New material from the Ordovician of China indicates that Inocaulis is a graptolite

Muir, L.A., Zhang, Y.-D. & Lin, J.-P. 2012. New material from the Ordovician of China indicates that Inocaulis is a graptolite. Alcheringa 37, 558–559. ISSN 0311-5518.

The problematic Early Palaeozoic fossil Inocaulis has been regarded as an alga, a graptolite and a hydroid by different authors. A new specimen from the Ordovician (late Darriwilian) of Guizhou Province (China) shows fusellar banding, confirming that it is a benthic graptolite.

Lucy A Muir [lucy@asoldasthehills.org], Yuan-dong Zhang [ydzhang@nigpas.ac.cn], Jih-Pai Lin [jplin@nigpas.ac.cn] (corresponding author), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China. Received 13.12.2012; revised 10.5.2013; accepted 13.5.2013.     

Late Ordovician conodont biozonation of Australia—current status and regional biostratigraphic correlations

Zhen, Y.Y. & Percival, I.G. March 2017. Late Ordovician conodont biozonation of Australia—current status and regional biostratigraphic correlations. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Seven conodont biozones are recognized in the Upper Ordovician of Australia. The Pygodus anserinus, Belodina compressa and Phragmodus undatus–Tasmanognathus careyi biozones are successively represented in the Sandbian. Although the Erismodus quadridactylus Biozone of the late Sandbian North America Midcontinent succession was previously recognized in the Stokes Siltstone of the Amadeus Basin and the Mithaka Formation of the Georgina Basin in central-north Australia, we argue for a middle–late Darriwilian age for these two units. Four conodont biozones, from oldest to youngest the Taoqupognathus philipi, T. blandus, T. tumidus–Protopanderodus insculptus and Aphelognathus grandis biozones, are established in the Katian of eastern Australia. Taoqupognathus species are particularly useful in correlation of the lower–middle Katian successions of eastern Australia with contemporary rocks in other parts of eastern Gondwana and peri-Gondwana, such as with the three major terranes of North and South China and Tarim. These regions, together with Sibumasu and eastern Australia, were part of the Australasian Superprovince during the Late Ordovician, with a strong palaeobiogeographic identity signalled by domination of Taoqupognathus, Tasmanognathus and Yaoxianognathus. Longstanding difficulties for precise correlation with the well-established North American Midcontinent or Baltoscandian successions in the Late Ordovician, owing mainly to strong endemism of the Australian faunas particularly from shallow-water settings, have been resolved by integration of regional conodont biostratigraphic schemes. The conodont biozonation of the Australian Upper Ordovician reviewed herein also provides a crucial chronological reference for better constraining the temporal and spatial range of Late Ordovician tectonostratigraphic events across the intracratonic basins of northern and western Australia and orogenic belts of eastern Australia.

Yong Yi Zhen* [yong-yi.zhen@industry.nsw.gov.au] and Ian G. Percival [ian.percival@industry.nsw.gov.au], Geological Survey of New South Wales, W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry NSW 2753, Australia.     

New Late Permian rugose corals from Pahang,peninsular Malaysia

Aye Ko Aung, Ng Tham Fatt, Kyaw Kyaw Nyein & Myo Htut Zin, 2013. New Late Permian rugose corals from Pahang, peninsular Malaysia. Alcheringa 37, 422–434. ISSN 0311-5518.

Late Permian rugose corals are described from a limestone unit of the Gua Musang Formation at Selborne Estate, Padang Tengku area, Pahang, peninsular Malaysia. These include one genus, Iranophyllum, which is reported for the first time from Malaysia, with two new species Iranophyllum aequabilis and I. pahangense belonging to Waagenophyllidae. A Late Permian age is confirmed by a Paleofusulina–Colaniella–Reichelina foraminiferal fauna co-preserved with the corals.

Aye Ko Aung [akaung.mm@gmail.com], Ng Tham Fatt [thamfatt@gmail.com], Kyaw Kyaw Nyein [konyein@gmail.com], Department of Geology, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Myo Htut Zin [myohtutgreat@googlemail.com], Lab. Services, Pte. Co. Ltd., Singapore. Received 16.10.2012; revised 5.1.2013; accepted 17.1.2012.     

First records of Wuchiapingian (Late Permian) conodonts in the Xainza area,Lhasa Block,Tibet, and their palaeobiogeographic implications

Yuan, D.X., Zhang, Y.C., Zhang, Y.J., Zhu, T.X. & Shen, S.Z., 2014. First records of Wuchiapingian (Late Permian) conodonts in the Xainza area, Lhasa Block, Tibet, and their palaeobiogeographic implications. Alcheringa 38, 546–556. ISSN 0311-5518.

Conodonts are among the best fossil groups to provide high-resolution biostratigraphic correlation and resolve the palaeobiogeographic evolution of the Permian. However, they have been rarely reported from the Lhasa Block in Tibet. Here we report the first discovery of Wuchiapingian (early Lopingian) conodonts from the Xiala Formation in the Lhasa Block, Tibet. This conodont fauna includes two genera and three species (Clarkina liangshanensis, C. orientalis, Iranognathus sp.). The conodont fauna indicates that the Xiala Formation previously assigned to the Guadalupian actually ranges from late Kungurian to late Wuchiapingian. The existence of the late Wuchiapingian conodont species Clarkina orientalis and C. liangshanensis in the Lhasa Block provides additional data to support the viewpoint that this block probably had been in a warm-water regime during the Wuchiapingian (Lopingian).

Dong-Xun Yuan [yuanzi55@163.com], School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing, 210093, PR China and 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; Yi-Chun Zhang [yczhang@nigpas.ac.cn] and Shu-Zhong Shen [szshen@nigpas.ac.cn] (corresponding author), 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; Yu-Jie Zhang [zebiac@163.com] and Tong-Xing Zhu [ztongxing88@yahoo.com.cn], Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey, 2 Renming Road North, Chengdu, 610081, PR China. Received 9.1.2014; revised 1.4.2014; accepted 28.4.2014.     

Middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician faunas from the Chingiz Mountain Range,central Kazakhstan

Tolmacheva, T.JU., Degtyarev, K.E., Samuelsson, J. & Holmer, L.E., December, 2008. Middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician faunas from the Chingiz Mountain Range, central Kazakhstan. Alcheringa 32, 443–463. ISSN 0311-5518.

The middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician back-arc sedimentary succession studied in the Kol'denen River and in the Zerbkyzyl Mountains of the central Chingiz Mountain Range is composed predominantly of siltstones, sandstones and volcaniclastic rocks with rare beds of micritic carbonates, black shales and cherts. Fossil assemblages including conodonts, lingulate brachiopods, arthropods, sponges and probable Tasmanites cysts were recorded both from the carbonate and chert beds showing that richly diverse marine environments existed directly adjacent to the volcanic arcs. The Kol'denen River localities contain a diverse upper Cambrian paraconodont assemblage of the open-sea affinity. The representatives of Rossodus, Cordylodus, Drepanodus and Variabiloconus, having an almost pandemic distribution and characteristic of basinal facies, dominate the Lower Ordovician conodont fauna. The Cambrian–Ordovician boundary transition is characterized by chert production that was more likely caused by a local productivity increase than by general changes in palaeooceanographic and palaeogeographical conditions.     

Two new stem-stoneflies discovered in the Pennsylvanian Avion locality,Pas-de-Calais,France (Insecta: ‘Exopterygota’)

Schubnel, T., Perdu, L., Roques, P., Garrouste, R. & Nel, A.,26 February 2019. Two new stem-stoneflies discovered in the Pennsylvanian Avion locality, Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta: ‘Exopterygota’). Alcheringa 43, 430–435.

Avionptera communeaui gen. et sp. nov. and Gulou oudardi sp. nov., the second and third Carboniferous representatives of the stem group Plecoptera (after G. carpenteri) are described and illustrated. A. communeaui is attributed to the Paleozoic family Fatjanopteridae, of which the only previous member was Fatjanoptera mnemonica. Based on a re-examination of the families Gulouidae and Emphylopteridae, the former family is restored to the Plecoptera stem group and the latter is transferred to the Archaeorthoptera.

Thomas Schubnel [thomas.schubnel@wanadoo.fr], Romain Garrouste [garroust@mnhn.fr] and André Nel* [anel@mnhn.fr], Institut Systématique Evolution Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, 75005 Paris, France; Lubin Perdu [lubi.perdu@gmail.com], 11 rue du Caire, F-75002, Paris, France; Patrick Roques [patrick.roques93@wanadoo.fr], 2 Chemin des Processions, Neuilly-Plaisance, F-93049, France     

The graptolite Glossograptus Emmons and its proximal structure

Ni Yunan & Cooper, R. A., 1994:03:28. The graptolite Glossograptus Emmons and its proximal structure. Alcheringa 18, 161–167. ISSN 0311-5518.

New specimens of Glossograptus acanthus from the Ningkuo Shale of China, preserved in relief, help to resolve the much debated problem of the structure of Glossograptus. A model for the proximal structure of the genus is proposed, based on the new material and on Finney's (1978) Athens Shale specimens. The model confirms that Glossograptus has homologous structure and development with Pseudisograptus, and isograptid development type is primitive for the group containing both genera. A cladogram is presented in which the suborder Glossograptina Jaanusson (with families Glossograptidae and Cryptograptidae) together with family Corynoididae Bulman are subsumed within a redefined family Glossograptidae.     

Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou,Guangxi, South China

Shen, Y. & Wang, X.L., 24.6.2015. Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou, Guangxi, South China. Alcheringa 39,559–572 ISSN 0311-5518

The type section of the Mississippian Bei’an Formation is well exposed on both sides of the Beihuan expressway at Liuzhou in Guangxi, South China, about 700 m east of the Pengchong GSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Visean Stage. Foraminifers are abundant and diverse (at least 59 species and 39 genera) in this section, and five foraminiferal zones are recognizable in the Bei’an Formation. In ascending order, these are the Pojarkovella nibelis, Koskinotextularia, Bradyina, Janischewskina and ‘Millerella’ tortula zones. Based on the foraminifers, the Bei’an Formation is regarded as being of middle Visean to Serpukhovian age, i.e., equivalent to biozones MFZ12–MFZ15 from the stratotypes of Europe, and the Visean–Serpukhovian boundary is placed at the base of the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone.

Yang Shen [shenybj@126.com] (Corresponding author) and Xun-Lian Wang [wxl@cugb.edu.cn], School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.     

Fossil wood of the Mimosoideae from the early Paleocene of Patagonia,Argentina

Brea, M., Zamuner, A.B., Matheos, S.D., Iglesias, A. & Zucol, A.F., December, 2008. Fossil wood of the Mimosoideae from the early Paleocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 32, 427–441. ISSN 0311-5518.

An anatomically preserved mature stem from the Salamanca Formation (early Paleocene) at Palacio de Los Loros, central Patagonia, Argentina, is described and assigned to Paracacioxylon frenguellii sp. nov. The material was preserved by siliceous permineralization and shows features of the secondary xylem typical of subfamily Mimosoideae. This species represents the oldest record of the genus and of the Leguminosae along the western border of Gondwana, and is the world's second oldest record of Leguminosae wood. The species is characterized by ring-porous to semi-ring-porous vessels that are solitary, in multiples of 2–4 and clustered, simple perforation plates, alternate and vestured inter-vessel pitting, homocellular 1–6 seriate rays, tyloses, crystals and diffuse apotracheal, vasicentric paratracheal and confluent axial parenchyma. Paracacioxylon frenguellii has anatomical similarities to Acacia Miller. The presence of Paracacioxylon frenguellii associated with pulvinate leaves suggests that the legumes might have been a component of mesothermal forests developed along the western margin of the Golfo San Jorge Basin during the early Paleocene.     

Revision of two phragmodontid species (Conodonta) from the Darriwilian (Ordovician) of the Canning Basin in Western Australia and phylogeny of the Cyrtoniodontidae

Zhen, Y.Y. 9 July 2019. Revision of two phragmodontid species (Conodonta) from the Darriwilian (Ordovician) of the Canning Basin in Western Australia and phylogeny of the Cyrtoniodontidae. Alcheringa XX, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Based on re-examination of the material used in the original study from the subsurface Goldwyer and Nita Formations (middle Darriwilian, Middle Ordovician) of the Canning Basin, Western Australia, two phragmodontid species (Phragmodus polystrophos Watson and Ph. spicatus Watson) are revised as having a septimembrate apparatus including geniculate (Ph. polystrophos) or nongeniculate (Ph. spicatus) M, triform alate Sa, modified tertiopedate (Ph. polystrophos) or tripennate (Ph. spicatus) Sb, modified bipennate Sc, modified quadriramate Sd, carminate Pa and pastinate Pb elements. Characterized by a carminate Pa element in their respective species apparatuses, these two species demonstrate a close phylogenetic relationship with Phragmodus cognitus Stauffer from the Late Ordovician (Sandbian) of North America. These distinctive shared characters have allowed their accommodation within a new genus, Protophragmodus gen. nov., which represents an evolutionary lineage separated from species of Phragmodus Branson & Mehl (sensu stricto). In addition, it is postulated that the Cyrtoniodontidae might have originated in the early–middle Darriwilian from ‘Plectodina’ in shallow-water settings, with Phragmodus (sensu stricto), the most derived part of the family, perhaps directly evolving from Protophragmodus gen. nov. in the late Darriwilian and then becoming cosmopolitan, deeper-water dwellers in the Late Ordovician.

Y.Y. Zhen [yong-yi.zhen@planning.nsw.gov.au], Geological Survey of New South Wales, W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NSW 2753, Australia.     

Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from the Goldwyer Formation of the Canning Basin,Western Australia

Zhen, Y.Y., Normore, L.S., Dent, L.M. & Percival, I.G., 11 July 2019. Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) conodonts from the Goldwyer Formation of the Canning Basin, Western Australia. Alcheringa 44, 25–55. ISSN 0311-5518

Middle Ordovician conodonts attributed to 46 species were recovered from a stratigraphic interval spanning the Willara, Goldwyer and Nita formations in core sections from the Sally May-2 and Theia-1 petroleum exploration wells in the Canning Basin, Western Australia. The Histiodella serrata, Histiodella holodentata and Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus biozones are recognized in the lower and middle part of the Goldwyer Formation, indicative of an early–middle Darriwilian age. This revised conodont biostratigraphy enables more precise correlation with North America and North and South China. Several biogeographically distinctive conodont species, most likely of North Chinese origin, are recorded from the Goldwyer Formation. Their presence signals a strong palaeobiogeographic connection between the Sino-Korean Craton and the Canning Basin on the western margin of eastern Gondwana during the late Middle Ordovician.

Y.Y. Zhen* [yong-yi.zhen@planning.nsw.gov.au], W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of New South Wales, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry NSW 2753, Australia; L.S. Normore [leon.normore@dmirs.wa.gov.au]; L.M. Dent [louisa.dent@dmirs.wa.gov.au], Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Mineral House, Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6004, Australia; I.G. Percival [ian.percival@planning.nsw.gov.au], W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of New South Wales, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry NSW 2753, Australia;     

Graptolite faunas and monaxonid demosponges of the Cyrtograptus lundgreni event (late Wenlock,Silurian) interval from the Orange district,New South Wales

Muir, L.A. & Botting, J.P., December, 2007. Graptolite faunas and monaxonid demosponges of the Cyrtograptus lundgreni event (late Wenlock, Silurian) interval from the Orange district, New South Wales. Alcheringa 31, 375-395. ISSN 0311-5518.

Three monograptid and five retiolitid graptoloids, and one species of sponge, are described from late Wenlock sections (Cyr. lundgreni and Co. ludensis biozones) at Spring Creek and Wallace Creek, near Orange, New South Wales, Australia. The sponge Janussenia orangense gen. et sp. nov. is the first monaxonid demosponge to be described from the Australian Silurian. An object containing broken Testograptus testis, and interpreted as the faecal pellet of a predator or scavenger on graptoloids, is described.

Lucy A. Muir [l.muir@nhm.ac.uk], Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. Joseph P. Botting [joe@asoldasthehills.org], 2C Roslyn Close, Mitcham CR4 3BB, UK. Received 28.4.2006; Revised 10.10.2006.     

Large freshwater plesiosaurian from the Cretaceous (Aptian) of Australia

Benson, R.B.J., Fitzgerald, E.M.G., Rich, T.H. & Vickers-Rich, P., 2013. Large freshwater plesiosaurian from the Cretaceous (Aptian) of Australia. Alcheringa 37, 1–6. ISSN 0311-5518

We report a large plesiosaurian tooth from the freshwater early–middle Aptian (Early Cretaceous) Eumeralla Formation of Victoria, Australia. This, combined with records of smaller plesiosaurian teeth with an alternative morphology, provides evidence for a multitaxic freshwater plesiosaurian assemblage. Dental and body size differences suggest ecological partitioning of sympatric freshwater plesiosaurians analogous to that in modern freshwater odontocete cetaceans. The evolutionarily plastic body plan of Plesiosauria may have facilitated niche differentiation and helped them to exclude ichthyosaurs from freshwater environments during the Mesozoic. However, confirmation of this hypothesis requires the discovery of more complete remains.

Roger B.J. Benson [roger.benson@earth.ox.ac.uk], Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK; Erich M.G. Fitzgerald [efitzgerald@museum.vic.gov.au], Thomas H. Rich [trich@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia; Thomas H. Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich [pat.rich@monash.edu], School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Received 30.10.2012; revised 27.1.2013; accepted 31.1.2013.     

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 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.     

The United Nations as the ‘Parliament of Man’

Abstract

Paul Kennedy. The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations. Toronto, ON: HarperCollins, 2006. Pp. xvii, 361. $36.95 (CDN); Ronald St John Macdonald and Douglas M. Johnston, eds. Towards World Constitutionalism: Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp. xviii, 968. €235.00; $317.00 (US); S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong. Human Security and the UN: A Critical History. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006. Pp. xix, 346. $35.00 (US), paper; David M. Malone. The International Struggle over Iraq: Politics in the UN Security Council, 1980–2005. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. Pp. xiv, 398. $59.95 (CDN); Michael J. Matheson. Council Unbound: The Growth of UN Decision Making on Conflict and Postconflict Issues after the Gold War. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2006. Pp. xvi, 422. $19.95 (US), paper; Ramesh Thakur. The United Nations, Peace, and Security: From Collective Security to the Responsibility to Protect. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xvi, 388. $32.99 (US), paper.     

Middle Ordovician (early Dapingian) conodonts in the Central Andean Basin of NW Argentina

Carlorosi, J., Heredia, S. & Aceñolaza, G, 2013. Middle Ordovician (early Dapingian) conodonts in the Central Andean Basin of NW Argentina. Alcheringa 37, 1–13. ISSN 0311-5518.

This paper describes and analyzes the significance of a conodont fauna from the Alto del Cóndor Formation, exposed in the Los Colorados region of the Argentine Eastern Cordillera. Identified taxa are Baltoniodus triangularis, Baltoniodus sp. cf. B. triangularis, Drepanodus sp., Drepanoistodus basiovalis, Drepanoistodus sp. B., Erraticodon patu, Gothodus costulatus, Oistodus sp., Trapezognathus diprion, T. quadrangulum, Triangulodus sp. and Triangulodus? sp. The presence of Baltoniodus triangularis indicates the base of the Dapingian stage (Middle Ordovician). In addition, we report the coexistence of T. diprion and T. quadrangulum. The conodont association suggests a faunal affinity with Baltica and South China, both belonging to the Shallow-Sea Realm of the Temperate-Cold Domain.

Josefina Carlorosi [josefinacarlorosi77@gmail]com], INSUGEO—Universidad Nacional de Tucumán—CONICET, Miguel Lillo 205, (4000) Tucumán, Argentina; Guillermo F. Aceñolaza [acecha@webmail.unt.edu.ar], Universidad Nacional de Tucumán—CONICET, Miguel Lillo 205, (4000) Tucumán, Argentina; Susana Heredia [sheredia@unsj.edu.ar], CONICET–CIGEOBIO and Instituto de Investigaciones Mineras, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Urquiza y Libertador, (5400) San Juan, Argentina. Received 22.8.2012; revised 18.10.2012; accepted 24.10.12.     

First fossil record of amiid fishes (Halecomorphi,Amiiformes, Amiidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Uberaba,Minas Gerais State,Brazil

Martinelli, A.G., Bogan, S., Agnolin, F.L., Ribeiro, L.C.B., Cavellani, C.L., Ferraz, M.L.F. & Teixeira, V.P.A., iFirst article. First fossil record of amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes, Amiidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Uberaba, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Alcheringa, 1–9. ISSN 0311-5518.

The first fossil amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes) from the Late Cretaceous Marília Formation (Bauru Group) at Uberaba County, Triângulo Mineiro region (Minas Gerais State, Brazil), are described. The material includes some partial maxillae, a dermopterotic, a cleithrum, several vertebral centra and teeth. Features such as the absence of a supramaxillary notch on the dorsal edge of the maxilla, a wide and deep pit on the maxilla for the articulation of the premaxilla, anterior portion of the maxilla with a sub-circular cross-section, teeth with acrodine cup with strong mesial and distal keels, among others, permit confident referral of the material to the Subfamily Vidalamiine (Amiidae), previously recognized in Lower Cretaceous strata of northeasthern Brazil. These specimens constitute the first Late Cretaceous record of this group in Brazil and one of the few in South America.

Agustín G. Martinelli [agustín_martinelli@yahoo.com.ar], Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas Llewellyn Ivor Price, Complexo Cultural e Científico Peirópolis (CCCP/UFTM), BR-262, Km 784, Bairro Peirópolis, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Sergio Bogan [sergiobogan@yahoo.com.ar], Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara’, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD—Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775 piso 7 (1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Federico Agnolín* [fedeagnolin@yahoo.com.ar], Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Luiz Carlos Borges Ribeiro [lcbrmg@terra.com.br], Camila Lourencini Cavellani [camila@patge.uftm.edu.br], Mara Lúcia da Fonseca Ferraz [mara@patge.uftm.edu.br] and Vicente de Paula Antunes Teixeira [vicente@patge.uftm.edu.br], Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas Llewellyn Ivor Price, Complexo Cultural e Científico Peirópolis (CCCP/UFTM), BR-262, Km 784, Bairro Peirópolis, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. *Also affiliated with: Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara’, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD—Universidad Maimónides, Valentín Virasoro 732 (C1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Received 15.4.2012; revised 11.6.2012; accepted 20.6.2012.     

Fixation of the type species of the genus Protoretepora de Koninck, 1878 (Bryozoa,Fenestrata)

Wyse Jackson, P.N., Reid, C.M. & McKinney, F.K., iFirst article, 2011. Fixation of the type species of the genus Protoretepora de Koninck, 1878 (Bryozoa, Fenestrata). Alcheringa, 1–2. ISSN 0311-5518.

The type species of the Palaeozoic bryozoan genus Protoretepora de Koninck, 1878 was originally fixed as Fenestella ampla Lonsdale in Darwin, 1844, but this taxon has been shown to belong to the bryozoan genus Parapolypora Morozova & Lisitsyn, 1996 Morozova, I. P. and Lisitsyn, D. V. 1996. Revision of the genus Polypora. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 1996(4): 38–47. [English translation: Paleontological Journal30(5), 530–541] [Google Scholar]. The original type species designation for Protoretepora de Koninck, 1878 is set aside, and in accordance with Article 70.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th edition, 1999) the nominal species Protoretepora crockfordae Wyse Jackson, Reid & McKinney, 2011 from the Permian of Tasmania, Australia is herein fixed as the type species.