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.     

A new species of triplinerved Laurophyllum from the Eocene of Nerriga,New South Wales

A new fossil triplinerved dicotyledon leaf, Laurophyllum acrocryptocaryoides Conran & Christophel (Lauraceae) from Eocene deposits at Nerriga is described. The fossil is similar to the previously described L. acrodromum Hill, also from this site, but differs in leaf shape and cuticular features. L. acrocrytocaryoides also resembles some members of the extant genus Cryptocarya and its relationship to extant taxa is discussed.     

Reassessment of Neovenericor Rossi de García,Levy & Franchi, 1980 (Bivalvia: Carditidae) using a geometric morphometric approach,and revision of planicostate carditids from Argentina

Pérez, D.E., Alvarez, M.J. & Santelli, M.B., July 2016. Reassessment of Neovenericor Rossi de García, Levy & Franchi, 1980 (Bivalvia: Carditidae) using a geometric morphometric approach, and revision of planicostate carditids from Argentina. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN0311-5518.

Various systematic approaches have been applied to the Neogene planicostate carditids of Patagonia. Some authors have included these species within Venericor (known from the Eocene of North America and Europe) or in Megacardita (recorded from the Miocene of Europe). By contrast, Rossi de García et al. erected the endemic Neovenericor in 1980 for Patagonian species. The three proposed genera have variable outlines and similar hinge teeth configuration. Two geometric morphometric analyses were performed, which included the type species of the following taxa: M. jouanneti (middle Miocene, Mediterranean Basin), V. planicosta (middle Eocene, Paris Basin) and N. austroplata (early Miocene, Chenque Formation, Chubut Province). In the first approach, an Elliptic Fourier Analysis was used to test the general variability of outlines. In the second, a landmark-based method was employed to analyse the hinge configuration, followed by a Discriminant Function Analysis. The outline analysis discriminated Megacardita from the other two taxa based on its more elongate and rectangular shells. The Landmark Analysis distinguished the three taxa based on both, left and right hinges. The Discriminant Function Analysis showed significant values for this differentiation. Neovenericor has a higher hinge plate, broader and less posteriorly inclined teeth, and a less sinuous ventral edge than Megacardita; and it has larger and more posteriorly inclined teeth than Venericor. Other morphological characters of the genus include an intermediate number of radial ribs that do not dissipate ventrally, and wide and deep intercostal spaces. Thus, Neovenericor is clearly a distinct taxon. All Argentinian planicostate carditids were revised and included in this genus because they embrace its diagnostic features.

Damián E. Pérez [trophon@gmail.com], Maximiliano J. Alvarez [maxialvarez82@gmail.com] and M. Belén Santelli [mbsantelli@gmail.com], Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, División Paleoinvertebrados, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405DJR), Buenos Aires, Argentina.     

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.     

First fossil pollen record of Auriculiidites Elsik, 1964 in Australia

Macphail, M.K. & Partridge, A.D., June 2012. First fossil pollen record of Auriculiidites Elsik, 1964 Elsik, W. C. 1964. A new sporomorph genus from eastern Peru. Pollen et Spores, 6: 601–604.  [Google Scholar] in Australia. Alcheringa 36, 283–286. ISSN 0311-5518.

Fossil auriculate pollen assigned to Auriculiidites Elsik is preserved in middle early Eocene estuarine facies near Strahan, on the west coast of Tasmania. This is the first record of this otherwise Late Cretaceous–Paleocene morphogenus in Australia and possibly the Southern Hemisphere. Auriculiidites is one of several, now tropical, taxa found at Strahan and underscores the area's importance in understanding the impact of early Eocene global warming at high latitudes.

Mike Macphail [mike.macphail@anu.edu.au], Department of Archaeology & Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia; Alan D. Partridge, Biostrata Pty. Ltd. 302 Waiora Rd., Macleod, Victoria 3085, Australia. Received 28.8.2011, revised 5.2.2012, accepted 16.2.2012.     

An Eocene moncotyledon from Nelly Creek,Central Australia,with affinities to Hemerocallidaceae (Lilianae: Asparagales)

A monocotyledonous partial leaf macrofossil from Eocene beds at Nelly Creek near Lake Eyre in Central Australia is described. It is recognised as being close to several extant Australasian species of Dianella Lam. ex Juss. (Hemerocallidaceae), especially the D. odorata Blume / D. bambusifolia Hallier f. complex. However, because it has unique cuticular features relative to extant Hemerocallidaceae, the fossil is assigned to the new genus and species Dianellophyllum eocenicum Conran, Christophel & Cunningham.     

Re-evaluation of the fossil penguin Palaeeudyptes gunnari from the Eocene Leticia Formation,Argentina: additional material,systematics and palaeobiology

Acosta Hospitaleche, C. & Olivero, E., April 2016. Re-evaluation of the fossil penguin Palaeeudyptes gunnari from the Eocene Leticia Formation, Argentina: additional material, systematics and palaeobiology. Alcheringa 40, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518

Eocene penguins are known mostly from Antarctic specimens. A previously documented partial skeleton consisting of a pelvis, femur, tibiotarsus and fibula, from the middle Eocene Leticia Formation, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, has been prepared and re-described. Re-analysis favours assignment to Palaeeudyptes gunnari, a species widely recorded in the Eocene of Antarctica. A new isolated coracoid belonging to an indeterminate species reveals new information about diving kinematics and swimming abilities. Palaeobiological attributes and morphology of the fossils indicate that both specimens belonged to large penguins with poor diving capability and wing propulsion systems similar to those of extant taxa. These penguin remains are the only vertebrate fossils thus far recorded from the Leticia Formation, and provide important insights into the relationships of South American and Antarctic penguins during the Paleogene. The presence of Palaeeudyptes in Argentina supports an Eocene connection between the South American and Antarctic penguin faunas.

Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche [acostacaro@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], CONICET. División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, UNLP, Argentina; Eduardo Olivero [emolivero@gmail.com], CONICET. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET), B. Houssay 200, 9410 Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.     

Adaptations to life in freshwater for Mioceratodus gregoryi,a lungfish from Redbank Plains,an Eocene locality in southeast Queensland,Australia

Kemp, A., December 2017. Adaptations to life in freshwater for Mioceratodus gregoryi, a lungfish from Redbank Plains, an Eocene locality in southeast Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa 42, 306–311. ISSN 0311-5518

Few Cenozoic lungfish fossils consist of articulated, associated bones and tooth plates. Mioceratodus gregoryi from the Paleogene (Eocene) deposit of the Redbank Plains Formation in southeast Queensland is unusual in this respect because the fossil includes tooth plates and elements of the skull. An analysis of the material and reconstruction of the skull and associated skeletal material provides new insights into the fish and its environment. The fish has a mandible with a wide separation between the lower tooth-bearing bones, and a strong ceratohyal bone. This suggests that, like the extant Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, the fossil fish had a moveable basihyal that could be inserted between the prearticular bones to seal the oral cavity. This would have allowed the fish to draw food, air and water into the mouth, and dig holes by sucking mud into the oral cavity and blowing it out again, all useful attributes for a fish that lived in a shallow freshwater lake. The living Australian lungfish has similar structures in the mandible and hyoid apparatus, and performs comparable actions. The occipital ribs, also preserved in the Redbank Plains fossil, are embedded in hypaxial muscles and not moveable. It is unlikely that these ribs have any influence on the suctorial process in these two species.

Anne Kemp [a.kemp@griffith.edu.au] Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.     

Two new skeletons of the enigmatic,rail-like avian taxon Songzia Hou, 1990 (Songziidae) from the early Eocene of China

Sachs, S. &; Kear, B.P. November 2018. A rare new Pliensbachian plesiosaurian from the Amaltheenton Formation of Bielefeld in northwestern Germany. Alcheringa 42, 487-500. ISSN 0311-5518.

We describe a new plesiosaurian from the upper Pliensbachian Amaltheenton Formation of Bielefeld in northwestern Germany. The taxon is based upon an incomplete associated skeleton comprising part of the right mandibular ramus, several teeth, a series of cervical, pectoral, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, as well as ribs, limb girdle elements including a nearly complete right scapula, and various distal limb bones. A unique character state combination serves to distinguish the Amaltheenton Formation remains from other previously documented Early Jurassic plesiosaurians. The most important features are the presence of a longitudinal notch incising the posterior rim of the glenoid fossa and retroarticular process, and a pronounced ventrolateral shelf on the scapula, both of which constitute derived states otherwise shared with Early Cretaceous leptocleidians. However, phylogenetic analysis using a ‘total group’ Plesiosauria data-set that specifically accommodates for Pliensbachian taxa unanimously placed the Amaltheenton Formation plesiosaurian among Early–Middle Jurassic pliosaurids. This discovery is significant because it reveals unexpected homoplasy, but also because it establishes what is only the third formally named plesiosaurian taxon thus far documented from Pliensbachian strata worldwide.

Sven Sachs^* [sachs.pal@gmail.com], Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Abteilung Geowissenschaften, Adenauerplatz 2, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany and Im Hof 9, 51766 Engelskirchen, Germany; Benjamin P. Kear [benjamin.kear@em.uu.se] Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 16, Uppsala SE-752 36, Sweden.     

The sponge genus Brachiaster (Pachastrellidae,Demospongiae) and its first known fossil representative,from the late Eocene of southwestern Australia

Pisera, A. & Bitner, M.A., December, 2007. The sponge genus Brachiaster (Pachastrellidae, Demospongiae) and its first known fossil representative, from the late Eocene of southwestern Australia. Alcheringa 31, 365‐373. ISSN 0311-5518.

The pachastrellid genus Brachiaster Wilson (Pachastrellidae, Demospongiae, Porifera) has had until now no known fossil representatives. Here we describe its first known fossil representative from the late Eocene of southwestern Western Australia, assigned to Brachiaster claudelevii sp. nov. Brachiaster claudelevii has well-developed axial canals in the mesotriders, which points to it being intermediate in character between the typical tetraxial desmas of lithistids, and tetraxial spicules of non-lithistid demosponges. This further supports the position of Brachiaster among the Pachastrellidae. The geographic and bathymetric distribution of the extant and newly described fossil representatives of Brachiaster indicates that the Eocene sponge described here is important in understanding the evolution of Indo-West Pacific sponges because it points to a long evolutionary history and complex biogeographic distribution of this lineage of pachastrellid sponges.

Andrzej Pisera [apis@twarda.pan.pl], Maria Aleksandra Bitner [bitner@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00‐818 Warszawa, Poland; received 24.3.2006; revised 14.6.2006.