmus of New York State, another well-known pterygotid, is included. As a result, it is suggested thatPterygotus juvenis is a juvenile and thus a junior synonym ofA. macrophthalmus. The genital appendages ofJ. rhenaniae show no segmentation and consequently the family Jaekelopteridae is rejected. The palaeoenvironment of the Willwerath eurypterid association, dominated byAdelophthalmus andRhenopterus, is interpreted as a shallow brackish to freshwater/terrestrial setting in a deltaic transitional facies. In contrast,Parahughmilleria-dominated eurypterid associations from the Rhenish Slate Mountains seem to be confined to lagerstätten where a marine influence is more obvious than at Willwerath.     

Cystoporida (Bryozoa) from the Emsian Stage (Lower Devonian) of the Salair Ridge and Gorny and Rudny Altai

Eight bryozoan species of the order Cystoporida are described from the Emsian Stage of the Lower Devonian in the western Altai-Sayan Folded Area. Five of them are new species: Fistulipora salairiensis sp. nov., Fistuliramus fasciculus sp. nov., Fistuliphragma sibirica sp. nov., F. moniliformis sp. nov., and Fistulocladia cincinnata sp. nov. The others belong to the genera Ganiella, Physallidopora, and Fistuliporidra. Most of the cystoporid species studied from the Emsian Stage in the Altai-Sayan Folded Area are widespread laterally. Six cystoporid species have a narrow stratigraphic range and are, therefore, characteristic species of the bryozoan biostratigraphic zones of this region. The species of Physallidopora cantabrica Ernst et Buttler and Fistuliporidra hibera Ernst et Buttler, for the first time encountered in the Emsian of Gorny and Rudny Altai, were previously described from coeval deposits in northwestern Spain.     

Conodont biostratigraphy of the Yujiang Formation (Emsian,Lower Devonian) at Shizhou,Guangxi, South China

We study conodonts from the upper part of the Shizhou Member of the Yujiang Formation in Liujing area for the first time. Relatively abundant conodonts were collected from six sampling levels located between the uppermost part of the Shizhou Member to the lowermost part of the Daliancun Member at the Shizhou section, Liujing, Guangxi. The material includes Polygnathus excavatus excavatus Carls and Gandl, P. excavatus ssp. 114 Carls and Valenzuela-Ríos, P. nothoperbonus Mawson, P. perbonus (Philip) as well as ?Ozarkodina? midundenta (Wang and Ziegler) and ?O.? prolata Mawson. The lowest record of P. nothoperbonus is documented 0.35 m below the boundary between the Shizhou and Daliancun members. Correlation of conodont biostratigraphy between the Shizhou and Liujing sections indicates that the upper part of the Shizhou Member (partially) belongs to the excavatus Zone and the Daliancun Member belongs to the nothoperbonus Zone.     

On the Emsian (Lower Devonian) arthropods of the Rhenish Slate Mountains: 2. The synziphosurineWillwerathia

Willwerathia laticeps (Størmer 1936) originally described as a eurypterid is reinterpreted as a synziphosurine belonging to Family WeinberginidaeRichter &Richter 1929. Recently collected material from the locality, from which the destroyed holotype comes, suggests thatWillwerathia possessed ten opisthosomal tergites, deduced from all available arrays of disarticulates.Willwerathia is the largest synziphosurine yet discovered with a carapace approximately 90 mm across. The occurrence of synziphosurines with eurypterids mirrors previously described preservational associations.     

A new specimen ofWeinbergina opitzi (Chelicerata: Xiphosura) from the Lower Devonian Hunsriick Slate, Germany

A new specimen of the synziphosurine arthropodWeinbergina opitzi is described from the Lower Devonian (Lower Emsian) Hunsrück Slate of Germany (Rhenish Slate Mountains). It is the smallest and only the fifth specimen of this taxon to be described and is preserved in ventral aspect with exceptional preservation of prosomal and opisthosomal appendages. This specimen confirms the presence of a seventh appendage, similar in morphology to the preceding prosomal appendages, associated with opisthosomal segment one. In addition, at least three opisthosomal plates fringed with teeth are confirmed. Correlation of prosomal appendage podomeres betweenWeinbergina and selected chelicerate taxa shows that appendage structure is most similar to eurypterid appendages III–IV and Araneae appendages III–VI. This is in contrast to modern horseshoe crabs which have fewer podomeres in appendages II–V due to an undifferentiated tibiotarsus.      

A redescription of some poorly known Rotliegend arachnids from the Lower Permian (Asselian) of the Ilfeld and Thuringian Forest Basins, Germany

Two poorly known trigonotarbids (Arachnida: Trigonotarbida),Eophrynus schärft Scharf, 1924 andEophrynus ilfeldicus Scharf, 1924 from the Lower Permian (Asselian) Ilfeld Basin in the Harz Region of Germany are redescribed. The latter is transferred to the genusAphantomartus Pocock, 1911. The former resembles members of Lissomartidae, but given its incompleteness it is assigned here to Trigonotarbida incertae sedis. A phalangiotarbid (Arachnida: Phalangiotarbida) from Ilfeld described asOpiliotarbus elongatus (Scudder, 1890) represents the youngest record of this group. With respect to the genusOpiliotarbus Pocock, 1910,Architarbus hoffmanni Guthörl, 1934 — one of three names erected for a lost specimen from the Upper Carboniferous of the Saar region of Germany — represents the senior synonym ofOpiliotarbus kliveri Waterlot, 1934 andGoniotarbus sararm Guthörl, 1965. The Lower Permian fossilRhabdotarachnoides simoni Haupt, 1957 from the Rotliegend of the Thuringian Forest Basin, Germany was described as an arachnid and tentatively referred to Opiliones. Since it is identified here as a coalified plant remain, this species is regarded as nomen dubium.     

Bryozoans, corals, and microfacies of Lower Eifelian (Middle Devonian) limestones at Kierspe, Germany

The Lower Eifelian Meinerzhagener Korallenkalk (= upper Cultrijugatus Beds) at Kierspe, Sauerland, contains a rich reefal fauna. Eight bryozoan species are described, two of them are new: the cystoporate Fistuliporella kierspensis n. sp. and the trepostome Leptotrypella sophiae n. sp. The bryozoans from the Meinerzhagener Korallenkalk shows distinct similarities to the Lower–Middle Devonian of Spain (Santa Lucía Formation, Emsian–Eifelian), and to the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) of Transcaucasia. The coral fauna comprises five tabulate corals and one rugose coral that document a paleobiogeographic relationship between Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The associated fauna is represented by brachiopods, ostracods, and echinoderms. The studied limestones also commonly contain calcimicrobes represented by three species. The faunal and microfacial characteristics indicate a shallow marine depositional environment just above the storm wave base, with a supposed depth of 20 m, within the photic zone. The nutrient regime was at least a mesotrophic. The upper boundary of the Cultrijugatus Beds coincides with the Chote?-Event that strongly affected brachiopods, whereas corals and bryozoans were insensitive to this event.     

Palaeoisopus,Palaeopantopus andPalaeothea,pycnogonid arthropods from the Lower Devonian Hunsriick Slate,West Germany

Palaeoisopus problematicus andPalaeopantopus maucheri are redescribed and found to be primitive pycnogonids belonging to extinct orders.Palaeoisopus is particularly primitive in retaining a long abdomen with a telson. It differs from other forms also in having flattened limbs indicating a swimming mode of life and in having the ocelli differently arranged.Palaeothea devonica nov. gen. et nov. spec. is a tiny pycnogonid, the only hitherto known fossil representative of the extant order Pantopoda, indicating that entirely modern forms were in existence already in the Early Devonian. A derivation of pycnogonids from early merostomes is regarded as likely.     

Rare Mollusca from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate of southern Germany

Only ten gastropods have been recovered and a single hyolith found in the radiographic study of the Hunsrück fauna. Four gastropods are interpreted as retaining soft parts: the radula may be identified in one and perhaps the liver and digestive organs in the others. These gastropods may have moved into the area on floating vegetation. The hyolith probably lived on the bottom. Soft parts are present within its shell, but they are not readily interpreted. A tentacular mass anterior to a possible mantle cavity is present, with the bulk of the shell being filled by enigmatic tissue. ▭ Gastropoda, Hyolitha, soft parts, radula, pyritization.     

New Atrypids (Brachiopoda) from the Lower Devonian of Northeast Russia

New atrypids are described from the Lower Devonian of Northeast Russia: Musalitinispira, gen. nov. with type species M. dogdensis, sp. nov. (subfamily Atrypinae), Spinatrypina (Spinatrypina) krivensis, sp. nov., and Datnella, gen. nov. with type species D. datnensis (Baranov, 1995) (subfamily Spinatrypinae).     

A Lower Devonian hexacrinitid crinoid (Camerata,Monobathrida) from south-west England

The most species-rich and widespread crinoid clade in the type area of the Devonian of south-west England is the monobathrid camerate family Hexacrinitidae Wachsmuth and Springer. These crinoids occur either as thecae (Middle Devonian) or pluricolumnals and columnals (Lower to Upper Devonian). The first new, nominal species of hexacrinitid, probably Oehlerticrinus Le Menn, to be described from this region since the nineteenth century is Oehlerticrinus peachi sp. nov. from the Lower Devonian Looe Basin of southern Cornwall. This specimen is mouldic and somewhat flattened, retaining the proxistele and arms. Diagnostic features include the heteromorphic proxistele with circlets of long, unbranched radices directed towards the crown; the high, box-like (=skyphosiform) theca with a flattened base; a thecal plate sculpture of tubercles and ridges arranged in triangles; and the pinnulate arms. Any uncertainty in identifying this species at the generic level rests with the arms being pinnulate, not ramulose as is common in Hexacrinites Austin and Austin, indicating that O. peachi is closer to Oehlerticrinus Le Menn.     

A new scolenaspidid (Osteostraci, Vertebrata) from the Lower Devonian of Podolia, Ukraine

Anew osteostracan genus and species,Victoraspis longicornualis n. gen., n. sp., is described based on material from Rakovets’, present day Ukraine. This new taxon shares characters with the two generaStensiopelta Denison, 1951 andZychaspis Janvier, 1985. A phylogenetic analysis supports the position ofVictoraspis as the sister group to a monophyleticStensiopelta, while the interrelationships of the various species ofZychaspis are poorly resolved. A morphometric analysis is carried out in an attempt to further resolve the taxonomic affinity. This analysis groups all examinedZychaspis species closely together, and further supports the establishment ofVictoraspis as separate genus.      

Middle Devonian dendroid graptolites from the Brilon Reef area (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Germany)

Dendroid graptolites from the Middle Devonian (Givetian, middlePolygnathus varcus Biozone) of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge are described for the first time. The fauna of the Burgberg locality south of the Brilon reef comes from a black shale layer in a succession of calcareous debris flows. The fauna includes five species ofDictyonema andRuedemannograptus described in open nomenclature. The fragmentation of the material is conside-red as an indication of post-mortem transport.      

Two new brachiopod genera from the Lower Pragian (Lower Devonian,Soda Creek Limestone) of west-central Alaska

New strophomenid and rhynchonellid (Brachiopoda) taxa are described from the Lower Pragian (Soda Creek Limestone) of west-central Alaska: Harperoides gen. nov. with type species H. alaskensis sp. nov. (subfamily Mesodouvillinae Harper et Boucot) and Pedderia gen. nov. with type species P. fragosa sp. nov. (family Pygmaellidae Baranov).     

云南曲靖下泥盆统盔甲鱼类(无颌类)的新发现（英文）

描述了云南曲靖早泥盆世西山村组盔甲鱼类(无颌类)的新发现,包括一新属、新种——惠清驼背鱼(Altigibbaspis huiqingae gen.et sp.nov.),一件属种未定的多鳃鱼科标本,以及张氏真盔甲鱼(Eugaleaspis changi)和小眼南盘鱼(Nanpanaspis microculus)的新材料。驼背鱼在很多方面与多鳃鱼都非常相似,但头甲背面具一特征性的驼背状隆起,其上有一刀刃状的中背脊。中背脊和中背棘在盔甲鱼类里的形态分异度表明,它们除了能够提供游泳方向稳定性外,可能还衍生出了一些附加的功能,例如直立高耸的中背棘能使盔甲鱼在捕食者眼里具有了恐吓性,刀刃状的中背脊可能也起到一些防御的作用。南盘鱼头甲侧缘具有两对非常奇特的侧向延伸的突起;通过对这两对侧突同源性的比较,讨论了南盘鱼的潜在系统分类位置。鉴于南盘鱼奇特的形态,以及它在华南鱼目中相对较早的出现时代,建议暂时把南盘鱼放到一个单属科南盘鱼科,代表了华南鱼目早期分出来的一个支系。