PalZ

Li, Lixia; Janussen, Dorte; Zhan, Renbin; Reitner, Joachim

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00452-3pmid: N/A

Rossellids are geographically widespread in the modern deep-water sponge community. They are referred to Lyssacinosida, characterized by hypodermal pentactines and choanosomal megascleres of hexactines and diactines or the latter only. The fossil records of rossellids are usually found in the Cenozoic, with the earliest existence known from the Upper Cretaceous, later than the molecular phylogenetic result. A new lyssacinosan hexactinellid, Palaeorossella sinensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the uppermost Ordovician of Anhui, South China. The sponge shows a saccular, globular or oval form with relatively thick wall. The skeleton is lyssacine type mainly composed of hexactines and stauractines, with the outer margin reinforced by hypodermal pentactines, which usually protrude the periphery as prostalia lateralia. The new species is well-preserved with typical hypodermal and prostalia pentactines as well as an articulated skeleton, giving some tentative insights into the affinity between the new species and other taxa in Rossellidae. It represents the oldest record of rossellids, providing new information for understanding the phylogeny of rossellids and on the evolution of modern Hexactinellida.

Streng, Michael; Geyer, Gerd

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00448-zpmid: N/A

Bradoriid arthropods (class Bradoriida) are described for the first time from the lower–middle Cambrian boundary interval (regional Agdzian Stage) of the Franconian Forest in eastern Bavaria, Germany. The specimens originate from the Tannenknock and Triebenreuth formations, which are part of a shallow marine succession deposited at the margin of West Gondwana. Five different forms have been distinguished, Indiana aff. dermatoides (Walcott), Indiana sp., Indota? sp., Pseudobeyrichona monile sp. nov., and an undetermined svealutid, all of which belong to families that have previously been reported from and are typical of West Gondwana. However, at the generic level, all taxa are new for the region. Indiana is typical of shallow marine environments. So far it has been reported from Laurentia, Avalonia, and Baltica, and is considered to characterize the paleogeographic vicinity of Cambrian continents. Pseudobeyrichona has previously only been recorded from South China, and its new occurrence corroborates previous documentation of taxa from South China in northern West Gondwana. The presence of Indiana as a typical “western” taxon and Pseudobeyrichona among other typical “eastern taxa” confirms the unique biogeographical position of West Gondwana. The poorly known Indiana anderssoni (Wiman) and Indiana minima Wiman from the late early Cambrian of Scandinavia have been restudied in order to re-evaluate the two species and to refine the definition of Indiana. Indiana anderssoni represents a distinct species of Indiana, whereas I. minima is a pseudo-fossil.

Szawaryn, Karol; Kupryjanowicz, Janusz

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00467-wpmid: N/A

Discolomatidae are a small beetle family distributed in subtropical to tropical ecosystems. Many of the modern members of the genus Fallia Sharp inhabit Central America while some species occur on Hispaniola, the Galapagos Islands, and the Hawaiian islands. A new fossil species belonging to the same genus, F. palaeodominicana sp. nov., has been found in a piece of Dominican amber, and described as the first fossil member of the family. The presence of extant as well as extinct species of Fallia on Hispaniola provokes questions about the age and origin of the genus Fallia and how long ago it settled Hispaniola.

Donovan, Stephen; Janssen, Arie; Portell, Roger; Winter, A.

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00449-ypmid: N/A

Of the two highly fossiliferous but contrasting sedimentary successions in the upper Pliocene of Jamaica, only the fossils of the Bowden shell beds have received adequate study. The Hopegate Formation of the island’s central north coast is a thick and areally extensive unit, a raised reef rich in fossil scleractinian corals and benthic molluscs. However, it is well lithified and in part dolomitised, so it is difficult to collect the fossils, which are commonly indifferently preserved. To the fauna of the Hopegate Formation is added its first holoplanktic gastropod, Diacria trispinosa (de Blainville), a unique specimen preserved as an internal mould. All other molluscs from this formation are benthic. However, the presence of D. trispinosa is unexpected, as it likely spent most of its life in the deeper water zooplankton.

Schneider, Simon; Kelly, Simon

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00478-7pmid: N/A

A replacement name, Sogdianagonia nom. nov., is proposed for the megatrigoniid bivalve subgeneric name Turkestanella Tashiro, 1979, which is preoccupied by Turkestanella Klishevich, 1969, a genus name in Tentaculitida. In addition, Sogdianagonia nom. nov. is elevated from subgeneric to generic status.

Ewin, Timothy; Reich, Mike; Graham, Mark; Cournoyer, Mario

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00483-wpmid: N/A

Cyclocystoids are a poorly known, rare, extinct class of bi-facially flattened, disc shaped echinoderms, ranging from the Middle Ordovician to the Early Carboniferous. Articulated cyclocystoids are relatively common in the Ordovician but are rarer in younger strata. Here we describe Perforocycloides nathaliae new genus and species, from the early Silurian of Anticosti Island, Québec, Canada, the first articulated cyclocystoid from the Silurian of North America. This taxon is distinguished from other cyclocystoids by the number of variably sized marginal ossicles, the lack of interseptal plates, and the novelty of pores located in the distal part of the sutures between adjacent marginals on the dorsal surface. These dorsal intermarginal sutural pores led to canals which penetrated the contiguous area of the lateral surface of the marginals and emerged on the ventral surface between the cupules of adjacent marginals. These dorsal intermarginal sutural pores/canals appear to be unique to Perforocycloides and whilst their function is speculative, they provided some form of communication between the dorsal disc and the distal side of the ventral marginals/cupules. Perforocycloides most closely resembles the Ordovician–Silurian genus Zygocycloides, suggesting that this genus may have diversified more widely during the Silurian than previously reported. A review of global Silurian cyclocystoid distribution suggests taxa were geographically confined and that greatest diversity appears to have been located within Baltica. However, it also demonstrates our current limited knowledge. No specimens have been recorded from Gondwana (e.g. Africa, Australia, South America), Siberia, and North and South China, nor are any specimens known confidently anywhere from Přidolí strata.

Stumpf, Sebastian; Kriwet, Jürgen

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00451-4pmid: N/A

Here we describe a new, previously unrecognized elasmobranch microfossil assemblage consisting of isolated dental material from late Pliensbachian marginal marine, near-shore deposits of Grimmen in north-eastern Germany. The faunal composition indicates close affinities to other European pre-Toarcian elasmobranch-bearing localities, as it is predominantly composed of Hybodontiformes (Hybodus reticulatus?, H. hauffianus?, Lissodus sp.), Synechodontiformes (Palidiplospinax enniskilleni, P. occultidens, Paraorthacodus sp., Sphenodus sp.), and Hexanchiformes (Notidanoides sp.), as well as teeth attributable of the enigmatic Early Jurassic galeomorph shark Agaleus dorsetensis. In addition, the here reported elasmobranch tooth assemblage includes the oldest undisputable fossil records of Orectolobiformes and Batomorphii, each being represented by a single complete tooth only. The orectolobiform specimen is reminiscent of hemiscyllids but left in open nomenclature due to its very generalized morphology preventing any taxonomic identification. The batomorph tooth, conversely, is characterized by a unique combination of morphological features, which allows the introduction of new genus and species, Antiquaobatis grimmenensis gen. et sp. nov. The fossil assemblage presented here contributes to our current knowledge of late Early Jurassic chondrichthyan diversity and distributional patterns, providing some support for the hypothesis that most modern neoselachian lineages were initially linked to marginal marine, near-shore environments, before moving into open marine, offshore habitats by the Toarcian.

Stinnesbeck, Eva; Rust, Jes; Herder, Fabian

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00461-2pmid: N/A

The platy limestone deposit of Vallecillo, located in north-eastern Mexico, offers a wide variety of invertebrate and vertebrate species dated to the latest Cenomanian-middle Turonian (Late Cretaceous). The deposit is known to contain well preserved fossils, e.g., fishes, in which the bones are recrystallized to calcite but soft tissue is also preserved. The fish assemblage is dominated by pelagic fast swimmers but also includes the common pycnodont Nursallia gutturosum, a discus-like and compressed fish that was likely well-suited for maneuverability. A review of 90 individuals of this taxon indicates the presence of different ontogenetic stages, from early young to old age. The size range distribution of individuals also suggests intermittent migration out of the Vallecillo area. The taphonomical decay analysis of N. gutturosum allows for a differentiation of five preservational stages. The presence of frequently complete and articulated specimens suggests a deep dwelling life style, without carcass flotation to the surface.

Syromyatnikova, Elena; Roček, Zbyněk; Velde, Sabrina

doi: 10.1007/s12542-019-00477-8pmid: N/A

Latonia seyfriedi, the type species of the genus Latonia, was described by von Meyer (1843) based on an articulated skeleton from the middle Miocene (Serravallian) of Öhningen, Germany. Besides the holotype, four additional articulated skeletons are known from the type locality; all display only the ventral aspect. A similar frog reported by Lartet (1851) from the middle Miocene of Sansan, France was later assigned to the genus Latonia as L. gigantea based on disarticulated skull roof bones covered with sculpture. In the course of time, similar bones were recovered from numerous localities, but, because the dorsal surface of the cranial roof was not known for L. seyfriedi, they were mostly identified as L. gigantea. The crucial question of whether the skull roof bones of L. seyfriedi, especially the frontoparietal and maxilla, bear sculpture or not remained unresolved until recently, when specimen TMH 8438 from Öhningen was made available for micro-computed tomography (CT) investigations. The present study reveals that the frontoparietal is covered by pustular sculpture as in the L. gigantea neotype, and that the sculpture on the maxillae is similar in both taxa. Since other bones are also similar, we suggest that L. gigantea is a junior synonym of L. seyfriedi. Micro-CT scanning of TMH 8438 made it possible to reconstruct the original positions of the bones. It turned out that the nasals are sculptured and overlapped with the frontal processes of the maxillae as well as with the anterior end of the frontoparietal. This allowed us to reconstruct the shape and proportions of the skull.

Werneburg, Ralf; Witzmann, Florian; Schneider, Joerg

doi: 10.1007/s12542-018-00442-xpmid: N/A

A unique skull roof fragment of a relatively large-sized tetrapod of Viséan age from Chemnitz-Glösa, Saxony, is described. The specimen consists of three bones, an elongated supratemporal with a radially arranged dermal sculpture and the sulcus of the otical part of the infraorbital line, the medial portion of the squamosal which is sutured with the anterolateral supratemporal, and a small, strip-like tabular bone. A deep “otic notch” is indicated. This new tetrapod was predominantly aquatic, as indicated by the deep and relatively broad lateral line sulcus. The type of dermal sculpture and the configuration of the bones indicate that the specimen is probably an adult temnospondyl, with the course of the lateral lines resembling those of dvinosaurians. Together with Balanerpeton from Scotland, this is the geologically oldest temnospondyl and the oldest known tetrapod record in Germany up to now.