High evolutionary rates and the origin of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (Middle-Upper Jurassic of Italy) reptiles

The fossil record of metriorhynchids and plesiosaurians from the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (RAVFm, Middle–Upper Jurassic, Italy) is represented by elements collected between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. All the metriorhynchid material is referred to the genus Neptunidraco. The first RAVFm plesiosaurian material was collected in the nineteenth century and referred to Plesiosaurus: elements are here described and interpreted as a chimerical association of crocodylomorph and plesiosaurian bones, providing the first co-occurrence of these clades in the RAVFm. The second plesiosaurian is the associated skeleton that we refer to Anguanax zignoi gen. et sp. nov. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis confirms the basal geosaurine affinities of Neptunidraco resulted by parsimony analysis. Using both methods, Anguanax was recovered as a basal pliosaurid, sister group of the clade including Marmornectes and Thalassophonea. Bayesian inference methods indicate that both Italian lineages diverged from other known lineages between 176 and 171 Mya, also showing divergence rates significantly higher than any other representative of their respective clades. We suggest a phase of rapid evolutionary adaptation to deeper marine environments in the ancestors of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese reptiles as a response to the latest Liassic regressive regime in Northern Tethys.     

Turonian Pinaceae of the Raritan Formation, New Jersey

 Fossil vegetative and reproductive structures from deposits of the Raritan Formation in New Jersey (Turonian, Upper Cretaceous, ∼90 MYBP) include ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Gymnosperms collected from this formation have been known since the beginning of the 20th century. Fossil leaves, wood and seed cones have been are identified as belonging to the Cupressaceae, Pinaceae, and Taxodiaceae. In the present contribution, we describe a series of fossil dwarf shoots, leaves and a pollen cone belonging to the family Pinaceae. Fossils are charcoalified with preserved three-dimensional structure and excellent cellular detail. The dwarf shoots are assigned to a new species Prepinus crossmanensis sp. nov. and to the previously described Pinus quinquefolia Jeffrey. The new species Prepinus crossmanensis differs in size, shape, presence of hypodermis, sclerenchyma and stomata in the cataphylls, and number and shape of needle leaves from previously known species. Also, isolated leaves were found that were assigned to the new species, Prepinus raritanensis sp. nov. The new species is differentiated by the size and shape of stomata, the presence of number of layers of the hypodermis; and the cell-shape and number of layers of the mesophyll and transfusion tissue. A previously undescribed male cone, Amboystrobus cretacicum gen. and sp. nov., has an axis with spirally attached microsporophylls, each bearing two abaxial ovoid microsporangia. The pollen grains are monosulcate and bisaccate (eusaccate), with an elliptical corpus, granulate exine sculpture, and honeycomb-like wall structure. Received March 21, 2000 Accepted November 13, 2000     

Enigmatic didactyl tracks from the Jurassic of Iran

Didactyl tracks of theropod affinity are reported in this study based on a small sample of footprints in sandstones within the Middle Jurassic (Aalenian-Bajocian) Dansirit Formation in the Baladeh area, Alborz Mountains, Iran. These tracks superficially resemble footprints attributed to small deinonychosaurian dinosaurs known mainly from the Cretaceous of Asia. The relative length of the traces of digits III and IV is atypical for deinonychosaurids, especially dromaeosaurids, but could potentially be attributed to a troodontid-like trackmaker. The possibility of small Middle Jurassic deinonychosaurian trackmakers cannot be ruled out on the basis of the age of these traces. However, reports of pre-Cretaceous tracks of deinonychosaurian or deinoychosaur-like affinity remain rare and problematic. To date previous reports of pre-Cretaceous didactyl tracks pertain to a variable range of footprint morphologies, some of which predate known deinonychosaurian body fossil occurrences.     

Fossil leaves of Buxus (Buxaceae) from the Upper Pliocene of Yunnan,SW China

A new species, Buxus pliosinica H.S. Huang, T. Su et Z.K. Zhou n. sp. (Buxaceae) is designated based on leaf architecture and cuticular features of five compressed fossil leaves from the Upper Pliocene Sanying Formation of Yunnan, SW China. Leaves of B. pliosinica are elliptic and small, with entire margin, retuse tip, intramarginal vein, and exmedially ramified tertiary veins. The leaves are hypostomatic with anomocytic stomatal apparatuses and giant stomata. Based on comparisons of leaf morphological and cuticular features, B. sempervirens Linnaeus is considered as the nearest living relative of B. pliosinica. Morphologically, these species share similar elliptic shape and size, cuneate base, retuse tip, similar ranges of petiole length, angles of 2° vein to midvein, and distance from the intramarginal vein to the margin. In terms of cuticular features, they are similar in type of stomatal apparatus, maximum length of giant stomata and range of stomatal length, but differ in the presence of indumentum. This discovery represents the first fossil record of Buxus from the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau, and confirms the existence of Buxus in this region by the late Pliocene. Meanwhile, the newly described fossil species contributes to our understanding of the evolution of extant Buxus.     

Two new dinosaur tracksites from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Sichuan Basin,China: specific preservation and ichnotaxonomy

Two new dinosaur tracksites are reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation in the Sichuan Basin, Qijiang District of Chongqing. These are the Gaoqing-Yongsheng and the Huibu tracksites, which represent the 13th and 14th reports from this formation. The Gaoqing-Yongsheng tracksite reveals the trackway of a large biped (ornithopod) in association with isolated sauropod tracks and large indeterminate undertracks with radial cracks. These features are preserved as natural casts with pebble infillings in a coarse, cross bedded and very thick bedded sandstone sequence. The Huibu tracksite reveals isolated theropod tracks and ornithopod tracks, the latter having a quadripartite, Caririchnium-like morphology, preserved in a thin bedded sandstone sequence with intercalated mudstone.     

贵州凤冈早志留世孢子组合的发现及其古植物学意义

系统描述贵州凤冈早志留世的孢子５属１２种,其中包括１新种。根据其组合特征,确认其时代为Ｌｌａｎｄｏｖｅｒｉａｎ晚期,通过对三缝孢的性状分析,认为在早志留世Ｌｌａｎｄｏｖｅｒｉａｎ晚期已确有维管植物的存在。     

河南内乡晚奥陶世石燕河组牙形石及其地质意义

将河南内乡晚奥陶世石燕河组牙形石自下而上建立了Ｏｕｌｏｄｕｓｕｉｒｉｃｈｉ－Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｓｈｏｓｈｏｎｅｎｓｉｓ带，Ｏｎｏｄｕｓｒｏｂｕｓｔｕｓ带，Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｇｒａｎｄｉｓ带，Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｄｉｖｅｒｇｅｎｓ带和Ａｐｈｅｌｏｇｎａｔｈｕｓｚｕｏｑｕｅｎｓｉｓ带。这个序列与北美中大陆的很相似，两者可详细对比。充分证实了北美中大陆型牙形石动物群以及中国合此类型牙形石的最高奥陶纪地层在华北地台以南的武当地块北缘的存在，并指明了其古生物地理分区和构造意义。     

A NEW TITANOSAUR FROM WESTERN SÃO PAULO STATE, UPPER CRETACEOUS BAURU GROUP, SOUTH-EAST BRAZIL

Abstract: Material from a new titanosaur from the Bauru Basin (Bauru Group), Brazil is described and compared with well‐known titanosaurs. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai gen. et sp. nov. is based on six articulated anterior caudal vertebrae and two haemapophyses collected from the Adamantina Formation, which is considered to be Campanian–Maastrichtian? in age. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai is characterized by the following combination of characteristics: anterior caudal vertebrae with straight or slightly backwardly‐projecting neural spines with strongly expanded distal ends, stout prespinal lamina, very wide pre‐ and postzygapophyseal articular facets, and concave postzygapophyseal articular facets on anterior caudal vertebrae. Although our cladistic analysis has produced equivocal results, Adamantisaurus mezzalirai shares with DGM ‘Series B’ (Peirópolis titanosaur) and Aeolosaurus the presence of postzygapophyses with concave articular facets, and shares with DGM ‘Series B’ the presence of laterally expanded neural spines and stout prespinal lamina. Additionally, A. mezzalirai shares with DGM ‘Series’ C (other titanosaur from Peirópolis) the presence of short neural spines.     

Brush-border formation in the midgut of an insect,Calliphora erythrocephala meigen

Summary The embryonic development of the brush-border of anterior midgut cells of Calliphora was studied by electron microscopy. Dense surface-forming vesicles, as described by Bonneville (1970), are found prior to microvillus formation. These dense vesicles provide membranous and coating material for the moulding of the microvilli. The number of dense vesicles increases rapidly to a maximum just before brush-border formation, after which it decreases very rapidly, accompanied by an increase in the number of microvilli. Formation of microvilli proceeds in essentially the same way as in Xenopus. First, some of the vesicles fuse with the apical cell membrane, resulting in an increase of the cell surface, part of which is coated with filamentous material deriving from the dense vesicles. This in turn leads to bulging, and short irregular microvilli appear. These are erected and elongated.Prefabricated tubular elements are believed to play a part in this erection and elongation, probably due to the unwinding of spirally coiled strands.Microvillus formation proper lasts 2 to 3 hours in Calliphora. Almost the entire amount of membranous and coating material is prefabricated prior to the formation of microvilli.