First occurrence of Janospira from the Early Ordovician of Australia

Cavanosteus, a new genus of homostiid arthrodire, with C. australis (McCoy) as type species, is erected for new material from the Early Devonian (Emsian) of the Burrinjuck area, NSW. This new material compares closely with the holotype from Buchan, Victoria, identified as the central plates from the skull; it includes lower jawbones (infragnathals) lacking denticulation also closely similar to those of Homostius from the Middle Devonian of the Baltic Province and Scotland. The only bone from the dermal trunk armour referred to the new genus is an anterior dorsolateral plate. Relationships of other large Early Devonian arthrodires assigned to the family Homostiidae are discussed. Cavanosteus gen. nov. is probably the closest relative to the type genus known from the Early Devonian.     

Further Ektopodontidae (Phalangeroidea,Mammalia) from southwestern Victoria

The youngest members of the Ektopodontidae, an enigmatic family of Phalangeroidea, are reported from southwestern Victoria. Four isolated teeth are described as Ektopodon paucicristata sp. nov. (from the ?mid-?late Pliocene, and early Pliocene) and two isolated Pleistocene teeth are assigned to Darcius duggani Rich, 1986. Previously, the youngest known ektopodontid was early Pliocene.     

Revision of the type species of Phoidagnostus Whitehouse, 1936 (Middle Cambrian,Agnostida)

The type species of Phoidagnostus, P. limbatus Whitehouse, 1936, is redescribed on the basis of further excavation of the holotype which has revealed an associated pygidium. This also demonstrates that the species Hypagnostus varicosus Öpik, 1961 is a junior subjective synonym of P. limbatus. Phoidagnostus is closely related to Toragnostus and Cotalagnostus.     

Postcranial anatomy of the early notoungulate Allalmeia atalaensis from the Eocene of Argentina

We redescribe and interpret the postcranial elements of Allalmeia atalaensis Rusconi, found in the Divisadero Largo Formation, Mendoza, Argentina. Allalmeia is one of the few basal notoungulates with preserved postcranial remains. Rusconi initially documented a skull, several vertebrae and part of the appendicular skeleton but these specimens were subsequently lost. Recently though, distal components of the holotype humeri, the proximal portion of the right femur, several broken diaphyses and most of the left and right pes (MCNAM-PV 507), were relocated. Preparation of this material has revealed new details, especially from the plantar side of the feet. The calcaneum has a distal peroneal process with marked rugosity in the lateral end, a well-developed calcaneal plantar tubercle and a large sustentaculum tali. The naviculars exhibit a well-developed medial tuberosity and slightly contact the calcaneum on the dorsal side, a condition called a ‘reverse alternating tarsus’. The disposition and morphology of the cuneiforms are similar to those of more recent typotheres and the archaic ungulate Tetraclaenodon puercensis. The phalangeal rows are oblique to each other, as in some extant digitigrade mammals. The ungual phalanges are claw-like suggesting that they might have borne claws. Long bones are gracile in comparison with other notoungulates, but with well-developed muscle origins and insertions. The use of body-mass allometric equations and a comparison with extant analogues suggests that Allalmeia was a small, generalized, digitigrade animal. An estimated body mass of approximately 3 kg is consistent with oldfieldthomasiids and archaic ungulates.     

Late Carboniferous to Early Permian brachiopod faunas from the Bachu and Kalpin areas,Tarim Basin,NW China

Terrestrial reptile remains are very rare in the Lower Cretaceous of South Australia, but include the holotype of the small theropod Kakuru. Here, we review this taxon and other archosaur specimens collected from the Bulldog Shale (Aptian) of Andamooka and Coober Pedy. Kakuru possesses no unique characters or character state combinations and is regarded as a nomen dubium, representing an indeterminate tetanuran theropod. Two other specimens (a left metatarsal and astragalus) can be referred to Dinosauria, but the identity of several other specimens (phalanges and a centrum) can only be resolved to the level of an indeterminate archosaur.     

Early Triassic mastodonsaurids (Temnospondyli,Stereospondyli) from Western Australia,with remarks on mastodonsauroid palaeobiogeography

A newly discovered partial skull of a temnospondyl from the Early Triassic Blina Shale of the Erskine Range, Western Australia, is referred to the mastodonsaurid species Watsonisuchus aliciae. A partial skull described as ‘Parotosuchus’ sp. by Warren (1980) is also referred to W. aliciae. Both taxonomic assignments should be treated with caution because of the relatively poor state of preservation of the specimens. W. aliciae is the fourth temnospondyl species to be described from the Blina Shale. The worldwide distribution of mastodonsauroids at the base of the Triassic suggests a rapid phase of radiation and dispersal following the Permo-Triassic extinction event.     

Taxonomy and historical inertia: Clidastes (Squamata: Mosasauridae) as a case study of problematic paleobiological taxonomy

I review the taxonomic history of two problematic mosasaur species, Clidastes liodontus and Clidastes moorevillensis. The genus Clidastes is thought to represent an early radiation of a diverse clade known as the Mosasaurinae. However, most phylogenetic analyses recover the genus as paraphyletic with respect to more highly nested mosasaurines such as Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, and Globidens. The fragmentary holotype of Clidastes liodontus was never figured or fully described, and was destroyed in World War II. Over 20 years after destruction of the holotype, relatively complete specimens were referred to Clidastes liodontus based upon a single, variable character. Another taxon, originally designated Clidastes liodontus moorevillensis in a master’s thesis and then elevated to Clidastes moorevillensis in a separate dissertation, has never been formally described and lacks definitive diagnostic characters that differentiate it from the contemporary concept of Clidastes liodontus. Clidastes provides an excellent example of how historical inertia in taxonomic nomenclature can build over decades and skew our interpretations of the diversity, paleobiology, biogeography, and biostratigraphy of a taxon. Clidastes liodontus is a nomen dubium and Clidastes moorevillensis a nomen nudum. I recommend that both names be abandoned. Removal of those names frees us from a burdensome taxonomy and eliminates cognitive biases that hinder objective understanding and exploration of early-diverging mosasaurines, and is a necessary first step toward a taxonomic revision of the lineage(s) involved.     

Faces of Homo floresiensis (LB1)

Since being excavated in 2003, the skull of LB1 (the holotype of Homo floresiensis) has been given many faces, though the details regarding how each was accomplished are typically few. Here we detail our application of known, and verified, relationships between the skull and soft tissues of anatomically modern humans to produce an evidence-based facial approximation of LB1. We then compare our results to nine pre-existing LB1 faces using geometric morphometrics. These analyses suggest our facial approximation differs in proportional facial width, upper lip height and nasal morphology. Some of these differences are likely due to a different interpretation of taphonomic and excavation damage, application of different 'forensic' methods and/or an idiosyncratic incorporation of aspects of non-human primate morphology. Other differences, and in particular upper lip height, are less justifiable in relation to the skeletal evidence.     

New data on the structure of the Early Devonian lungfish,Dipnorhynchus

A skull of a young specimen of Dipnorhynchus sussmilchi (Etheridge Jr), from the base of the Bloomfield Limestone Member (mid-Emsian, probably perbonus Zone) at Taemas, has both sides of the skull roof preserved, but the cheeks are missing. The posterior end of the endocranium, up to its dorsal extremity, provides new data on the endolymphatic sacs, and the attachment of the epaxial muscles. The endolymphatic region is compared with that of Chirodipterus australis. The palate is not fully formed and the marginal ridges are not fully developed. The fine structures around the dermopalatines and the pterygoids are preserved, indicating the manner in which the plates grew. The position of the parasphenoid is clearly outlined against the pterygoids, and confirms the view that this primitive genus of dipnoans did not have the pterygoids divided by the parasphenoid. All these features provide new information and comparison with Dipterus valenciennesi, the next oldest genus on which the same regions are preserved. In addition, a new mandible from a horizon low in the Cavan Bluff Formation is well preserved and provides information on the external bones of Dipnorhynchus.     

Neolithic dogs: A reappraisal based on evidence from the remains of a large canid deposited in a ritual feature

A canid skull and mandible, dated to the late neolithic, produced a series of measurements which indicate an animal significantly larger than any dog recovered from this period. The skull showed evidence of healed trauma with associated asymmetry. Metrical and morphological criteria have been applied to identify the remains as those of wolf Canis lupus, and the results of these tests are inconclusive. The possibility that the remains are of a large dog, Canis familiaris, is discussed, together with the implications that this may have for the archaeological consideration of this species.     

Two new camerate crinoid species from the Permian of eastern Australia

The habitat and habit of Australia's first recorded Tertiary marsupial species, Wynyardia bassiana, found some 130 years ago at Wynyard on the northwestern coast of Tasmania, remain enigmatic (Aplin 1987, Aplin &; Rich 1990). Fossil pollen and spores preserved in a rafted clast of estuarine silts from the same sequence of earliest Miocene marine sandstones as the skeletal remains indicate the local vegetation was Nothofagus-gymnosperm evergreen rainforest, probably with a cryptogam-rich rather than woody subcanopy stratum. Comparisons with present-day Nothofagus rainforests suggest that, although the subcanopy would have been sufficiently open to allow the passage of a large ground-dwelling herbivorous marsupial, limited food resources are more consistent with Wynyardia being a generalist arboreal herbivore.     

Microflora of the middle Proterozoic Balbirini Dolomite (McArthur Group) of Australia

New genera of the Spiriferidae are described from the Permian sequences of the Carnarvon, Canning and Bonaparte Gulf Basins of Western and northwestern Australia. New taxa described are Latispirifer gen. nov. with type species Latispirifer callytharrensis sp. nov. and Latispirifer amplissimus sp. nov.; Costatispirifer gen. nov. with type species Costatispirifer gracilis sp. nov.; Cratispirifer gen. nov. with type species Cratispirifer nuraensis sp. nov. and Crassispirifer gen. nov. with type species Spirifer rostalinus Hosking (1931) and Crassispirifer pinguis sp. nov. The holotype and only extant specimen of Spirifer kimberleyensis Foord (1890) is re-examined and is assigned to Crassispirifer gen. nov. with a query.     

A new Late Famennian lungfish from New South Wales,Australia, and its bearing on Australian-Asian terrane relations

A new genus and species of lungfish with toothplates, Adelargo schultzei, is described from the Hunter Siltstone (Devonian, Late Famennian) near Grenfell, New South Wales. Materials assigned to Adelargo schultzei gen. et sp. nov., include a portion of the left side of the skull comprising B, I (postparietal) and J (parietal) bones, pterygoid and prearticular toothplates, a parasphenoid with a long posterior stalk, vertebrae, ribs, anal fin supports and scales. Toothplates are similar to Dipterus, although morphology of the skull, parasphenoid and postcranial elements is more derived. Biogeographic relationships of the Grenfell fauna were based on the presence of the antiarch group Sinolepidoidei, also present on Asian terranes during the Late Devonian. A small number of lungfish scales have been described from Asian sinolepid localities of this age, but differ from those of Adelargo schultzei, and other faunal similarities between these areas appear limited. Paucity of eastern Australian Devonian taxa on the North and South China blocks implies that strong biogeographic relationships between eastern Australia and Euramerican localities during the Late Devonian were not the result of Asian migration routes, but the closer proximity of these areas.     

Warwick: report on the excavation of an early 17th‐century English shipwreck in Castle Harbour,Bermuda

Warwick, a colonial merchantman owned and operated by Sir Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda, in1619. Between 2010 and 2012, Warwick's hull remains and associated artefacts were excavated and recorded. Built early in the 17th century, Warwick’s structure revealed a traditional shipbuilding style. Covered with two layers of planking and a layer of sheathing, the ship was purpose‐built for extended transatlantic voyages. Not exceeding 200 tons, Warwick was an average‐size vessel with sufficient burthen to bring supplies and passengers to the colonies and return with tobacco.     

Macropalaeontology of the Trochocyathus-Trematotrochus band (Paleocene/Eocene boundary), Dilwyn Formation,Otway Basin,Victoria

Two new brachythoracids are described from the Taemas Limestone. Arenipiscis westolli gen. et sp. nov. possesses a skull-roof with deeply embayed posterior and elongate anterolateral margins, a large fused rostropineal plate, and orbits anteriorly placed and deeply notching the skull. The visceral skull-roof surface is developed with strong relief. The trunk-shield is poorly known, but the median dorsal plate probably had a prominent carinal process. Errolosteus goodradigbeensis gen. et sp. nov. is known only by an incomplete skull-roof, and anterior lateral and posterior ventrolateral plates. It has a highly distinctive ridged ornament. The affinities of these forms are considered in a discussion of brachythoracid interrelationships, and it is concluded that they are interchangeable on a cladogram with Buchanosteus. Other brachythoracids from the fauna, recently described by White, are considered, and it is suggested that Goodradigbeeon is phyletically primitive and Taemasosteus phyletically advanced relative to Buchanosteus. Schemes of brachythoracid interrelationships recently proposed by Denison and by Miles &; Dennis are compared, and a new scheme is proposed.