On the Middle Cambrian agnostoid species Agnostus fallax Linnarsson 1869

The types and other specimens of Agnostus fallax Linnarsson 1869 are examined and reinterpreted. It is shown that the application of this specific name to many specimens from around the world is largely in error. The species is considered sufficiently different from the type species of Peronopsis, P. integra (Beyrich, 1845) to warrant erection of a new genus Axagnostus with A. fallax as the type species.     

First occurrence of Janospira from the Early Ordovician of Australia

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

Some middle and late Cambrian trilobites and brachiopods from the Adamsfield Trough,Tasmania

Jago, J.B., Bentley, C.J., Laurie, J.R. &; Corbett, K.B., 26 June 2018. Some middle and late Cambrian trilobites and brachiopods from the Adamsfield Trough, Tasmania. Alcheringa 43, 1-17. ISSN 0311-5518.

Cambrian Series 3 and Furongian trilobites and brachiopods are described from the Adamsfield Trough in southwestern Tasmania. The oldest fossils are very poorly preserved trilobites, assigned to Asaphiscidae gen. et sp. indet. from within the Island Road Formation a short distance above the unconformity with the underlying Proterozoic Wedge River Beds. A trilobite species from within the isolated Boyd River Formation is referred to Lioparia sp. The Island Road Formation and the Boyd River Formation are stratigraphically equivalent to the Trial Ridge Beds which have previously been dated as belonging to the Lejopyge laevigata Zone. The Trial Ridge Beds are overlain unconformably by the Singing Creek Formation. In the Adamsfield, Clear Hill and Stepped Hills areas, stratigraphic equivalents of the Singing Creek Formation collectively contain the trilobites Pseudaphelaspis sp., Pseudaphelaspis? sp., Prochuangia sp., Mindycrusta sp., Nepeidae gen. et sp. indet., and Olenidae gen. et sp. indet. plus the brachiopods described herein as Billingsella sp. aff. costata, Billingsella sp. A, Billingsella sp. B and a possible member of the Billingselloidea. The Singing Creek Formation has been previously correlated with the Stigmatoa diloma Zone. The genus Lotosoides Shergold 1975 is placed in synonymy with Prochuangia Kobayashi 1935.

James B. Jago* [jim.jago@unisa.edu.au] University of South Australia, School of Natural and Built Environment, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia; Christopher J. Bentley [bigfossil@bigpond.com] 30 Albert Street, Clare, SA 5453, Australia; John R. Laurie [john.r.laurie@gmail.com] Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia; Keith D. Corbett [keith.corbett@bigpond.com] 35 Pillinger Drive, Fern Tree, Tas 7054, Australia.     

Umkomasia (megasporophyll): part 1 of a reassessment of Gondwana Triassic plant genera and a reclassification of some previously attributed

The genus Umkomasia, a megasporophyll, belonging to the pteridosperms (seed ferns) in the family Umkomasiaceae (Corystospermaceae), is reassessed comprehensively worldwide. All previous records are analysed. Certain fertile structures previously attributed are reclassified. Umkomasia is shown to be restricted to the Triassic of Gondwana where it is associated with the genus Pteruchus, a microsporophyll, and the genus Dicroidium, a vegetative leaf. It is well represented from Argentina, Australia and southern Africa where the Molteno Formation is by far the most comprehensively sampled with eight species described. Two specimens from the upper Permian of India attributed to Umkomasia are reclassified as cf. Arberiopsis sp. A whorled fertile structure from Antarctica, previously assigned to Umkomasia, is reclassified in a new genus as Axsmithia uniramia. Another compression fossil and the permineralized Umkomasia resinosa remain as valid records from Antarctica. The material described as Umkomasia from the Triassic of China is reclassified as Stenorachis asiatica. The Lower Jurassic record from Germany is placed in a new genus as Kirchmuellia franconica. The records of Umkomasia sp. from the Rhaetic of Germany are reclassified as cf. Kirchmuellia sp. and the single specimen from the Jurassic of Libya as genus et sp. indet. The Lower Cretaceous record from Mongolia has been reclassified by other researchers as Doylea mongolica. A pictorial key to Umkomasia species is provided, geographic and stratigraphic distributions are tabulated.     

A numerical taxonomic study of Late Carboniferous Spiriferidina from eastern Australia

Species of Late Carboniferous spiriferidines belonging to the genera Alispirifer, Licharewia, Neospirifer, Spirifer, Liriplica, and Spinuliplica are analyzed on the basis of fifty-two different morphological characters. A computer program for cluster analysis is used which ensures that each character is given equal weighting, and the degrees of similarity between species are measured objectively.

The resulting classification is similar to the conventional one, with three exceptions. It is recommended that Spinuliplica spinulosa Campbell and Liriplica alta Campbell be assigned to one genus, Liriplica; Licharewia bootiensis Thompson be assigned to the genus, Alispirifer; and Spirifer pristinus (Maxwell) be reassigned to the genus Neospirifer.

A method of graphical analysis using contour diagrams is also presented as an alternative method of illustrating the relationships between the different species of spiriferidines.     

Nothofagus macrofossils from the Tertiary of Tasmania

Leaves assignable to Nothofagus from two fossil deposits in Tasmania represent the first macrofossils of this genus from the Tertiary in southeastern Australia. One fossil species, N. johnstonii, is closely related to the extant Australian species N. cunninghamii while the other fossil species, N. tasmanica, has very close affinites with the extant Australian species N. moorei. All four of these species are closely interrelated. The pollen type produced by the fossil species is unknown, since all three types are present in the microfloras. However, both N. cunninghamii and N. moorei produce N. menziesii-type pollen. The macrofossils confirm the conclusion from pollen studies that evolution in Nothofagus has occurred very slowly.     

Cenozoic Elaeocarpus (Elaeocarpaceae) fruits from Australia

Fossil Elaeocarpus species with spherical fruits are redescribed and compared with extant species. Information on the distribution of E. mackayi (F. Muell.) Kirchheimer and E. spackmaniorum Rozefelds is provided. Additional notes on the morphology of E. spackmaniorum Rozefelds are also included; and collections from Guildford, in Victoria, are considered conspecific. Elaeocarpus occultus sp. nov. is described from the Haddon deep leads in Victoria; it has a spherical inner mesocarp, bastionate ornamentation, foraminae in the mesocarp wall and mesosutural ridges, which represent a combination of characters unique within extant Australian Elaeocarpus species. The fossil fruit record of Elaeocarpus is systematically significant because it demonstrates that the genus was morphologically diverse by the Miocene in Australia. Biogeographically, the genus also had a different, or more widespread distribution in Australia during the Cenozoic.     

Remains of an Eocene skink from Queensland

Azurduya gen. nov. (Brachiopoda: Camarotoechiidae) is described from Early Carboniferous sequences in the Argentine Precordillera and northern Chile. Marine assemblages and the palynoflora associated with this genus suggest a Tournaisian age. The type species Azurduya chavelensis (Amos, 1958) is reviewed and redescribed from material from the type locality. Additional material from equivalent localities in the Rio Blanco Basin (La Rioja and San Juan provinces, Argentine Precordilera) has been used to understand ontogenetic changes as well intraspecific variation. Azurduya cingolanii sp. nov. is proposed.     

Palaeobiological features of the coralomorph Amsassia from the Late Ordovician of South China

Lee, M., Elias, R.J., Choh, S.-J. & Lee, D.-J., May 2018. Palaeobiological features of the coralomorph Amsassia from the Late Ordovician of South China. Alcheringa XXX, X–X. ISSN 0311-5518.

Amsassia yushanensis sp. nov. occurs in the Late Ordovician Xiazhen Formation at Zhuzhai, Jiangxi Province of southeastern China. This species is characterized by typical phacelocerioid organization of modules comparable with the other Amsassia species described in recent literature. Bipartite fission, in which a parent module divided into two parts, is by far the most common type of increase in this species; tripartite and quadripartite types of axial fission do occur but are relatively uncommon. Processes of module division are similar to those of A. shaanxiensis and A. koreanensis, and also occurred in tetradiids. In A. yushanensis, restoration of coralla was occasionally accompanied by recovery of a damaged or injured module or group of modules probably following an influx of sediment, as observed in some favositoid corals. Amsassia superficially resembles Lichenaria, a representative genus of the most primitive stock of tabulate corals of Ordovician age, and has likely been mistakenly identified as Lichenaria in the North China Platform. Available information suggests that the validity of a reported occurrence of Lichenaria in the South China Platform is also questionable.

Mirinae Lee [mirinae.lee@kopri.re.kr] Division of Polar Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, 21990, Incheon, Republic of Korea; Robert J. Elias [Robert.Elias@umanitoba.ca] Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2, Canada; Suk-Joo Choh [sjchoh@korea.ac.kr] Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea; Dong-Jin Lee [djlee@anu.ac.kr] Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Andong National University, Andong, 36749, Republic of Korea and College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, PR China.     

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.     

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.     

Redescription of Parexus recurvus,an Early Devonian acanthodian from the Midland Valley of Scotland

Parexus Agassiz was one of the first Early Devonian ‘spiny sharks’ to be described. The genus is readily recognized by the large size and ornament of its anterior dorsal fin spine. Although two species were erected, reappraisal of all known specimens indicate they should be synonymized in the type species Parexus recurvus. Farnellia tuberculata Traquair, originally described as a vertebral column, is actually tooth rows of jaw dentition, and is also now considered to be a junior synonym of P. recurvus. Parexus has a perichondrally ossified scapulocoracoid of typical acanthodian shape, and diagnostic features of the family Climatiidae, but has distinctive scales comprising appositional growth zones that closely resemble those of the putative stem chondrichthyan Seretolepis elegans Karatajute-Talimaa.     

Significance of new species of Cryptorhynchia (Brachiopoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Kutch,India

Cryptorhynchia is a brachiopod genus, until recently known only from the late Bathonian. Two new species C. karuna and C. jhooraensis are here described from the middle Bathonian at Kutch, western India and record the earliest known occurrences of the genus. They constitute ancestor-descendant lineages with the two existing younger species C. pulcherrima and C. rugosa respectively. Evolution in both cases shows ‘parallel’ trends and the descendants are scaled-down versions of their respective progenitors. Statistical analyses reveal that this evolutionary miniaturization involves allometry-induced heterochrony, especially progenesis, and is marked by a rapid speciation event compatible with the punctuational model. Evolution appears to be anagenetic and may be attributed to the unstable nature of environment where onshore innovation produced smaller descendants that adopted r-strategy. Facies distribution and functional morphology suggest that species of Cryptorhynchia were well adapted to shallow, unstable carbonate shelf. However, they disappeared suddenly at the Bathonian - Callovian boundary which was marked by a global transgression. The possible causal factors of their extinction may be the consequent changes in bathymetry and substrate condition.     

Development of the graptoloid rhabdosome

Proximal development of the dichograptoid rhabdosome is re-examined in detail. Two major types are recognised: the artus type (= dichograptid type of Bulman) in which th 1¹ is dicalycal, and the isograptid type (= isograptid + leptograptid types of Bulman) in which theca 1² is dicalycal. In branching dichograptids, distal stipe division takes place by replication of the thecal budding sequence employed in the initial dichotomy of the rhabdosome and is always of isograptid type. Dichotomies beyond the first are unknown in species with initial development of other than isograptid type. The thecal budding pattern and stipe composition of dendroids can be interpreted in terms of the structure of, and thecal notation used for, graptoloids and it is thus possible to compare directly the mode of stipe division in the two groups. It is found that both distal and proximal dichotomy in dendroids are achieved by a pattern of thecal budding closely comparable with that of the isograptid type of division in graptoloids. The isograptid development type is therefore thought to have been directly derived from dendroids, and is the primitive type for Graptoloidea. The artus type was derived via three or more independent lineages, at least one of which (that leading to the artus group of pendent didymograptids) involved an ancestor with isograptid development. Proximal end characters of Phyllograptus suggest that this genus and biserial graptolites of the family Diplograptidae shared a common ancestor.     

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.     

A new fossil genus of forest wallaby (Marsupialia,Macropodinae) and a review of Protemnodon from eastern Australia and New Guinea

A new macropodine genus and species, Silvaroo bila, is described from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sand of Queensland. The generic concept of Protemnodon is reviewed, and it is concluded that two Pliocene species previously placed in that genus (bandharr and buloloensis) belong in Silvaroo. Species of Silvaroo resemble the modern forest wallabies of Papua New Guinea (species of Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus) and also bear close phenetic resemblance to the late Miocene Dorcopsoides fossilis. Forest wallabies are not known from mainland Australia after the middle Pliocene, but occur in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene of New Guinea.     

Tertiary Nothofagus macrofossils from Cethana,Tasmania

Two new Tertiary species of Nothofagus from the Early Eocene-Oligocene deposit at Cethana represent the first reports of fossil species which are not closely related to the extant Australian species N. moorei and N. cunninghamii. N. cethanica sp. nov. is most closely related to the extant New Zealand species N. fusca and N. truncata and gives further evidence of the relatively slow evolution within this genus. The other specimen is indistinguishable from extant adult N. gunnii leaves, and has been assigned to that species. This fossil shows that the deciduous habit was probably already present in N. gunnii by the Oligocene, and this may have helped N. gunnii to survive the Late Tertiary/Quaternary glaciations. Juvenile N. gunnii foliage gives some insight into the possible origins of this species, which may have been from the same ancestral stock as N. fusca, N. truncata, and N. cethanica.     

Paracordyline aureonemoralis (Lomandraceae): an Eocene monocotyledon from South Australia

A monocotyledonous leaf macrofossil taxon from Golden Grove in Adelaide, South Australia is recognised as being close to several extant Australasian species of Cordyline, especially those in the C. stricta (Sims) Endl. / C. fruticosa (L.) A. Chev. complex. The fossil is assigned to the form genus Paracordyline, known previously from the Oligocene Kerguélen Islands. However, as the Golden Grove taxon differs markedly from the Kerguélen species, it is considered to be a new species, P. aureonemoralis Conran & Christophel.