Notes on the Melanorosauridae,a family of large Prosauropod Dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha)

The femur of the anchisaurid (= plateosaurid) prosauropoddinosaur Euskelosaurus browniiHuxley, 1866 from the lower Elliot Formation (Upper Triassic) of South Africa is sigmoidal in posterior view with the fourth trochanter well removed from the medial edge. The sympatric Melanorosaurus readiHaughton, 1924 is not a junior synonym of Euskelosaurus brownii because the femur is straight in posterior view with the fourth trochanter close to the medial edge. In addition to Melanorosaurus, the Melanorosauridae Huene, 1929 includes Camelotia borealis nov. gen. and nov. sp. from the Upper Triassic of England, Riojasaurus incertusBonaparte, 1969 from the Upper Triassic of Argentina, and possibly some of the posteranial material referred to the? rauisuchian the codontian Sinosaurus triassicusYoung, 1948 from the Lower Jurassic of China.     

Ischyodus bifurcatus, a new speciesof chimaeroid fish from the upper cretaceous of New Jersey

Toothplates of the ratfish Ischyodus are rather common fossils, distributed throughout the Campanian-Maestrichtian of New Jersey and Delaware although heretofore unrecognized or described. A new species of Ischyodus differs from the European species, I. thurmanniPictet & Campiche and I. dolloiLeriche, by the fusion of the median and internal posterior tritors of the mandibular apparatus. Except in rare individuals the palatine elements of I. bifurcatus do not show any fusion of their tritoral aspects. The vomerine elements show no distinctive features that could separate them from of any of the known Ischyodus species, and the dorsal fin spine is not significantly different from those of other known chimaeroid fishes, including Edaphodon, Elasmodus, Elasmodectes and Leptomylus. Ischyodus bifurcatus is erected as a new species based upon the bifurcated appearance of the fused mandibular tritors. A temporal range from late Santonian to medial Maestrichtian is indicated by occurrences in Belgium, California, Montana, Arkansas, and Delaware as well as New Jersey.     

Civettictis braini nov. sp. (Mammalia: Carnivora), a new viverrid from the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng,South Africa)

A new Plio-Pleistocene viverrid species is described based on two newly discovered maxillae (KW 10141 and KW 10383) from the recent excavations at the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa). This major site allows us to address the conundrum of Paranthropus and Homo origins in South Africa and presents a highly diverse carnivore spectrum (at least 22 species) including herpestids and viverrids. Civettictis braini nov. sp. is a viverrid species comparable in size to the extant African civet Civettictis civetta (Schreber, 1776). However C. braini nov. sp. differs significantly from the extant species in its dental proportions. Its canine and three premolars (P1–P3) are relatively robust, while its carnassials (P4) and two molars (M1, M2) are extremely reduced. This new species supplements our knowledge on carnivore taxonomic diversity and paleoecology in Southern Africa about 2 millions of years ago.     

Dumontia oregonensis n. fam., n. gen., n. sp., a cladoceran representing a new family of `Water-fleas' (Crustacea,Anomopoda) from U.S.A., with notes on the classification of the Order Anomopoda

Dumontia oregonensis, a cladoceran representing a new family in the Order Anomopoda is described from rain pools in the Agate Desert, Oregon, U.S.A. The proposed family, Dumontiidae, is the newest family within Anomopoda that is not just a reshuffling of already-known species. The general appearance of this novel cladoceran is similar to that of members of the family Macrothricidae. However, a detailed examination of the trunk limbs, particularly of the second pair of limbs, showed that the new species lacks the scraper-setae typically observed in all members of the recently erected suborder Radopoda, to which macrothricids belong. Instead, limb morphology suggests a closer relation of Dumontiidae to the family Daphniidae. Dumontiidae appears to be a `missing' link between the suborder Radopoda and the `non-radopodid' anomopods. The families Daphniidae, Ilyocryptidae, Bosminidae, Moinidae and the new Dumontiidae are similar in that they lack of typical radopodid setae on the second pair of trunk limbs. Further studies on the limb morphology of non-radopodid cladocerans are required to solve the phylogenetic relationships among the members of the order Anomopoda.     

Description of a new species,Globotruncana pseudoconica and remarks on its relation to Globotruncana conicaWhite and Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal

A new, strongly spiroconvex Globotruncana species,Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp., is described from the Maastrichtian of Tunisia. It is distinguished from Globotruncana conicaWhite in morphology and phylogeny. Some Maastrichtian, strongly spiroconvex specimens referred to as Globotruncana conicaWhite, are shown to be identical to Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp. The new species reveals close affinity with Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal from which it has evolved during the middle Lower Maastrichtian.     

Hadodiaptomus dumonti n. gen., n. sp., a new freshwater stygobitic calanoid (Crustacea: Copepoda: Calanoida) from Vietnam (South Asia) and a new member of the subfamily Speodiaptominae Borutzky, 1962

A new species of freshwater stygobitic calanoid, Hadodiaptomus dumonti n. gen., n. sp., from a cave in Vietnam (South Asia) is described. It is the ninth taxon from the order Calanoida described from freshwater subterranean (i.e. cave) environments. It is the fourth member of the subfamily Speodiaptominae Borutzky, 1962. It differs from stygobitic taxa in Europe and Mexico by numerous characters, especially in the armature of P1–P5, antenullas, mouth parts and genital segments in both sexes. Arthrodial membrane development from CII to CV is different from epigean as well as from subterranean taxa. These differences suffice to raise a new genus–Hadodiaptomus, characterised by two-segmented exopodites and endopodites of P1–P4 and reduced P5 endopodites in both sexes. Males are without widened segments 13–18 on right A1. Relations with other stygobitic taxa of the subfamily Speodiaptominae are discussed.