Australian Cainozoic Bryozoa, 1: Nudicella gen. nov. (Onychocellidae,Cheilostomata): taxonomy,palaeoenvironments and biogeography

The new bryozoan genus Nudicella (Onychocellidae, Cheilostomata) is proposed to accommodate the common and widespread Australian Cainozoic cheilostome bryozoan Eschara clarkei Tenison Woods, which is redescribed and subdivided into four species: N. clarkei (Tenison Woods), N. cribriforma sp. nov., N. latiramosa sp. nov. and N. tenuis sp. nov. Cellaria gigantea Maplestone is also reassigned to Nudicella. Colonies of this genus display a wide variety of growth forms, including cribrate fenestrate, flat robust branching, foliose, delicate branching and encrusting; their occurrences correlate with changes in sedimentary facies and palaeoenvironments. The distinctive cribrate style of fenestrate growth form has evolved convergently in unrelated bryozoan groups at various geological intervals. It is found in a wide variety of sedimentary facies, as in other coexisting opportunistic genera such as Celleporaria, indicating a wide ecological tolerance. The oldest recorded occurrence of Nudicella is in the Paleocene of north western Australia. From there it appears to spread south in the Eocene and then east towards the Otway Basin in southeastern Australia, where it occurs in the Oligocene and Miocene; no post-Miocene representatives of this genus are yet known.     

Early astogeny in the Catenicellidae (Bryozoa,Cheilostomata)

Examples of early astogeny in the species Carinatocella harmeri (Stach), Costaticella hastata (Busk) and Claviporella aurita (Busk) are discussed. The primary zoid differs in each species and if found fossil, only in C. hastata could this zoid be recognised as a bryozoan fragment. Analogous development in other Bryozoa is discussed.     

Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin,S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov

Schmidt, R., March 2007. Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin, S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov. Alcheringa 31, 67-84. ISSN 0311-5518.

Free-living bryozoans are diverse in the Eocene sediments of the St. Vincent Basin, South Australia. They include Bonellina pentagonalis gen. et sp. nov., Otionellina sp. cf. O. exigua (Tenison Woods), Otionellina sp. cf. O. cupola (Tenison Woods), Tubiporella magna (Tenison Woods), Celleporaria nummularia (Tenison Woods), and an indeterminate species only found as moulds. This diversity and abundance is highest in the sediments representing the initial transgressive marine facies, where they occur in ‘sand fauna’ bryozoan assemblages (e.g. with Melicerita and Siphonicytara). Free-living bryozoans decrease up-section and are absent from latest Eocene sediments, indicating a significant environmental shift.

Rolf Schmidt [rschmid@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia; received 18.3.2005, revised 14.12.2005.     

A new genus and species of Steninae from the late Eocene of France (Coleoptera,Staphylinidae)

Cai, C., Clarke, D.J., Huang, D. & Nel, A., 2014. A new genus and species of Steninae from the late Eocene of France (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). Alcheringa 38, 557–562. ISSN 0311-5518.

A remarkable new genus and species of rove beetle, Eocenostenus fossilis gen. et sp. nov., is described and figured based on one well-preserved specimen from the late Eocene of Monteils (near Alès, Gard, France). Eocenostenus is definitively placed in the extant subfamily Steninae, based on the combination of dense and coarse body punctation, globular and protruding eyes, exposed and closely spaced antennal insertions on the vertex, and six visible abdominal terga. Eocenostenus differs from the two extant stenine genera Stenus and Dianous most notably in the structure of the prothorax, which is strongly transverse and with unusual anterolateral projections, and in the anteriorly placed antennal insertions. This new discovery highlights the palaeodiversity of a genus-poor subfamily and suggests that the early diversification of Steninae is probably complicated.

Chenyang Cai [caichenyang1988@163.com] and Diying Huang [dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Rd., Nanjing 210008, PR China; Dave J Clarke [dclarke@fieldmuseum.org], Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA; and André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr], Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB, UMR 7205 CNRS UPMC EPHE, CP50, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France. Received 23.1.2014; revised 2.5.2014; accepted 12.5.2014.     

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.     

A new species of Aboilus (Insecta,Orthoptera) from the Jurassic Daohugou beds of China,and discussion of forewing coloration in Aboilus

Wang, H., Li, S., Zhang, Q., Fang, Y., Wang, B. & Zhang, H., 13.02.2015. A new species of Aboilus (Insecta, Orthoptera) from the Jurassic Daohugou beds of China, and discussion of forewing coloration in Aboilus. Alcheringa 39, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

He Wang* [wanghe0701@163.com], Sha Li* [lisha.paleo@gmail.com], Qi Zhang* [zhqi1105@126.com], Yan Fang [yanfang@nigpas.ac.cn], Bo Wang? [bowang@nigpas.ac.cn] and Haichun Zhang [hczhang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, 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 Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany.

A new species of Aboilinae (Orthoptera: Prophalangopsidae), Aboilus perbellus, is described and illustrated based on three well-preserved forewings recovered from the Middle–Upper Jurassic Daohugou beds of Inner Mongolia, China. The new species differs from all congeneric forms in its special forewing coloration and features of its wing venation. To date, three types of forewing coloration have been found among different species of Aboilus at Daohugou, suggesting that these taxa inhabited different ecotopes.     

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.     

Rariellidae,a new family of Rhynchoporoidea (Brachiopoda) with a restudy of the type genus Rariella Zhang 1981, from the Emsian (Early Devonian) of Inner Mongolia,north China

Rong Jla-yu & Zhang Yan. 1994:03:28. Rariellidae, a new family of Rhynchoporoidea (Brachiopoda) with a restudy of the type genus Rariella Zhang 1981. from the Emsian (Early Devonian) of Inner Mongolia, north China. Alcheringa 18. 135–146. ISSN 0311-5518

Reinvestigation of the type material of Rariella Zhang 1981, from the late Emsian (Early Devonian) of western Inner Mongolia, north China, shows that it should be attributed to the rhynchoporoids rather than the retziids since it possesses a punctate shell without laterally directed spiralia and lacks evidence for the brachiophore supports being in the fonn of a loop, as in the terebratuloids. A new family Rariellidae based on Rariella as the type genus is characterized by a spondylium apically in the pedicle wlve and a cardinal process on a septalium in the brachial valve. The fauna containing Rariella is mainly endemic to Inner Mongolia and developed at depths within Benthic Assemblage 2 to inner BA 3.     

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.     

Bryozoans from the late Cretaceous Kahuitara Tuff of the Chatham Islands,New Zealand

Taylor, P.D., & Gordon, D.P., December, 2007. Bryozoans from the Late Cretaceous Kahuitara Tuff of the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Alcheringa 31, 339-363. ISSN 0311-5518.

Fourteen bryozoan species are described from the Campanian – Maastrichtian Kahuitara Tuff of Pitt Island, substantially increasing the known diversity in this deposit from the two species recorded previously and making it the most diverse bryozoan biota yet described from the Cretaceous of Australasia. Nine of the Kahuitara Tuff bryozoans are cyclostomes, four are cheilostomes, and one is a shell-boring ctenostome. Seven new species are described: Ceriocava hakepaensis sp. nov., Tholopora australis sp. nov., Crisidmonea lanauzeorum sp. nov., Cookobryozoon cretacea sp. nov., Chiplonkarina preeceorum sp. nov. Chiplonkarina bifoliata sp. nov. and Aechmella rangiauriensis sp. nov. The remaining species are left in open nomenclature because of preservational deficiencies or lack of taxon-diagnostic gonozooids. The ctenostome family Cookobryozoidae is subsumed in the Terebriporidae. The new family Chiplonkarinidae is proposed for anascan cheilostomes previously assigned to the paraphyletic Electridae and distinguished by having primarily erect colonies with long, tubular zooids reminiscent of stenolaemates. None of the Kahuitara Tuff bryozoan species is known elsewhere, but all apart from one genus occur in roughly coeval deposits. No families regarded as particularly characteristic of the austral post-Cretaceous are evident. The relatively large number (three) of co-occurring species of Chiplonkarina is notable, as is the dominance of cyclostomes and the first record of Tholopora in the Southern Hemisphere.

Paul D. Taylor [p.taylor@nhm.ac.uk], Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Dennis P. Gordon [d.gordon@niwa.co.nz], National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 14-901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand; received 7.3.2006, revised 3.9.2006.     

Revision of the damsel-dragonfly family Campterophlebiidae (Odonata) from the Early Jurassic of England reveals a new genus and species

Kelly, R.S. & Nel, A., October 2017. Revision of the damsel-dragonfly family Campterophlebiidae (Odonata) from the Early Jurassic of England reveals a new genus and species. Alcheringa 42, 87–93. ISSN 0311-5518.

Historical fossil insect collections from England were re-examined and the taxa revised. Lateophlebia gen. nov. is erected for Liassophlebia anglicanopsis (Zeuner) in Campterophlebiidae. Petrophlebia anglicana Tillyard is confirmed in this family and Archithemis liassina (Strickland) is transferred to this family. Lastly, Archithemis brodiei (Geinitz), Archithemis Handlirsch, and Architemistidae Tillyard (reduced to this sole species) are transferred to the Heterophlebioidea.

Richard Kelly [richard.kelly@bristol.ac.uk], School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK. André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB—UMR 7205—CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005, Paris, France.     

A new late Oligocene to early Miocene species o Apatopygus (Echinoidea: Cassiduloida) from the Maltese Islands

The occurrence of Apatopygus gaudensis sp. nov. in the upper part of the late Oligocene (Chattian) Lower Coralline Limestone division, and the lower part of the early Miocene (probably late Aquitanian) Lower Globigerina Limestone division of the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean), is the first confirmed record of Apatopygus outside the Australia-New Zealand region. Apatotygus vincentinus (Tate, 1891) from the middle to late Eocene of southern Australia is the earliest known occurrence of the genus, possibly suggesting that Apatotygus may have evolved earlier in the Australasian region, or merely that it is yet to be discovered in pre-Oligocene strata in the Mediterranean area.     

First bryozoan fauna from the middle Miocene of Central Java,Indonesia

Di Martino, E., Taylor, P.D., Fernando, A.G.S., Kase, T. & Yasuhara, M. 3 June 2019, 2019. First bryozoan fauna from the middle Miocene of Central Java, Indonesia. Alcheringa 43, 461–478. ISSN 0311-5518.

Despite the publication of several taxonomic studies during the last few years, our knowledge of bryozoans from the diversity hotspot of the Indo-West Pacific remains seriously deficient. Here we describe 11 bryozoan species, comprising two anascan- and nine ascophoran-grade cheilostomes, from the middle Miocene (Langhian–Serravallian) of Sedan in Central Java, Indonesia. Three ascophoran-grade cheilostomes, Characodoma multiavicularia sp. nov. Di Martino & Taylor, Stenosipora? cribrata sp. nov. Di Martino & Taylor and Lacrimula patriciae sp. nov. Di Martino & Taylor, are described as new species. All of the three extant species have an Indo-Pacific distribution today and two are here reported as fossil for the first time. Four species are left in open nomenclature, either because of the scarcity of available material or the absence of crucial morphological features. Two of these, placed in Cosciniopsis and Actisecos, are likely to be new, while Discoporella sp. represents the easternmost known record for this common free-living genus. A single species, Lacrimula asymmetrica Cook & Lagaaij, was already known from the early Miocene of the same region, although from a site further to the east.

Emanuela Di Martino* [e.di-martino@nhm.ac.uk], Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Paul D. Taylor [p.taylor@nhm.ac.uk], Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Allan Gil S. Fernando [agsfernando@yahoo.com], National Institute of Geological Sciences, The University of Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines; Tomoki Kase [neritopsis@gmail.com], National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan; Moriaki Yasuhara [yasuhara@hku.hk], School of Biological Sciences, Swire Institute of Marine Science, University of Hong Kong, Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, PR China