Phylogenetic relationships of leptellinid brachiopods

The relationships among the diverse genera comprising the family Leptellinidae (Brachiopoda) are reviewed in the light of the revised edition of the Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology. Taxonomic work reassessed all the genera identified as Leptellinidae in the most current classification. Four genera were discarded, namely Bekkerella, Benignites, Leptastichidia and Nikitinamena. Cladistic analysis reveals the paraphyly of these genera; their abandonment leading to more morphologically coherent subdivisions of the family. Two subfamilies, Leptellininae and Palaeostrophomeninae, are emended and taxonomically restructured. The palaeogeographical history of the Leptellinidae is complicated. The Leptellinidae are first recorded in Baltica in the late Floian (Early Ordovician) and rapidly dispersed to circum-Iapetus palaeocontinents by the Dapingian, thence to most terranes composing Gondwana by the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician).     

Late Palaeozoic South American pectinids revised: biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications

Neves, J.P., Anelli, L.E., Pagani, M.A. & Simões, M.G., 2014. Late Palaeozoic South American pectinids revised: biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications. Alcheringa 38 ISSN 0311-5518.

A revision of the late Palaeozoic South American pectinid Heteropecten multiscalptus (Thomas) and the establishment of Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. have important implications for the relationship between faunal realms within South America. Late Palaeozoic bivalve faunas occur in three distinct realms in South America: a Central Gondwanic Realm with endemic taxa showing affinities to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Namibia, a cold Perigondwanic Realm, and a warm Extragondwanic Realm with tethyan-like affinities similar to faunas of the American Midcontinent. In South America, faunas east of the southern Andes belong to the first two realms and previous interpretations of bivalve faunas suggested biocorrelations with those of the Extragondwanic Realm because they shared the taxon Heteropecten multiscalptus (Thomas). A revision of the Peruvian and Brazilian material does not confirm this. Instead, a re-analysis suggests that two species are present, rather than one: Heteropecten multiscalptus in the Cerro Prieto Formation, Amotape Mountains (Peru; Extragondwanic Realm), and Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. in the upper part of the Itararé Group, Paraná Basin (Brazil; Central Gondwanic Realm). Thus, the correlation between the late Palaeozoic faunas of the Central Gondwanic and Extragondwanic Realms in South America can no longer be supported. Heteropecten paranaensis sp. nov. lived in a siliciclastic-dominated, cold, epeiric sea of Brazil and Argentina, and is morphologically similar to some Australian species, whereas the Peruvian H. multiscalptus thrived in the warm seas of the Extragondwanic Realm.

Jacqueline P. Neves [nevesjp.unesp@gmail.com], Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro campus, SP, Brazil, 13506-900; Luiz E. Anelli [anelli@usp.br], Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508–080, Brazil; M. Alejandra Pagani, [apagani@mef.org.ar], CONICET-Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MEF), U9100GYO, Chubut, Argentina; Marcello, G. Simões [profmgsimoes@gmail.com], Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu campus, SP, 18618-970, Brazil. Received 19.7.2013; revised 12.11.2013; accepted 19.11.2013     

Machaeridian classification

Machaeridians are an enigmatic group of multisclerite-bearing benthic marine invertebrates, known from Lower Ordovician to Pennsylvanian rocks. They receive almost no attention, but are very common fossils, especially in faunas of Middle Ordovician to Early Devonian age. Evidence that machaeridians form a monophyletic group includes many shared derived morphological features of their sclerites, and their highly characteristic mode of sclerite formation. Machaeridian sclerites are calcitic, and feature an outer sclerite layer formed by marginal accretion, and an inner layer formed by serial addition of calcite elements in linear series radiating from the sclerite umbo. The class Machaeridia is understood herein to comprise the order Turrilepadomorpha Pilsbry, 1916, including the families Turrilepadidae Clarke 1896 and Plumulitidae Jell 1979, and the order Lepidocoleomorpha Schallreuter 1985, including the family Lepidocoleidae Clarke 1896. The latter family is unique in the possession of a dorsal tongue and groove hinge by which opposing sclerites of a given body segment articulated. All machaeridian species have distinct dextral and sinistral sclerite morphologies. All lepidocoleid species, and isolated members of some other families, are enantiomorphic, with some right-handed and some left-handed individuals. Recent classifications have united machaeridians with other problematic groups, including tommotiids, sachitids, and hercolepadids. Such proposed relationships have very weak evidential bases, and should be rejected.     

Pre-industrial headstones across the continental North Sea plain

This paper examines the spatial and temporal distribution of grave headstones in the relatively homogeneous North Sea plain and adjacent regions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the various lithological, cultural, religious and transportation factors influencing this distribution. Findings from close inspection of cemeteries across the study area were complemented with data from existing surveys. The larger part of the production of headstones was for local consumption. High densities of cruciform (Catholic) headstones in the Boulonnais and in most of the Ardennes–Rhenish massif are illustrated with the cases of the Berwinne and Vesdre headstone production workshops. Beyond concentrations along the Meuse and Rhine rivers, there is a large area stretching from northern France to north-west Germany in which no headstones can be found (with the notable exception of a few Jewish cemeteries). Beyond this area devoid of headstones, the Marsh Islands and adjacent continental areas again have high densities (more than 1 headstone per km²), occurring in two well-differentiated clusters. One cluster contains simple poles in Belgian Palaeozoic limestone in North-Holland and the West-Frisian islands, and the other cluster, on the German and Danish Marsh Islands, holds richly decorated tablets made in sandstone from the Weserbergland. The headstones on the Marsh Islands, a unifying cultural element in this UNESCO world heritage area, bear witness to the significance of a lucrative whaling activity and the intense trade that developed despite political, religious and linguistic differences across the region.     

Michael J Clarke collections,from the Geological Survey of Tasmania,are transferred to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Over 300 primary type and figured specimens of Late Palaeozoic invertebrates described by Michael J Clarke have been transferred to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collections.