A new early Silurian brachiopod genus,Thulatrypa, from Norway and South China,and its palaeobiogeographical significance

Huang, B., Baarli, B.G., Zhan, R.B. & Rong, J.Y., October 2015. A new early Silurian brachiopod genus, Thulatrypa, from Norway and South China, and its palaeobiogeographical significance. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The smooth atrypoid brachiopod Thulatrypa gen. nov. incorporates two species, a younger (T. gregaria) from Norway, and an older (T. orientalis) from South China, which collectively span the middle Rhuddanian through Aeronian. In Baltica, the genus thrived just below the storm wave base in a tropical BA4 setting extending slightly into BA3 and BA5 respectively, whereas in South China, its representative occurs in a much shallower assemblage (BA2–3). Their palaeobiogeographical implications are carefully investigated. This study supports the arguments that Thulatrypa may have originated in South China in the middle Rhuddanian and extended its range to eastern Baltica in the late Rhuddanian. Larvae may have drifted along a channel from the east to the southwest of Baltica, which supports the reconstructions of palaeocurrents in the early Silurian in previous palaeogeographical studies.

Bing Huang [bhuang@nigpas.ac.cn], Ren-bin Zhan [rbzhan@nigpas.ac.cn] and Jia-yu Rong [jyrong@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, PR China; B. Gudveig Baarli [gudveig.baarli@williams.edu], Department of Geosciences, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA.     

Palaeobiogeography of the Ordovician trilobite Prosopiscus,with a new species from western New South Wales

Prosopiscus is particularly important in Ordovician palaeobiogeography because of its wide geographic distribution in Gondwana and peri-Gondwanan regions. It appears to have been confined to low palaeolatitudes, representing a characteristic member of the warm water eastern Gondwanan shelf faunas. Trends in the distribution of the Ordovician genus can be observed due to its long stratigraphic range. Prosopiscus was restricted to, and may have originated in, Australia during the late Early Ordovician (Bendigonian-Chewtonian). By the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian), Prosopiscus had dispersed to other parts of Gondwana and peri-Gondwana, including the North and South China blocks, Tarim, central Himalayas, and the Argentine Precordillera (South America). Possible explanations for the distribution of Prosopiscus are that: (1) there were no oceanic barriers preventing dispersal of trilobites between different regions of Gondwana, thus permitting uninhibited migration over vast distances; (2) Prosopiscus was not restricted to a specific biofacies; (3) a major eustatic transgression during the early Darriwilian may have facilitated the dispersal of Prosopiscus in allowing further development and expansion of marine environments; and (4) a prolonged planktonic larval stage may have permitted wide dispersal.

Prosopiscus lauriei sp. nov. is described from the late Early Ordovician (Bendigonian-Chewtonian) Tabita Formation at Mount Arrowsmith, northwestern New South Wales, Australia. The new species is closely related to P. praecox, from the Nora Formation, Georgina Basin, central Australia, and to P. magicus from northwest China.     

A quantitative study of the Ordovician cephalopod species Sinoceras chinense (Foord) and its palaeobiogeographic implications

FANG, X., ZHANG, Y., CHEN, T., &; ZHANG, Y., February 2017. A quantitative study of the Ordovician cephalopod species Sinoceras chinense (Foord) and its palaeobiogeographic Implications. Alcheringa 0, 000–000. ISSN 0311-5518.

Sinoceras chinense (Foord) is one of the most important and dominant cephalopods in lower Upper Ordovician deposits of China and has been used traditionally as an index species for the lower Katian of South China. Eight published subspecies, including some morphologically diverse forms, have been assigned to the species, and a taxonomic revision of Sinoceras chinense is required. Based on an examination of the 33 published specimens and 12 new specimens, the relationships of Sinoceras chinense and its allies are analysed using cluster analysis and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling. The results segregate these specimens into three discrete groups: (1) the Sinoceras chinense (Foord) Group; (2) the Sinoceras eccentrica (Yü) Group; and (3) non-Sinoceras chinense Group. Accordingly, we emend the diagnosis of Sinoceras chinense and exclude the specimens of the non-Sinoceras chinense Group. Based largely on this taxonomic redefinition and previously published occurrences of Sinoceras chinense, the palaeobiogeographical distribution of Sinoceras is reconstructed in the South China, North China, Tarim and Tibet. Based on the occurrences, ranges and phylogeny of this genus and its included species, we conclude that Sinoceras originated in South China in late Darriwilian, subsequently dispersed into neighbouring blocks in the Sandbian to the early Katian, and became entirely extinct abruptly in the early late Katian.

Xiang Fang^* [xfang@nigpas.ac.cn], Yunbai Zhang [ybzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Tingen Chen [chenten40@126.com], Yuandong Zhang^? [ydzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, PR China. ^*Also affiliated with: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China. ^?Also affiliated with: Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, PR China. Received 2.6.2016; revised 15.9.2016.     

A new Late Permian brachiopod fauna from Tanggula,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its palaeogeographical implications

Weihong He, Jianjun Bu, Zhijun Niu & Yang Zhang, June, 2009. A new Late Permian brachiopod fauna from Tanggula, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its palaeogeographical implications. Alcheringa 33, 113–132. ISSN 0311-5518.

A brachiopod fauna described from the Late Permian of the Gongri and Lizai villages, northwest of the Qoima Co Lake, Tanggula area, southern Qinghai, northwest China, includes ten species in nine genera. This fauna from the (Qiangtang Block) has a strong affinity to coeval faunas of South China, sharing 74% of its species. In addition, the Late Permian Tanggula brachiopod assemblages also demonstrate a clear link with the Middle Permian brachiopod faunas of neighbouring microcontinents including the Indochina block (Malaysia and Cambodia) and the Shan-Thai block (Thailand), as suggested by the presence of Caricula sp. cf. C. salebrosa, Transennatia termierorum and Strophalosiina. This phenomenon indicates that there were relatively narrow seaways between these microcontinents to enable ready interchange of brachiopods during the Permian, and that brachiopods tended to retreat towards the palaeoequatorial region throughout the period.     

Late Silurian vertebrate microfossils from the Carnarvon Basin,Western Australia

Burrow, C.J., Turner, S., Trinajstic, K. &; Young, G.C., 27 February 2019. Late Silurian vertebrate microfossils from the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Alcheringa 43, 204–219. ISSN 0311-5518.

A core sample from the offshore Pendock 1A well, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia yielded microvertebrate residues at an horizon in the lower part of the Hamelin Formation, dated as late Silurian, ? Ludlow, based on associated conodonts. The fish fauna comprises loganelliiform thelodont scales, the ? stem gnathostome Aberrosquama occidens nov. gen. et sp., the acanthodian Nostolepis sp. aff. N. alta, and the ? stem osteichthyan Andreolepis sp. aff. A. petri. Because of the paucity of the material, and some differences between the Pendock scales and those of established species, a precise age can not be confirmed; however, the composition of the fauna at generic level most closely resembles that of late Silurian (Ludlow) assemblages from northern Eurasia.

Carole J. Burrow* [carole.burrow@gmail.com], Geosciences, Queensland Museum, Hendra QLD 4011, Australia; Susan Turner [palaeoich@yahoo.com], Geosciences, Queensland Museum, Hendra QLD 4011, Australia; Kate Trinajstic [k.trinajstic@curtin.edu.au], School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia; Gavin C. Young [gavin.young@anu.edu.au], Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2000, Australia.     

A new species of Scirrotherium Edmund & Theodor, 1997 (Xenarthra,Cingulata, Pampatheriidae) from the late Miocene of South America

Góis, F., Scillato-Yané, G.J., Carlini, A.A. & Guilherme, E. 2013. A new species of Scirrotherium Edmund & Theodor, 1997 (Xenarthra, Cingulata, Pampatheriidae) from the late Miocene of South America. Alcheringa 37, 175–186. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new species of Scirrotherium Edmund & Theodor (Pampatheriidae) is described: S. carinatum. This genus was previously represented by a single species, S. hondaensis Edmund & Theodor, 1997, recorded from the middle Miocene (Laventan) of Colombia. Pampathere remains are common in the ‘Conglomerado osífero’ (late Miocene) of the Ituzaingó Formation in the Paraná River cliffs of Entre Ríos, Chubut (Argentina) and Acre (Brazil). All of them were referred to Kraglievichia paranense, and they are mostly osteoderms. However, only a few of these specimens are strictly consistent with that species. The new species described herein differs from S. hondaensis in having very thin osteoderms with more elaborate ornamentation. The movable band (or imbricate) osteoderms have a sculptured exposed surface and a single transverse row of anterior foramina; the lateral margins are wider and also bear foramina, and the longitudinal central elevation is long and proximally wide, and forms a posteriorly raised crest. This elevation is delimited by a fairly broad and shallow depression on each side, separating the marginal elevation from the longitudinal central one. The exposed surfaces of fixed (or fused) osteoderms bear large and deep anterior foramina, the longitudinal central elevation and delimiting depressions are very pronounced. This new species increases the known diversity of the pampatheres from the ‘Conglomerado osífero’. Additionally, a new nomenclatural scheme for Pampatheriidae osteoderms is proposed.

Flávio Góis [goisf@fcnym]unlp.edu.ar], Gustavo Juan Scillato-Yané [scillato@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], Alfredo Armando Carlini [acarlini@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], Departamento Científico Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque, s/n, 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina and CONICET; Edson Guilherme [guilherme@ufac.br], Universidade Federal do Acre, Laboratório de Pesquisas Paleontológicas (LPP), BR 364, Km 04, 69.915-900. Rio Branco, AC, Brazil. Received 11.5.2012; revised 31.7.2012; accepted 4.9.2012 .     

A new Cenozoic cyclostome bryozoan genus from Argentina and New Zealand: strengthening the biogeographical links between South America and Australasia

Taylor, P.D. & Brezina, S., February 2018. A new Cenozoic cyclostome bryozoan genus from Argentina and New Zealand: strengthening the biogeographical links between South America and Australasia. Alcheringa XX, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Uniserial encrusting cyclostome bryozoans (‘stomatoporiforms’) are especially challenging to study taxonomically because of the paucity of their morphological characters. Here we introduce Axilosoecia gen. nov. for two previously undescribed species characterized by gonozooidal brood chambers located in the axils of branch bifurcations. The type species, Axilosoecia giselae sp. nov., comes from the upper, Danian part of the Roca Formation of La Pampa, Argentina; the second species, Axilosoecia mediorubiensis sp. nov., is from the lower Miocene of Southland, New Zealand. On account of its basal gonozooids, Axilosoecia is assigned to the family Oncousoeciidae despite similarities in colony form with Stomatoporidae. The two known occurrences of this new genus support previously suggested biogeographical links between southern South America and Australasia.

Paul D. Taylor, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK [p.taylor@nhm.ac.uk]; Soledad Brezina, Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología, Unidad de doble dependencia, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro—Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Av. Roca 1242, R8332FDJ, General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina [sbrezina@unrn.edu.ar].     

Discovery of late Changhsingian (latest Permian) brachiopod Attenuatella species from South China

Cretaceous polar dinosaur faunas were taxonomically diverse, which suggests varied strategies for coping with the climatic stress of high latitudes. Some polar dinosaurs, particularly larger taxa such as the duckbill Edmontosaurus Lambe, 1917 Lambe, L. M. 1917. A new genus and species of crestless hadrosaur from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta. Ottawa Naturalist, 31: 65–73.  [Google Scholar], were biomechanically and energetically capable of migrating over long distances, up to 2600 km. However, current evidence strongly suggests many polar dinosaurs (including sauropods, large and small theropods, and ankylosaurs of New Zealand) overwintered in preference to migration. Certain groups also appear more predisposed to overwintering based on their physical inability (related to biomechanics, natural history, or absolute size) to migrate, such as ankylosaurs and many small taxa, including hypsilophodontids and troodontids. Low-nutrient subsistence is found to be the best overwintering method overall, although the likelihood that other taxa employed alternative means remains plausible. Despite wide distribution of some genera, species-level identification is required to assess the applicability of such distributions to migration distances. Presently, such resolution is not available or contradicts the migration hypothesis.     

Poljanka strigosa,a new species of Protopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera,Sternorrhyncha) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Yang, G., Yao, Y.Z. & Ren, D., iFirst. Poljanka strigosa, a new species of Protopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha) from the Middle Jurassic of China. Alcheringa, 1–6. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new fossil species, Poljanka strigosa sp. nov., of the extinct family Protopsyllidiidae is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. The new species is characterized by wings bearing long, stiff setae that are evident as stained impressions in the fine sedimentary rock. Comparison between Protopsyllidiidae and extant psylloids suggests that Protopsyllidiidae is probably closely related to extant psylloids.     

A new fossil genus in Pamphiliidae (Hymenoptera) from China

A new genus with two new species, Scabolyda orientalis gen. et sp. nov. and Scabolyda incompleta sp. nov., assigned to the subfamily Juralydinae in the family Pamphiliidae are described and illustrated. They were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation and the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in northeastern China. They represent the first fossil pamphiliids described from China.     

Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China

Cao, Y., Shih, C., Bashkuev, A. & Ren, D., September 2015. Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species of Itaphlebia Sukatsheva, 1985, Itaphlebia longiovata and I. amoena (Nannochoristidae Tillyard, 1917), are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Previously described Middle Jurassic nannochoristid genera, Chrysopanorpa Ren in Ren et al., 1995 and Protochoristella Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007b, together with Stylopanorpodes and Netropanorpodes Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007a (originally assigned to Mesopanorpodidae) are revised and considered to be synonyms of Itaphlebia. The following tentative species synonymies are proposed: Protochoristella formosa and Stylopanorpodes eurypterus = Itaphlebia ruderalis (Ren in Ren et al., 1995), comb. nov.; Netropanorpodes sentosus = I. jeniseica Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov.; and Protochoristella polyneura = I. multa Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov. Netropanorpodes decorosus is transferred to Itaphlebia. These new species, new material and the new combinations broaden the diversity of the Itaphlebia in mid-Mesozoic ecosystems and provide new characters enabling amendment of the generic diagnosis.

YiZi Cao [easycaoyinzi@aliyun.com], ChungKun Shih [chungkun.shih@gmail.com] and Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Xisanhuanbeilu 105, Haidian District, Beijing, PR China 100048; Alexei Bashkuev [fossilmec@gmail.com], Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya st. 123, Moscow 117997, Russia.     

Two new Middle Jurassic species of orthophlebiids (Insecta: Mecoptera) from Inner Mongolia,China

QIAO, X., SHIH, C.K. & REN, D., December 2012. Two new Middle Jurassic species of orthophlebiids (Insecta: Mecoptera) from Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 36, 467–472. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species of the extinct family Orthophlebiidae, Orthophlebia nervulosa sp. nov. and Orthophlebia stigmosa sp. nov., are described and illustrated. These well-preserved specimens were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation near Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. Morphological characters shown in these well-preserved specimens highlight the diversity of orthophlebiids during the Middle Jurassic and provide data for future phylogenetic studies of orthophlebiids.     

Two new species of Mesosciophilidae (Insecta: Diptera: Nematocera) from the Yanliao biota of Inner Mongolia,China

Wang, Q., Zhao, Y.Y. & Ren, D., December 2012. Two new species of Mesosciophilidae (Insecta: Diptera: Nematocera) from the Yanliao biota of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 36, 509–514. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species assigned to Mesosciophila Rohdendorf and Paramesosciophilodes Zhang in the Mesosciophilidae are described and illustrated: Mesosciophila sigmoidea sp. nov. and Paramesosciophilodes aequus sp. nov. They are established based on fossil specimens with bodies and complete wings. Both were collected from the Middle Jurassic, Jiulongshan Formation at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China.     

Chorilingia (Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae): a new genus of lacewings with four species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China

SHI, C.F., WANG, Y.J., YANG, Q. & REN, D., September 2012. Chorilingia (Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae): a new genus of lacewings with four species from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 36, 311–320. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new grammolingiid genus, Chorilingia containing four new species (C. euryptera, C. parvica, C. translucida and C. peregrina) is described and illustrated from the Jiulongshan Formation at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. The new genus is differentiated mainly on the first branch of vein Rs (Rs1) separating distal to the forks of both CuA and CuP. A key to species of the genus is provided.     

Pragian and lower Emsian (Lower Devonian) conodonts from Liujing,Guangxi, South China

LU, J.-F., QIE, W.-Q. & CHEN, X.-Q., July 2016. Pragian and lower Emsian (Lower Devonian) conodonts from Liujing, Guangxi, South China. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Lower Devonian (Pragian and Emsian) conodonts are described from the Liujing section in Guangxi, South China, highlighting the phylogeny of early polygnathids and establishing the basis for faunal correlations with deposits throughout the world. Records of Eognathodus kuangi sp. nov. and E. nagaolingensis Xiong increase the biodiversity of the Pragian eognathodids in South China and represent intermediate stages and probably the latest eognathodids in the evolutionary succession from Eognathodus to Polygnathus. During this evolutionary succession, the degeneration of the sulcus (or the flattening of the upper platform surface) is the most important morphological change, especially in the eognathodid lineage. Polygnathus trilinearis, P. pireneae and P. sokolovi are recognized together for the first time in South China. The contemporaneous occurrences of the kitabiformis and sokoloviformis morphs of P. pireneae with P. sokolovi and their respective similarities to P. kitabicus and P. sokolovi suggest that the latter two species are phylogenetically linked with P. pireneae. Evidence from the Liujing section also favours Polygnathus probably having evolved from Eognathodus in a tropical or subtropical area.

Jian-feng Lu* [lujfivan@sina.cn] and Xiu-qin Chen [xqchen@nigpas.ac.cn], Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Wen-Kun Qie [wkqie@nigpas.ac.cn], Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China. *Also affiliated with University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.     

A new Late Silurian plant with complex branching from Xinjiang,China

Wang Yi, Fu Qiang, Xu Honghe, & Hao Shougang, June, 2007. A new Late Silurian plant with complex branching from Xinjiang, China. Alcheringa 31, 111-120. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new fossil plant is described from the middle part of the Wutubulake Formation (late Pridoli) of Xinjiang, China. This plant demonstrates at least two orders of branching. The first-order axis has pseudomonopodial branching with alternately attached second-order axes. Fertile units are alternately inserted along the second-order axis, and consist of a branching system and two sporangia at each tip. Sporangia are narrowly obovate with rounded apex and tapering base. This plant is characterized by more complex branching than other Silurian and Early Devonian plants, and is named Wutubulaka multidichotoma gen. et sp. nov., and placed under open higher-order nomenclature.     

A new Patagonian long-lived species of Cyclochlamys Finlay, 1926 (Bivalvia: Pectinoidea)

Pastorino, G. & Griffin, M., March 2018. A new Patagonian long-lived species of Cyclochlamys (Bivalvia: Pectinoidea). Alcheringa XX, xx–xx.

A new species of the bivalve family Cyclochlamydidae is described from the southwestern Atlantic in Argentine waters. Cyclochlamys argentina sp. nov. is the second representative of the genus known to live in the Magellanic area. In addition, this long-lived species is also recorded from lower Miocene rocks in the province of Santa Cruz exposed along the Atlantic coast of the Monte León National Park. The material was collected from the Punta Entrada Member of the Monte León Formation. These small mollusks clearly belong in Cyclochlamys because of shell characters such as the irregularly pitted prodissoconch I and right valve with commarginally elongated rectangular prisms over most of disc. Cyclochlamys argentina sp. nov. shows affinities with taxa such as C. aupouria and C. shepherdi, all of which are known from areas of New Zealand.

Guido Pastorino [gpastorino@macn.gov.ar] CONICET—Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’. Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Miguel Griffin [patagonianoyster@gmail.com] CONICET— División Paleozoología Invertebrados, Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina.     

A probable ankylosaurian (Dinosauria,Thyreophora) from the Early Cretaceous of New South Wales,Australia

Bell, P.R., Burns, M.E. & Smith, E.T. October 2017. A probable ankylosaurian (Dinosauria, Thyreophora) from the Early Cretaceous of New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 42, 120–124. ISSN 0311-5518.

We describe an isolated osteoderm from the Albian Griman Creek Formation where it is exposed near the town of Lightning Ridge in central-northern New South Wales, Australia. Several lines of evidence allow referral of this element to the Ankylosauria—a group that epitomises body armour and ubiquitous osteodermal coverage among dinosaurs. Despite the abundant record of fossil vertebrates from this interval, ankylosaurians have not been previously reported, although, they have been described from penecontemporaneous deposits in western Queensland and Victoria. This discovery, therefore, provides an important link between the northerly faunas (including the Griman Creek Formation) that flourished at the edge of the epeiric Eromanga Sea, with those from the sub-polar rift-valley system of Victoria during the mid-Cretaceous.

Phil R. Bell [pbell23@une.edu.au], School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale 2351, NSW, Australia; Michael E. Burns [mburns3@jsu.edu], Department of Biology, Jacksonville State University, 700 Pelham Rd N., Jacksonville, AL 36265-2138, USA; Elizabeth T. Smith [elizabethtsmith@exemail.com.au], Australian Opal Centre, Lightning Ridge 2834, NSW, Australia.     

A new fossil petalurid dragonfly (Odonata: Petaluroidea: Aktassiidae) from the Cretaceous of China

LI, Y.J., HAN, G., NEL, A. REN, D., PANG, H. & LIU. X.L., September 2012. A new fossil petalurid dragonfly (Odonata: Petaluroidea: Aktassiidae) from the Cretaceous of China. Alcheringa 36, 321–324. ISSN 0311-5518.

The new petalurid species Pseudocymatophlebia boda is described from Lower Cretaceous strata of Inner Mongolia, China. It provides additional morphological characters for this genus, which has been previously recorded from the Lower Cretaceous of England. Together with Aktassia, it is the second aktassiid genus with a very wide distribution, even though this family remains known only from Eurasia. Furthermore, a new name, Brachaktassia gen. nov., is proposed to replace the brachiopod genus Aktassia Popov, 1976.     

A new diminutive euphyllophyte from the Middle Devonian of West Junggar,Xinjiang, China and its evolutionary implications

Xu, H.-H., Wang, Y., Tang, P. & Wang, Y., May 2017. A new diminutive euphyllophyte from the Middle Devonian of West Junggar, Xinjiang, China and its evolutionary implications. Alcheringa 41, 524–531. ISSN 0311-5518.

A diminutive euphyllophyte, Douaphyton levigata gen. et sp. nov., is described from the upper Middle Devonian (Givetian) Hujiersite Formation of West Junggar, Xinjiang, China. The plant consists of more than three orders of axis branching, each axis being less than 2 mm wide. The second-order axes are short, laterally and alternately attached to the main axis. The third-order axes are paired and anisotomously divided, bearing the vegetative appendages or the fertile units. The fertile unit consists of a short recurved axis giving off up to four short pedicels along one side, each of which bears one to four pairs of terminal sporangia. Douaphyton has a three-dimensional branching system that has an intermediate form in the evolutionary context of euphyllophytes and lignophytes. It is also proposed that complex branching developed in multiple groups in the Middle Devonian.

*Hong-He Xu [hhxu@nigpas.ac.cn], Yao Wang [yaowang@nigpas.ac.cn], Peng Tang [pengtang@nigpas.ac.cn], Yi Wang [yiwang@nigpas.ac.cn] State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210,008, PR China. Yao Wang [yaowang@nigpas.ac.cn] University of Science and Technology of China. 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230,026, PR China.