Ediacaran fossils in thin-section

Retallack, G.J., June 2016. Ediacaran fossils in thin-section. Alcheringa 40, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518

Megafossils from the Ediacaran Period (635–541 Ma) have been controversial in part because many are mere impressions in coarse-grained rocks. New examination of these fossils in petrographic thin-sections reveals various features that inform understanding of the biological affinities of these problematic fossils. Material examined includes Dickinsonia costata from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia, Ernietta plateauensis from the Kliphoek Member of Namibia, Ivesheadia lobata from the Drook Formation of Newfoundland, Charnia antecedens and Charniodiscus spinosus from the Mistaken Point Formation of Newfoundland, Aspidella terranovica from the Fermeuse Formation of Newfoundland, and Nemiana simplex from the Mogilev Formation of Ukraine and the Verkovka Formation of Russia. Three characteristics stand out for all but Nemiana. First, these fossils were remarkably resistant to burial compaction, as originally inferred from depth gauge measurements of overlying moulds, and here confirmed by thin-sections perpendicular to bedding planes. Second, thin-sections reveal a construction of micrometric branching elongate structures forming millimetric hollow elongate structures in fractal arrangements. Third, some of the fossils are asymmetric bifacial or unifacial, with a thick finished upper wall but lower wall thin or non-existent and attached to elongate structures downward into sediment. Compaction-resistant fossils with asymmetric histological layering are most like crustose and fruticose lichens fortified with chitin. In contrast, non-resistant impressions in the tops of beds filled by overlying cross-bedded sediment, as in Nemiana, preserve no informative histology and are similar to lake balls and microbial colonies.

Gregory J. Retallack [gregr@uoregon.edu], Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1272, USA.     

How diverse were early animal communities? An example from Ediacara Conservation Park,Flinders Ranges,South Australia

Coutts, F.J., Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C., August 2016. How diverse were early animal communities? An example from Ediacara Conservation Park, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Fossils of the Ediacara biota record the earliest evidence of animal communities and, as such, provide an invaluable glimpse into the abiotic and biotic processes that helped shape the evolution of complex life on Earth. A diverse community of Ediacaran macro-organisms is preserved with high resolution in a fossil bed recently excavated from north Ediacara Conservation Park (NECP) in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Many of the commonly described Ediacaran taxa from the Flinders Ranges are represented on the bed surface and include: Parvancorina, Rugoconites, Spriggina, Dickinsonia, Tribrachidium, Kimberella, Charniodiscus and Yorgia, including two new taxa. Numerous additional fossil-bed fragments from the same locality were analysed that preserve a similar suite of taxa and shared sedimentology. On all surfaces, preserved microbial mat appeared complex, both in topography and in texture, and the unique combination of fine grainsize, high diversity and trace fossils provide insights into the palaeoecology of the ancient organisms that lived during the Ediacaran Period some 550 Ma. Several trace fossils are overlapped by body fossils, indicative of successive events, and complex organismal behaviour. The complexity of this fossil surface suggests that the primordial community was relatively mature and possibly at late-stage succession.

Felicity J Coutts [felicity.coutts@adelaide.edu.au], School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, South Australia, Australia. James G Gehling [jim.gehling@samuseum.sa.gov.au], South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia. Diego C. García-Bellido [diego.garcia-bellido@adelaide.edu.au], South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.     

Taphonomy of Corumbella werneri from the Ediacaran of Brazil: sinotubulitid tube or conulariid test?

Walde, D.H.-G., Weber, B., Erdtmann, B.-D. & Steiner, M. 20 June 2019. Taphonomy of Corumbella werneri from the Ediacaran of Brazil: sinotubulitid tube or conulariid test? Alcheringa 43, 335–350. ISSN 0311-5518

The problematic late Ediacaran tubular fossil Corumbella werneri is revised based on two-dimensional compressions, and new three-dimensionally preserved specimens from the Tamengo Formation of the Corumbá Region in Mato Grosso do Sul, west-central Brazil. These fossils represent some of the oldest skeletonized metazoans and were originally described from diagenetically compacted tubes that prompted conflicting interpretations as either Ediacaran coronate scyphozoan exoskeletons, or conulariid tests. Our new material from Corumbá permits a morphological and taphonomic revision of C. werneri, which we suggest was probably a calcareous sinotubulitid. Corumbella werneri closely resembles the late Ediacaran Sinotubulites from South China, as well as the Silurian worm tube Eoalvinellodes, which has similar exterior ornamentation. Ultrastructurally, the tubes of C. werneri exhibit a coarse sparitic microtexture, which we attribute to diagenetic alteration. Partial flexibility also supports interpretation as an originally weakly calcified, or entirely organic exoskeleton. We therefore reject placement of C. werneri as a conulariid scyphozoan, and instead, advocate possible relationships with marine annelids.

Detlef Hans-Gert Walde [walde.detlef@gmail.com], University of Brasília, Institute of Geosciences, Brasília-DF, Brazil; Bernd Weber [bweber@zedat.fu-berlin.de], Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Malteserstr. 74–100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany; Bernd-D. Erdtmann [berni1739@gmail.com], 1165 N Mountain View Road, Apache Junction, AZ 85119, USA; *Michael Steiner [Michael.Steiner@FU-Berlin.de], Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften (Haus D), Malteserstr. 74–100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany.     

Revision of the Early Devonian tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum from New South Wales

Plusquellec, Y. &; Wright, A.J., October 2017. Revision of the Early Devonian tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum from New South Wales. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The tabulate coral Pleurodictyum bifidum Jones, 1944 Jones, O.A., 1944. Tabulata and Heliolitida from the Wellington district, N.S.W. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 77, 33–39. [Google Scholar], from the Early Devonian (Pragian or lower Emsian) Garra Formation of central New South Wales, Australia is revised on the basis of the holotype and three other specimens. It is selected as the type species of the new monotypic genus Bifidomeria (Family Roemeriidae), which differs from Roemeria in its strictly cerioid corallum, its bifid septal spines and aspects of its microstructure. Study of the detailed microstructure of two other tabulate corals from the Devonian of New South Wales has led to the following revised generic assignments: Michelinia progenitor Chapman, 1921 Chapman, F., 1921. New or little known fossils in the National Museum. Part XXV—some Silurian tabulate corals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 33, 212–225. [Google Scholar], previously assigned to Roemeripora, is assigned to Roemeria, and Holacanthopora clarkei Wright &; Flory, 1980 Wright, A.J. &; Flory, R.A., 1980. A new Early Devonian tabulate coral from the Mount Frome Limestone, near Mudgee, New South Wales. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 104, 211–219. [Google Scholar] is assigned to Michelinia.

Yves Plusquellec [yves.plusquellec@univ-brest.fr], Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS-UMR 6538 ‘Domaines océaniques’, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 6 avenue Le Gorgeu, CS 98837, F-29283 Brest, France; Anthony Wright [tony.wright@optusnet.com.au], GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth &; Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.     

Spondylodendron pranabii—the dominant lycopsid of the late Mississippian vegetation of the Kashmir Himalaya

Cleal, C.J., Bhat, G.M., Singh, K.J., Dar, A.M., Saxena, A. & Chandra, S., February 2016. Spondylodendron pranabii—the dominant lycopsid of the late Mississippian vegetation of the Kashmir Himalaya. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Sepukhovian fossil floras of the northern margins of Gondwana, on the shores of the Palaeotethys, are dominated by remains of an eligulate, mainly monopodial lycopsid with persistent leaves. The stems show considerable morphological and preservational variation that has historically resulted in the fossils having been assigned to many fossil-species and -genera. However, there is now clear evidence that this simply reflects variation within a single fossil-species, reflecting biological variation and the effects of variable taphonomy, for which the correct taxonomic name is Spondylodendron pranabii (Pal) comb. nov. Part of this morphological variation might have been due to variations in growth rate during the life of the individual plants, which in turn might reflect stressed growing conditions in a wetland habitat. The systematic position of Spondylodendron remains uncertain, owing to the lack of unequivocal evidence of reproductive structures, but it might have affinities with the Sublepidodendraceae.

Christopher J. Cleal [chris.cleal@museumwales.ac.uk], Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK; G.M. Bhat [bhatgm@jugaa.com] and A.M. Dar, Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India; Kamal Jeet Singh, [kamaljeet31@hotmail.com] and Anju Saxena [anju_saxena2002@yahoo.co.in], Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow-226007, (U.P.) India; Shaila Chandra, Flat Number 105, Beverly Park Apartment 422, New Hyderabad, Lucknow-226007, (U.P.) India.     

Revision of the ostracod genus Velibeyrichia Henningsmoen, 1954 from the Silurian and Lower Devonian of North America

Camilleri, T.A., Warne, M.T., Holloway, D.J. & Weldon, E.A., 10 May 2019. Revision of the ostracod genus Velibeyrichia Henningsmoen, 1954 from the Silurian and Lower Devonian of North America. Alcheringa XXX, X–X. ISSN 0311-5518.

Known occurrences of the ostracod genus Velibeyrichia are restricted to a number of Silurian to Lower Devonian geological strata in North America: the McKenzie Member of the Mifflintown Formation of Maryland and West Virginia; the Tonoloway Limestone of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania; the Bloomsburg Formation of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania; the Manlius Limestone of New York; and the Decker Limestone of New Jersey and New York. The genus includes six species: V. moodeyi (type species), V. mesleri, V. paucigranulosa, V. reticulosaccula, V. tonolowayensis and V. tricornia. The diagnostic combination of characters for this genus are: distinct deflection of the velum where it crosses the crumina in heteromorphs (adult female specimens), dorsal nodes on lobes L1 and L3, sexual dimorphism of the velum, and in tecnomorph specimens, either a shallow sulcus on lobe L3 or a zygal ridge (in adult tecnomorph specimens) extending from lobe L2 to lobe L3. The presence of one or the other of the latter two characters defines two distinct species groups.

Tamara T.A. Camilleri* [tamara.camilleri@deakin.edu.au], Mark T. Warne* [mark.warne@deakin.edu.au] and Elizabeth A. Weldon [l.weldon@deakin.edu.au], Deakin University, Geelong, School of Life and Environmental Sciences & Centre for Integrative Ecology (Melbourne Campus), 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia; David J. Holloway [dhollow@museum.vic.gov.au], Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. *Also affiliated with: Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia.     

Exceptional fossils and biotas of Gondwana: the fortieth anniversary issue of Alcheringa

McLoughlin, S., September 2016. Exceptional fossils and biotas of Gondwana: the fortieth anniversary issue of Alcheringa. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Stephen McLoughlin [steve.mcloughlin@nrm.se], Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Box 50007, S-104 05, Sweden. Submitted 22.8.2016.     

Occurrence of Euowenia grata (De Vis, 1887) (Diprotodontidae,Marsupialia) from the Pliocene Spring Park Local Fauna,northeastern Queensland

Mackness, B.S., Black, K.H. & Price, G.J., 1.10.2014. Occurrence of Euowenia grata (De Vis, 1887 De Vis, C.W. [In Anon.] 1887. Untitled. The Brisbane Courier 9224 (44) (8 August), 6. [Google Scholar]) (Diprotodontidae, Marsupialia) from the Pliocene Spring Park Local Fauna, northeastern Queensland. Alcheringa 39, 000?000. ISSN 0311-5518

Ten specimens including several dentaries and maxillae, recovered from the Pliocene Spring Park Local Fauna, northern Australia, are referred to the diprotodontine Euowenia grata (De Vis). The fossils exhibit minimal dental wear and reveal new characters that are unrecognizable in the holotype. The remains represent at least three animals, effectively doubling the previous number of individuals known for this rare megaherbivore. The new records also provide a significant northern geographic range extension for the species and allow an assessment of intraspecific variation, sexual dimorphism and phylogenetic relationships for the species. Euowenia grata is most similar in morphology to the monotypic Pliocene diprotodontid Meniscolophus mawsoni.

Brian S. Mackness [deceased] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia; Gilbert J. Price [g.price1@uq.edu.au], Department of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.     

A late Miocene–early Pliocene baleen whale assemblage from Langebaanweg,west coast of South Africa (Mammalia,Cetacea, Mysticeti)

Govender, R., Bisconti, M. & Chinsamy, A., June 2016. A late Miocene–early Pliocene baleen whale assemblage from Langebaanweg, west coast of South Africa (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti). Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Knowledge of post-Eocene cetaceans from Africa is very poor with almost nothing known about this group from southern Africa except for the diverse trawled ziphiids. Langebaanweg, a locality yielding prolific Miocene–Pliocene fossils on the southwestern Cape coast of South Africa, preserves terrestrial and marine biotas in juxtaposition. Palaeoenvironments vary from a marine shoreline to a lagoon and estuary and later a shallow marine environment and include several microhabitats. Fragmentary preservation of the cetacean skeletons suggests that they were transported before burial. This first detailed analysis of the Mio-Pliocene mysticete fossils from Langebaanweg uses the petrotympanic region to taxonomically identify specimens. Three un-named species of balaenopterid Mysticeti represent a Plesiobalaenoptera-like form, but it is premature to erect a new taxon based on this fragmentary material. The remaining material is too poorly preserved to be identified with confidence.

Romala Govender [rgovender@iziko.org.za], Natural History Department, Iziko Museums of South Africa, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa; Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa, Michelangelo Bisconti [michelangelobisconti@gmail.com], Natural History Museum of San Diego, California, 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101, USA; Anusuya Chinsamy [anusuya.chinsamy-turan@uct.ac.za], Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa.     

First record of Homoctenus (Tentaculitoidea,Homoctenida) from the Late Devonian of northwest Peninsular Malaysia

Meor, H.A.H., Yong, A.M., Zakaria, M.Z.Z. & Ghani, A.A., 2.6.2015. First record of Homoctenus (Tentaculitoidea, Homoctenida) from the Late Devonian of northwest Peninsular Malaysia. Alcheringa 39, 550–558. ISSN 0311-5518.

The homoctenid tentaculitoid genus Homoctenus is reported for the first time from Peninsular Malaysia. The fossils derive from the Upper Devonian Sanai Limestone, exposed in the state of Perlis, northwest Peninsular Malaysia. The fossils are closely related to Homoctenus tenuicinctus tenuicinctus and are described as Homoctenus sp. cf. H. tenuicinctus. The homoctenids were recovered from an interval containing a rich conodont assemblage, indicating a Frasnian age (Palmatolepis linguiformis Zone).

Meor Hakif Amir Hassan [meorhakif@um.edu.my], Yong Adilah Mustafa [yongadilah@gmail.com], Mohamad Z.Z. Zakaria [zulhafiszariq@siswa.um.edu.my], Azman A. Ghani [azmangeo@um.edu.my], Geology Department, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Received 12.4.2015; revised 27.5.2015; accepted 2.6.2015.     

A new Miocene carnivorous marsupial,Barinya kutjamarpensis (Dasyuromorphia), from central Australia

Binfield, P., Archer, M., Hand, S.J., Black, K.H., Myers, T.J., Gillespie, A.K. & Arena, D.A., June 2016. A new Miocene carnivorous marsupial, Barinya kutjamarpensis (Dasyuromorphia), from central Australia. Alcheringa 41, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new dasyuromorphian, Barinya kutjamarpensis sp. nov., is described on the basis of a partial dentary recovered from the Miocene Wipajiri Formation of northern South Australia. Although about the same size as the only other species of this genus, B. wangala from the Miocene faunal assemblages of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, it has significant differences in morphology including a very reduced talonid on M₄ and proportionately wider molars. Based on the structural differences and the more extensive wear on its teeth, the central Australian species might have consumed harder or more abrasive prey in a more silt-rich environment than its congener, which hunted in the wet early to middle Miocene forests of Riversleigh.

Pippa Binfield [pippa.binfield@outlook.com], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au], Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], Troy J. Myers [t.myers@unsw.edu.au] Anna K. Gillespie [a.gillespie@unsw.edu.au] and Derrick A. Arena [rick@sitc.net.au], PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales 2052, Sydney, Australia.     

A preliminary report on new Ediacaran fossils from Iran

Vickers-Rich, P., Soleimani, S., Farjandi, F., Zand, M., Linnemann, U., Hofmann, M., Wilson, S.A., Cas, R. &; Rich, T.H. November, 2017. A preliminary report on new Ediacaran fossils from Iran. Alcheringa 42, 231–244. ISSN 0311-5518.

Recent exploratory field mapping of marine sedimentary sequences in the Koushk Mine locality of the Bafq region in Central Iran, and on the northern slopes of the Elborz Mountains south of the Caspian Sea, has yielded large complex body and trace fossils of Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian age. The recovered specimens resemble the previously documented Precambrian discoidal form Persimedusites, and a the tubular morphotype Corumbella, which is a novel occurrence for Iran and otherwise only recorded before from Brazil and the western USA. Additional enigmatic traces can not yet be interpreted unequivocally, but suggest that future work may uncover more unusual Ediacaran fossils from various localities in Central Iran.

Patricia Vickers-Rich* [prich@swin.edu.au, pat.rich@monash.edu], Faculty of Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Hawthorn), Victoria 3122, Australia; Sara Soleimani [sara_soleimani@yahoo.com], Palaeontology Department, Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Farnoosh Farjandi [farnooshfarjandi@gmail.com], Department of Geochemical Exploration, Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Mehdi Zand [zand.mehdi.geo@gmail.com], Geology Department, Bafq Mining Company, Koushk Mine, Yazd, Iran. Ulf Linnemann [ulf.linnemann@senckenberg.de], and Mandy Hofmann [mandy.hofmann@senckenberg.de], Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen, Dresden, Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie, Sektion Geochronologie, Koenigsbruecker Landstrasse 159, D-01109, Dresden, Germany; Siobhan A. Wilson [sasha.wilson@monash.edu], School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton), Victoria 3800, Australia; Raymond Cas [ray.cas@monash.edu], School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton), Victoria 3800, Australia; Thomas H. Rich? [trich@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, Exhibition Gardens, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001 Australia. *Also affiliated with: School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton), Victoria 3800, Australia; School of Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne (Burwood), Victoria, Australia 3125; Palaeontology Department, Museum Victoria, Carlton Gardens, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. ?Also affiliated with: School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Melbourne (Clayton), Victoria 3800, Australia; Faculty of Science, Swinburne University of Science and Technology, Melbourne (Hawthorn), Victoria 3122, Australia.     

An early Miocene ant (subfam. Amblyoponinae) from Foulden Maar: the first fossil Hymenoptera from New Zealand

Kaulfuss, U., Harris, A.C., Conran J.G. & Lee, D.E., 2014. An early Miocene ant (subfam. Amblyoponinae) from Foulden Maar: the first fossil Hymenoptera from New Zealand. Alcheringa 38, 568–574. ISSN 0311-5518.

The ant subfamily Amblyoponinae is presently represented in New Zealand by one endemic species in the cosmopolitan genus Stigmatomma and an introduced Australian species of Amblyopone. The fossil record of the group is restricted to two species of Stigmatomma from late Eocene Baltic Amber. Here, we describe the third fossil record, an Amblyopone-like specimen from the early Miocene of Otago, southern New Zealand, based on a winged male that resembles the extant A. australis Erichson in size, general habitus and characters of wing venation, but also shares features with the African amblyoponine genus Zymmer. This represents the first fossil record of Amblyoponinae from the Southern Hemisphere and the first example of Hymenoptera among the few pre-Quaternary insect fossils known from New Zealand. It suggests a long history of Amblyoponinae in New Zealand and Australia.

Uwe Kaulfuss [uwe.kaulfuss@otago.ac.nz] and Daphne E. Lee [daphne.lee@otago.ac.nz], Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand; Anthony C. Harris [anthony.harris@otagomuseum.govt.nz], Otago Museum, PO Box 6202, Dunedin 9059, New Zealand; John G. Conran [john.conran@adelaide.edu.au], ACEBB & SGC, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Benham Bldg, DX 650 312, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia. Received 18.3.2014; revised 15.5.2014; accepted 23.5.2014.     

The first fossil record of Nandeva Wiedenbrug,Reiss & Fittkau (Diptera: Chironomidae) in early Eocene Fushun amber from China

Gi?ka, W., Zakrzewska, M., Baranov, V., Wang, B. &; Stebner, F., May 2016. The first fossil record of Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss &; Fittkau (Diptera: Chironomidae) in early Eocene Fushun amber from China. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

The first fossil representative of the extant chironomid genus Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss &; Fittkau, 1998 Wiedenbrug, S., Reiss, F. &; Fittkau, E.J., 1998. Nandeva, gen. nov., a new genus of Chironomini (Insecta, Diptera, Chironomidae). Spixiana 21, 59–68. [Google Scholar] is described based on a specimen found in early Eocene (50–53 Ma) Fushun amber from China. The adult male of Nandeva pudens sp. nov. has the long RM vein as a continuation of M and R₄₊₅, the bare squama, the strongly reduced anal area of the wing and hypopygial characters typical of extant species of the genus. Following the systematic concept based on adult male morphology and characters examinable in fossil specimens, we present N. pudens as a possible member of the Tanytarsini, arguing that Nandeva is part of this tribe or a possible sister group to the tribe. This is the first record of Nandeva from the Palaearctic region.

Wojciech Gi?ka [wojciech.gilka@biol.ug.edu.pl] University of Gdańsk, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland; Marta Zakrzewska [marta.zakrzewska@biol.ug.edu.pl] University of Gdańsk, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland; Viktor Baranov* [baranov@igb-berlin.de] Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany; Bo Wang? [bowang@nigpas.ac.cn] Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Frauke Stebner [frauke.stebner@uni-bonn.de] University of Bonn, Steinmann-Institute, Section Palaeontology, Nussallee 8, 53115, Bonn, Germany. *Also affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Geography Department, Rudower Chaussee 16, 12489 Berlin, Germany. ?Also affiliated with Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Beijing 100101, PR China.     

South polar greenhouse insects (Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera) from the mid-Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation,Chatham Islands,eastern Zealandia

Stilwell, J.D., Vitacca, J. & Mays, C., April 2016. South polar greenhouse insects (Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera) from the mid-Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, eastern Zealandia. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Rare insect body fossils have been discovered for the first time after 175 years of research on the Chatham Islands, eastern ‘Zealandia’. The coleopteran (beetle) insects, dated to ca 95 Ma and extracted from fine-grained, upper delta plain facies in the lower Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–lowermost Turonian) Tupuangi Formation at Waihere Bay on the remote Pitt Island, represent the most southern, polar-latitude (ca 70–80°S) faunal assemblage from the Cretaceous recorded to date. Three species are represented in the insect fauna: a portion of a segmented abdomen of a probable carabid? ground beetle and two distinct coleopteran elytra, one preserved with a brilliantly iridescent carapace upon discovery, comparable with Cretaceous taxa within the Buprestidae (metallic wood borers), but identification with the Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) or Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) can not be discounted entirely. Another specimen has more weakly preserved greenish iridescence and has a morphology consistent with Carabidae; given the preservational deficiencies and rarity of material, the specimens are attributed to Buprestidae? genus et species indeterminate and Carabidae? genus et species indeterminate A and B, respectively. These coleopteran fossils represent the only recorded iridescence in Mesozoic invertebrates from Zealandia. Importantly, these mid-Cretaceous insects existed in South Polar forests near the height of the ‘hothouse’ phase of relatively warm, alternating intervals of full daylight in the summer months and total darkness during the winter, before eastern Zealandia diverged at ca 83 Ma from the Marie Byrd Land region of West Antarctica, as part of the final break-up of Gondwana.

Jeffrey D. Stilwell* [jeffrey.stilwell@monash.edu], Jesse V. Vitacca [jesse.vitacca@gmail.com] & Chris Mays [chris.mays@monash.edu], School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia. *Also affiliated with the Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.     

A new record of an aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia,Plesiosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand: implications for the Mauisaurus haasti Hector, 1874 hypodigm

O’Gorman, J.P., Otero, R.A. & Hiller, N., 2014. A new record of an aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand: implications for the Mauisaurus haasti Hector, 1874 Hector, J., 1874. On the fossil Reptilia of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 6, 333–358. [Google Scholar] hypodigm. Alcheringa 38, 504–512. ISSN 0311-5518

An indeterminate aristonectine elasmosaurid is recorded from a lower Maastrichtian bed of the Conway Formation, Waipara River, South Island, New Zealand. The described specimen (CM Zfr 104), previously considered part of the hypodigm of Mauisaurus haasti, came from the upper part of the Alterbidinium acutulum biozone, the same zone from which the only well-known aristonectine from New Zealand, Kaiwhekea katiki, is recorded. The cervical vertebrae of CM Zfr 104 have the same distinctive features (i.e., with extremely broad rather than long centra) as those from previously recorded juvenile aristonectines from Argentina, Chile and Antarctica. This new record is congruent with the biogeographic relationships of Cretaceous marine amniotes from the Weddellian Palaeobiogeographic Province (i.e., Patagonia, western Antarctica, New Zealand and southeastern Australia). Therefore, this type of vertebra is regarded as a distinctive feature of the Weddellian aristonectine elasmosaurids.

José P. O’Gorman [joseogorman@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n., B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina; [CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)]; Rodrigo A. Otero [paracrioceras@gmail.com], Red Paleontológica U-Chile. Laboratorio de Ontogenia y Filogenia, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Av. Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile; Norton Hiller, [norton.hiller@canterbury.ac.nz], Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch, 8001, New Zealand and Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand, 8013.     

Gazella (Bovidae,Ruminantia) remains from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan

Khan, M.A., Babar, M.A., Akhtar, M., Iliopoulos, G., Rakha, A. & Noor, T., November 2015. Gazella (Bovidae, Ruminantia) remains from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

New gazelle fossils are described from the Siwalik Group of Pakistan. The material includes horncores, maxilla and mandible fragments, and isolated teeth. The available samples are assigned to three Gazella species: Gazella sp. in the Lower Siwalik Subgroup (ca 14.2–11.2 Ma), and G. lydekkeri and G. superba in the Middle Siwalik Subgroup (ca 10.2–3.4 Ma). Based on a review of the Siwalik Group gazelles, G. padriensis is synonymized with G. lydekkeri. Gazella superba Pilgrim, 1939 sensu stricto is a large form and is a valid species of the genus in the Siwalik Group.

Muhammad Akbar Khan [akbaar111@yahoo.ca], Muhammad Adeeb Babar [babar_fcc2005@yahoo.com], Muhammad Akhtar [drakhtarfdrc@hotmail.com], Allah Rakha [babar.441@googlemail.com], Tuba Noor [akbar.zool@pu.edu.pk], Abu Bakr Fossil Display & Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Quid-e-Azam Campus, Punjab University (54590), Lahore, Pakistan; George Iliopoulos [borelakias@gmail.com], Geology Department of the University of Patras, Patras, Greece.     

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.     

A review of the taxonomy and systematics of the echinoid genus Monostychia Laube, 1869

Sadler, T., Kroh, A. &; Gallagher, S.J., March 2016. A review of the taxonomy and systematics of the echinoid genus Monostychia Laube, 1869 Laube, G.C., 1869. Über einige fossile Echiniden von den Murray Cliffs in Süd-Australien. Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien, mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Abtheilung I 59, 183–198. [Google Scholar]. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

A review of Monostychia, a stratigraphically important clypeasteroid echinoid genus in southern Australian Oligocene/Miocene strata, reveals uncertainty in relation to morphological features used in taxonomy. The result is that the exact systematic position of the genus remains unresolved at subfamily level. Monostychia and its type species, M. australis, are redescribed. Monostychia australis is restricted to the lower to middle Miocene Glenforslan Formation of the Murray Basin. Three other species currently within Monostychia, M. etheridgei, M. loveni and M. elongata, are discussed. Although it is concluded that M. etheridgei belongs in the genus and is a distinct species, the taxonomic position of M. loveni is questioned, and the validity of M. elongata as a separate species from M. australis remains uncertain. This work lays the foundation for further revisions of Monostychia with an expectation that such work will provide the basis for character determination that may be useful across other echinoid taxa.

Tony Sadler [t.sadler@uq.edu.au] and Stephen J. Gallagher [sjgall@unimelb.edu.au], School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Andreas Kroh [andreas.kroh@nhm-wien.ac.at], Natural History Museum Vienna, Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Burging 7, 1010, Vienna, Austria.