Cretaceous and Paleogene Bourgueticrinina (Echinodermata,Crinoidea) of the USSR

The theca and the columnals of twenty-two lateCretaceous species of the genus Bourgueticrinus (including two new species), of one species of the genus Democrinus, of four species of the genus Conocrinus (including one new species) and of one species of the genus Paleobathycrinus known from USSR are figured and shortly described. Biometric reconstructions of stems for B. aequalis, B. bellus, B. danicus, B. fischeri and C. tauricus nov. sp. are given. A new index is used to suggest the relative flexibility of stem. Decrease in dimension and flexibility of the arms in several species take place simultaneously with an increase of stem flexibility. This fact seems to be closely related to environmental changes.     

Les genres Costa et Paleocosta (Ostracodes) du paléogène aquitain: Les structures de populations,témoins des paléoenvironnements. Description de Paleocosta aquitanica nov. sp.

Costa tricostata (Reuss) and Paleocosta aquitanicanov. sp. are polymorph species of the Paleogene Aquitaine. In this study, their constituent forms are both described and illustrated. These are particularly ornamented and show Mesogene affinites; their geographical distribution area is limited within the Aquitaine Basin and Bay of Biscaye.In bathyal environments, the spatial distribution of the Costa, reveals three domains characterized by an increase of faunal density and polymorphism and a morpho- functional adaptation through the strengthening of the shell architecture. We attribute these changes to the effects of an adaptative strategy of the populations within an environment of increasing dynamic activity either near drainage channels and/or accumulation zones of terrigenous material continentally-derived, or within highly intensive upwelling zones.In less shallow environments and/or more close tooceanic influences, the Costa and Paleocosta populations flourish but lose their polymorphism. They announce the ecologic limit of the species.     

A new species of Gaimanophis (Serpentes,Boidae) from the Miocene of northwestern Argentina with remarks on the Neogene boids of South America

Gaimanophis is an extinct boid genus represented so far by a single species (Gaimanophis tenuis) known by isolated vertebrae from the early Miocene of Patagonia. In this paper, a new species of Gaimanophis is described from the India Muerta Formation (late Miocene) of Tucumán province (Argentina). Gaimanophis powelli sp. nov. distinguishes itself from G. tenuis mainly in its larger size, prezygapophyses less slanting, neural spine shorter dorsally than ventrally, and zygosphene straight bearing an anteriorly protruding tongue. This record indicates a wider temporal and geographical distribution of the genus from the early Miocene of Patagonia to the late Miocene of northwestern Argentina. The recognition of a new species of boid in South America increases the known diversity of this group. Although boids have inhabited in this territory since the Paleocene, fossils belonging to the group only show a glimpse of the real past diversity in the continent.     

A new pearleye (Teleostei,Aulopiformes) species from the Oligocene of Romania

A new pearleye species of the alepisauroid family Scopelarchidae, Scopelarchoides neamticus sp. nov., is described herein based on two specimens from the Oligocene Lower Dysodilic Shales Formation, cropping out in the Pietricica Mountain, Romanian Eastern Carpathians. The new species described herein exhibits a unique combination of features (including head length about 25% of SL; coracoid remarkably expanded; both preorbital and postorbital lengths larger than orbit diameter; 50 or 51 vertebrae; dorsal fin with nine or ten rays; anal-fin with 28 rays; length of anal fin base about 30% of SL; preanal distance almost 60% of SL; pelvic fin insertion located just under the second dorsal fin ray; pectoral fins only slightly longer than pelvic fins; caudal fin with 19 principal rays plus 14 upper and 13 lower procurrent rays) that justifies its recognition as a new species of the genus Scopelarchoides. Both morphological and meristic features suggest a certain degree of similarity between S. neamticus sp. nov. and the extant species Scopelarchoides signifer. The fossils of the new Oligocene species described herein represent the oldest known skeletal record of Scopelarchidae.     

Prominatherium dalmatinum from the late Eocene of Grancona (Vicenza,NE Italy). The oldest terrestrial mammal of the Italian peninsula

So far, the oldest terrestrial mammal associations in Italy dates to the beginning of the Oligocene, with Anthracotheriidae being the most represented taxon. Sites from northern Italy yielded remains of the genus Anthracotherium that spread from Asia to western Europe after the Grande Coupure. A finding at Grancona, which is Priabonian in age, implies that Anthracotheriidae family reached the Italian Peninsula before the Eocene–Oligocene boundary. Thus, the dispersal of this family in northern Italy is anterior than previously believed. The fossil consists of a poorly preserved right hemi-maxilla with well-preserved P4 and M3. The shape and the size of the teeth are not compatible with the genus Anthracotherium. On the contrary, the closer affinities with the Croatian species Prominatherium dalmatinum suggest a connection between the Balkan area and the Italian peninsula and a possible new way of dispersal for this family.     

Fossil moonseeds from the Paleogene of West Gondwana (Patagonia,Argentina)

Premise of the Study

The fossil record is critical for testing biogeographic hypotheses. Menispermaceae (moonseeds) are a widespread family with a rich fossil record and alternative hypotheses related to their origin and diversification. The family is well‐represented in Cenozoic deposits of the northern hemisphere, but the record in the southern hemisphere is sparse. Filling in the southern record of moonseeds will improve our ability to evaluate alternative biogeographic hypotheses.

Methods

Fossils were collected from the Salamanca (early Paleocene, Danian) and the Huitrera (early Eocene, Ypresian) formations in Chubut Province, Argentina. We photographed them using light microscopy, epifluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy and compared the fossils with similar extant and fossil Menispermaceae using herbarium specimens and published literature.

Key Results

We describe fossil leaves and endocarps attributed to Menispermaceae from Argentinean Patagonia. The leaves are identified to the family, and the endocarps are further identified to the tribe Cissampelideae. The Salamancan endocarp is assigned to the extant genus Stephania. These fossils significantly expand the known range of Menispermaceae in South America, and they include the oldest (ca. 64 Ma) unequivocal evidence of the family worldwide.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight the importance of West Gondwana in the evolution of Menispermaceae during the Paleogene. Currently, the fossil record does not discern between a Laurasian or Gondwanan origin; however, it does demonstrate that Menispermaceae grew well outside the tropics by the early Paleocene. The endocarps’ affinity with Cissampelideae suggests that diversification of the family was well underway by the earliest Paleocene.     

A new genus (Chardinomys) of murid rodent (Mammalia,Rodentia) from the neogene of China,and comments on its biogeography

Three murid specimens from the late Neogene ofChina are described, one as the new taxon Chardinomys, which is most closely related to Orientalomys. The Orientalomys-Chardinomys complex was widely distributed over the Palearctic region during the late Neogene. Cf. Rattus occurring with the Orientalomys-Chardinomys complex in China suggests South Asian influence in the eastern Palearctic during the late Neogene.     

Dietary reconstruction of the Amphipithecidae (Primates, Anthropoidea) from the Paleogene of South Asia and paleoecological implications

The primate family, Amphipithecidae, lived during the early Cenozoic in South Asia. In this study, the diet of late middle Eocene amphipithecids from the Pondaung Formation (Central Myanmar) is characterized using three different approaches: body mass estimation, shearing quotient quantification and dental microwear analysis. Our results are compared with other Paleogene amphipithecids from Thailand and Pakistan, and to the other members of the primate community from the Pondaung Formation. Our results indicate a majority of frugivores within this primate community. Pondaungia and “Amphipithecus” included hard objects, such as seeds and nuts, in their diet. Folivory is secondary for these taxa. Myanmarpithecus probably had a mixed diet based on fruit and leaves. Contrasting results and a unique dental morphology distinguish Ganlea from other amphipithecids. These render interpretation difficult but nevertheless indicate a diet tending towards leaves and fruit. However, the anterior dentition of Ganlea suggests that this taxon engaged in seed predation, using its protruding canine as a tool to husk hard fruits and obtain the soft seeds inside. Bahinia and Paukkaungia, two other Pondaung primates, are small (<500 g) and therefore would have depended on insects as their source of protein. As such, they occupied a very different ecological niche from Pondaung amphipithecids. This primate community is then compared with the Eocene-Oligocene primate communities of the Fayum from North Africa. Similarities between the late middle Eocene Pondaung primate community and extant equatorial and tropical South American primate communities are noted.     

A new Late Pleistocene non-anthropogenic vertebrate assemblage from the northern Iberian Peninsula: Artazu VII (Arrasate,Basque Country)

Late Pleistocene palaeontological sites without human intervention are limited in the Cantabrian region, and even more so those with a good state of preservation and rich biodiversity. A new vertebrate fossiliferous locality discovered at Kobate Quarry (Arrasate, northern Iberian Peninsula) is presented in this article. This site, in which remains of 40 different vertebrate taxa were accumulated, acted as a natural trap. The preliminary vertebrate faunal list includes five amphibian taxa, four reptiles, seven species of birds and 24 mammalian taxa. While small mammals are represented by 13 small mammal taxa (seven in the Order Rodentia, five in the Order Eulipotyphla, and one in the Order Chiroptera), the large mammal fauna comprises eleven species, including ungulates and carnivores. The palaeoecology inferred from this faunal assemblage suggests the existence of large forested areas with some grassland and a watercourse nearby, within a notably warm and humid climate. These palaeoenvironmental conditions, combined with AMS and AAR results carried out in macrofaunal bone samples, suggest that the deposit from Artazu VII would be located in the first half of the Late Pleistocene, in the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5c.     

Stratigraphical distribution of the Ordovician graptolite Azygograptus Nicholson & Lapworth in the Central Andean Basin (northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia)

We analyzed new occurrences of Azygograptus lapworthi from the Cordillera Oriental, Argentina. The bearer sandstones levels, corresponding to the Acoite Formation, are overlying the deposits, in which the Didymograptellus bifidus Biozone (Lower Ordovician, upper Floian, Fl3) was previously recognized, and are overlain by younger pelitic levels yielding Xiphograptus lofuensis (Middle Ordovician, early Dapingian, Dp2). Previous records from the Central Andean Basin are also reviewed in detail and accurately correlated, allowing us to conclude that the Azygograptus lapworthi Biozone corresponds to the Middle Ordovician (lower Dapingian, Dp1). This biostratigraphic framework documents that the transition between the Lower and Middle Ordovician deposits occurs in the uppermost levels of the Acoite Formation in the Argentine Cordillera Oriental. It is additionally integrated with up to date conodont records to establish a high-resolution regional correlation, with equivalent deposits from the Puna of northwestern Argentina and Cordillera Oriental of Bolivia, and to discuss new insights for global correlation.     

Senwot Wharton,a new genus for the Oriental region with description of two new species from Thailand (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae)

SenwotWharton 1983, is a small braconid genus with only two previously described species. The genus is revised using morphological characters and a phylogenetic analysis of COI sequence. Senwot Wharton is reported for the first time from Thailand and two new species: Senwot yinxianggaoae Yao n. sp. and Senwot jiyuanyaoi Yao n. sp. are described and illustrated. A key to species of the genus Senwot is presented.www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D7E79499-491E-4845-991B-0FE763A45162     

Middle to Late Pleistocene herpetofauna from Scladina and Sous-Saint-Paul caves (Namur,Belgium)

For the first time, the fossil herpetofauna from the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Scladina and Sous-Saint-Paul caves (Sclayn, Belgium) is described. The amphibians and squamate reptiles are represented by one salamander (Salamandra salamandra), three anurans (Pelodytes punctatus, Bufo bufo and Rana temporaria), two lizards (Lacerta cf. agilis and Anguis fragilis) and two snakes (Zamenis longissimus and Vipera cf. berus). The occurrence of the Parsley Frog (Pelodytes punctatus) and the Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus), which are not currently represented in Belgium, is of particular interest. Scladina also represents one of the northernmost fossil mentions for the Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra) although it is within its current distribution in Europe. Finally, the presence of the Adder (Vipera cf. berus) is very probably attested in Scladina whereas today this snake is infrequent and classified as endangered in Belgium.     

A new black fly species of the subgenus Gomphostilbia (Simulium: Simuliidae: Diptera) from India

Simulium (Gomphostilbia) agasthyamalaiense sp. nov. is described based on adults, pupae and mature larvae from a medium-flowing stream of Southern Western Ghats, India. This new species is placed in the Simulium batoense species-group of the subgenus Gomphostilbia Enderlein. This new species is characterized in the female by a scutum with three brownish-black longitudinal vittae and the hind basitarsus 5.7 times as long as wide; in the female by the large facets of upper eye with 20 vertical columns and 19 horizontal rows; in the pupa the respiratory gill with medium-long common basal stalk; and in the larva arrowhead-shaped postgenal cleft. Taxonomic notes are provided for this new species and it can be distinguished from closely related species of S. (G.) peteri. Keys are constructed to distinguish this species from ten species of the batoense species-group recorded in India.www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1D1CFEE5-A762-4F68-9EAE-9E31133146C0     

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.     

Three new species of Oreophryne (Anura,Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea

I describe three new species of the diverse microhylid frog genus Oreophryne from Papua New Guinea. Two of these occur in two isolated mountain ranges along the northern coast of Papua New Guinea; the third is from Rossel Island in the very southeasternmost part of the country. All three are the first Oreophryne known from these areas to have a cartilaginous connection between the procoracoid and scapula, a feature usually seen in species far to the west or from the central cordillera of New Guinea. Each of the new species also differs from the many other Papuan Oreophryne in a variety of other morphological, color-pattern, and call features. Advertisement-call data for Oreophryne species from the north-coast region suggest that they represent only two of the several call types seen in regions further south, consistent with the relatively recent derivation of these northern regions as accreted island-arc systems. The distinctively different, whinnying, call type of the new species from Rossel Island occurs among other Oreophryne from southeastern Papua New Guinea but has been unreported elsewhere, raising the possibility that it may characterize a clade endemic to that region.     

Miocene bristlemouths (Teleostei: Stomiiformes: Gonostomatidae) from the Makrilia Formation,Ierapetra, Crete

Bristlemouths of the genus Cyclothone are currently regarded as the most abundant vertebrates on Earth. The fossil record seems to suggest that these fishes diversified during the Miocene in the Pacific Ocean, but there is no evidence of their presence in the Miocene of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean basin. A new bristlemouth, Cyclothone gaudanti sp. nov. (Teleostei, Stomiiformes, Gonostomatidae), is described herein based on 16 specimens from the Upper Miocene Makrilia Formation (late Tortonian of Crete, Greece). The small sized species is characterized by light pigmentation, 30–31 (14–15 + 15–16) vertebrae, dorsal fin with 10–13 rays, anal fin with 10–14 rays, premaxilla bearing seven closely spaced teeth, maxilla with 42–55 teeth, epipleurals, and autogenous parhypural. The presence of epipleurals appears to be unique of this Miocene species, and the re-establishment of this ancestral character state may be possibly interpreted as related to a phylogenetic character reversal. Morphological and paleoecological considerations suggest that this species possibly inhabited the upper mesopelagic layer, at depths ranging from 2–300 and 500 meters.     

A new species of Neochelys (Chelonii,Podocnemididae) from the Ypresian (Early Eocene) of the South of France

The known European record of the Gondwanan group Podocnemididae begins in the Early Eocene. Neochelys underwent a rapid diversification and was an abundant and diverse representative of this group during the Eocene of Europe from the Early Ypresian to at least the Bartonian. However, several of its species are poorly known, and the phylogenetic relationships among them are poorly understood. A complete shell from the Ypresian of Hérault (southern France) is described here. It is assigned to a new species, Neochelys liriae. The availability of characters of N. liriae is tested by comparison with the other European species, which appear to be well differentiated, and particularly with the neighbouring French taxa N. eocaenica and N. laurenti, of which the latter has been little known to this point.     

A new species of Grindelia (Asteraceae, Astereae) from the Meseta del Somuncura (Patagonia), Argentina

Grindelia coronensis, a new species from the Meseta del Somuncura, Prov. Río Negro, Argentina, is described and illustrated. It is similar toG. chiloensis (Cornel.) Cabrera but it is readily distinguished by its leaves which are conspicuosly differentiated into a obovate blade and a long petiole.     

Paleoecological and microenvironmental aspects of the first European hominids inferred from the taphonomy of small mammals (Sima del Elefante,Sierra de Atapuerca,Spain)

Unit TE9 of the Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain), where the remains of Homo sp. have been discovered (1.2–1.3 Ma), is also a level rich in small mammals. The taphonomic study of these small vertebrates sheds light on the landscape that provided the setting for the activities of these early hominids and allows us to describe what the cave was like during the formation of the level. Small mammal predators identified in the study indicate that during this period the Sierra de Atapuerca was part of a large biome consisting of semi-open riparian forests with meadows nearby. Postdepositional alterations reveal that the production of fossils took place outside the cave, being transported inside by water currents. During the formation of TE9, the cave presented conditions of high humidity, which made it difficult for hominids to establish occupations inside, although these conditions became somewhat less severe in TE9c, the sublevel where human remains are found.