The first articulated ophiuroids to be recorded from Neogene deposits in the southern North Sea Basin are described as a new species, Ophiura paucilepis, based on two discs with portions of proximal arms preserved, plus an isolated arm fragment. The specimens were collected from the Oosterhout Formation (Pliocene, lower Zanclean to mid-Piacenzian, ca. 4.9–2.8 Ma) at sandpit ‘De Kuilen’ near Langenboom (province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands). A comparison with extant taxa from the North Sea and North Atlantic, such as O. albida, O. ophiura, O. sarsii and O. carnea, shows the fossil species to be characterised by a coarse disc scalation, which may be an ancestral state or a paedomorphic condition, similar to immature stages of extant taxa. The new species is compared to and distinguished from other records of mid-Cretaceous to Cenozoic taxa that have been assigned to the genus Ophiura either routinely, indiscriminately or with a query.

The study of extinct Eomyid rodents represents an important segment of Burkart Engesser’s scientific work. To pay tribute to Burkhard’s work, this paper presents remains of Eomyops Engesser, 1979 from the German Jüngere Serie localities Kleineisenbach, Giggenhausen, Marktl, Hammerschmiede and Hillenloh. Two Eomyops species are recorded, i.e. E. oppligeri Engesser, 1990 and E. catalaunicus (Hartenberger, 1966). A third form, only found at the locality Marktl, is retained in open nomenclature. In spite of the richness of the studied material, the time gap separating the individual localities does not allow to assess precisely the relationships between the species recorded.

The morphology of Gymnodiadema, until now incompletely documented from a single poorly preserved individual from the Callovian of Portugal, is clarified based on a new species from the Bajocian of Morocco. The new species has a plating and tuberculation pattern that is identical to that of the Cretaceous arbacioid Codiopsis, but has perforate tubercles. Gymnodiadema is accompanied in Morocco by the oldest species of Magnosia whose morphology is also described. Both Gymnodiadema and Magnosia are shown to retain their basicoronal interambulacral plates as adults, suggesting arbacioid affinities. The composition of arbacioids is reviewed and a phylogenetic analysis carried out of the better-known relevant taxa. Crown group arbacioids are shown to include the fossil taxa Noetlingaster and Arbia, and thus originated in the late Cretaceous. Like other echinoid groups, therefore, the expansion of arbacioids into deep-water settings occurred from the late Cretaceous onwards. Codiopsis, Gymnodiadema and Magnosia are identified as stem group members. The presence of two morphologically distinct clades of arbacioid in the Bajocian suggests that arbacioids must have split from their nearest living sister group much earlier, probably in the early Jurassic.

The new genus and species of surgeon fish, Glarithurus friedmani (Acanthuridae), from the Lower Oligocene (Rupelian) of Kanton Glarus, Switzerland, differs from all other acanthurid fishes, fossil and extant, by having a single anal-fin basal pterygiophore situated in the first interhaemal space, versus two or more such pterygiophores in all other taxa. The new taxon is based upon a 29-mm SL acronurus stage specimen that probably had already settled onto a benthic substrate from its pelagic larval stage and begun its transformation into a juvenile. It has a scalpel-like dermal spine on the caudal peduncle and a crest on the hyomandibular, which are derived characters that establish it as a member of the clade of higher acanthurins. Within that clade, it is unique because of the great depth of its basipterygium at the subpelvic keel.

A new collection of tests of the Chalk (Late Cretaceous) holasteroid echinoid Echinocorys ex gr. scutata Leske, occurring as clasts on the beach between Overstrand and Cromer, north Norfolk, England, show a range of features that have not been discussed hitherto. Unlike the previous report of similar reworked tests from the same locality, specimens are commonly not bored; where bored, Entobia and Caulostrepsis are commonest, and a sinuous boring (?) or burrow (?) immediately beneath the test surface is left in open nomenclature. Encrusting episkeletozoans, both Recent (bryozoans, serpulids, spirorbidae) and Late Cretaceous (bivalve? or brachiopod?, crinoid) are present on some better preserved tests.

The fossil record of phiomorph hystricognathous rodents from the Afro-Arabian Paleogene is important for understanding the origins and dispersal routes of the early crown hystricognaths. Here, we describe a “new” basal phiomorph genus and species, Acritophiomys bowni, based on complete upper and lower dentitions, mandibular fragments, and partial crania from the terminal late Eocene (~34 Ma) Locality 41 (L-41) in the Fayum Depression of northern Egypt. Acritophiomysbowni is the oldest and largest representative of the family “Phiomyidae”, being more or less the same size as contemporaneous gaudeamurids, and is one of the most abundant hystricognaths at L-41. The genus exhibits a mosaic of primitive and derived features, the former shared with primitive hystricognaths, such as Waslamys and Protophiomys from the earliest late Eocene, and the latter shared with Metaphiomys from early Oligocene (~31–29 Ma) sites in the upper sequence of the Jebel Qatrani Formation. Phylogenetic analysis of craniodental features, scored across a number of different hystricognathous groups, consistently places Acritophiomysbowni and members of the genus Phiomys as basal members of the phiomorph stem lineage, implying that the commonly used family “Phiomyidae” is a paraphyletic assemblage. Among other things, this material shows that basal members of the phiomorph clade consistently replaced dP4/4 with permanent P4/4, and suggests an African origin of stem and crown Phiomorpha.

A few isolated mammal teeth from some Greek coal samples of unknown origin represent a small bothriodontine anthracotheriid, ascribed to Elomeryx. Analysis of the coalification stage of the fossil-bearing coal samples indicates the Lower Miocene Moschopotamos coal pits (Katerini Basin) as the most probable site of origin. The studied teeth are metrically close to E. crispus from Western Europe but share dental apomorphies with E. borbonicus, and E. japonicus and along with Elomeryx material from some Greek and Turkish sites pose a number of systematic, biochronologic, zoogeographic and phylogenetic questions. In the light of new evidence it seems that a small but advanced Elomeryx spanned the Oligo-Miocene boundary of S. Balkans. Furthermore, a revision of the old southern Balkan record together with a parsimony analysis suggest that Bakalovia is a first stage within the evolutionary history of Elomeryx, which complicated phylogeography is further discussed.

We report herein new discoveries of Gliridae and Eomyidae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the new Early Miocene locality XJ 200604, located northwest to the Burqin city, northern Xinjiang province, China. These specimens represent three taxa of Gliridae, including a new species (Miodyromys asiamediae nov. sp., Microdyromys aff. orientalis and Eliomys? sp.), and four taxa of Eomyidae (Asianeomys aff. engesseri, Asianeomys sp., Keramidomys sp. and Eomyidae indet). The identification of two forms that are closely related to Microdyromys orientalis and Asianeomys engesseri suggests an Early Miocene age of the locality but does not allow a more precise age determination. The new discoveries of Gliridae and Eomyidae again reveal the relative scarcity of the two families in the Early Miocene of Central Asia, in contrast to the coeval rich European record. Such a discrepancy in taxonomic diversity and abundance is hypothesized as resulting from different environmental evolutions during the Early Miocene, most notably the onset of a mid-latitude dry climate in Central Asia linked to combine effects of the Tibetan Plateau uplift and the retreat of the Paratethys Sea.

The Guneri dome, situated in the Western Kachchh, is famous for its prominent exposures of Lower Cretaceous sandstone-dominated Guneri member belonging to the Bhuj formation. The ichnogenus Balanoglossites Mägdefrau, 1932 is reported for the first time from the Indian subcontinent and is represented by B. triadicus and B. ramosus, occurring in association with the tear-shaped boring Gastrochaeonolites. These trace fossils occur as a part of two, laterally extensive Glossifungites ichnofacies surface, representing omission suite assemblage. The detailed analysis of the trace fossil Balanoglossites along with lithofacies analysis suggests that it belongs to the Glossifungites ichnofacies surface and this trace fossil bearing surface corresponds to the Lower Cretaceous regressive phase that marks the unconformity of other parts of the Kachchh basin.

Ariidae catfish are described from the early Miocene Pirabas Formation in northeastern Brazil, Cantaure and Castillo formations in northwestern Venezuela, and Castilletes Formation in North Colombia. A skull from the Pirabas Formation is described as Cathoropsgoeldii, n. sp. and an otolith is identified as Cathorops sp. The otoliths from Cantaure, Castillo and Castilletes formations are described as Cantarius nolfi n. sp. and Bagreprotocaribbeanus n. sp. These coeval lithostratigraphic units reflect the Proto-Caribbean conditions and the shallow water tropical palaeoenvironment during the Miocene, particularly associated with marine coastal lagoon and estuarine influence.

The asteroid fauna from the Late Oxfordian marls (bifurcatus Zone, stenocycloides Subzone) of Savigna includes 11 taxa, distributed between 8 families, of which 1 (Plumasteridae) is new. A goniasterid of distinctive morphology, Hessaster longimarginalis, is described as new, as is an asteriid, Savignasterias villieri. The material was recovered by surface picking and processing over 1,000 kg of sediment, and includes 28 partial individuals and approximately 2,000 isolated ossicles in excellent preservation, which show fine details of the stereom architecture and additionally allow ontogenetic changes to be described. Detailed comparison with extant asteroids enables diverse ossicle types to be assigned precisely to individual taxa. The phylogenetic relationships of individual fossil species with living taxa are determined using characters derived from numerous skeletal elements, and it is shown that the benthopectinid and pterasterid species present in the Savigna fauna are basal to their respective families. In comparison with other assemblages collected from Jurassic clay facies, the Savigna asteroid fauna is unusually diverse. Importantly, the fauna includes elements typical of present day deep sea environments (bathyal and abyssal), living abundantly in Oxfordian shelf seas of about 50 m depth.

The pantodont Coryphodon is a frequently found component of early Eocene terrestrial faunas in North America, distributed widely from the Arctic to the Gulf Coast. The most northerly member of this genus of large herbivore is a new species that appears to be closest to the oldest known mid-latitude species, Coryphodon proterus from the Clarkforkian (Cf-2), late Paleocene, of Montana. Coryphodon is widely distributed during the early Eocene across the Holarctic, occurring also in England, Belgium, and France (MP7-9, early Eocene) on the one hand and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China (Gashatan-Bumbanian, late Paleocene-early Eocene, Xinjiang, Shandong, and Shanxi) on the other. Although other genera of Coryphodontidae, as well as of other pantodont families, appear to have had more sedentary habits, Coryphodon is noted for its wide distribution. Adaptations to a warm temperate northern climate, including its northern light regime, may be postulated for this genus of pantodont as well as a pattern of dispersal leading to its wide range across the Holarctic.

This paper provides new information on the Late Miocene small mammal assemblage from Plakias, which includes a re-evaluation of the rodents described in De Bruijn and Meulenkamp (Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Series B, 75(1), 54–60, 1972) and a description of the rodents and insectivores collected in 2011. Combined, they show a quite diverse fauna, dominated by the eomyid Eomyops cf. catalaunicus. The new collection yielded a hitherto unknown genus of murid (Cricetinae gen. et sp. indet), which brings, combined with Eumyarion leemanni and Cricetulodon cretensis, the number of murids on three. The previous identifications of the scuirids and glirids have been revised. Insectivores, not know from the original collection, are represented by Erinaceinae gen. et sp. indet, Lantanotheriumsanmigueli and Paenelimnoecus sp. The assemblage is tentatively correlated to the lower part of MN 9, with an estimated age of ~9.9 Ma.

A new species of early Hauterivian (Early Cretaceous) astropectinid starfish, Pentasteria? splendida, is recorded from strata assigned to the Endemoceras amblygonium ammonite Zone at Engelbostel, near Hannover (northern Germany). Although based solely on a lightly pyritised proximal arm fragment (most likely the result of a predator attack, which is also suggested by possible bite marks), preservation is otherwise excellent, with numerous spines on inferomarginals and adambulacrals retained. Distinguishing features include a distal row of three equal-sized spines on the oral surface of inferomarginals, plus two oblique rows of horseshoe-shaped spine bases on their lateral surface bearing spines of variable length, as well as the absence of large spine pits on superomarginals and adambulacrals. Two oral intermediate ossicles close to the disc margin apparently possess larger spine bases. For the time being, assignment to the family Astropectinidae is based on the occurrence of multiple spines on inferomarginal ossicles and paxilliform adoral ossicles, but placement in the genus Pentasteria is tentative, because superomarginal ossicles have closely spaced small granules rather than scale-like spinelets.

The mammalian fauna of the German locality Ulm-Westtangente from the Aquitanian Lower Freshwater Molasse is investigated. The fauna is compared to other rich European localities of the same time period. It is shown to be one of the richest localities for fossil mammals and brings interesting insights into the composition of the Aquitanian European faunas. Sixty-one species are identified and high affinities with the French central region are confirmed. Body mass distributions of insectivores, herbivores, omnivores and carnivores are analysed. Altogether, they showed that the environment at Ulm-Westtangente was probably a warm-temperate forest with grassland habitats, although temperature was still difficult to assess. Ulm-Westtangente lies between the Late Oligocene warm-temperate to subtropical conditions prevailing in Europe and the late Early to Middle Miocene very warm subtropical to tropical conditions of the Miocene Climatic Optimum. It thus represents an intermediate stage in the overall climatic evolution of the late Palaeogene–early Neogene of Europe. The comparison of its body mass distribution with a dataset of extant faunas indicates affinities with community structures found in nowadays temperate forests. However, the record of certain types of ectothermic vertebrates at Ulm-Westtangente precludes the presence of a typical temperate climate. The range of carnivore body masses is similar to what is known in extant communities, with species distributed in a restricted size range (small to middle sizes) in comparison to the insectivore/herbivore/omnivore species.

A succession of clays with thin shell beds from the French Ardennes, dated to the late Early Pliensbachian Davoei Zone and yielding abundant well-preserved remains of all five extant classes of echinoderms, is described here as a new Lagerstätte. The echinoderms occur in the form of isolated ossicles, semi-articulated plate aggregates and abundant intact skeletons with even the most delicate appendices preserved in place and the finest skeletal structures hardly blurred by recrystallisation. The outstandingly good preservation of the echinoderm specimens allows for a morphological assessment of the represented taxa in detail only rarely achievable by fossil material. The material described herein thus significantly contributes to a better understanding of the systematic position and phylogenetic background of many Early Jurassic echinoderm taxa. The echinoderms are considered to have been buried as an autochthonous or at least parautochthonous assemblage among clumps and beds of Modiolus bivalves. The depositional setting most likely represented a relatively shallow, near-shore soft-bottom environment in which conditions repeatedly favoured the settlement and subsequent effective burial of bivalve-echinoderm assemblages, leading to the formation of the thin highly fossiliferous shell beds intercalating the otherwise nearly sterile clays. The new Lagerstätte opens a unique window into the palaeoecology of an extinct shallow-water soft-bottom community closely comparable to recent analogues.

The Tachyoryctoides fossils found in the 1990s from the Early Miocene of Lanzhou Basin, China, are described as belonging to three species: T. engesseri sp. nov., T. minor sp. nov. and T. kokonorensis, in addition to some specimens that are indeterminate at the species level. The diagnosis of Tachyoryctoides has been reviewed based on all the known species. Detailed character analysis seems to support Aralomys as a junior synonym of Tachyoryctoides. The discovery of a number of Tachyoryctoides species in Lanzhou Basin indicates that Tachyoryctoides might have split into at least two groups even since the Late Oligocene. Judging by its cranial morphology and dental characters, Tachyoryctoides seems to stand rather apart from Rhizomyidae, Spalacidae and Cricetidae, a fact in favor of defending a separate family, Tachyoryctoididae, for Tachyoryctoides and the closely related genera, Eumysodon and Ayakozomys.

The holasteroid Echinocorys is a common, robust echinoid in the Upper Cretaceous–Danian Chalks and limestones of northern Europe. It formed hard substrates that were infested by a variety of encrusters and borers during its life and after death. Echinocorys is also a durable fossil. Tests occur as clasts on the beach at Overstrand, and between Overstrand and Cromer, north Norfolk, eastern England. Reworking from (mainly) coastal sections has reintroduced Chalk Echinocorys into the benthic environment over 70 million years after its death and inhumation, with rare specimens washing up on the beach at these localities. Unsilicified Echinocorys tests form a taphonomic series. The oral surface is the stable resting surface which is commonly not bored unless the exposed Chalk infill is strongly infested by Entobia isp. Clean, unbored tests grade through specimens where the test calcite is perforated by Entobia isp. to remnants where most of the apical surface of the echinoid has been lost by boring, and the Chalk infill is perforated by Caulostrepsis cf. taeniola Clarke, Entobia isp. and rare Gastrochaenolites isp. In contrast, flint steinkerns and external moulds are not bored. Four principal lines of evidence are used to determine the time of occurrence of these borings: (1) comparison with common Chalk borings known from Echinocorys; (2) tests are invariably infilled with well-lithified Chalk, but (with one exception) borings preserve no evidence of prior infilling; (3) the suite of borings are typical of modern lithoclasts on the beach; and (4) flint echinoids preserve no evidence of modern borings. Lack of Cretaceous encrusting organisms is further evidence that suggests most borings may be modern. There is only a limited indication of a mix of modern and ancient (Oichnus isp., indeterminate U-shaped boring) borings as has been noted previously in a belemnite from Overstrand.

An almost complete, ornithocheirid pterosaur from the Romulado Member of the Santana Formation, NE Brazil is described. The specimen lacks a rostral and dentary median sagittal crest and is sufficiently distinct from other crestless taxa to warrant the erection of a new genus and species, Barbosania gracilirostris gen. et sp. nov. It confirms the absence of a crest as a genuine condition rather than a consequence of ontogenetic immaturity and indicates a shift from the previously observed pattern of suture closure in pterodactyloid pterosaurs, where partial fusion of the extensor tendon process has occurred at a relatively small size. Several specimens showing morphology similar to Brasileodactylus may instead be more closely allied to B. gracilirostris.

New dental material—one maxilla bearing P3 and P4—of Early Pliocene hyaenid Hyaenictitherium pilgrimi from the Dhok Pathan Formation of Hasnot is described and discussed. The presence of this hyaenid from the Early Pliocene (Ruscinian equivalent) deposits at Hasnot is an important fossil record of this species from the Siwalik continental deposits of Pakistan. The purpose of the paper is to provide more information about the fossil record and its stratigraphic extension from Late Miocene to Early Pliocene from the Siwalik continental deposits.

Ceresiosaurus is a secondarily marine reptile that lived during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian–Anisian) in a subtropical lagoonal environment with varying open marine influences. The genus comprises two species, Ceresiosaurus calcagnii and C. lanzi, and represents one of the largest vertebrate of up to 3-m snout-tail length from the UNESCO World Heritage site Monte San Giorgio, which is settled along the Swiss–Italian border. Earlier morphological studies identified this genus as basal sauropterygian still possessing many similarities with the plesiomorphic ancestral terrestrial condition. Interspecific morphological variation was interpreted as indicator for different habit(at) preferences by ascribing two locomotion types for each of the species. In this study, detailed data on the microstructure of the long bones are given and findings were put into a palaeoecological and phylogenetic context in comparison to other sauropterygians from Monte San Giorgio. Results showed that both Ceresiosaurus species retain a calcified cartilaginous core in the medullary region in at least young individuals. They both exhibit cyclical bone growth of lamellar to parallel-fibred bone matrices with undulating incremental growth marks and low to moderate vascularisation (lamellar-zonal bone tissue type). Interspecific variation comprises differences in the distribution of differently organised bone matrices and the size, orientation and number of vascularisation. The vascularisation pattern (abundance and orientation of the canals) of the pachyosteosclerotic long bones of C. calcagnii mostly resembles the histotype of the stratigraphically youngest pachypleurosaurid from Monte San Giorgio, Neusticosaurusedwardsii (except for the presence of primary osteons in the cortex of the former). The bone sample of C. lanzi is only osteosclerotic and most similar to young Nothosaurus (except for the irregular presence of fibrolamellar bone in the latter). The slightly different growth pattern already at young ontogenetic stages might be linked to a different mode of life within the restricted lagoonal basin for Ceresiosaurus, which supports previous studies on the morphological data that ascribed two different locomotion types.

Ptychodus atcoensis is a characteristic Late Cretaceous durophagous shark, with a fossil record that was previously known exclusively from the Coniacian Atco Formation in Texas, USA, North America. We illustrate and describe for the first time a partial articulated tooth set of P. atcoensis, from the Cretaceous of the Venezuelan Andes, representing the only known record of this species outside of North America, thus significantly increasing the palaeobiogeographic distribution of this taxon. This partial tooth set also documents characteristic variation in the teeth of P. atcoensis that will allow isolated teeth of the species to be more readily identified and located in the dentition.

Crinoid cirri are generally considered primarily as structures that anchor the animal to the substrate; however, a swimming function for cirri has also been suggested. Most notably, it has been claimed that an extant comatulid, Dorometra nana, was observed swimming with its cirri. Because no muscles have ever been found in the cirri of crinoids, cirrus movement must involve another mechanism, and recent reports of contractile properties of crinoid ligament suggest that it might be the connective tissue that is responsible. Given the reported mechanical properties of cirral ligament, and the morphology and weight in water of D. nana, we tested the claim of cirrus swimming using a biomechanical model. Our results indicate that the thrust generated by cirri can account only for a very small fraction of what would be needed to overcome the weight of the animal in water, suggesting that D. nana cannot swim with its cirri. A similar approach applied to the Jurassic isocrinid, Pentacrinus briareus (=P. dichotomus), with unusually numerous, long and flattened cirri, also fails to support previously hypothesized cirrus swimming in this taxon.

The mammalian microfauna from the karstic fissure fill site Sondershausen in Thuringia is presented. It is the first record of Pliocene micromammals in Central Germany and includes 621 identified specimens of 13 species, mostly isolated teeth and only a few jaw fragments. Nearly three quarters of the specimens belong to the dormouse Glis minor. The vespertilionid bats, represented by two Myotis species, make a contribution of ca. 20%. In terms of numbers of specimens, the remaining species are negligible. The micromammal assemblage probably derives from an accumulation of regurgitation pellets from an owl. The fauna correlates with the late Ruscinian Mammal unit MN 15, with the eomyid Eomyops and the flying squirrel Blackia as Miocene holdovers and the cricetids Cseria, Baranomys and Bjornkurtenia as Ruscinian newcomers. The sciurid, the eomyid and in particular, the stunning abundance of the dormouse Glis minor are strong indicators of a forest-dominated environment.

Tree shrew fossils are extremely rare. Here, we report two new tupaiine tree shrews, Prodendrogale engesseri sp. nov. and Tupaia storchi sp. nov., discovered from the late Miocene deposits of Yuanmou Lufengpithecus locality of Yunnan Province in China. P. engesseri is very close to the slightly younger species P. yunnanica Qiu (Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 24: 308–319, 1986) from the Lufeng Lufengpithecus locality of Yunnan Province. Relatively lower crowns and less trenchant tooth cusps of P. engesseri show that P. engesseri is more primitive than P. yunnanica. Tupaia storchi is a species larger than Palaeotupaia sivalicus Chopra and Vasishat, 1979, T. minor Günther, 1876 and T. javanica Horsfield, 1822, but smaller than all the other extant species of Tupaia and T. miocenica Mein and Ginsburg, 1997. The mesiobuccal side of the lower molar of this species develops a very strong cingulid. It should be interpreted as a primitive condition. Discovery of diverse tree shrew fossils in Yunnan suggests that multiple evolutionary lineages of tree shrews must have coexisted in a very large area in East Asia.

Since the first exploitation of the Huppersandstones quarry of Rickenbach (Canton Solothurn, Switzerland) in 1898, many fossils of plants, molluscs, and vertebrates have been discovered. The study of the small mammals brought this locality to international recognition as the type locality for the European mammalian reference level MP29 (latest Oligocene). Our study reviews the terrestrial herbivorous mammals of Rickenbach and aims to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions in which they lived. The perissodactyls and cetartiodactyls are described and identified: Protapirus sp. (Tapiridae), Ronzotherium romani and Diaceratherium lamilloquense (Rhinocerotidae), Anthracotherium magnum and Microbunodon minimum (Anthracotheriidae), Palaeochoerus pusillus (Suoidea), and Dremotherium guthi, “Amphitragulus” quercyi, “Amphitragulus” feningrei, and Babameryxengesseri gen. et sp. nov. (Ruminantia). Based on the updated faunal list, a cenogram of the locality of Rickenbach is established. We also performed ecomorphologic analyses on ruminants and rhinocerotids. The reconstructed palaeoenvironment of Rickenbach probably corresponded to a savannah woodland affected by a subtropical climate with clear seasonality.

The internal, multi-element skeleton of echinoderms can differentiate almost as much as that of the vertebrates. The implied probability of post-mortem disarticulation was bypassed in pelagic species, whose carcasses could sink directly onto toxic sea bottoms. Among them were isocrinids attached to driftwood. In the Toarcian Posidonia Shales they are represented by two easily distinguishable forms: (1) the giant and long-stemmed Seirocrinus was probably a passive tow-net filtrator; (2) the smaller and heavily cirrated Pentacrinites may have produced its own filter current, even though this assumption is in conflict with the distribution of muscles in present-day benthic Isocrinida. In a newly discovered colony of the smaller Early Liassic Pentacrinites fossilis, both strategies are found together. This leads to the hypothesis that the two Toarcian forms may also represent developmental stages of the same species. After the Toarcian, Seirocrinus (as either a taxon or a developmental stage) became extinct, probably due to shipworms reducing the drifting time of logs. In contrast, the proposed feeding style of Pentacrinites allowed it to return to the benthic realm, but in an inverted attitude. During this complex history, most adaptational changes required only heterochronic shifts in the development of tegmen, arms, pinnules, stem, and cirri. Unrelated pseudoplanktonic crinoids of earlier times show convergent adaptations with different pathways.

A revision of the Late Turolian (Messinian)–Biharian (Early Pleistocene) lagomorphs from Tuscany kept in the collections of the Basel Naturhistorisches Museum is the basis for increasing our knowledge on the Late Neogene and Quaternary Italian lagomorph record. The study of the NMB collection has been combined with a revision of coeval Tuscan lagomorphs recorded in the collections of the University of Florence. The taxa herein studied and described represent three leporids (Alilepus meini from the Early Messinian of Baccinello V3, Trischizolagus sp. from the latest Messinian of Borro Strolla, and Oryctolagus valdarnensis from the Early Pleistocene of Upper Valdarno) and two ochotonids (Prolagus cf. sorbinii from the Early Messinian of Velona and the latest Messinian to earliest Pliocene of Borro Strolla, and Prolagus aff. sorbinii from the Late Pliocene of Arcille and the Early Pleistocene of Upper Valdarno). The taxonomic study is completed with notes on evolutionary tendencies and palaeobiogeography of the studied species.

Recent extensive investigations in the Salt Range (Pakistan) yielded abundant, well-preserved ammonoid faunas of earliest to latest Smithian age that provided the basis for a major revision of Smithian ammonoid taxonomy and for the establishment of a high-resolution biostratigraphic sequence. Here, an additional new ammonoid fauna of typical early Smithian affinity from the uppermost part of the Ceratite Sandstone of the Nammal Gorge section is described. The new fauna, termed Euflemingites cirratus beds, is bracketed between the underlying early Smithian “Flemingitesflemingianus beds”, here renamed Clypeoceras superbum beds, and the overlying middle Smithian Brayarditescompressus beds. Comparison with a recently published high-resolution biochronological scheme for the Smithian of the NIM (northern Indian Margin) based on the Salt Range, Spiti (Himachal Pradesh, northern India) and Tulong (South Tibet) basins shows that the Euflemigites cirratus fauna correlates with the Dieneroceras beds from Spiti based on the common occurrence of the ammonoid species Kraffticeras pseudoplanulatum. The trans-panthalassic biogeographical distribution of Euflemingites cirratus allows correlating the new ammonoid fauna with part of the Meekoceras gracilitatis ammonoid zone of western USA. Three new species (Kashmirites weisserti, Arctoceras schalteggeri and Vercherites wyleri) are described.

This first analysis of the marine fish fossil record in the Caribbean region during the Neogene is based on comprehensive new faunal compilation lists at the generic level from basins of nine Central and South American countries during Miocene and Pliocene times. Joint ordination and classification techniques were used to analyze data comprising 236 genera and 346 species. Principal Component Analyses were used to calculate covariance and variance between localities. We identified four subprovinces, representing four different patterns. The subprovince of Venezuela shows distinct and unique features since the Neogene in the diversity of ecosystems represented. The Antillean subprovince has a western orientation and is composed of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and the Trinidad islands. The third subprovince combines Panama and Ecuador. It reflects the Pacific faunal influence into the proto-Caribbean and a characteristic benthopelagic fauna. The fourth subprovince is Costarican. Its nektonic fish fauna reflects the overprinting impact over the proto-Caribbean fish fauna mostly due to local paleoenvironmental changes (neritic, estuarine and deep water assemblages), whereby the overall composition of genera is largely not affected (except few lamnids, such as the giant-toothed white sharks and the wide-toothed mako shark). The results of the analyses are concordant with previous ones based on invertebrates and identified regions in need of study (e.g., Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Brazil).

The Late Miocene Urumaco Formation, Northwestern Venezuela, one of the most fossiliferous units in the Neogene of tropical America, represents a shallow, marginal marine to deltaic wetland and fluvial system. A new extinct species of sea catfishes is described from the Urumaco Formation. Aspistor verumquadriscutis n. sp. is placed in the genera Aspistor based on five synapomorphies shared with modern congeners: epioccipital dorsally exposed, parieto-supraoccipital posterior margin convex, nuchal plates forming a large butterfly-shaped or moon-shaped structure, anterior margin of nuchal plate slightly concave, and nuchal plate overlapping parieto-supraoccipital. The new fossil species is distinguished from its modern congeners by having a shorter parieto-supraoccipital process, and a larger and longer nuchal plate, nuchal plate length 0.9–1.0 in parieto-supraoccipital process length (vs. 1.1–1.7 in A. luniscutis), and nuchal-plate width at medial area 0.9–1.0 in parieto-supraoccipital process length (vs. 1.1–1.5 in A. luniscutis); nuchal plate granulose over its entire surface (vs. with half lateral surface smooth in A. quadriscutis), nuchal plate subquadrangular shaped, almost as long as wide (vs. nuchal plate subtrapezoidal or butterfly shaped, anterior portion always narrower than the posterior portion in A. quadriscutis), and lateral margin of the nuchal plate straight (vs. with a constriction at the medial portion in A. quadriscutis).

The postcranial elements of two similar sized and juvenile individuals, along with a partial skull, are attributed to the Early Cretaceous pterosaur Tapejara wellnhoferi. The remains, recovered from a single concretion of the Romualdo Member, Santana Formation, NE-Brazil, represent the first account of multiple specimens having settled together and allow for a complete review of postcranial osteology in tapejarid pterosaurs. A comparison of long bone morphometrics indicates that all specimens attributed to the Tapejaridae for which these elements are known (i.e. Huaxiapterus, Sinopterus, Tapejara) display similar bivariate ratios, suggesting that Chinese and Brazilian taxa must have exhibited similar growth patterns. An unusual pneumatic configuration, whereby the humerus is pierced by both dorsally and ventrally located foramina, is observed within T. wellnhoferi, while the pneumatic system is inferred to have invaded the hindlimbs via the femur in all members of the Azhdarchoidea. The partial preservation of the endocranial cavity allows for a reconstruction of the tapejarid brain, where despite a small orbit with respect to skull size, the presence of large flocculi and ocular lobes indicate that Tapejara possessed both excellent balancing and visual systems as a consequence of its aerial lifestyle.

After their near-extinction around the end of the Permian, crinoids recovered during the Triassic and re-occupied almost all ecological niches they had held in Palaeozoic times. Triassic crinoids comprise 33 genera in 12 well-defined families and 5 orders of the subclass Articulata; the systematic position of 4 additional families is unknown. The highest diversity was before the Mid Carnian Wet Intermezzo that caused the extinction of the order Encrinida. Major morphologic changes were connected with the adaptation to various benthic habitats and to pseudoplanktonic and eleutherozoic modes of life. Convergently, the cups of Encrinida and Holocrinida–Isocrinida became cryptodicyclic with large muscular radial facets, arm numbers increased from 5 to more than 300, and the arms of Encrinida became gradually biserial. The Encrinida remained permanently fixed to hardgrounds and acted as frame builders in bioherms. By encrusting bivalve mudstickers some dadocrinids also became secondary soft bottom dwellers. The holocrinid stem evolved preformed rupture points at the lower nodal facets, allowing these crinoids to attach intermittently by cirri. The pseudoplanktonic traumatocrinids evolved extremely long, flexible stems with multiple pore systems and terminal root cirri. Paracomatulids and eocomatulids reduced their stems and adapted to an eleutherozoic mode of life. Somphocrinids miniaturized and remodeled their skeleton towards lightweight construction and adapted to a planktonic life style. After the Triassic no fundamentally novel adaptation was added. Crinoidal limestones, as common in the Palaeozoic, had their last appearance in Middle Triassic times.

Very few Jurassic bryozoans have been recorded from Switzerland. The discovery in the collections of the Universität Zurich of a very distinctive cyclostome bryozoan from the Aalenian of Gelterkinden in the Basel-Country Canton, warrants the creation of a new monospecific genus, Rorypora gen nov. The type species of Rorypora, Diastopora retiformis Haime, 1854, was originally described from the French Bajocian. This genus has a ‘cribrate’ colony-form comprising flattened bifoliate fronds that bifurcate and coalesce regularly to enclose ovoidal lacunae. Unlike the much commoner fenestrate colony-form, apertures of feeding zooids open on both sides of the fronds. The taxonomic distribution of cribrate colonies in bryozoans is reviewed. They are most common in Palaeozoic ptilodictyine cryptostomes but are also found among Palaeozoic cystoporates and Cenozoic cheilostomes, as well as the single known cyclostome example described here. Cribrate colonies therefore provide a striking example of multiple evolutionary convergence. In contrast to fenestrate colony-forms, feeding currents cannot be channelled through the lacunae in cribrate colonies to generate a one-way flow of water for efficient suspension feeding. Instead, the holes are inferred to be the locations of chimneys over which exhalent currents are vented in opposite directions on either side of the planar colony.

Encrinus liliiformis is a well known crinoid from the middle Triassic Muschelkalk of Europe. A statistical analysis of crown shape was conducted in order to quantify possible differences in crown morphology of E.liliiformis originating from three localities in Southwest Germany (Upper Muschelkalk). These differences basically refer to the length of the brachia and ornamentation patterns on the aboral surfaces of the brachials. The populations originate from different environments: Crailsheim, reflecting a shallow water habitat on a carbonate ramp; Neckarwestheim and Mistlau, originating from a deeper basinal environment. The analysis led to a distinction of two ecophenotypes adapted to the varying habitats: (1) an ecophenotype originating in shallow water showing shorter brachia with less ornamented surfaces of brachials; this type is represented by the Crailsheim population; (2) an ecophenotype originating in a deeper water environment showing longer brachia and a higher degree of ornamentation on brachial surfaces, as represented by the Neckarwestheim population. The crinoids from the Mistlau locality take up an intermediate position in morphology, but the low number of specimens does not allow for statistically significant comparisons. Interpretations of these differences in crown morphology are made with respect to reactions to predatory pressure as well as to variations in water flow energy which is of prime importance for obtaining food resources for these filter feeding animals.

Foot proportions, and in particular the lengthening of the tarsal elements, play a fundamental role in the discussion on the locomotor adaptations of Palaeogene primates. The elongation of the distal portion of the tarsus, particularly the anterior part of the calcaneus, is frequently interpreted as an adaptation to leaping and has played a fundamental role in the reconstruction of the locomotor adaptations of the earliest primates. Here, we report an allometric analysis of calcaneal proportions in primates and other mammals, in order to determine the actual differences in calcaneal proportions. This analysis reveals that primates as a group display a relatively longer distal calcaneus, relative to both total calcaneal length and body mass, when compared with other mammals. Contrary to current expectations, morphofunctional analysis indicates that a moderate degree of calcaneal elongation is not an adaptation to leaping, but it is merely a compensatory mechanism to recover the lost load arm (metatarsal length) when the foot adopts a grasping function, in order to maintain the same locomotor efficiency. Leaping can be inferred only when anterior calcaneal length departs from the scaling of non-specialized primate groups. The role of leaping on the inferred locomotor repertoire of earliest primates needs to be revised considering the results of this work.

The stereom microstructure of columnal latera in various articulate crinoids is examined to ascertain its potential application in phylogenetic studies. Most show either a poorly ordered labyrinthic stereom or a more regularly ordered perforate stereom with lumina arranged in an en echelon pattern. Labyrinthic stereom is taxonomically widespread and is interpreted here as the plesiomorphic state. Perforate stereom, typically with an en echelon arrangement of elliptical lumina, appears confined to the Isocrinina and is considered to be apomorphic for that group. The absence of any development of perforate stereom in the bourgueticrinid Democrinus suggests that the bourgueticrinids have affinities with the comatulids rather than with the isocrinids. A second type of perforate stereom, with sinuous or straight lines of circular to elongate lumina, has been found only in Pentacrinites and may be autapomorphic for that group. The shape and spacing of stereom lumina on the columnal latera of different genera of isocrinids displays minor variation that may have some value for assessing phylogenetic affinity at genus and family level in taxa known only from columnals.

New or poorly known Soricids from the Early Miocene of Central France (Limagne d’Allier) and from the Middle Miocene of South-Eastern France (near Lyon) are studied; one new genus (Viretia) and a new species (Carposorex burkarti) are described. The soricid assemblages of the Early and late Early/Middle Miocene localities are totally different from each other and new information about appearance and evolution of the taxa are introduced. The following are lists of studied taxa for the beginning of the Early Miocene: Clapasorex bonisi, Clapasorex aff. sigei, Carposorex burkarti nov. sp., Soricella cf. discrepans, Oligosorex aff. antiquus and Crocidosoricinae indet, and for the late Early/Middle Miocene Dinosorex sansaniensis, Dinosorex pachygnathus, Heterosorex delphinensis, Miosorex desnoyersianus, Miosorex grivensis, Lartetium dehmi, Lartetium ziegleri, Turiasorex pierremeini, Viretia nov. gen. gracilidens, Paenelimnoecus micromorphus, Paenelimnoecus crouzeli and Hemisorex robustus.

Depth reconstruction based on the extrapolation to fossil assemblages of present-day depth ranges of closely related groups is one of the most widely used approaches in palaeobathymetry. Here, we assess the ophiuroid fauna of the Bajocian to Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) Hauptrogenstein Formation and coeval formations in Switzerland with respect to the depth ranges of extant members of the groups identified. In addition to previously known taxa, we describe three new species, one assignable to the extant genus Ophiotholia within the family Ophiomycetidae (resurrected herein), and two belonging to new genera within the family Ophiacanthidae. The Hauptrogenstein ophiuroid fauna is shown to display a striking similarity to modern bathyal brittle star assemblages. In combination with taphonomic evidence of the autochthonous nature of the ophiuroid occurrences, the direct extrapolation of present-day depth ranges, as performed in various previous studies, would imply the Hauptrogenstein Formation to have been deposited in a bathyal setting. This, however, is in stark contrast with the generally accepted, sedimentology-based concept of this unit as a very shallow, high-energy carbonate platform deposit. Evidently, direct extrapolation of modern depth distribution patterns fails to provide a reliable palaeobathymetrical assessment here. In this respect, the case of the Hauptrogenstein ophiuroid fauna serves as a remarkable example to stress the pitfalls of assemblage-based palaeodepth estimates: (1) depth distribution patterns might not be controlled by water depth, or not even by a factor directly related to depth, (2) habitat preferences of a group might have changed through time without being reflected by morphological modifications and (3) shifts in depth ranges might occur due to the rise or extinction of groups interacting with the organism in question. Thus, extrapolation of present-day depth ranges to ancient communities can only produce reliable palaeodepth estimates if there is a mechanistic explanation why organisms are confined to a particular depth.

On Aferdou El Mrakib, a large reef mound in the Maïder region (Anti-Atlas, Morocco), thick-shelled gypidulids of two genera are locally very abundant. Like Stringocephalus in the shallow water limestone formations in Germany, these Moroccan brachiopods of the genera Devonogypa and Ivdelinia often display greenish shells. By analysing these shells by EDX, it turned out that the colour was possibly caused by impurities of Fe²⁺-ions. The concentration varies, indicating that the colour is less dependent on the concentration than on shell thickness, because only the thickest parts of the shells appear green and thin-shelled forms never display the green colour. There is also some indication that the Fe content increases towards deeper shell layers (further away from the surface). In addition, we examined the quality and spatial distribution of sublethal injuries in over 200 specimens of Devonogypa and Ivdelinia. Shape, spatial distribution on the shells, and abundance of the sublethal injuries support the hypotheses that (1) the injuries had several causes, (2) some of these were inflicted by predators, probably cephalopods, and (3) many fractures and deformations might have been caused by the brachiopod shells hitting each other in dense populations in agitated water. The existence of dense clusters, built by the association of members of both genera or of only one taxon, is corroborated by the patchy occurrence of these brachiopods.

A new tracksite located in the Mesozoic autochthonous series covering the Aiguilles Rouges Massif, circa 7 km to the NNE of the tracksite of the Vieux Emosson, is briefly described. The trampled bed is most likely coeval with the outcrop in the Vieux Emosson area. Two poorly preserved quadrupedal trackways, almost parallel, measure 9.8 and 8 m in length, respectively. They are referred to the Chirotheriidae ABEL, 1835 form-family. A short and well-preserved quadrupedal trackway, composed of two manus-pes couples, is assigned to Chirotherium cf. barthii KAUP, 1835. A reinterpretation of the Vieux Emosson ichnotaxa reveals that most tracks, if not all, belong to indeterminate chirotheriid and that no clear evidence of dinosaur footprints is observed. The trampled bed of the cover of the Aiguilles Rouges Massif probably forms a megatracksite, which is Early or Middle Triassic in age.

Kionaster petersonae, n. gen. and sp., from the Miocene Chipola Formation of Florida, is the first-known fossil member of the extant family Asterodiscididae Rowe. Although abactinal and marginal expressions clearly serve to distinguish the Asterodiscididae, the family was recognized only relatively recently, in part perhaps because assigned genera are few and these occur in traditionally less heavily collected areas. The original inferred presence of reduced numbers of marginal ossicles in the family is rejected. Phylogenetic analysis suggests close affinities between asterodiscidids and Goniaster L. Agassiz, 1836 (Goniasteridae). Kionaster appears closest to the eastern Pacific asterodiscidids rather than Asterodiscides itself, which is widely distributed farther west in the Pacific. Distinctive characters of Kionaster suggest a once-greater diversity within the family. Although data are limited, morphologic similarities and biogeographic distributions suggest familial origin in a low-latitude Western Hemisphere setting and the Atlantic Ocean prior to the closing of the Isthmus of Panama.

We describe a new genus and species of woodpecker (Piciformes: Picidae), Piculoides saulcetensis, from the early Miocene (MN1–MN2) of Saulcet, in the “Saint-Gérand-le-Puy” area, central France, which is the earliest definite record of the family. The new species is represented solely by the distal end of a tarsometatarsus, which bears nonetheless diagnostic features that allowed us to place Piculoides saulcetensis in a phylogenetic context. Our results show that the fossil from Saulcet is either a stem-group representative of piculets (Picumninae) and true woodpeckers (Picinae) or of true woodpeckers only. Piculoides saulcetensis is similar to a fragmentary tarsometatarsus of a picid from the late Oligocene of southern Germany, and we thus hypothesize a close relationship between the two.

Several Middle Jurassic outcrops in the Ardèche Department near La Voulte-sur-Rhône and St-Étienne-de-Boulogne are rich in the remains of crinoids, but these were known from surface collections only and were not described using present standards of systematics. This paper brings the taxonomic status of the previously described crinoids up to date, reassesses the systematic position of some of the species based on cups and describes new forms. Sampling and washing of bulk material from the Lower Bathonian of the La Pouza locality yielded nearly 100,000 crinoid ossicles. Among them are rare comatulids with the following recognized as new: Andymetragalei n. g., n. sp., Palaeocomaster messingi n. sp., Singillatimetra inordinata n. g., n. sp. and Solanocrinitesvoultensis n. sp. These forms supplement the meagre record of Middle Jurassic comatulids and indicate that this group radiated well before the Late Jurassic. The Cyrtocrinida constitute the bulk of the crinoids and they are dominated by Cyrtocrinus praenutans n. sp. from which nearly all parts of the skeleton are described in their morphological variability. The La Pouza site furnished the additional new cyrtocrinids, Praetetracrinus bathonicus n. sp. and Phyllocrinusvoultensis n. sp. The material also includes numerous remains of the isocrinids Isocrinus dumortieri (de Loriol), Balanocrinus dumortieride Loriol, Balanocrinus pacomeide Loriol and Balanocrinus inornatus (d’Orbigny), which are described in some detail, including brachials. From the Upper Bajocian–Lower Bathonian locality of Pont des Étoiles, Pentacrinites ausichi n. sp. and the cyrtocrinid Scutellacrinus tenuis n. g., n. sp. are new to science. The results demonstrate that the Middle Jurassic crinoids from the Ardèche are one of the important and diverse Mesozoic crinoid faunas. Some forms bridge the gap between the Early Jurassic and the Late Jurassic hardground faunas of cyrtocrinids. Cyrtocrinus praenutans n. sp., a form similar to Cyrtocrinus nutans (Goldfuss) from the Oxfordian, is described as a separate species despite some overlapping phenotypic variability of cups and columnals. Pathological deformations on all types of ossicles of C. praenutans n. sp. are ascribed to the epizoan commensal Oichnus paraboloides Bromley. Different species are dominant at the different Bathonian localities, namely C. praenutans n. sp. at La Pouza and Phyllocrinus fenestratus (Dumortier) and Lonchocrinus dumortieri (de Loriol) at La Clapouze. Preservation and rock formation of the Upper Bajocian–Lower Bathonian Isocrinus nicoleti (Thurmann) at Pont des Étoiles suggests that this form lived in rather shallow and turbulent water. The dominance of cyrtocrinids and the presence of all growth stages and parts of the skeleton at La Pouza and La Clapouze suggest a deeper palaeoenvironment, with some transport of the ossicles.