New specimens of Allodaposuchus precedens from France: intraspecific variability and the diversity of European Late Cretaceous eusuchians

A series of cranial remains as well as a few postcranial elements attributed to the basal eusuchian Allodaposuchus precedens are described from Velaux‐La Bastide Neuve, a Late Cretaceous continental locality in southern France. Four skulls of different size represent an ontogenetic series and permit an evaluation of the morphological variability in this species. On this basis, recent proposals that different species of Allodaposuchus inhabited the European archipelago are questioned and A. precedens is recognized from other Late Cretaceous deposits of France and Romania. A dentary bone is described for the first time in A. precedens and provides a basis to reconsider the validity of two taxa, Ischyrochampsa meridionalis and Musturzabalsuchus buffetauti, which are interpreted as possible junior synonyms of Allodaposuchus. These results allow the diversity of Late Cretaceous eusuchians from Europe to be refined and recognize a basal stock known as the Hylaeochampsidae sharing an absence of external mandibular fenestrae. Within this family, Allodaposuchus occupies a basal position relative to Acynodon, Iharkutosuchus and Hylaeochampsa. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

New Crocodyliforms from Southwestern Europe and Definition of a Diverse Clade of European Late Cretaceous Basal Eusuchians

The late Campanian-early Maastrichtian site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain) has provided a set of well-preserved crocodyliform skull and lower jaw remains, which are described here and assigned to a new basal eusuchian taxon, Lohuecosuchus megadontos gen. et sp. nov. The reevaluation of a complete skull from the synchronous site of Fox-Amphoux (Department of Var, France) allows us to define a second species of this new genus. Phylogenetic analysis places Lohuecosuchus in a clade exclusively composed by European Late Cretaceous taxa. This new clade, defined here as Allodaposuchidae, is recognized as the sister group of Hylaeochampsidae, also comprised of European Cretaceous forms. Allodaposuchidae and Hylaeochampsidae are grouped in a clade identified as the sister group of Crocodylia, the only crocodyliform lineage that reaches our days. Allodaposuchidae shows a vicariant distribution pattern in the European Late Cretaceous archipelago, with several Ibero-Armorican forms more closely related to each other than with to Romanian Allodaposuchus precedens.     

A new enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous non-marine deposits at Villespassans (Hérault,southern France)

A coracoid of an enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous (probably late Campanian) fluvial sediments at Castigno (Villespassans, Hérault, southern France) is described. It differs from all hitherto reported enantiornithine coracoids and is referred a new genus and species, Castignovolucris sebei. This bone is large and robust, indicating a bird that was among the largest known enantiornithines, possibly the size of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). The new taxon is an addition to the short list of Late Cretaceous birds from France and confirms that enantiornithines were an important component of European avifaunas until late in the Cretaceous.     

Normapolles plants: a prominent component of the Cretaceous rosid diversification

The Normapolles complex, characterised by its oblate and triaperturate pollen, constitutes an important and diverse element of many Late Cretaceous and Early Cainozoic floras of the Northern Hemisphere. Based on the dispersed pollen record alone it has been difficult to assess systematic affinities, but relationships with Fagales have been proposed. Over the past twenty years several exquisitely preserved Late Cretaceous reproductive structures with Normapolles type pollen in situ have been described. In this study we provide a summary and new information of these floral structures. Further, a new genus, Dahlgrenianthus, is described from the Late Cretaceous of southern Sweden. The genus includes the type species Dahlgrenianthus suecicus, a number of reproductive structures referred to Dahlgrenianthus sp., and Dahlgrenianthus trigonus (Knobloch et Mai) comb. nov. from the Maastrichtian flora of Walbeck, Germany. Dahlgrenianthus comprises small flowers with pentamerous perianth and androecium and a tricarpellate gynoecium. It is distinguished from all other Normapolles floral structures in its hypogynous floral organisation. All Normapolles floral structures described so far are thought to be related to various members of the core Fagales, but the group is obviously not monophyletic. The stratigraphic range of the Normapolles taxa and other fagalean fossils strongly suggests that all major fagalean lineages were present by the Cenomanian or earlier.     

Revision of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Actinastrea</Emphasis>, the most common Cretaceous coral genus

The very common and species-rich Scleractinian genus Actinastrea (family Actinastraeidae, suborder Archeocaeniina) is revised on the basis of the type material of its type species and additional material from the type locality. A lectotype is designated for the type species. It was discovered that Jurassic to Early Cretaceous corals currently assigned to Actinastrea do not fit into the concept of this genus. These species belong to the genus Stelidioseris, which is also revised on the basis of the type of the type species, including designating a lectotype. These two genera are distinguished by various characteristics: septal external parts are swollen in Actinastrea but not in Stelidioseris, the costae are confluent in Stelidioseris but not in Actinastrea, the coenosteum is granulated in Actinastrea but narrow than in Actinastrea and only with costae in Stelidioseris. Actinastrea is restricted to the Late Cretaceous (Late Turonian—Maastrichtian), whereas Stelidioseris originates in the Jurassic and reaches into the Late Cretaceous, but is less common from the Turonian on.     

The beetle-like Palaeozoic and Mesozoic roachoids of the so-called “umenocoleoid” lineage (Dictyoptera: Ponopterixidae fam. nov.)

The position of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic roachoids and their relationships to crown-group Dictyoptera is an unresolved problem of insect systematics since Hennig's time. This contribution presents new data based on the wing venation of the Early Cretaceous group Cratovitismioidea (so-called “Umenocoleoidea”) supplemented with the discovery of the first Late Palaeozoic representative. As Umenocoleus, type genus of the Umenocoleidae, is considered as a Coleopterida, the roachoids currently included in the Umenocoleidae are transferred to the new family Ponopterixidae, in the new superfamily Cratovitismioidea. Permoponopterix lodevensis, a new ponopterixid genus and species, is described as the oldest representative of this superfamily, from the Middle Permian of the South of France. A new species Ponopterix burkhardi is described from the Lower Cretaceous of Crato Formation in Brazil. Convergent adaptations of tegmina in Coleopterida, Protelytroptera and Cratovitismioidea are discussed.     

A new lobster <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paraclytia valashtensis</Emphasis> (Crustacea,Decapoda, Nephropidae) from the Late Cretaceous of the central Alborz Range,Iran

A new species of Late Cretaceous clawed lobster, Paraclytia valashtensis, is described. The discovery is a notable addition to the sparse decapod fossil record of Iran, and this is the first record of the genus outside central Europe. The four previously known species of Paraclytia are from Germany and the Czech Republic, so this discovery represents a significant expansion of the palaeogeographic range of the genus.     

ANATOMICALLY PRESERVED SEED CONES OF THE PINACEAE FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF VIRGINIA

A collection of anatomically preserved conifer cones from the Early Cretaceous of Virginia contains two new species of the extinct pinaceous genus Pityostrobus. Superficially, the fossil cones resemble those of modern species of Picea. However, the fossils reveal such a peculiar mixture of anatomical features that they cannot be assigned to any extant genus of the Pinaceae. One of the new species, Pityostrobus hueberi, is most comparable with Pityostrobus corneti Alvin from the Early Cretaceous of Belgium. Pityostrobus virginiana, the other new species, differs from all other members of the genus in only slight—but nonetheless significant—attributes. Pityostrobus hueberi and P. virginiana are the first species of this genus to be reported from Early Cretaceous sediments of the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain. As such, they increase our knowledge of the structural variation exhibited by ancient members of the Pinaceae.     

A survey of species assigned to the fossil pollen genus Anacolosidites

Anacolosidites Cookson & Pike, a fossil pollen genus recorded since the Campanian, is peculiar in its morphology – six‐porate with three apertures on each hemisphere, located away from the equator, and with the distal and proximal apertures positioned over each other. Representatives of this fossil genus are widely considered to represent extant Olacaceae from tribe Anacoloseae. Olacaceae is an exclusively tropical angiosperm family with a pantropical distribution; consequently the fossils are often used to suggest a tropical climate and in addition are frequently used as a stratigraphic marker. Fossil species assigned to Anacolosidites are quite variable and may not all represent Olacaceae, in which case they may not indicate tropical climate.

The present study is a morphological survey of fossil pollen assigned to Anacolosidites; it identifies the published reports of the fossil species that probably represent positive occurrences of Olacaceae pollen in the fossil record. Within Olacaceae, Anacolosidites‐type pollen is usually compared with pollen of genera in tribe Anacoloseae, in particular: Cathedra, Anacolosa and Phanerodiscus, but never with the pollen of Ptychopetalum, a genus from tribe Olaceae with closely similar pollen to the other three genera, but with a reticulate tectum and very small circular apertures located near the equator. Nevertheless, the records of reticulate Anacolosidites species which have been excluded from the emended diagnosis are unlikely to be related to Ptychopetalum. The earliest accepted record of Anacolosidites is from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Germany. However, most Late Cretaceous records, and later Russian and Chinese occurrences referred to Anacolosidites, consist mainly of Normapolles‐type pollen, whereas many of the Cenozoic records assigned to Anacolosidites have a much clearer affinity with the pollen of Anacolosa, Cathedra and Phanerodiscus (tribe Anacoloseae). The newly emended genus Anacolosidites may be used as a stratigraphic marker for tropical or megathermal climatic conditions.     

A Review of Shamosuchus and Paralligator (Crocodyliformes,Neosuchia) from the Cretaceous of Asia

The crocodyliform Shamosuchus is known from numerous Late Cretaceous localities in southern and eastern Mongolia and fragmentary remains from Uzbekistan. Seven species of Shamosuchus have been named from six localities in Mongolia and three in Uzbekistan. Six species originally described as Paralligator were later referred to Shamosuchus. Only the type species, Shamosuchus djadochtaensis has been examined in detail. Many of the named species of Shamosuchus show striking similarity in size and cranial morphology but most are based on partial remains suggesting that the true species diversity is overestimated. A review of all species referred to Shamosuchus recognizes three valid taxa: Shamosuchus djadochtaensis, S. gradilifrons, and S. major. Shamosuchus sungaricus, S. borealis, and S. karakalpakensis are nomena dubia, whereas S. ancestralis, S. ulgicus, S. tersus, and S. ulanicus are junior subjective synonyms of S. gradilifrons. Phylogenetic analysis of 318 phenotypic characters recovers a Paralligatoridae clade consisting of Shamosuchus, Rugosuchus, Batrachomimus, Glen Rose Form, and Wannchampsus. Shamosuchus is non-monophyletic: S. djadochtaensis is near the base of Paralligatoridae whereas S. gradilifrons + S. major are the most deeply nested. The name Paralligator is resurrected for this clade. Rugosuchus and Batrachomimus are sister taxa to Paralligator. Paralligatoridae is closely related to Theriosuchus, hylaeochampsids and a speciose Allodaposuchus clade, which together are the sister group of Borealosuchus plus Crocodylia. These results support the presence of a diverse clade in eastern Asia and western North America throughout the Cretaceous with origins in the Late Jurassic.     

First Record of Stygimys (Mammalia, Multituberculata, Eucosmodontidae) from the Paleocene (Puercan) Part of the North Horn Formation, Utah, and a Review of the Genus

A single tooth referred to Stygimys kuszmauli recovered at the Gas Tank Hill locality from Puercan strata of the North Horn Formation represents the first record of Stygimys from Utah. S. kuszmauli now occurs in both proposed north–south late Puercan biogeographic provinces, which reduces statistical support for provinciality. A new species from Texas, Stygimys vastus, is described. Of the five species previously referred to Stygimys, S. kuszmauli, Stygimys camptorhiza, Stygimys jepseni, and Stygimys teilhardi are valid, but Stygimys cupressus is synonymous with S. kuszmauli. The type of S. jepseni is restricted to a single p4 as the m1 thought to be from the same individual represents another multituberculate genus. Five sites, including Gas Tank Hill that comprise the Gas Tank Hill Local Fauna are widely dispersed in slumped strata which may differ in age, are located in a mostly floodplain depositional setting, and are small surface collected samples. Therefore, biogeographic analyses that compare the Gas Tank Hill Local Fauna to large samples collected from channel fills using screenwash techniques should be employed with caution. Stygimys has a relatively broad geographic and geochronologic distribution, but it is usually rare in Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene mammalian assemblages. The recent recovery of Stygimys after more than 60 years of collecting in the North Horn Formation suggests that further sampling in other non-marine basins in Western North America will eventually yield additional specimens of the genus.     

A New Notosuchian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil and the Phylogeny of Advanced Notosuchians

A new notosuchian crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group found in the southeastern State of São Paulo (Brazil) is described here. The new taxon, Caipirasuchus stenognathus, is referred as a new species of the recently erected genus Caipirasuchus within the clade Sphagesauridae based on a phylogenetic analysis of basal mesoeucrocodylians. Caipirasuchus stenognathus is represented by an almost complete skull and lower jaw that has autapomorphic characters that distinguish it from other species of Sphagesauridae. These autapomorphies include: maxilla forming part of the orbital margin (absence of lacrimal-jugal contact), nasal with smooth depressions on the posterior region close to the contact with the maxilla and lacrimal, postorbital with posterior palpebral facet that extends posteriorly underneath the ear-flap groove, and a distinct anterior process of the medial flange of the retroarticular process. Additionally, the new taxon lacks autapomorphic features described in other sphagesaurids. The phylogenetic analysis results in a monophyletic genus Caipirasuchus, that is the sister group of a clade fomed by Sphagesaurus huenei, Caryonosuchus pricei, and Armadillosuchus arrudai. Sphagesaurids also include a basal clade formed by Adamantinasuchus navae and Yacarerani boliviensis. Other notosuchian taxa, such as Mariliasuchus amarali, Labidiosuchus amicum, Notosuchus terrestris, and Morrinhosuchus luziae are successive sister taxa of Sphagesauridae, forming a clade of advanced notosuchians that are restricted to the Late Cretaceous of South America. These results contrast with most previous phylogenetic hypotheses of the group that depicted some members of Sphagesauridae as more closely related to baurusuchids, or found Asian (e.g., Chimaerasuchus) or African (Malawisuchus, Pakasuchus) forms nested within advanced notosuchians that are, according to our analysis, endemic of the Late Cretaceous of South America.     

Early Late Cambrian Trilobites OF Australo-Sinian Aspect From The Montagne Noire, Southern France

Ten species of Late Cambrian trilobites occur in a limestone lens at the base of the Val d'Homs Formation in the Cesse Brook section at Ferrals‐les‐Montagnes in the Montagne Noire. Associated in this lens are species referred to Ammagnostus (Ammagnostus), Kormagnostus?, Olentella, Stigmatoa, Shengia, Abharella, Proceratopyge, (Proceratopyge), ProchuangiaPalaeadotes and Paraacidaspis. Of these, Stigmatoa courtessolei and Paraacidaspis ultima are described as new species. The Ferrals fauna has a decidedly Australo‐Sinian palaeobiogeographical relationship, with the implication that previously developed models suggesting a high latitudinal position for southern France during the Late Cambrian should perhaps be revised. key words : Late Cambrian, trilobites, southern France, Ferrals‐les‐Montagnes, Montagne Noire, biostratigraphy, biogeography.     

Diversity variation and tempo-spatial distribution of Otozamites (Bennettitales) in the Mesozoic of China

Otozamites is a representative fossil leaf morphogenus of the extinct Bennettitales, with an extensive distribution during the Mesozoic, especially in China. Understanding the fossil diversity variation and distribution pattern of Otozamites in China will provide information on biodiversity of bennettitalean plants as well as for reconstruction of palaeogeography and palaeoclimate conditions during the Mesozoic. So far, 46 species of this genus have been described in China, excluding unspecified species. The results show that the fossils of Otozamites are extensively recorded in the Late Triassic, and then reach their maximum development in the Early Jurassic, followed by a reduction in diversity in the Middle and Late Jurassic, and finally become extinct at the end of Early Cretaceous. Geographically, they occur in both Northern and Southern Floristic Provinces in the Mesozoic of China, with a relatively higher abundance in the Southern Floristic Province. It implies that the diversity variation and distribution of Otozamites are closely related to the change of the palaeoclimatic conditions. The warm and humid climate prevailed in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic in South China, propitious to the development of Otozamites. After the Middle Jurassic, dry and hot climate may have caused the lower diversity level and blocked the development of Otozamites; finally at the end of the Early Cretaceous, the frequent arid climate may be a major cause for the extinction of Otozamites.     

Lindholmemydid turtles (Cryptodira: Testudinoidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Shandong Province,China

A new genus and new species of lindholmemydid turtle (Cryptodira: Testudinoidea), Shandongemys dongwuica n. g. and n. sp. are described on the basis of a partial skeleton with incomplete shell and skull, complete lower jaws and disarticulated limb bones from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China. Among Lindholmemydidae, the new species is closely related to Mongolemys elegans from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. An incomplete shell from the same locality is referred as Lindholmemydidae indet. Glyptops sp. from the Upper Cretaceous Wang Group of Jingangkou, Laiyang, Shandong is revised and assigned to Lindholmemydidae.     

Squatiniformes (Chondrichthyes,Neoselachii) from the Late Cretaceous of southern England and northern France with redescription of the holotype of Squatina cranei Woodward, 1888

Abstract: Bulk sampling of phosphate‐rich horizons within the Late Cretaceous of the Anglo‐Paris Basin yielded numerous teeth of members of the Squatiniformes. Along with isolated tooth remains, two museum specimens comprising partial articulated encoskeletal remains including the holotype of the species Squatina cranei Woodward, 1888a are described, and a new subgenus Cretascyllium is proposed for species of the genus Squatina with high degree of heterodonty and triangular anterior teeth. The species Squatina (Cretascyllium) cranei comb. nov. and Squatina (Cretascyllium) hassei comb. nov. are referred to this subgenus. The genus Parasquatina Herman, 1982 previously erected on a single tooth is valid, and two new species P. justinensis sp. nov. and P. jarvisi sp. nov. are described along with a third taxon Parasquatina sp. An enigmatic tooth referred to ?Neoselachii incertae sedis is also reported. The palaeoecology of these taxa is discussed.     

A new Late Jurassic species of the rare synechodontiform shark, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Welcommia</Emphasis> (Chondrichthyes,Neoselachii)

A new Jurassic species of the very rare and incompletely known synechodontiform shark, Welcommia, is described. The new species, Welcommia cappettai, is represented only by a single tooth, precluding reconstruction of its dentition in detail. Nevertheless, this specimen provides sufficient information and characteristics to establish its taxonomic status. Welcommia cappettai n. sp. occurs in the middle Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) of south-western Germany. This is the first unambiguous record and named species of Welcommia from the Late Jurassic, substantially reducing the rather large gap in the fossil record of this synechodontiform taxon. So far, two Welcommia species from the Lower Jurassic of Belgium and the Lower Cretaceous of southern France have been described. An additional, still unnamed species seemingly occurs in the Oxfordian of southern France. The new species has plesiomorphic and apomorphic characteristics and, probably, an intermediate dental pattern that tentatively enables reconstruction of evolutionary trends in the dentition of this shark from small and compact teeth with broad, almost triangular cusps, to mesio-distally lengthened teeth with elongated mesial heels resulting in an extremely extended mesial cutting edge in addition to more delicate cusp and cusplets in advanced forms. These differences might be related to improved feeding mechanisms. It is hypothesized that Welcommia was predominantly a component of the Mediterranean faunal province. The disappearance of Welcommia in the Early Cretaceous remains ambiguous and might be related to competition by other sharks, for example hexanchiforms, or might represent a collecting bias and/or taxonomic misidentification of isolated teeth.     

Carboniferous Onychophora from Montceau‐les‐Mines,France, and onychophoran terrestrialization

The geological age of the onychophoran crown‐group, and when the group came onto land, have been sources of debate. Although stem‐group Onychophora have been identified from as early as the Cambrian, the sparse record of terrestrial taxa from before the Cretaceous is subject to contradictory interpretations. A Late Carboniferous species from the Mazon Creek biota of the USA, Helenodora inopinata, originally interpreted as a crown‐group onychophoran, has recently been allied to early Cambrian stem‐group taxa. Here we describe a fossil species from the Late Carboniferous Montceau‐les‐Mines Lagerstätte, France, informally referred to as an onychophoran for more than 30 years. The onychophoran affinities of Antennipatus montceauensis gen. nov., sp. nov. are indicated by the form of the trunk plicae and the shape and spacing of their papillae, details of antennal annuli, and the presence of putative slime papillae. The poor preservation of several key systematic characters for extant Onychophora, however, prohibits the precise placement of the Carboniferous fossil in the stem or crown of the two extant families, or the onychophoran stem‐group as a whole. Nevertheless, A. montceauensis is the most compelling candidate to date for a terrestrial Paleozoic onychophoran.     

Phylogenetic analysis of the leafhopper genus Apogonalia (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and comments on the biogeography of the Caribbean islands

A phylogenetic analysis of the leafhopper genus Apogonalia was conducted based on a matrix of 40 terminal taxa and 147 morphological characters. The analysis yielded 1391 equally most‐parsimonious trees, which do not support the monophyly of Apogonalia in the strict consensus. A successive weighting procedure yielded 62 trees in which the genus appeared as a monophyletic group. The strict consensus of these 62 trees is almost entirely dichotomous, showing only two polytomies. The test of phylogenetic integrity was applied for distinct variations of three species: A. germana, A. sanguinipes, and A. histrio. Only for the first species was the conjecture that its variations belong to the same entity corroborated. The best‐supported clade within Apogonalia, which has several synapomorphies and high branch support indices, comprises nine Antillean endemic species. This distributional pattern probably was originated by vicariance in the Late Cretaceous, when the Proto‐Antillean archipelago was pushed north‐eastward by the Caribbean Plate to become the modern Greater Antilles. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 163 , 548–570.