Paleocene benthonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy,paleobiogeography and paleoecology of Atlantic—Tethyan regions: Midway-type fauna

The stratigraphic, geographic and bathymetric distribution of some Paleocene benthonic foraminiferal assemblages have been studied in the Tethyan and circum-Atlantic regions within the framework of planktonic foraminiferal zones. Although some species appear to be restricted to either the Tethyan-European area or to the western Atlantic, the majority of species are amphi-Atlantic and Tethyan in distribution. The cosmopolitan distribution is attributed to more equitable climatic conditions (lower polar—equatorial thermal gradient) and warmer, more uniform thermal structure of the oceans and different paleogeographic and paleo-oceanographic conditions.Two main distinct depth-controlled benthonic foraminiferal assemblages (exclusive of the shallow-warm water Tethyan carbonate assemblage) have been recognized in the Paleocene. The continental shelf fauna, termed here the “Midway-type fauna” (MF) is characterized by species of Cibicidoides alleni (Plummer) = propria Brotzen, howelli (Toulmin), succedens (Brotzen), Anomalinoides [acuta (Plummer), midwayensis (Plummer)], Gavelinella [danica (Brotzen), neelyi (Jennings)], and Osangularia plummerae Brotzen, as well as various lagenids (nodosariids, lenticulinids, vaginulinids), polymorphinids and textulariids. A lower continental slope and abyssal plain fauna, termed here the “Velasco-type fauna” (VF), is characterized by, amongst others, Gavalinella [beccariiformis (White), rubiginosa (Cushman), velascoensis (Cushman)], Nuttallides truempy (Nuttall), Nuttallinella florealis (Cushman), velascoensisZ (Cushman)], (Cushman), Aragonia velascoensis (Cushman), nodosariids (N. velascoensis Cushman, Dentalina limbata d'Orbigny), various agglutinated forms [Gaudryina pyramidata Cushman, Tritaxia aspera (Cushman), Dorothia ex. gr. oxycona trinitatensis (Cushman and Renz)], and various gyroidinids and buliminids. Pleuriostomellids and stilostomellids are quantitatively rare and unimportant until the Middle—Late Eocene.This paper discusses the biostratigraphy and biogeography of the “Midway-type fauna”.     

A new Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) serial planktic foraminifer (Family Heterohelicidae) with early planispiral coil and revision of Spiroplecta Ehrenberg, 1844

A new planktic foraminifer, Hartella harti nov. gen., nov. sp. is described from the Maastrichtian sediments of the Atlantic Ocean. H. harti likely evolved from Fleisherites glabrans (Cushman). Spiroplecta Ehrenberg is reviewed and considered monospecific. The only species assigned to this genus is Spiroplecta americana Ehrenberg, which evolved from Heterohelix globulosa (Ehrenberg). It is demonstrated that the early planispiral coil developed in at least three separate lineages of serial planktic foraminifera in the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian).     

Recent benthonic foraminifera from Brasil Morphology and ecology Part IV: Trochamminids from the Campos shelf with description ofParatrochammina n. gen.

Paratrochammina n. gen., type speciesParatrochammina madeirae n. sp., is proposed for trochamminids with a single interiomarginal, axial-extraaxial aperture which communicates directly with an axial cavity devoid of lamellar structures. Described and illustrated by scanning photographs and optical sections areParatrochammina simplissima (Cushman and McCulloch),Paratrochammina clossi n. sp.,Paratrochammina madeirae n. sp., andTrochammina boltovskoyi n. sp. All these trochamminids, exceptingParatrochammina madeirae n. sp., have been recorded from the shallow waters of the Campos shelf, Brasil, which is under the influence of the cold water Falkland (Malvin) current.Paratrochammina madeirae n. sp. has been only encountered in a sample from the Brasilian shelf between Lat. S 22° und 28°, where it is associated withTrochammina boltovskoyi n. sp. Also illustrated isPortatrochammina pacifica (Cushman) from the Chilean shelf at Cobija and from the Beaufort Sea, Arctica. Further it is proposed to considerTrochammina advena Cushman, 1922 as a nomen non conservandum.     

Spiroplectinella Kisel’man 1972 (Foraminifera) aus dem Rupelium (Oligozän) des Mainzer Beckens

The wall structure of some foraminifers from the Rupeliam of the Mainz Basin, formerly referred toSpiroplectammina Cushman 1927, is examined. They are classified asSpiroplectinella Kisel’man 1972 because of the occurrence of pseudopores. The genus neither belong to the Spiroplectamminacea nor to the Textulariacea. The proposition of Hottinger et al. (1990) to separate it from these superfamilies is confirmed.     

On morphology and taxonomy of Ammoastuta Cushman and Brönnimann 1948 (protista: foraminiferida)

The morphology of the brackish waterAmmoastuta salsa Cushman and Brönnimann, the type species ofAmmoastuta, is revised and the genus definition emended. In view of the early planispiral coil, the late uniserial development which tends toward rectilinear, the imperforate agglutinated wall, the multiple aperture and the simple interior, the Ammoastutinae Loeblich and Tappan 1984, are placed into the Lituolidae de Blainville 1827, emended herein, of the Lituolacea DE Blainville 1827, emended herein.     

Bilinguites — a cosmopolitan Late Carboniferous ammonoid genus

The Bashkirian (Late Carboniferous) ammonoid genus Bilinguites has a nearly global distribution in the tropical and subtropical zones and 25 species have been described up till now. Most of them are considered endemic, but some may have a wide geographic distribution. Our study on new and previously collected materials from North China (Gansu and Ningxia) shows that the stratigraphically youngest species of Bilinguites in North China and Western Europe are morphologically very similar, possibly indicating correspondence of the ammonoid faunas. Bilinguites scalpratus is revised and established as a stratigraphically important species of the genus in North China; it co-occurs with the first gastrioceratid species Cancelloceras pachygyrum. This occurrence can be correlated with the Western European co-occurrence of Cancelloceras cancellatum and Bilinguites superbilinguis at the base of the G₁ Zone.     

Delineating a New Heterothallic Species of Volvox (Volvocaceae,Chlorophyceae) Using New Strains of “Volvox africanus”

The volvocine algae represent an excellent model lineage in which to study evolution of female and male genders based on comparative analyses of related species. Among these species, Volvox carteri has been extensively studied as a model of an oogamous and complex organism. However, it may have unique derived features that are not present in other species of Volvox. Therefore, information regarding the characteristics of sexual reproduction of other species of Volvox is also important. In 1971, Starr studied four types of sexuality in several global strains identified as Volvox africanus; however, further taxonomic studies of these strains have been lacking, and strains of three of the four sexual types are not available. Here, we studied the morphology, sexual reproduction, and taxonomy of two V. africanus-like species isolated recently from Lake Biwa, Japan. These two species were very similar to two sexual types described by Starr in 1971: one producing dioecious sexual spheroids in heterothallic strains and the other forming both male spheroids and monoecious spheroids in a single strain. The former species produced zygotes with a reticulate cell wall, whereas a smooth zygote wall was observed in the latter species as in V. africanus previously reported from various localities around the world. Our multigene phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that these are sister species to each other. However, the presence of a compensatory base change in the most conserved region of the secondary structure of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer-2, hybrid inviability demonstrated by intercrossing experiments, and morphological differences in the density of abutment between the gelatinous material of adjacent cells (individual sheaths) in the spheroid supported the recognition of the two species, V. africanus having a smooth zygote wall and V. reticuliferus Nozaki sp. nov. having a reticulate zygote wall.     

Middle and Late Jurassic terebratulides from New Zealand

Terebratulide brachiopods are found throughout the New Zealand Mesozoic, and by the Jurassic are second only to rhynchonellides in abundance and diversity. Only two species have been described from the Late Jurassic, Kutchithyris hendersoni Marwick, 1953 and Holcothyris (?) kaiwaraensis Campbell, 1965. In this study, one new genus and 14 new species are described, and three additional forms placed in open nomenclature.Nearly all the material comes from the Murihiku Terrane on the west coast of the North Island south of Auckland, and most from a small number of shellbeds with diverse faunas. Two key localities for Middle Jurassic (Bajocian–Bathonian) brachiopods are Opuatia Cliff at Port Waikato, and a quarry in the Marokopa Valley. Two species of fairly large terebratulide, Loboidothyris waitomoensis n. sp. and L. grantmackiei n. sp. are tentatively assigned to the genus Loboidothyris. A further species which may also belong to this genus, L. awakinoensis n. sp. is found in the Awakino Valley to the south. Two species of Zeilleria, Z. opuatiaensis n. sp. and Z. waiohipaensis n. sp. and one of Aulacothyris, A. waikatoensis n. sp. are also recognised. A new species of Kutchithyris, K. marokopaensis n. sp., less strongly folded than K. hendersoni, is also present.Captain King's Shellbed is a metre-thick Oxfordian shellbed that can be traced from Kawhia to the Awakino Valley. It has a rich and diverse fauna in which terebratulides are prominent. Kutchithyris hendersoni is the most abundant, followed by Crispithyris nauarchus n. gen. n. sp. The fauna also includes the same two species of Zeilleria as in the Middle Jurassic, and the costellate terebratulide Terebratulina leeae n. sp.Brachiopods are much less common in the later part of the Jurassic (Kimmeridgian and Tithonian). A further species of Kutchithyris, K. challinori n. sp., a second species of Terebratulina, T. putiensis n. sp. and one of Zeilleria (Z. sp.) are present. A rare form is the small subcircular Disculina mancenidoi n. sp. Holcothyris kaiwaraensis is known only from the Late Jurassic Pahau Terrane of North Canterbury, but a second species of Holcothyris, H. campbelli n. sp. is present in the Late Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian of the Kawhia area.Aulacothyris, Terebratulina, and Zeilleria are cosmopolitan. Kutchithyris and Holcothyris are Tethyan. Loboidothyris is more widely distributed but generally Tethyan. Disculina is described from Southern England and France, but has since been recognised in the Caucasus and Japan, and may also have a Tethyan distribution.     

Palaeogeographic significance of the giraffid remains (Mammalia,Arctiodactyla) from Cessaniti (Late Miocene,Southern Italy)

The late Tortonian – early Messinian shallow marine sands of Cessaniti area (Monte Poro, Vibo Valentia, Southern Italy) yield marine and continental vertebrates. The best represented taxon is the Sirenian Metaxytherium serresii, while the terrestrial mammal assemblage includes a boselafine bovid, an hexaprotodontid hippopotamus, the giraffids Samotherium cf. boissieri and Bohlinia cf. attica, a rhino and the elephantid Stegotetrabelodon syrticus. Until now, the latter was a species with an exclusive Afro-Arabian distribution and the record of Cessaniti is the first outside Afro-Arabia. Our attention is here focused on the occurrence of Samotherium cf. boissieri and Bohlinia cf. attica, both being species well represented in the Pikermian Biome. Although evidences of the distribution of the genus Samotherium in Late Miocene African assemblages are weak, it is reported at several sites, while a new species of Bohlinia reported in Chad is still debated. At Cessaniti, the co-occurrence of two giraffid taxa typical for the Pikermian biome together with a frankly Afro-Arabic species (S. syrticus), further marks the existence of a land connection between the Cessaniti area and North Africa as well as the evidence of a phase of expansion of the Pikermian Biome into the African continent.     

Diversity,palaeoecology and systematics of a marine fossil assemblage from the Late Triassic Cassian Formation at Settsass Scharte,N Italy

A marine fossil assemblage from the Late Triassic (Early Carnian) Cassian Formation is reported. It was retrieved by bulk sampling, including wet sieving and quantitative picking, and by quantitative surface collection. The collection consists of c. 460 specimens (foraminiferans not included) representing 54 species. In terms of abundance and species richness, it is strongly dominated by molluscs, especially gastropods. 97 % of the individuals are molluscs. The most abundant species are the gastropods Goniospira armata, Schartia carinata and Helenostylina convexa, followed by the scaphopod Plagioglypta undulata and the bivalve Palaeonucula strigilata. Disarticulated echinoderm ossicles (mostly echinoids, crinoids, few holothurians) comprise almost all of the rest of the assemblage. The studied assemblage shows moderate diversity, similar to those of previously reported assemblages or associations from basinal settings. However, it differs considerably in taxonomic composition from previously described associations of the Cassian Formation. The abundance of small gastropods is a result of their primary abundance in these ancient living communities and of the sampling method (sieving at 0.5 mm), because most of the previous associations were obtained by performing surface collections, in which small gastropods are easily overlooked. The fauna is interpreted as an autochthonous soft bottom assemblage dominated by species that lived in low epifaunal to shallow infaunal habitats. Detritivory, deposit feeding and microcarnivory represent the main feeding types. Most of the species were fully motile but slow, and either infaunal (scaphopods, nuculids, the gastropod Domerionina) or epifaunal (most other gastropods, echinoids). The present assemblage underlines the pronounced heterogeneity of the Cassian biota. The low grade of lithification and diagenetic alteration facilitates bulk sampling and the investigation of small species. This minimizes possible sampling and preservation biases, so the studied assemblage reflects the alpha diversity of this ancient living community to an unusually high degree. The following gastropod taxa are new: Helenostylina convexa n. sp., Schartia carinata n. gen. n. sp., Schartiinae n. subfam.; Cassianastraea Bandel non Volz is replaced with Bandelastraea nom. nov.     

Discovery of a Late Ordovician Foliomena fauna in the Tarim desert,Northwest China

A Foliomena fauna is reported for the first time from the Tarim paleoplate, and stratigraphically from the Yinpingshan Formation (upper Katian, Upper Ordovician) of Querqueke, Kuruktag region, northeastern Tarim, southern Xinjiang, Northwest China. The fauna includes seven species of brachiopods, amongst which three are new and four indeterminate: Anomaloglossa? sp., Orbiculoidea? sp., Foliomena xinjiangensis n. sp., Sericoidea minuta n. sp., Kassinella tarimensis n. sp., Rostricellula? sp., and Anazyga? sp. These species formed a Sericoidea-Kassinella Association, characterized by very small and well-preserved brachiopods, and well-developed laminations in its hosted mudstone, indicating a deep water environment (corresponding to lower BA5 to BA6). The faunal and sedimentological features suggest its affinity to the typical Foliomena faunal group of deep water origin. Numerical analyses show that the Foliomena fauna in late Katian time differentiated into two major paleogeographically related groups, and the Tarim association has a close faunal affinity to the representatives of this fauna in South China, indicating an active faunal exchange between Tarim and South China before the end-Ordovician mass extinction.     

Chloranthaceous floral structures from the Late Cretaceous of Sweden

New chloranthaceous floral structures from the Late Cretaceous (Late Santonian/Early Campanian) of Scania, southern Sweden, have provided important new information on theChloranthistemon plants. The material includes well preserved fragments of inflorescence axes with flowers in situ documenting thatChloranthistemon flowers were bisexual and closely resembled those of extantChloranthus (Chloranthaceae). An emended diagnosis is given for the type species of the genus,Chloranthistemon endressii, and a new species,C. alatus, is described. The flowers ofChloranthistemon are small, perianthless and strongly zygomorphic, consisting of a tripartite and broadened androecium borne in an abaxial to lateral position on the monocarpellate ovary, and arranged in the axils of decussate bracts. Stamens are either completely free (C. alatus), or free at the base and coherent at the apex (C. endressii). The apical connective is extensive in both species; elaborated into conspicuous wing-like structures inC. alatus, or into a massive and shield-like structure inC. endressii. Pollen grains ofC. endressii are spheroidal, and reticulate and spiraperturate, while those ofC. alatus are ellipsoidal, tectate and foveolate with a unique combination of a distal colpus and a proximal furrow (colpus?) perpendicular to each other. Ovaries observed in well preserved flowers of both species are small and undifferentiated. Larger, dispersed fruits of chloranthaceous affinity are abundant and distinct, and probably represent at least two or three species, but cannot be linked with certainty to any of theChloranthistemon species described here.     

Late Miocene Carnivora from Chad: Herpestidae,Viverridae and small-sized Felidae

The small-sized feliforms (Viverridae, Herpestidae, Felidae) from the Late Miocene fossiliferous area of Toros-Menalla, Chad, are described. The Viverridae are represented by dental and postcranial remains of two species: a new, large-sized viverrid, Sahelictis korei n. gen. n. sp., which is characterized by a more trenchant dentition than in Viverra spp., and an indeterminate species similar in size to Viverra howelli. The Herpestidae are represented by a subcomplete mandible with partial dentition assigned to Herpestes sp., similar in size to the smallest individuals of the extant Herpestes naso and H. ichneumon. Felids are known from two, possibly three small-sized species. Fragmentary dental and postcranial remains indicate the presence of one or two species of the size of the golden cat (Profelis aurata). A partial skeleton of a wildcat-sized species assigned to Felis sp. is also described; this record is by far the earliest record for the genus in Africa.     

A complex of the blood fluke genus Psettarium (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) infecting tetraodontiform fishes of east Queensland waters

Seven species of Psettarium (Digenea: Aporocotylidae), including four new species, are reported from tetraodontiform fishes from off coastal east Queensland. Psettarium pandora n. sp. infects the yellow boxfish, Ostracion cubicus (Ostraciidae), the first known aporocotylid to infect this family of fishes. Three new species are reported from pufferfishes of the genus Arothron (Tetraodontidae): Psettarium yoshidai n. sp. infects the map puffer (Arothron mappa), Psettarium hustoni n. sp. infects the black-spotted puffer (A. nigropunctatus) and Psettarium martini n. sp. infects the starry puffer (A. stellatus). We also report three species of Psettarium from Australian waters for the first time. Paracardicola hawaiensis Martin, 1960, the sole species of Paracardicola, is redescribed based on specimens collected from the type-host, the stars-and-stripes puffer, Arothron hispidus. Paracardicola is synonymised with Psettarium and P. hawaiensis is recombined as Psettarium hawaiiense (Martin, 1960) n. comb. Psettarium pulchellum Yong, Cutmore, Bray, Miller, Semarariana, Palm & Cribb, 2016, described from the narrow-lined puffer (Arothron manilensis) from off Bali, Indonesia, is reported from the same fish species at two locations on the Queensland coast, significantly extending the range of this species. Psettarium nolani (Bray, Cribb & Littlewood, 2013), originally described from French Polynesia, is reported from A. hispidus, A. manilensis and A. stellatus, representing both new host and locality records for this species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows these species to all be closely related, such that they cannot be considered to represent separate genera despite their differing morphology. Analysis of 28S sequence data for Psettarium anthicum Bullard & Overstreet, 2006, a non-tetraodontiform-infecting species, shows it to be distantly related to all other species of Psettarium for which sequence data are available. The species is re-assigned to a new genus, Cardallagium n. gen., as Cardallagium anthicum (Bullard & Overstreet, 2006) n. comb. We think it likely that the host range of species of Psettarium is limited to tetraodontiform fishes. We assessed the infection biology of two species, P. nolani and P. hawaiiense n. comb. infecting A. hispidus, using histology to assess the pathways of egg release for these species. Eggs of both species were observed in both circulatory and visceral organs of infected hosts, often in high numbers. Eggs were seen trapped in the mucosal layer of the intestine and, in rare instances, causing lesions in the laminar epithelium, providing the strongest evidence yet that they pass through the gut wall and escape the host via the faeces. Lastly, we discuss the biogeographical implications of our findings, noting that some Psettarium species now show very wide geographical distributions.     

Internal morphology of two species of Lagenochitina (Chitinozoa)

Internal and external structures of Lagenochitina boja Bockelie 1980 and L. esthonica Eisenack 1955 have been examined with a scanning electron microscope. The material derives from limestone samples from the Arenig to ?Lower Llanvirn succession of NE Spitsbergen. The species possesses both an operculum and a prosoma (Bockelie, 1978). The operculum, in the shape of a thin flat disc, closes the aperture of the test. A cylindroconical structure is enclosed in the test aborally of the operculum. the cylindrical part of this structure, the prosoma, is transversed by numerous thin disc-shaped laminae. The sequence of thin laminae is terminated in a thicker lamina, here termed the subex. The prosoma wall is extended aborally forming a conical structure, the rica. The prosomai of individual specimens show variation in length, microstructures and the attachment to the test. The internal structures of Lagenochitina species are compared with similar structures known from other chitinozoan species.     

First record of the Late Cretaceous giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos from the Iberian Peninsula

Gargantuavis philoinos is a large terrestrial bird, initially described from several bones (synsacrum, cervical vertebra, femora) discovered in the Late Cretaceous deposits of southern France. The synsacrum described here comes from the late Campanian (Late Cretaceous) site of Laño, in north-western Spain, and is similar in all respects to the other synsacra of Gargantuavis philoinos described from France. This is therefore the first specimen attributed to this species to be reported outside France. This find increases the diversity of the fossil assemblage from Laño and the geographical distribution of this bird, which existed on the Ibero-Armorican island, which included southern France and the Iberian Peninsula, during the Late Cretaceous.     

Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses of Resistant Host Responses in Arachis diogoi Challenged with Late Leaf Spot Pathogen,Phaeoisariopsis personata

Late leaf spot is a serious disease of peanut caused by the imperfect fungus, Phaeoisariopsis personata. Wild diploid species, Arachis diogoi. is reported to be highly resistant to this disease and asymptomatic. The objective of this study is to investigate the molecular responses of the wild peanut challenged with the late leaf spot pathogen using cDNA-AFLP and 2D proteomic study. A total of 233 reliable, differentially expressed genes were identified in Arachis diogoi. About one third of the TDFs exhibit no significant similarity with the known sequences in the data bases. Expressed sequence tag data showed that the characterized genes are involved in conferring resistance in the wild peanut to the pathogen challenge. Several genes for proteins involved in cell wall strengthening, hypersensitive cell death and resistance related proteins have been identified. Genes identified for other proteins appear to function in metabolism, signal transduction and defence. Nineteen TDFs based on the homology analysis of genes associated with defence, signal transduction and metabolism were further validated by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses in resistant wild species in comparison with a susceptible peanut genotype in time course experiments. The proteins corresponding to six TDFs were differentially expressed at protein level also. Differentially expressed TDFs and proteins in wild peanut indicate its defence mechanism upon pathogen challenge and provide initial breakthrough of genes possibly involved in recognition events and early signalling responses to combat the pathogen through subsequent development of resistivity. This is the first attempt to elucidate the molecular basis of the response of the resistant genotype to the late leaf spot pathogen, and its defence mechanism.     

Some solenopleurine trilobites from the Languedocian (Late Mid Cambrian) of Western Europe

The solenopleurine trilobite genera Jincella and Liosolenopleura are revised herein. The species Jincella prantli, Jincella convexa nov. sp. and Liosolenopleura serventi occur in Languedocian (upper Middle Cambrian) rocks of the southern Montagne Noire (France), southwestern Sardinia (Italy), and the P?íbram-Jince and Skryje areas (Czech Republic). The correlation of their first appearances permits us to improve the Middle Cambrian biostratigraphic correlations in western and central Europe. At least 17 Middle Cambrian Bohemian species are already reported outside the Czech Republic, whose outcrops can be considered as a hinge in the correlations between southwestern Europe, Saxo-Thuringia, Avalonia and Baltica.     

New Late Miocene murids from China (Mammalia, Rodentia)

New murids of Late Miocene (medial Baodean Chinese Mammal Unit) age from Inner Mongolia, northern China, and from Yunnan Province, southern China, are described. Hansdebruijnia perpusilla nov. sp. represents the earliest known and morphologically most primitive species of the genus, which is known from the latest Miocene of Europe and western Asia. The new species suggests an eastern Palaearctic origin of Hansdebruijnia. “Progonomys” yunnanensisQIU and STORCH, 1990 from Lufeng, Yunnan Province, is referred to Linomys nov. gen. New samples from Leilao, Yuanmou County, Yunnan Province, are included in this species, although this population is somewhat more primitive than that from Lufeng. Leilaomys zhudingi nov. gen. and sp. from Leilao shows a unique combination of apomorphic and plesiomorphic characters, which suggest an early divergence from the murid stem. The new findings indicate that our knowledge of the early radiation of murids in southeast Asia is still in its infancy.