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.     

First report of theropods from the Tacuarembó Formation (Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous), Uruguay

Dinosaur remains from the lower part of the Tacuarembó Formation, Uruguay, consist of the isolated theropod teeth described here. This is the first record of this group in the Tacuarembó Formation and represents the oldest dinosaur remains from Uruguay.     

Parotosuchus from the Early Triassic of Queensland and Western Australia

Three members of the labyrinthodont Family Capitosauridae are described. Two new species from the Arcadia Formation of the Rewan Group, Queensland, show affinities with more primitive capitosaurs and with pre-capitosaurid groups. A third skull from the Blina Shale of Western Australia is of indeterminate species. These are the first recorded capitosaurs from Queensland and Western Australia and the first Parotosuchus from a Lystrosaurus Zone fauna.     

Late Ordovician and Early Silurian conodonts from the “Uralba Beds”, northern New South Wales

Limestone outcrops that form a north-south belt approximately 1.4 km long, 15 km east of Manilla and previously referred to as the Uralba Beds, and associated rocks, are shown to be an olistostromal component of the Wisemans Arm Formation. Elongate olistoliths up to 100 m in length are flanked by limestone conglomerate with clasts set in a volcaniclastic matrix derived from a range of volcanic rock types. Volcanic olistoliths, including a mass of ankaramitic basalt, are also present. Conodont faunas of differing ages were obtained from various outcrops. A Late Ordovician (Eastonian, Ea3) fauna of over 400 elements from some outcrops is identical to one recently documented from elsewhere in the Wisemans Arm Formation. A small Early Silurian (late Llandovery-early Wenlock) fauna from four outcrops (including two formerly thought to be Ordovician) comprises the first documented conodont fauna of this age from the New England Fold Belt.     

Palynology of the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in the Rajmahal Formation,West Bengal,India

Borehole PGD-1A penetrated Cretaceous Rajmahal Formation and underlying Triassic Panchet Formation between 288–423.51 m. Palynoassemblages recovered within the Mesozoic sequence are assigned to three palynozones closely comparable to Australian assemblages. The oldest palynozone is the Verrucosisporites-Lundbladispora zone, which occurs between 373.5–376 m in the uppermost Panchet Formation. The first occurrence of Callialasporites turbatus occurs at 373.5 m and signals the presence of Jurassic deposits. The overlying Infratrappean greyshales (371.5–354 m) of the Rajmahal Formation is represented by the Murospora florida palynozone of Late Jurassic age. The youngest palynozone identified is the Cicatricosisporites australiensis zone which occurs within the Inter-trappeans (346.35–295.0 m) of the Rajmahal Formation. Based on ages assigned to the M. florida and C. australiensis zones in Australia, the Rajmahal Formation is dated as Oxfordian-Berriasian. The first appearance datums (FADs) of Cicatricosisporites australiensis, Crybelosporites stylolsus, Aequitriradites spinulosus and Lycopodiacidites dettmannae suggest that the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary probably lies just within the interval 346.35–328.81 m in Inter-trappean bed II.     

Late Miocene continental birds from the Cerro Azul Formation in the Pampean region (central-southern Argentina)

Cenizo, M.M., Tambussi, C.P. & Montalvo, C.I., iFirst Article. Late Miocene continental birds from the Cerro Azul Formation in the Pampean region (central-southern Argentina). Alcheringa, 1–22. ISSN 0311-5518.

The oldest known birds from the Cerro Azul Formation are described, including the oldest records for the genera Eudromia and Nothura (Tinamidae), Milvago (Falconidae), Pterocnemia (Rheidae) and an undetermined Tyrannidae. The first remains of Phorusrhacidae for this formation are reported and a specimen previously referred to the giant teratorn Argentavis magnificens is reassigned to this family. We outline and update the current knowledge of the groups studied herein. The palaeornithological record from the Cerro Azul Formation is congruent with palaeoenvironmental inferences previously drawn from mammalian assemblages recovered from this unit, which point to the existence of open environments, possibly xerophyllous shrubby steppes, perhaps with some trees. These records are the first indications of a typically Pampean bird fauna at the end of the late Miocene in central-southern Argentina.     

A short-snouted trematosauroid (Tetrapoda,Temnospondyli) from the Early Triassic of Australia: the oldest known trematosaurine

The trematosauroid temnospondyl Tirraturhinus smisseni gen. et sp. nov. from the Arcadia Formation of central Queensland, Australia, is described on the basis of its rostrum. This is the first trematosaurine (short-snouted) trematosauroid from Australia, and is considered to be most closely related to Tertrema acuta from Spitzbergen. Tirraturhinus smisseni occurs alongside lonchorhynchine (long-snouted) trematosauroids in the Arcadia Formation; the co-occurrence of both trematosauroid morphotypes in that fauna is repeated in a number of non-marine Early Triassic faunas elsewhere in Pangaea. The Arcadia Formation is probably Griesbachian (earliest Triassic), so that T. smisseni is the oldest known trematosaurine.     

Early Permian Foraminifera from Eastern Himalaya and their palaeobiogeographic significance

Foraminiferal assemblage from Permian rocks of Eastern Himalaya, India are recorded for the first time. Twenty-two genera and twenty-eight species are documented from the Garu Formation, Eastern Himalaya. The foraminiferal assemblage supports previous age determinations based on megafauna. The distinctive foraminiferal assemblage from India supports the recognition of Australian and Afghanistan-Indian provinces in the Early Permian Austral realm. An appreciable number of common species in these provinces is indicative of close geographic links.     

The youngest non-lepidosirenid lungfish of South America (Dipnoi,latest Paleocene–earliest Eocene,Argentina)

The first lungfish tooth plate from the Las Flores Formation, Chubut, southern Argentina, is described. This is the youngest ceratodontid known from the continent. In Africa, ceratodonts disappeared in the Eocene. Afterwards, they are only known from Australia until their extinction during the Pleistocene. The Las Flores tooth plate also represents the southernmost lungfish known since the Coniacian (early Late Cretaceous).     

First evidence of a Late Cretaceous sea turtle from Australia

The isolated scapula of a chelonioid sea turtle is described from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian) Miria Formation of the Giralia Ranges in Western Australia. Character states including the wide angle of divergence between the scapular processes (possibly reaching 140°), projection of the glenoid on a constricted scapular neck, and highly vascular glenoid articular surfaces suggest affinity with dermochelyoids—the most diverse and geographically widespread clade of Mesozoic chelonioids. The Miria Formation chelonioid scapula constitutes the first definitive record of a Late Cretaceous sea turtle from Australia and is one of the few occurrences thus far documented from Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene deposits in the Southern Hemisphere.     

Stromatolites from Adelaidean (Late Proterozoic) sequences in central and South Australia

New forms of late Precambrian stromatolites are described from the Amadeus and Georgian Basins and additional information is given on Minjaria pontifera Walter from the Bitter Springs Formation. Tesca stewartii gr. et f. nov. is described from the Boord Formation, Elleria minuta gr. et f. nov. from the Pioneer Sandstone, and Tungussia julia f. nov. from the Julie Formation. The latter is compared with Tungussia cf. T. julia from the Wonoka Formation, South Australia. Acaciella australica Walter has been recognised in the Yackah Beds of the Georgina Basin, supporting a correlation with the Bitter Springs Formation. The stromatolites described were selected because of their potential regional and global stratigraphic significance.     

Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation,King George Island,West Antarctica

Seven species of marine bivalves, including six new taxa, are described from the Cape early Miocene Melville Formation which crops out on the Melville Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. The bivalve assemblage includes representatives of the families Nuculidae, Ennucula frigida sp. nov., E. musculosa sp. nov.; Malletidae, Neilo (Neilo) rongelii sp. nov.; Sareptidae, Yoldia peninsularis sp. nov.; Limopsidae, Limopsis psimolis sp. nov.; Hiatellidae, Panopea (Panopea) sp. cf. P. regularis; and Pholadomyoida (Periploma acuta sp. nov.). Species studied come from four sedimentary sections measured in the upper part of the unit. Detailed morphologic features of nucloid and arcoid species are exceptionally well preserved and allow for the first time reconstruction of muscle insertions as well as dentition patterns of Cenozoic taxa. Known geological distribution of the species is in agreement with the early Miocene age assigned to the Cape Melville Formation. The bivalve fauna from Cape Melville Formation is the best known from Antarctic Miocene rocks, a time of complex geologic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic changes in the continent. The new fauna introduces new taxonomic and palaeogeographic data that bear on the question of opening of sea gateways and distribution of Cenozoic biota around Antarctica.     

Thelodont fish and conodonts from the Early Devonian of Reefton,New Zealand

Thelodont scales and associated fragments of conodont elements identified as Turinia sp. cf. Turinia australiensis and Ozarkodina sp. cf. Ozarkodina buchanensis respectively are described for the first time from the Early Devonian Murray Creek Formation of Reefton, New Zealand. The conodont and thelodont components of the fauna suggest a late Pragian to early Emsian age for the assemblage.     

Leaf galls on Dicroidium hughesii (Feistmantel) Lele from the Triassic of India—a new record

Disc-like galls are reported on the Triassic corystosperm leaf Dicroidium hughesii (Feistmantel) Lele from the Parsora Formation of South Rewa Gondwana Basin, central India. Although there have been numerous reports of arthropod–plant interactions from Permian and Lower Cretaceous successions, this is the first unequivocal report of arthropod–plant interactions from the Triassic succession of Peninsular India. The new record adds to global evidence that arthropod herbivory and gall formation, in particular, had rediversified by the Late Triassic in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction.     

Tivertonia yarrolensis (maxwell) (chonetidina,brachiopoda) from the Permian of the Sydney Basin,Australia

Tivertonia yarrolensis from the Farley Formation of the Sydney Basin is illustrated for the first time. The age of the formation is discussed. The palaeogeographical distribution of Tivertonia provides an additional generic link within the Austrazean Province of the Gondwanan Realm.     

The Winton Formation flora (Albian–Cenomanian,Eromanga Basin): implications for vascular plant diversification and decline in the Australian Cretaceous

The youngest Australian equisetaleans and bennettitaleans are identified within the latest Albian to early Cenomanian Winton Formation flora based on new impression fossils from the Winton district, Eromanga Basin, western Queensland. Typical Winton Formation floras are also confirmed near Isisford and Morney Plains in eastern and central Eromanga Basin. The Winton Formation flora contains over 50 macrofossil plant taxa and marks the transition from seed-fern/conifer to angiosperm dominance in the Australian floristic succession. The pattern of clade representation in Australian late Mesozoic fossil assemblages suggests a causal link between angiosperm diversification and the decline of key understorey and mid-storey plants, particularly equisetaleans, seed-ferns, ginkgophytes and some fern families, through the mid-Cretaceous.     

An Early Permian brachiopod fauna of Gondwanan affinity from the Baoshan block,western Yunnan,China

The present paper describes and illustrates an Early Permian brachiopod fauna collected from two localities from the upper part of the type Dingjiazhai Formation near Youwang, 30 km south of Baoshan in the Baoshan block, western Yunnan, China. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Stenoscisma sp. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov. and exhibits strong generic and some specific links with faunas from the Bisnain assemblage of Timor and the Callytharra Formation of Western Australia and, to a lesser extent, faunas from the Jilong Formation of southern Tibet, the Tashkazyk Formation of southeastern Pamir, the lower Toinlungkongba Formation of northwestern Tibet, the upper Pondo Group of central Tibet, and the Jimba Jimba Calcarenite of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Based on these correlations, a Late Sakmarian (Sterlitamakian) age is preferred for the Dingjiazhai brachiopod fauna. Two new species are proposed: Globiella youwangensis sp. nov. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov.     

Possible fossil impression in sandstone from the late Palaeoproterozoic-early Mesoproterozoic Semri Group (lower Vindhyan Supergroup), central India

The Lower–Middle Ordovician Zitai Formation of the South China palaeoplate consists of a succession of purple red, nodular argillaceous limestones. Palaeogeographically, it is distributed along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Platform, and is of late Floian to Dapingian age, correlative with the Dawan Formation of the Middle and Lower Yangtze Platform. In Shitai County, Anhui Province, East China, the Zitai Formation is rich in conodonts, enabling the recognition of four biozones based on first appearance data. Detailed palaeontological and biostratigraphical study of these conodonts reveals that the Ordovician conodont radiation in the Lower Yangtze Platform attained its first diversity peak low in the Oepikodus evae Biozone. This diversification is generally consistent with macroevolutionary trends of brachiopods of South China and graptolites of the Upper Yangtze Platform, but was earlier than that of trilobites and acritarchs of the same palaeoplate. Correlation with the sea-level curve for South China suggests that conodont diversity change during the Ordovician radiation was mainly controlled by regional sea-level fluctuations.     

New morphological information about Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs from the Eromanga Basin,Queensland, Australia

New observations on various sauropod postcranial elements from Queensland provide insights into the taxonomic composition of northern Australia's sauropod fauna and the structure of sauropod vertebrae. An incomplete sauropod humerus from a site near Blackall, Queensland, represents the southernmost occurrence of sauropod fossils in the Eromanga Basin, and indicates a possibly new taxon. The internal architecture of at least one of the vertebral centra of Austrosaurus mckillopi comprises bony disks parallel to the posterior articular face and bony lamellae perpendicular to the anterior articular face reinforcing the structure against axial forces. The lack of pneumaticity proximally in dorsal ribs indicates that A. mckillopi may not be a titanosauriform. Material (QM F6737) from the Winton Formation includes probable osteoderms, the first known from Australian sauropods, and some of the oldest known. Comparison of this specimen with named Winton Formation sauropods suggests that it represents a distinct taxon.     

Early Permian Jakutoproductus (Productida: Brachiopoda) from Patagonia,Argentina

The productid brachiopod genus Jakutoproductus, dominant in the Early Permian marine faunas of northeastern Siberia, is described for the first time from the southern hemisphere. Jakutoproductus australis sp. nov. is described from the Rio Genoa Formation, Chubut Province (Patagonia), Argentina. The age of the Patagonian species is considered to be Sakmarian (Early Permian), possibly Sterlitamakian.