The pseudoplanktonic crinoid Traumatocrinus from the Late Triassic of Southwest China — Morphology,ontogeny, and taphonomy

The morphology of the pseudoplanktonic crinoid Traumatocrinus from the early Late Triassic (Carnian) Xiaowa Formation of Guanling County (South China, Guizhou Province) is described based on articulated and disarticulated material. Juvenile individuals of less than 10 mm crown height with 20 isotomously branching arms prove the encrinid ancestry of the family Traumatocrinidae. However, even the smallest individuals have five large interradials. Endotomous branching commences at crowns of slightly more than 10 mm at the outer arms of the rays. All brachial articulations are ligamentary (granosyzygies). The assignment of the Chinese material to one of the nominal species of Traumatocrinus is still left open. The diagnosis of the genus Traumatocrinus is emended. Traumatocrinus lived attached to driftwood and was widespread across the Palaeo-Tethys. In contrast to its benthic encrinid ancestors, Traumatocrinus fixed its distal column with countless anastomosing radicular cirri to its substrate, preferentially to the ends of the driftwood logs. Depending on the state of the hypothesized mutable collagene tissue, the columns are preserved in straight positions or curved like a rope. Crowns are preserved in star position with radially splayed arms or in lateral bell position with the cup disrupted in interbrachial position. As usual in black shales, the exposed upper sides of the crinoids are in a more or less progressive state of decomposition whereas the embedded lower sides are intact.     

A New Species of the Genus Tylototriton （Urodela： Salamandridae） from Northeastern Hunan Province,China

We describe a new species from the family Salamandridae from northeastern Hunan Province of China based on morphological and molecular genetic evidences.The new species,Tylototriton liuyangensis,is a member of the T.asperrimus group,and shares a number of similarities with T.wenxianensis and T.broadoridgus.The dorsal surface of the new Tylototriton species is completely black,with nodule-like warts distributed evenly along the lateral margin of dorsal body,and there is no transverse striae between the warts.There are several diagnostic characters of the new species that differ from those of T.wenxianensis and T.broadoridgus as follows：（1）the interorbital space（IOS）is comparatively wide;（2）there is a bony ridge present on the dorsal head surface,running along the upper eyelids;（3）the space between axilla and groin（AGS）is comparatively large,with the mean male AGS approximately equal to 50%of the snout-vent length（SVL）and the mean female AGS being 53%of SVL;and（4）there is a small genital armature on the anterior angle of labial folds present inside the anal fissure of adult males during the breeding season.The result from the molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Tylototriton（including the type specimen of the new species）based on the complete DNA sequence of the mitochondrial ND2 gene（1035 bp）indicated that the new species was similar to T.wenxianensis,T.dabienicus,and T.broadoridgus,but formed an independent clade.This result was consistent with the morphological analysis above,supporting that the Liuyang Population represented a distinct species.     

A new Semionotid (Actinopterygii,Neopterygii) from the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of Thailand

A new semionotid fish, Lepidotes buddhabutrensis n. sp., is described from the continental Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Phu Kradung Formation, Phu Nam Jun, Kalasin Province. L. buddhabutrensis is characterized notably by the pattern of its cheek bones, by its short preorbital region, and by its numerous and well-developed premaxillary teeth. L. buddhabutrensis is provisionally placed in the genus Lepidotes; it shares, however, derived characters with other semionotids, such as Araripelepidotes and Pliodetes. To cite this article: L. Cavin et al., C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Phylogenetic Relationships of the Genus Paramesotriton （Caudata： Salamandridae） with the Description of a New Species from Qixiling Nature Reserve,Jiangxi, Southeastern China and a Key to the species

The matrilineal genealogy of the genus Paramesotriton is hypothesized based on DNA sequences from mitochondrial NADH subunit two （ND2） and its flanking tRNAs （tRN^Arp and a partial tRNA^Ala）. The genealogy identifies a highly divergent, unnamed lineage from Qixiling Nature Reserve, Jiangxi, China and places it as the sister taxon of P. chinensis. The newly discovered population differs from other congeners by several features of external morphology including having large clusters of dark brown conical warts on the dorsum of the head, lateral surface of the body and dorsolateral ridges. Its intermittent dorsal vertebral ridge is the same color as other parts of the dorsum and tail narrows gradually from the base to the tip. Further, the new population differs from all congeners by an uncorrected P-distance of more than 9.38% in ND2. Consequently, we describe the new species of Asian warty newt （Salamandridae） as Paramesotriton qixilingensis sp. nov.     

New ommatids from the Late Jurassic of western Liaoning, China （Coleoptera： Archostemata）

A new genus Amblomma gen. nov. of fossil beetles is erected and can be assignedto the family Ommatidae because its two procoxal cavities are contiguous and the articulations of the abdominal ventrites are abutting. The new genus is similar to Zygadenia Handlirsch, 1906 (=Notocupes Ponomarenko, 1964), Tetraphalerus Waterhouse, 1901,Rhobdocupes Ponomarenko, 1966 and Sinocupes Lin, 1976, but can be distinguished from other genera according to the following characters: the second segment of antennae is shorterthan the third one in length; the posterior tarsi with the basal segment is obviously shorter than the three following taken together in length; the antennae reach the posterior ridge of prothroax in length, and the sides of the prothroax with serrulate margin. Four new species of the new genus are described and figured: Amblomma psilata gen. et sp. nov., Amblomma rudis gen. et sp. nov., Amblomma epicharis gen. et sp. nov., and Amblomma stabilis gen. etsp. nov. A key to species within this new genus is provided. All the specimens are collected from the Late Jurassic Yixian Formation of western Liaoning and are now housed in the College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.     

A New Species of the Ant Genus Aenictus Shuckard （Hymenoptera： Formicidae） from Henan, China

A new species of the ant genus Aenictus Shuckard, A. henanensis, sp. nov., was collected from Yichuan County, Henan Province. The new species is close to A. lifuiae Terayama, but in profile view dorsum of propodeum straight, dorsum of petiolar node roundly convex, dorsum of propodeum entirely microreticulate. This new species is also close to A. ceylonicus (Mayr), but mandible with a large apical tooth, a small preapical tooth and followed by 5 indistinct minute denticles, subpetiolar process low and rounded, anterior half of pronotum microreticulate.     

On Circumscription of the Genus Prenanthes L. and Notoseris Shih — A New Genus of Compositae from China

After having examined all specimens of the genus Prenanthes L. of Compositae in the Herbarium of Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, I find that the classic concept on the genus Prenanthes established by G. Bentham in 1873 has not been held exactly by some of European, American, Japanese and Chinese botanists. For example, W. B. Hemsley, S. T. Dunn, A. Franchet, S. Kitamura and C. C. Chang placed plants from China which belong to other groups into the genus; I also find that the classic concept of the genus is not clear. The present paper makes a revision not only on the classic concept of the genus, but also on its concept assumed by the above-mentionded botanists. With the combination of numerous (25-35), white or yellow ligular florets, numerous ribs of achenes, Prenanthes alba L. (Nabalus albus (L.) Shih, comb. nov.) is distinctly different from Prenanthes purpurea L., which has the combination of purple, few (5-15) ligular florests and few ribs of achenes. Nabalus Cass., as a genus established early (1825) by H. Cassini, should be restored. It is not reasonable to treat Nabalus as a subgenus (E. B. Babcock et al. 1947) or a section (S. Kitamura, 1956) or as a synonym (G. Bentham, 1983) of the genus Preanathes L. The present author recognizes seven species in the new revised genus Prenanthes L. in China, 4 of which are described as new. In the genus Nabalus Cass. only one species, N. ochroleuca Maxim., is distributed in Northeast China. As Lactuca melanantha Franch. (1895), Prenanthes henryi Dunn (1903), P. glandulosa Dunn (1903), Lactuca triflora Hemsl. (1888) (it was transferred to Prenanthes L. by C. C. Chang in 1934), Prenanthes formosana Kitam. (1934) and P. wilsoni Chang (1934) all have campanulate involucres, purple phyllaries, purple dorsi-ventrally compressed achenes, longitudinal rids 6-9 on each side of achene truncate and beakless at its apex and pilose tubes of corollae, they should be placed neither into the genus Prenanthes with obtusely tri-or pentagonous, subterete achenes and glabrous tubes of corollae, nor into the genus Lactuca with beak achenes. Besides the above-mentioned species misnamed by some of foreign and Chinese botanists, 6 other species also have the same structure in achenes and corollae. Evidently, they fall into a new genus with the name Notoseris Shih. The new genus Notoseris Shih of the tribe Lactuceae of Compositae seems to be more reminiscent of Lactuca L. than of Prenanthes L. emend. All the 12 species of the genus Notoseris Shih are endemic to China and distributed in the area of south of Yantze River. Of them 6 are new combinations and 6 are described as new.     

“South American” Marsupials from the Late Cretaceous of North America and the Origin of Marsupial Cohorts

Newly described marsupial specimens of Judithian (late Campanian) and Lancian (Maastrichtian) age in the western interior of North America (Wyoming to Alberta) have dental morphologies consistent with those expected in comparably aged sediments in South America (yet to be found). Three new Lancian species are referable to the didelphimorphian Herpetotheriidae, which suggests that the ameridelphian radiation was well under way by this time. The presence of a polydolopimorphian from Lancian deposits with a relatively plesiomorphic dental morphology and an additional polydolopimorphian taxon from Judithian deposits with a more derived molar form indicate that this lineage of typically South American marsupials was diversifying in the Late Cretaceous of North America. This study indicates that typical South American lineages (e.g. didelphimorphians and polydolopimorphians) are not the result of North American peradectian progenitors dispersing into South America at the end of the Cretaceous (Lancian), or at the beginning of the Paleocene (Puercan), and giving rise to the ameridelphian marsupials. Instead, these lineages, and predictably others as well, had their origins in North America (probably in more southerly latitudes) and then dispersed into South America by the end of the Cretaceous. Geophysical evidence concerning the connections between North and South America in the Late Cretaceous is summarized as to the potential for overland mammalian dispersal between these places at those times. Paleoclimatic reconstructions are considered, as is the dispersal history of hadrosaurine dinosaurs and boid snakes, as to their contribution to an appraisal of mammalian dispersals in the Late Cretaceous. In addition, we present a revision of the South American component of the Marsupialia. One major outcome of this process is that the Polydolopimorphia is placed as Supercohort Marsupialia incertae sedis because no characteristics currently known from this clade securely place it within one of the three named marsupial cohorts.     

Description of a New Species of the Genus Brachytarsophrys Tian and Hu, 1983 （Amphibia： Anura： Megophryidae） from Southern China Based on Molecular and Morphological Data

A new species, Brachytarsophrys popei sp. nov., is described based on a series of specimens collected from Mount Jinggang, Jiangxi Province, Taoyuandong Nature Reserve, Hunan Province and Nanling Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province, China. The new species can be easily distinguished from other known congeners by morphology, morphometrics and molecular data of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. It is characterized by its relatively small size with 86.2 mm in snout-vent length in adult female and 70.7 mm-83.5 mm in males; vomerine teeth bearing on two markedly elevated ridges, which projecting behind far beyond the posterior level of the choanae, widely separated by a distance nearly 1.5 times length of one; margin of tongue de~ply notched behind; toes about one-third to two-thirds webbed in males, at most one-third webbed in female; the webs extending as a wide fringes along either side of toes; upper eyelid with tubercles, one of which is enlarged and becoming a remarkably prominent, bluntly conical light- yellow horn; black tiny nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first finger and second finger base, single vocal sac in males; gravid females bear pure yellowish oocytes; tadpoles with a transverse white stripe on ventral surface and two longitudinal white stripes along the sides of body. The new species represents the fifth known Brachytarsophrys species.     

First Record of Theropod and Ornithopod Tracks and Detailed Description of Sauropod Trackways from the Tacuarembó Formation (Late Jurassic-?Early Cretaceous) of Uruguay

The record of dinosaur tracks and trackways from the Tacuarembó Formation (Late Jurassic-?Early Cretaceous) is described in detail: two trackways and four isolated tracks. Ichnites are preserved in sandstones of interdune facies of the Batoví (lower) Member. The interpretation herein presented indicates a sauropod affinity of the trackways, while the isolated prints are considered to have been made by an ornithopod and small theropods. The fossil record for this formation was primarily integrated by fresh-water organisms. The presence of new groups (sauropods and ornithopods) has specially contributed to the reconstruction of the terrestrial fauna, represented up until this time only by theropods.     

Sex determination of the Early Cretaceous clam shrimp Eosestheria middendorfii (Yixian Formation,China)

Clam shrimps have been recognized as a key group for the study of reproductive system evolution, owing to the diversity of sexual systems in extant members. However, there are comparatively little data on fossil taxa. In this study, we reveal the sexual system of the Early Cretaceous clam shrimp Eosestheria middendorfii (Yixian Formation, China). This is the first study that restricts the analysis to a single cohort, minimizing the otherwise considerable impact of ecophenotypic variation within this species. In addition, the presence of egg clutches, which identifies some individuals as either female or hermaphroditic, serves as an independent indicator for sex prior to the statistical treatment of the data. Obligate sexuality (‘dioecy’) is the inferred reproductive system for E. middendorfii and sexual dimorphism accounts for about 10% of the adult shape variation. Carapace shape variation resulting from malformation and deformation is more pronounced than the underlying sexual dimorphism. Subtle sexual dimorphism, smaller and slightly more elongate females, lateral egg clutches, and egg diameters of about 140 μm indicate that E. middendorfii is closely allied with the extant family Cyzicidae.     

New material of Xyelydidae (Hymenoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China

Chifengilyda robusta, a new extinct sawfly genus and new species assigned to Xyelidae, is described and figured here based on one fossil specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Ningcheng in Inner Mongolia, China. Chifengilyda robusta n. gen. n. sp. differs from other xyelydids in having a forewing with pterostigma completely sclerotized, Sc closer to C, Sc1 about 3 times as long as Sc2, Sc1 intersecting C far beyond Rs base, 2r-m postfurcal and cell 1mcu relatively large. This new taxon further enriches the diversity of Xyelydidae in the Early Cretaceous, and even enhances our understanding of the evolution and inter-genera and interspecies relationships of this family.     

Basal titanosauriform (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) teeth from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China

The Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China has yielded a diverse fauna of non-avian dinosaurs, but is dominated by small-bodied taxa. Here, we describe a series of isolated teeth from the Lujiatun Beds of the formation that are referable to a basal titanosauriform sauropod. Some of the teeth possess a distinctive circular boss on the lingual surface, which suggests that they are referable to cf. Euhelopus sp. This identification provides some additional support for biostratigraphical correlations between the Jehol Group and the Mengyin Formation of Shandong Province that suggest an Early Cretaceous age for the latter unit. Moreover, the titanosauriform affinities of the teeth provide further evidence for the dominance of this sauropod clade in eastern Asia during the Cretaceous.     

A new oospecies of Similifaveoloolithidae from the Xiuning Basin,Late Cretaceous of Anhui,China

Well-preserved dinosaur eggs from the Cretaceous Huizhou Formation in the Xiuning Basin, Anhui Province, China, are analysed in this paper. We describe a new oospecies, Similifaveoloolithus qiyunshanensis, based on several distinct characters of external morphology, size, eggshell thickness, and internal microstructure. Radial sections of this new oospecies show branched eggshell units with a fused layer near the outer surface, while numerous irregular pores and cones constitute a honeycomb pattern in tangential sections. The discovery of S. qiyunshanensis expands the distribution of Similifaveoloolithidae dinosaur eggs in China and provides new fossils for researching dinosaur eggshell formation mechanisms which are different from those of the currently known oofamilies. The dinosaur-egg-bearing strata in the Huizhou Formation have been dated to the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) on the basis of a similar dinosaur egg assemblage in the Tiantai Basin in Zhejiang Province. The eggs described in this paper are thought to have been laid in a buried nest while enrichment of trace elements in eggshells may have been caused by their ingestion into the body of the dinosaur producer. We suggest that the paleoclimate of this habitat was semi-arid to arid and that this environment was favourable for the preservation of eggs.http://zoobank.org/LSIDurn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9D63A51F-5A4B-4249-901D-42A33E9FA933     

A New Genus (Protosciadopityoxylon gen. nov.) of Early Cretaceous Fossil Wood from Liaoning,China

A new genus ( Protosciadopityoxylon gen nov. ) of Early Cretaceous fossil wood reported in the present paper was discovered from Liaoning Province, China, and is named as a new species:Protosciadopityoxylon liaoningense gen. et sp. nov. It is described here and this generic name, adopted by the authors, is employed for fossil wood that is believed to be nearly related to the recent genus Sciadopitys and the fossil genus Sciadopityoxylon. The new genus bears some similarities to Protophyllocladoxylon,Protocircoporoxylon and Xenoxylon in different geological ages, but it differs from them in the types of cross-field pitting.     

New mammal remains from the Late Cretaceous Bostobe Formation (Northeast Aral Sea Region,Kazakhstan)

Four recently collected mammal specimens from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian–?Campanian) Bostobe Formation in the northeastern Aral Sea Region, Kazakhstan are attributed to Asioryctitheria indet. (an edentulous dentary fragment) and the zhelestid Parazhelestes sp. cf. P. mynbulakensis (a maxillary fragment with a double-rooted canine, an M1, and a dentary fragment including m3). These new records double the known mammal fauna from this formation, which previously included the zhelestid Zhalmouzia bazhanovi and Zhelestidae indet. The taxonomic and ecological structure of the mammal assemblage from the Bostobe Formation can, on present evidence, be considered close to the other eutherian dominated Late Cretaceous mammal assemblages of Central Asia. This region is important in particular in the search for Late Cretaceous ancestors of crown-group eutherian mammal clades (Placentalia).     

Neoselachians (Chondrichthyes,Elasmobranchii) from the Lower and lower Upper Cretaceous of north‐eastern Spain

Extensive sampling of several Barremian and Albian–Cenomanian levels across the Aguilón, Oliete and Aliaga subbasins of the Iberian Basin, north‐east Spain, yielded abundant material of new or so far poorly known neoselachians. The faunas consist of 16 different species, five of which represent new species and two new genera: Cantioscyllium brachyplicatum sp. nov. , Platypterix venustulus gen. et sp. nov. , Ptychotrygon pustulata sp. nov. , Ptychotrygon striata sp. nov. and Iberotrygon plagiolophus gen. et sp. nov. In addition, teeth of Heterodontus cf. H. carerens, Lamniformes indet., Pteroscyllium sp., Scyliorhinidae indet., Rhinobatos sp., Spathobatis sp., Belemnobatis sp., Ptychotrygon geyeri, Ptychotrygon sp. and Celtipristis herreroi are described. The new family Ptychotrygonidae is defined. The localities comprise palaeoenvironments ranging from lacustrine and shallow lake to open marine settings. Neoselachians are almost completely absent from continental settings in the Barremian, as a result of prevailing freshwater conditions, but became more abundant in marine strata. The Albian–Cenomanian selachian assemblage is the most profuse and diverse of the three assemblages studied. It is dominated by small, benthic and near‐coastal taxa, for instance Cantioscyllium and Ptychotrygon, and contains several new species, including an endemic batoid, Iberotrygon plagiolophus gen. et sp. nov. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 155 , 316–347.     

辽宁义县组原蝎蛉科(昆虫纲,长翅目)化石一新种

描述原蝎蛉科化石1新种,优秀云状原蝎蛉Typhothauma excelsa sp.nov.。对新种与模式种做了比较。化石标本采自辽宁省北票市炒米甸村晚侏罗世/早白垩世义县组地层,模式标本保存于首都师范大学生命科学学院。