Permian bryozoans of the NW-tethys

Summary Permian bryozoan faunas from the Lower Permian sequences of the Carnic Alps (UpperPseudoschwagerina Formation and Trogkofel Formation) and from some other Permian units of the NW-Tethys (Sicily, Tunisia) include cystoporid, trepostomid, fenestellid, rhabdomesid, and timanodictyid taxa. Fenestellids and cystoporids species dominate. The Lower Permian bryozoan fauna of the Carnic Alps displays close relations to faunas of Sakmarian-Artinskian age of the Russian Platform and Pamir as well as of the Lower Permian of Australia. Bryozoans from Permian sequences of Sicily and Tunisia display relations to the Permian faunas of Indonesia and Australia.     

Late Eocene leaves of Nageia (section Dammaroideae) from Maoming Basin,South China and their implications on phytogeography

A new species of Nageia, Nageia maomingensis sp. nov., is described from the Late Eocene of Maoming Basin, Guangdong Province, South China. According to its cuticular characteristics, the present fossil species is assigned to N. sect. Dammaroideae, showing the most resemblance to the extant species N. motleyi (Parl.) de Laub. At present, this section is mainly distributed in the Pacific islands region from South Asia to New Guinea. The discovery of N. maomingensis demonstrates that plants of this section inhabited South China at least by the Eocene. The distribution and living habitat of extant N. sect. Dammaroideae imply that South China was warmer during the Late Eocene than today, and may represent one of the centers for early diversification of Nageia and its section Dammaroideae during the Eocene. In addition, we postulate that plants of sect. Dammaroideae migrated southward in response to climate cooling after the Eocene.     

Upper Ordovician bryozoans from the Xiazhen Formation of Yushan,northeastern Jiangxi,East China

The bryozoan fauna from the Xiazhen Formation (Katian, Upper Ordovician) of northeast Jiangxi Province, southeast China is reported here. Seventeen species of bryozoans belonging to fifteen genera and four orders are identified: Homotrypa yushanensis, Homotrypa sp., Prasopora yushanensis, Trematopora sp., Monotrypella sp., Rhombotrypa sp., Orbignyella sp., Constellaria jiangxiensis, Constellaria sp., Stictopora nicholsoni, Trigonodictya parvula, Ptilodictya ensiformis, Stictoporella sp., Pseudopachydictya sp., Nematopora sp., Arthrostylidae sp. indet., and Chasmatoporidae sp. indet. Four of these genera have been reported previously but nine genera (Trematopora, Monotrypella, Rhombotrypa, Orbignyella, Trigonodictya, Ptilodictya, Stictoporella, Pseudopachydictya, and Nematopora), one rhabdomesine and one fenestrate are found for the first time in the Late Ordovician strata of South China. Our palaeogeographical analysis suggests that the bryozoan association is typical for the Katian, which is mostly widespread in Laurentia, Siberia, Baltica and Mediterranean, and displays palaeobiogeographical relationships to the Laurentia–Siberia Province.     

Coastal and marine wetlands in Gulf St. Vincent,South Australia: understanding their loss and degradation

Despite the vastness of South Australia's coastline, approximately 95% of the state's population of 1.4 million is on the Adelaide metropolitan coast of Gulf St. Vincent. The concentration of human activity around this shallow, sheltered gulf ecosystem has led to conflict and competition over the use of marine and coastal resources. The gulf supports extensive areas of ecologically significant subtidal and tidal coastal wetlands, comprising seagrass meadows, mangroves and saltmarshes, with nine wetlands having recognized national importance. The wetlands support economic activities such as commercial and recreational fishing, tourism and aquaculture, and to a lesser extent, mineral and petroleum exploration and shipping. These environments and activities are threatened by the effects of land-based urbanization, coastal development, stormwater runoff effluent and industrial discharges, and the resultant decline in water quality and food-chain contamination. Marine activities can also have adverse effects (i.e., dredging, sea-dumping, overfishing, fishing methods, oil spills, antifoulants, ballast water introductions), including the developing aquaculture industry. The continued loss and degradation of marine and coastal wetlands in the gulf is exacerbated by inadequate protection measures, lack of integrated management structures and policies, and conflict between competing user groups. Strong policies and integrated decision making based on sound information is required for the equitable and sustainable use of these wetlands. Gulf-level management of multiple-uses would limit the cumulative impacts of human use and coastal development. There is a particular need to protect areas with high conservation value and for future research and marine conservation to focus on the coastal nearshore ecosystem. High priorities are coastal and biodiversity inventories, understanding of ecological processes, linkages between coastal and offshore habitats, and coastal spatial mapping and information systems.     

Chulpasia and Thylacotinga, late Paleocene-earliest Eocene trans-Antarctic Gondwanan bunodont marsupials: New data from Australia

A new marsupial from the early Eocene Tingamarra Local Fauna of southeastern Queensland, Australia, is named and referred to ChulpasiaCrochet and Sigé, 1993, a genus otherwise known from early Tertiary deposits of Peru. This taxon, Chulpasia jimthorselli nov. sp., differs in upper molar morphology only in minor details from the Peruvian type species Chulpasia mattaueri and is almost identical in size. New materials referable to the Tingamarra marsupial Thylacotinga bartholomaii Archer, Godthelp and Hand are also described. Species of Chulpasia and Thylacotinga share many striking derived as well as plesiomorphic dental features that allow recognition of a new monophyletic subfamily, Chulpasiinae. Its familial relationships are in doubt, but members of the subfamily could have provided the ancestral stock for Rosendolops and other early Tertiary South American polydolopimorphian marsupials. This is the first evidence that a Gondwanan genus of therian land mammals spanned South America, Antarctica and Australia during the early Tertiary. The very close similarity between the Peruvian and Australian fossils (and suggested short time span between their stratigraphic occurrences) provides further paleontological support for a trans-Antarctic land connection between South America and Australia extending well into the early Paleogene.     

Fertile Woodwardia from the middle Eocene of South China and its implications for palaeogeography and palaeoclimate

The genus Woodwardia, which together with the genera Anchistea and Lorinseria comprise the subfamily Woodwardioideae of Blechnaceae, has a disjunct distribution across Central and North America, Europe and the temperate to tropical areas of Asia. Fossil records of Woodwardia occur throughout the Paleogene and Neogene of North America, Europe and Asia. However, well-preserved fertile pinna fossils of this genus have not yet been reported in South China. In this paper, a new species, W. changchangensis Naugolnykh et Song, sp. nov. is described from the middle Eocene of the Changchang Basin, Hainan Island, South China. Macromorphological and micromorphological features of the fertile pinna show a straight pinna rachis, alternate, subtriangular pinnules, acute pinnule apices, almost entire or slightly undulate pinnule margins, long-ovoid sori, stalked sporangia and spores with wing-like folds on the surface, which are characterised in detail. Overall, the present fossil is most similar to the extant species Woodwardia japonica, which mostly grows in warm and moist environments. The discovery of this new species from the Changchang Basin of Hainan Island indicates that this genus has been distributed in the low-latitude tropical regions of South China from as early as the middle Eocene. Based on this find, and previous studies of other ferns from the same site, we infer that the climate of the Palaeo-Hainan landscape during deposition of the Changchang Formation was warm and humid, similar to conditions prevailing today across this region.     

Biodiversity and biogeography of southern temperate and polar bryozoans

Aim To describe the distribution of biodiversity and endemism of bryozoans in southern temperate and polar waters. We hypothesized that we would find: (1) no strong latitudinal richness gradient; (2) striking contrasts in richness and endemism between clades and between regions; and (3) that faunal similarity of regions would cluster geographically around each southern continent. Location South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Southern Ocean. Methods We constructed a data base from known literature, regional data bases and recent finds. We regionalized each southern continent, calculated levels of richness and endemism for each region and continent, and used primer 5 to perform multivariate statistical analysis. Results A third (1681) of global bryozoan species described occur south of 30° S, of which c. 87% were cheilostomes. In richness we found no latitudinal cline and change across longitude was stronger. New Zealand was richest and had the most (60%) endemic species, followed by Antarctica at 57%. There were striking contrasts in regional richness and endemism between clades but the highest levels of between‐region similarity were around Antarctica. The timing of past continent connectivity was reflected. Main conclusions Bryozoans show strong hemispherical asymmetry in richness and, like molluscs and corals, decrease away from Australasia rather than with latitude. Species endemism is much lower in Antarctic bryozoans than previously thought, and as this taxon is not particularly dispersive and is now amongst the best studied regionally, maybe Antarctic endemism in general is lower and Antarctica less cut‐off to species dispersal than previously thought. However, Antarctic generic endemism is double the level previously calculated and regional faunal similarities are much higher than around other continents – both reflecting long‐term isolation. Bryozoans, in contrast to the paradigm of Antarctic fauna, may be fairly robust to predicted climate change. Paradoxically, they may also be one of the best taxa to monitor to sensitively detect marine benthic responses.     

Microbial mats associated with bryozoans (Coorong Lagoon, South Australia)

Summary Bryostromatolites are laminated carbonate rocks composed of bryozoan zoarial laminae. The laminated texture is frequently caused by patterns of bryozoan self overgrowth as a regular defensive tactic against microbial fouling. In the Coorong Lagoon (South Australia), another type of bryostromatolite is present where the laminated growth of the weakly calcifying bryozoan speciesConopeum aciculata is postmortally stabilized by cyanobacterial mats at the surface, and fungal mats settling in the zooecial cavities. A tough extracellular slime network produced by benthic cyanobacteria is a trap for sediment particles, provides a method of adhesion to the bryozoan substrate, and produces a biological lamination by the vertical stratification of dead bryozoan skeletons. These slimes are also important for the preservation of cell structures and for their fossilization. Seasonal fluctuations in salinity and water level are the most important regional control factors, causing a phase displacement in the growth optima of microbial mats and bryozoans, thereby resulting in a rigid bryostromatolitic fabric.     

A new genus and species of fossil myliobatoid ray from the Fishburne Formation (lower Eocene/Ypresian) of Berkeley County,South Carolina,USA

Elasmobranch fossils recovered from the Fishburne Formation (lower Eocene/Ypresian) of Berkeley County, South Carolina, USA, include species from four genera of sharks and six genera of rays. Of particular interest was the recovery of multiple isolated teeth from a new genus and species of the cownosed ray family Rhinopteridae, which is the focus of this study. The unique crown morphology separates this genus and species from Rhinoptera. Eorhinoptera grabdai, gen. et sp. nov., is represented by small, bar-shaped teeth in the shape of greatly elongated hexagons. These teeth are the isolated elements of a dental plate. The holotype, with 12 wide root lobes, is the most elongated in the sample being 1 cm long and 1.5 mm wide, indicating an origin in the central region of the plate. Paratypes are less elongated, have 4–8 root lobes and are from more lateral rows. The crown is smooth and has a distinctly convex occlusal surface. Eorhinoptera is only the second genus of cow-nosed ray. Its distinctive crown morphology may have allowed it to exploit different kinds of prey than those favoured by rays that lacked convex tooth crowns.     

Siluro-devonian Conodonts from the Camelford Limestone, Wellington, New South Wales, Australia

Conodont data have been utilized to identify the Silurian/Devonian boundary within the Camelford Limestone near Wellington, NSW. Conodont faunas are documented from the eosteinhornensis Zone to early delta Zone with one new species of Walliserodus ( W. multistriatus ) and two new species of Ozarkodina ( O. brocki and O. camelfordensis ) described. An apparatus reconstruction of Belodella anomalis is also presented.     

Eocene siliceous sponges from the Ebro Basin (Catalonia, Spain)

The Eocene (Bartonian) marls of the La Guixa Member and Gurb Member, Vic Marls Formation (Ebro Basin, Catalonia, Spain), contain a very rich and diversified siliceous sponge fauna. The fauna is dominated by hexactinellids; lithistids and other demosponges are rare. It consists of 16 species representing 16 genera. Eleven new species and two new genera are proposed for these sponges: Reguantella cavernosa nov. gen. nov. sp., Regadrella concinna nov. sp. (both Hexactinellida, Lyssacinosa), Eurete clava nov. sp., Pleuroguettardia iberica nov. sp., Aphrocallistes almeriae nov. sp., Hexactinella informis nov. sp. (all Hexactinellida, Hexactinosa), Brachiolites munterensis nov. sp., Centrosia viquensis nov. sp., Callicylix eocenicus nov. sp., Rhizocheton robustus nov. sp. (all Hexactinellida, Lychniscosa), Propetrosia pristina nov. gen. nov. sp. (Demospongia, Haplosclerida). Some genera of sponges in this fauna are still extant, but, in general, the predominant ones are very close in morphology, and, without doubt, closely related to the Late Cretaceous sponges. This fauna also differs considerably, in terms of composition, from most other described faunas of Tertiary sponges from the Mediterranean region, which are dominated by lithistid sponges. Lithistid sponges are rare in this investigated assemblage, which seems most similar to an as yet undescribed Eocene fauna from Italy. There is ecological differentiation in the proportions of particular sponges in various outcrops and/or stratigraphical levels that is clearly associated with water-depth-related controlling factor(s): Munter, Tona and Sta. Cecilia represent the deepest facies, Gurb is intermediate, and St. Roc and Vespella are the most shallow. The exact bathymetric position of the sponge fauna is difficult to estimate, but it seems that 100 m (but probably 200 m and more in the case of the deepest parts) of water depth may be inferred for this facies.     

Biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropics

Aim This paper reviews the biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropical biome to highlight general patterns in the distribution of a range of organisms and their environmental correlates and evolutionary history, as well as to identify knowledge gaps. Location Northern Australia, Australian Monsoon Tropics (AMT). The AMT is defined by areas that receive more than 85% of rainfall between November and April. Methods Literature is summarized, including the origin of the monsoon climate, present‐day environment, biota and habitat types, and phylogenetic and geographical relationships of selected organisms. Results Some species are widespread throughout the AMT while others are narrow‐range endemics. Such contrasting distributions correspond to present‐day climates, hydrologies (particularly floodplains), geological features (such as sandstone plateaux), fire regimes, and vegetation types (ranging from rain forest to savanna). Biogeographical and phylogenetic studies of terrestrial plants (e.g. eucalypts) and animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) suggest that distinct bioregions within the AMT reflect the aggregated effects of landscape and environmental history, although more research is required to determine and refine the boundaries of biogeographical zones within the AMT. Phylogenetic analyses of aquatic organisms (fishes and prawns) suggest histories of associations with drainage systems, dispersal barriers, links to New Guinea, and the existence of Lake Carpentaria, now submerged by the Gulf of Carpentaria. Complex adaptations to the landscape and climate in the AMT are illustrated by a number of species. Main conclusions The Australian monsoon is a component of a single global climate system, characterized by a dominant equator‐spanning Hadley cell. Evidence of hot, seasonally moist climates dates back to the Late Eocene, implying that certain endemic elements of the AMT biota have a long history. Vicariant differentiation is inferred to have separated the Kimberley and Arnhem Land bioregions from Cape York Peninsula/northern Queensland. Such older patterns are overlaid by younger events, including dispersal from Southeast Asia, and range expansions and contractions. Future palaeoecological and phylogenetic investigations will illuminate the evolution of the AMT biome. Understanding the biogeography of the AMT is essential to provide a framework for ecological studies and the sustainable development of the region.     

New bryozoans from the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary beds of Transcaucasia

New species of Transcaucasian bryozoans are described: Primorela remota and Pseudoascopora subtilis (order Rhabdomesida) from the Upper Famennian and Anisotrypa hamata (order Trepostomida), Paranicklesopora stupenda, Euthyrhombopora barbara, Primorella testata, Ipmorella clara (order Rhabdomesida), and Taeniodictya vermiculata (order Cryptostomida) from the Tournaisian.     

A new species of watering pot shell (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata: Clavagelloidea) from the Miocene of the Murray Basin,South Australia

Abstract: A new species of penicillid watering pot shell, Kendrickiana coquinacola sp. nov., is described from the middle Miocene (Balcombian) Bryant Creek Formation of the Murray Basin, South Australia. The new species differs from the extant K. veitchi in its smaller size, much shorter posterior tube, fewer tubules in the anterior watering pot structure, absence of the pedal slit, discontinuous dorsolateral bands of pitted muscle scars on the internal surface of the anterior bulb and habit of cementing itself to the shells in its surrounding environment. The fossil record of Kendrickiana is reviewed. The record from the Dry Creek Sands is discounted, while a record for the extant K. veitchi from the earliest Pleistocene of York Peninsula is added. K. coquinacola indicates the highly derived anatomy of the genus evolved over a 10‐Ma period from the late Oligocene through the early Miocene.     

Diversity of Menispermaceae from the Paleocene and Eocene of South China

We present here the earliest known Asian fossil records of the Menispermaceae based on fossil fruits from Paleocene and Eocene localities in South China. A new genus and species, Paleoorbicarpum parvum sp. nov., and two new species of Stephania Loureiro, S. ornamenta sp. nov. and S. geniculata sp. nov., are recognized from Paleocene deposits of the Sanshui Basin, Guangdong, and a new occurrence of the widespread Eocene species Stephania auriformis (Hollick) Han & Manchester is recognized from the Maoming Basin, Guangdong. The Paleocene Stephania specimens described here represent the earliest fossil endocarp record of the Menispermaceae in eastern Asia. This discovery shows that the moonseed family had arrived in tropical and humid South China by at least the middle Paleocene, which provides important evidence for the origin and phytogeographic history of the family.     

New Eocene dinoflagellate cysts from the southern edge of the Junggar Basin,Xinjiang, China

The Anjihaihe Formation in the southern edge of the Junggar Basin was previously considered a series of freshwater lacustrine depositions. However, abundant marine dinoflagellate cysts were recently recovered from the middle to upper part of the middle member of the formation. Two new genera, six new species and one new subspecies among the abundant dinoflagellate cysts are described and illustrated, i.e. Circulodinium? laeve sp. nov., Kaiwaradinium abbreviatum sp. nov., Spiniferites adnatus subsp. latispinus subsp. nov., Oligosphaeropsis accreta gen. et. sp. nov., Oligosphaeropsis complex gen. et. sp. nov., Oligosphaeropsis megaprocessa gen. et. sp. nov. and Tianshandinium biconicum gen. et. sp. nov. They are rare to common constituents of the dinoflagellate assemblage in the Anjihaihe Formation and may prove useful for regional biostratigraphic correlation and palaeoenvironment re-establishment.     

Recruitment of sessile invertebrates at five sites in Gulf St. Vincent,South Australia

Recruitment of sessile invertebrates to small asbestos plates was measured at five piers in Gulf St. Vincent and Investigator Strait, South Australia. The established faunas on the piles of the piers differed at the level of higher taxa (sponges, colonial ascidians, bryozoans, cnidarians). Recruitment differed at that level and also with respect to certain lower taxa. The piers were not ranked in the same way by the recruitment of different higher taxa, but within one (Ectoprocta) the recruitment of different species tended to rank piers in a similar way. One site stands out as having high recruitment rates of most, but not all, animal groups. In further testing of hypotheses concerning the dynamics of sessile communities, an approach at the level of higher taxa and growth forms appears worth pursuing.     

Australia's oldest Anseriform fossil: a quadrate from the Early Eocene Tingamarra Fauna

Abstract: A partial quadrate (essentially the otic part) from the nonmarine, earliest Eocene (54.6 Ma) Tingamarra Local Fauna in Queensland, Australia, has been identified as the oldest Australian anseriform fossil. The Tingamarra quadrate shows a combination of plesiomorphic anseriform characters with a unique synapomorphic character complex of the Anhimidae (screamers), which today are endemic to South America. In concert with the basal position of the Anhimidae among the crown‐group anseriforms, this set of characters suggests a stem group of the Anhimidae, raising a possibility of the Transantarctic migration of stem anhimids to South America. The quadrate morphology supports palaeognathous rather than recently claimed anhimid relationships of the Dromornithidae and identifies Sylviornis as an anseriform rather than a galliform.     

Cenomanian cheilostome bryozoans from Devon,England

The Cenomanian witnessed a spectacular evolutionary radiation of cheilostome bryozoans, both in terms of species diversity and morphological disparity. However, Cenomanian cheilostome faunas are inadequately known. Twelve species of cheilostome bryozoans are here described from the Cenomanian Beer Head Limestone Formation of SE Devon, England, a nearshore facies of limestones and sands. Two of the cheilostome species are new – Wilbertopora manubriformis sp. nov. and Foratella cervisia sp. nov. – and five cannot be identified beyond genus level. Syntypes of Foratella forata (d’Orbigny, 1853), the Senonian type species of Foratella Canu, 1900, are illustrated using SEM and a lectotype is chosen. All of the species present are neocheilostomes, which were larval brooders. Compared with the non-brooding malacostegans that dominate pre-Cenomanian faunas, most species have avicularia and extensive frontal walls, features probably adaptive against small predators.