We describe an isolated osteoderm from the Albian Griman Creek Formation where it is exposed near the town of Lightning Ridge in central-northern New South Wales, Australia. Several lines of evidence allow referral of this element to the Ankylosauria—a group that epitomises body armour and ubiquitous osteodermal coverage among dinosaurs. Despite the abundant record of fossil vertebrates from this interval, ankylosaurians have not been previously reported, although, they have been described from penecontemporaneous deposits in western Queensland and Victoria. This discovery, therefore, provides an important link between the northerly faunas (including the Griman Creek Formation) that flourished at the edge of the epeiric Eromanga Sea, with those from the sub-polar rift-valley system of Victoria during the mid-Cretaceous.
Phil R. Bell [pbell23@une.
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.
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.
Spicules of the sponges Silicunculus Bengtson, Australispongia Dong & Knoll and Thoracospongia Mehl are described from the middle Cambrian (Cambrian Series 3) of North Greenland. The occurrences document the first records from the Cambrian of Laurentia of spicules initially reported from Australia. Obese spicules of Thoracospongia are now known to occur in strata of Cambrian Series 2 (Stage 4, Botoman) to Cambrian Series 3 (Stage 5 and Drumian) age in Australia, northern and southeastern Siberia and in the uppermost Henson Gletscher Formation (Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5) of western Peary Land. Morphologically similar obese spicules from the USA, Jordan, Iran and Sweden suggest an evolutionary trend towards armouring of the outer sponge surface during the middle and late Cambrian. New species described are Silicunculus saaqqutit sp. nov., Thoracospongia lacrimiformis sp. nov.
John S. Peel [john.
Catenagraptus communalis gen. nov. sp. nov. is a late Floian (Early Ordovician) graptolite from Victoria, Australia, only found as fragments, with each fragment resembling an assemblage of uniserial tubarium-like structures (pseudotubaria) connected by threads (aulons). Individual pseudotubaria consist of a fallosicula and a stipe, both of which are linked by aulons to other pseudotubaria. Adjacent pseudotubaria are in a parent–offspring relationship. Aulons can be generated from both the proximal and distal extremities of fallosiculae, and from the ends of stipes. The aulons are interpreted to have been grown by the zooid that occupied either the fallosicula or the terminal theca of the stipe. Aulons were pathways for a zooid that built a fallosicula at the end of the aulon. This process was repeated to form the assemblage. None of the assemblages contain a true sicula, which suggests that the assemblages present evidence of a new, asexual propagation strategy that involved fragmentation and dispersal. As this interpretation is radical, other models explored are partial sclerotization and modified sicular spines.
Alfons H.M. VandenBerg [lanceolatus@hotmail.
Selenariidae Busk 1854 (Bryozoa) is considered endemic to Australia and New Zealand. Here we describe a new species of Selenaria Busk 1854 from the lower Miocene Monte León Formation (Patagonia, Argentina). Selenaria lyrulata sp. nov. is characterized by autozooids with a lyrula-like, anvil-shaped cryptocystal denticle, opesiular indentations and lateral condyles, as well as avicularia with a shield of fused costae. This is the first record of a selenariid bryozoan in South America.
Juan López-Gappa [lgappa@macn.
Water fern foliage is described from the Paleogene Redbank Plains Formation at Dinmore in southeast Queensland. The material, which is based upon leaf impressions, records early sporophyte growth stages. The specimens occur at discrete levels in clay pits at Dinmore, and the different leaf stages present suggest that they represent colonies of young submerged plants, mats of floating leaves, or a mixed assemblage of both. The leaf material closely matches the range of variation evident in young sporophytes of Ceratopteris Brongn., but in the complete absence of Cenozoic fossils of the spore genus Magnastriatites Germeraad, Hopping & Muller emend. Dettmann & Clifford from mainland Australia, which are the fossil spores of this genus, it is referred to a new genus, Tecaropteris. The record of ceratopterid-like ferns adds significantly to our limited knowledge of Cenozoic freshwater plants from Australia. The geoheritage significance of sites, such as Dinmore, is discussed briefly.
Andrew C. Rozefelds [andrew.
Extensive bulk sampling over the past 20 years and greatly improved stratigraphic control permitted a meaningful revision of previously described anacoracid sharks from the ‘upper’ Gearle Siltstone and lower Haycock Marl in the lower Murchison River area, Western Australia. Isolated teeth of anacoracids are rare in the lower three (Beds 1–3) of four stratigraphic units of the ‘upper’ Gearle Siltstone but relatively common in the uppermost layer (Bed 4) and in the lower part of the overlying Haycock Marl. On the basis of calcareous nannofossils, Beds 1 and 2 of the ‘upper’ Gearle Siltstone can be placed in the uppermost upper Albian calcareous nannofossil Subzone CC9b whereas Bed 3 can be referred to the lowermost Cenomanian CC9c Subzone. Bed 1 yielded fragments of strongly serrated anacoracid teeth as well as a single, smooth-edged tooth. The samples from Beds 2 and 3 contained a few small fragments of serrated anacoracid teeth. Bed 4 is barren of calcareous nannofossils but the presence of a dentally advanced tooth of the cosmopolitan lamniform genus Cretoxyrhina in combination with the age of the overlying Haycock Marl indicate deposition within the younger half of the Cenomanian. The unit produced teeth of two anacoracids; Squalicorax acutus sp. nov. and S. bazzii sp. nov. The basal, laminated part of the Haycock Marl is placed in the uppermost upper Cenomanian part of CC10b. It yielded Squalicorax mutabilis sp. nov. and S. aff. S. bernardezi. Exceptionally well-preserved teeth of the former species span a 5:1 size ratio range for teeth of comparable jaw position. The teeth reveal strong ontogenetic heterodonty with a large increase in the relative size of the main cusp with age and the transition from a vertical distal heel of the crown in very young juveniles to a sub-horizontal, well demarcated heel in ‘adult’ teeth. An isolated phosphatic lens in the lower part of the Haycock Marl produced calcareous nannofossils indicative of the CC10b SubZone, most likely the lowermost lower Turonian part. It contains teeth of Squalicorax mutabilis sp. nov., S. aff. S. bernardezi, and S. sp. C.
Mikael Siversson* [mikael.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:97D5131F-C0D5-4A7E-9C9A-0FDF13BFCBBB
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5977DCC2-355C-4732-8B0A-4BD0EABBA8DE
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2D7C4147-B756-4434-847A-B0C1C6D167DF
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:33F3B55E-41E0-45B3-8296-A3B95C17B41D 相似文献
Three new species of glypheoid decapod crustaceans, Mecochirus mcclymontorum, M. bartholomaii and M. lanceolatus, are described from the late Aptian of the Eromanga, Carpentaria and Maryborough basins, respectively. The first two occur in the Doncaster Member of the Wallumbilla Formation and the last in the Maryborough Formation. This is the first record of Mecochirus Germar, 1827 or the Mecochiridae Van Straelen, 1925 in Australia and one of only a few Cretaceous occurrences of this largely Jurassic genus.
Peter A. Jell [amjell@bigpond.
Investigations of conodonts from Emsian (Lower Devonian) strata at Bahe, Liujing and Daliantang in Guangxi and Yunnan, South China, provide new data on the morphological variability and phylogenetic affinity of Ozarkodina midundenta, a species initially assigned to Pandorinellina but transferred to Ozarkodina herein. Morphological analysis suggests that O. midundenta probably developed from O. prolata by progressive fusion of denticles in the middle third of the blade above the basal cavity in the Pa element.
Jian-feng Lu [lujfivan@sina.
Extant tettigarctids are also known as hairy cicadas because they are covered by long and abundant hairs. This character had not been reported in fossil species of Tettigarctidae because previous examples were poorly preserved or lacked long hairs. Hirtaprosbole erromera gen. et sp. nov. (Tettigarctidae) with a hairy body, from the latest Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China, is described here. This new species provides evidence that tettigarctids with long dense hairs had appeared by the latest Middle Jurassic and lived at high altitudes.
Xiao-hui Liu [liuxh8917@163.
Six conodont and one fusuline zones are recognized on basis of a total of 25 conodont and 13 fusuline species (including seven unidentified species or species given with cf. or aff. in total) from the Bamchi Formation, Yeongwol, Korea. The conodont zones include the Streptognathodus bellus, S. isolatus, S. cristellaris, S. sigmoidalis, S. fusus and S. barskovi zones in ascending order, which can be correlated with the conodont zones spanning the uppermost Gzhelian to Asselian Age of the Permian globally. The fusuline zone is named the Rugosofusulina complicata–Pseudoschwagerina paraborealis zone. The co-occurrence of the conodont Streptognathodus isolatus (the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point index for the base of Permian) and Pseudoschwagerina (a Permian inflated fusuline) indicates that the Carboniferous–Permian boundary can be placed in the lower part of the Bamchi Formation in South Korea.
Qiulai Wang* [qlwang@nigpas.
The smooth atrypoid brachiopod Thulatrypa gen. nov. incorporates two species, a younger (T. gregaria) from Norway, and an older (T. orientalis) from South China, which collectively span the middle Rhuddanian through Aeronian. In Baltica, the genus thrived just below the storm wave base in a tropical BA4 setting extending slightly into BA3 and BA5 respectively, whereas in South China, its representative occurs in a much shallower assemblage (BA2–3). Their palaeobiogeographical implications are carefully investigated. This study supports the arguments that Thulatrypa may have originated in South China in the middle Rhuddanian and extended its range to eastern Baltica in the late Rhuddanian. Larvae may have drifted along a channel from the east to the southwest of Baltica, which supports the reconstructions of palaeocurrents in the early Silurian in previous palaeogeographical studies.
Bing Huang [bhuang@nigpas.
Encrustation is rare on late Cambrian and Tremadocian brachiopods of Baltica. The encrusting fauna is represented by a single taxon, Marcusodictyon. Only Schmidtites celatus is encrusted in the Furongian of Estonia. The Marcusodictyon–Schmidtites association is the earliest example of syn vivo encrustation and symbiosis from the Baltica palaeocontinent. The encrusting faunas of the late Cambrian and Tremadocian of Baltica were unusual presumably owing to palaeogeographic reasons because the other known examples of early encrustation originate from lower palaeolatitudes.
Olev Vinn [olev.
The discovery of a well-preserved dragonfly forewing in the Upper Jurassic Talbragar Fish Bed near Gulgong and attributed to Austroprotolindenia jurassica Beattie & Nel allows this taxon to be placed in Protolindeniidae. It extends the palaeogeographical distribution of this family, previously known only from the Jurassic of Europe, to Australia.
André Nel [anel@mnhn.
A new bandicoot species, Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov. (Peramelemorphia), is described here from the Leaf Locality, Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (LF), Wipajiri Formation (South Australia). The age of the fossil deposit is interpreted as early Miocene on the basis of biocorrelation between multiple species in the Kutjamarpu LF and local faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (WHA). Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum is represented by isolated teeth and three partial dentaries and appears to have been short-snouted with an estimated mass of 920 g. Phylogenetic analyses place K. brevirostrum in a clade with extant Australian bandicoots and the extinct Madju, but potentially exclude the extant New Guinean bandicoots. Morphometric analysis infers close similarity between K. brevirostrum and species of Galadi in both size and rostral length. They, thus, potentially occupied compatible ecological niches with competitive exclusion perhaps explaining geographical segregation between these broadly coeval lineages.
Philippa M. Chamberlain [philippa.
The trace fossil Radialimbricatus igen. nov. with type species of R. bitoensis isp. nov. occurs in river-mouth-bar sandstone beds of a lacustrine sequence of the Lower Cretaceous Jinju Formation in South Korea. Radialimbricatus is a horseshoe-shaped or elliptical, convex hyporelief structure characterized by imbrication of traces with radial ridges and a median furrow. These features differentiate Radialimbricatus from arthropod ichnofossils such as Rusophycus and Cruziana, possibly cnidarian ichnofossils such as Astropolichnus and vermiform organism ichnofossils such as Oldhamia. Cross-sectional features of R. bitoensis, including upward mud protrusions at lateral margins, demonstrate that R. bitoensis can be formed as an open epigenic furrow at the water/mud interface or an endogenic burrow along the sand/mud interface at the same time. Analysis of discrete and imbricating horseshoe-shaped traces indicates that the tracemaker maintained an obligate inclined posture even when forming trails. The radial ridges and pit along the median furrow are interpreted to reflect feeding behaviour, and the imbrication to result from unidirectional and more or less regular movements to next feeding sites. The tracemaker is thought to have been an organism with an elliptical body outline, radially arranged body parts at the base of or around the body (probably for collecting and transporting foods and moving to feeding sites) and a mouth near the centre of the body, which is consistent with body plan features of arthropods, cnidarians and annelids.
Dong-Chan Lee [dclee@chungbuk.
A new insect species, Cixius discretus (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha), from the Lower Miocene Garang Formation of Zeku County, Qinghai Province (northeastern Tibetan Plateau) is described. This species can be assigned to Cixiidae and represents the first fossil representative of this family from Qinghai Province. Based on the recent single-origin hypothesis and the distribution of tectonic plates in the Cretaceous, we consider that ancient Cixius had dispersed globally prior to the Cretaceous. Through analysis of the habitats of extant Cixius, the palaeoclimate and fossil flora of the Zeku area during the Miocene, we interpret the climate of Zeku in the early Miocene to have been warm-temperate and mildly arid. The new species constitutes evidence of wooded and shrubby habitats in Zeku during the Miocene.
Yi Li [liy0124@sina.