Species of the late Osagean and early Meramecian advanced cladid crinoid genera (suborder Poteriocrinina) Adinocrinus, Eratocrinus, Lekocrinus n. gen., Linocrinus, Sarocrinus, and Worthenocrinus n. gen. from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri are redescribed and redefined from study of type material and museum collections. These species are considered to have advanced-grade calyces because of the substantial size reduction of the infrabasals and basals relative to the radials. Nomenclatural and systematic changes include the following: 1) Eratocrinus coxanus (Worthen, 1882) is a senior synonym of Zeacrinus keokuk Worthen, 1882; 2) E. commaticus (Miller, 1891a) is a senior synonym of Z. blairi Miller and Gurley, 1895; 3) Lekocrinus n. gen. is described and Scaphiocrinus divaricatus Hall, 1860, and Z. planobrachiatus Meek and Worthen, 1860, are assigned to this new genus; 4) Linocrinus praemorsus (Miller and Gurley, 1890a) is a senior synonym of Poteriocrinus lautus Miller and Gurley, 1896; 5) Sarocrinus kirki n. sp. is described; 6) P. varsoviensis Worthen, 1882, is assigned to Sarocrinus and is a senior synonym of P. tentaculatus Worthen, 1883, P. granilineus Miller and Gurley, 1890a, Z. pocillum Miller, 1891b, S. nitidus Kirk, 1942, and S. plenus Kirk, 1942; 7) P. asperatus Worthen, 1882, is assigned to Sarocrinus; 8) Worthenocrinus n. gen. is described and W. paterus n. sp. is assigned to this new genus; 9) Poteriocrinus iowensis Worthen, 1882, is considered a nomen dubium and placed in incertae sedis.

The recovery of fully sclerotized specimens of the retiolitid Agastograptus robustus Obut and Zaslavskaya permits the recognition of the relationship between the sicula and thecae 11 and 12 for the first time, and demonstrates unequivocally that the ancora sleeve (the “clathria” of earlier literature) is not homologous with the outer wall of normal diplograptaceans, but is a structure unique to Silurian retiolitids. The study supports earlier proposals that Silurian retiolitids arose, cladogenetically, from Pattern I, ancorate diplograptaceans by distal extension of the ancora/corona, to form the ancora sleeve, but further suggests that the sclerotization of the original diplograptacean outer wall (corresponding to the inner wall of the retiolitid of this study) was suppressed.

Several authors (Berry, 1916, 1931; Brooks, 1955; Cockerell, 1908, 1910) have reported evidence of damage by leaf-cutter bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from the Tertiary of the United States. These have been predominantly Eocene in age. During field investigations (1990-1991), four further fossil plant specimens with possible leaf-cutter bee damage were discovered from the middle Eocene sediments of the Klondike Mountain Formation near Republic (Ferry County), Washington (Figure 1), and are reported here to draw attention to the common occurrence of these kinds of insect “trace fossils” in the paleobotanical record.

The Coelophysis dinosaur quarry at Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiu, New Mexico, is unique among Triassic fossil sites for its yield of numerous complete and partial skeletons of a single species of theropod dinosaur (Coelophysis bauri). Since its discovery in 1947 by E. H. Colbert in the red siltstone beds of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, the quarry has yielded the remains of at least 1,000 individuals from approximately 30 cubic meters of excavated material. The main bone-bearing strata are abandoned channel deposits that are part of a siltstone overbank sequence. The Coelophysis remains found at the quarry are remarkably whole and well preserved, though they range in degree of articulation from complete skeletons to isolated limbs and bones. Skeletons, partial skeletons, and bones are crudely aligned and show little evidence of predator or scavenger disturbance or surface weathering. Geologic and taphonomic evidence suggests that the dinosaurs preserved in the Ghost Ranch quarry were transported to the site as carcasses by fluvial currents. The carcasses blocked a small channel and were subsequently buried by silts. Petrographic study and neutron activation analysis reveal no evidence of volcanic ash, paleopathologic osteology, or unusual chemistry in the quarry bone and sediments. The virtual monospecificity, taphonomy, and ecology of the assemblage suggest that the dinosaurs perished due to a regional environmental crisis, such as drought.

Skull bones of Gosfordia truncata Woodward, 1891, from the Lower Triassic Hawkesbury Sandstone of New South Wales, Australia, are described for the first time. The skull roofing pattern suggests possible affinities between G. truncata and Paraceratodus germaini (Triassic, southwest Madagascar). A three-dimensional reconstruction of the skull of Ceratodus formosus Wade, 1935, based on the holotype, found in a Lower Triassic deposit at Brookvale in New South Wales, is included. This reconstruction indicates that this species is not closely related either to the recent Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, or to the Triassic Ceratodus (Tellerodus) sturii from Nord Alpen in Austria, and it has no close affinities with G. truncata. A new genus, Ariguna, is therefore proposed to receive Ceratodus formosus Wade, 1935. Without associated tooth plate material, G. truncata and A. formosa cannot be defined more precisely.

The acastomorph calmoniid trilobite Andinacaste Eldredge and Braniša, 1980, has been known from the basal Devonian (Lower Lochkovian) of Bolivia. Andinacaste espejensis n. sp., described from probable Lower Lochkovian strata of the Los Espejos Formation in the Precordillera of San Juan Province, is the first Argentine record of this genus. Accordingly, Andinacaste is identified as a typical component of basal Devonian trilobite assemblages over a broad geographic range in Andean South America.

Based on biostratigraphic investigations in the eastern Siljan district, central Sweden, and combined with earlier studies at Hunneberg, south-central Sweden, it is shown that the early post-Tremadoc-age Paroistodus proteus conodont Zone can be divided into four successive subzones. These are, in ascending order: the Drepanoistodus aff. D. amoenus Subzone; the Tripodus Subzone; the Paracordylodus gracilis Subzone; and the Oelandodus elongatus-Acodus deltatus deltatus Subzone. The lowermost of the subzones is a concurrent range zone, with its reference section at Storeklev, Hunneberg, and the other three interval zones with the reference section at Sjurberg in the eastern Siljan district. Correlations between these two areas, as well as with the Flåsjö area, Jämtland, the Finngrundet core, and some other areas, are discussed, and it is concluded that the Drepanoistodus aff. D. amoenus Subzone and the Tripodus Subzone together correspond to the Megistaspis (Ekeraspis) armata trilobite Zone, and occur below the Hunnegraptus copiosus graptolite Zone. The Paracordylodus gracilis Subzone is equivalent with the lower part of the Megistaspis (Varvaspis) planilimbata trilobite Zone, and may correspond to the Hunnegraptus copiosus Zone. The uppermost subzone, the Oelandodus elongatus-Acodus deltatus deltatus Subzone, equals the upper part of the M. (V.) planilimbata Zone, and the local base of the Tetragraptus phyllograptoides graptolite Zone is close to the base of this conodont subzone. The last occurrences of T. phyllograptoides are close to the top of this conodont subzone. Also included in the investigation are the uppermost part of the uppermost Tremadoc Paltodus deltifer Zone and the conodont zones overlying the P. proteus Zone in the eastern Siljan district, the Prioniodus elegans Zone and the Oepikodus evae Zone; the latter zone corresponds to the trilobite zones of Megalaspides (M.) dalecarlicus and Megistaspis (Varvaspis) estonica. A few samples from the superimposed Baltoniodus triangularis, B. navis, and Paroistodus originalis Zones have been investigated and are described as well. The correlation of these conodont zones and subzones with those of areas outside Baltoscandia, particularly North America, is also discussed.

A previously undocumented echinoid fauna occurs in the terrigenous clastic sedimentary sequence of the Old Pera Beds (Lower Pleistocene) and the overlying Port Morant Formation (Upper Pleistocene) at Old Pera, parish of St. Thomas, southeast Jamaica. The fauna is comprised of complete tests (particularly from two horizons in the Port Morant Formation), test fragments, and radioles, and includes: Cidaris (Tretocidaris) bartletti (A. Agassiz); Eucidaris tribuloides (Lamarck); diadematoid indet. gen. and sp.; Echinometra viridis A. Agassiz; Echinometra? sp.; Clypeaster rosaceus (Linné); a juvenile C. subdepressus? (Gray); mellitid indet. gen. and sp.; clypeasteroid sp.; Schizaster doederleini Chesher; Meoma ventricosa (Lamarck); and irregular indet. gen. and sp. Schizaster doederleini is still extant in the Caribbean, but is not known to live in Jamaican waters. Schizaster doederleini and Meoma ventricosa are the first nominal spatangoids to be reported from the Jamaican Pleistocene.

The james ross basin, situated on the eastern margin of the Antarctic Peninsula, has yielded an extensive fauna of decapod crustaceans spanning Late Cretaceous through Eocene time. To date, 28 species in 22 genera and 18 families have been described (Feldmann, 1992; Feldmann, Tshudy, and Thomson, 1993), making this the most diverse fossil decapod fauna in the Southern Hemisphere. Within the basin, Seymour Island alone contains rocks of the Eocene age La Meseta Formation from which seven species of crabs, one galatheid, and one species of callianassid ghost shrimp have been described (Feldmann and Zinsmeister, 1984; Feldmann and Wilson, 1988; Feldmann, 1992). The fauna of the La Meseta is remarkable also because, although the organisms are preserved in rocks deposited in moderate- to high-energy, shallow-water habitats (Elliot and Trautman, 1982), many of the species represent early occurrences of taxa with living descendants that are characteristic of deeper water, lower latitude habitats (Zinsmeister and Feldmann, 1984).

An amphibian trackway collected in minespoil from the Cross Mountain Formation in the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee represents the first known Middle Pennsylvanian (Westphalian) amphibian trackway from the southeastern United States. The tracks are impressed onto the upper surface of a bed of fine-grained, cross-laminated sandstone and siltstone, deposited in an upper delta plain environment.

The trackway was made by an amphibian with a long glenoacetabular distance and low pace-angulation. The imprints show five digits on the pes and four on the manus. Average measurements for the trackway are: stride, 8.4 cm; pace angulation, 76.1° (manus), 63.1° (pes); track width, 5.5 cm (manus), 6.7 cm (pes); glenoacetabular distance, 16.7 cm. The manus impression averages 2.8 cm long by 3.1 cm wide, and the pes averages 3.8 cm long by 3.1 cm wide. A tail drag is conspicuous along the entire length of the trackway and has a minimum radius of curvature of 9 mm.

The trackway is assigned to Matthewichnus caudifer n. ichnosp. on the basis of similarities to published material. The trackmaker was probably a temnospondyl labyrinthodont, considering the size of the animal (thus excluding lepospondyls) and the fact that it had a four-digit manus (thus excluding reptiles and anthracosaurian labyrinthodonts).

A recently discovered vertebrate fossil-bearing locality in the Fleming Formation of easternmost Texas has revealed a highly diverse fauna that contains a minimum of 44 early Miocene vertebrate taxa. At least 17 different species of lower vertebrates were recovered including five fish, two amphibians, one lizard, two snakes, at least five chelonians, and two crocodilians. A tiny boid that compares favorably with Anilioides nebraskensis is the first record in the Gulf Coastal Plain, and remains of a large aquatic turtle referred to the genus Dermatemys possibly represent its first fossil occurrence. Other rare genera represented include the largemouth bass Micropterus, possibly the snook Centropomus, and the crocodilian Gavialosuchus. In addition, temporal and spatial range extensions are recorded for Micropterus and Alligator olseni. These taxa, along with the mammalian component to be discussed elsewhere, document the rare preservation of a forested subtropical to tropical coastal lowland paleoenvironment and provide evidence to imply that separation into mid-continent and coastal plain paleobiogeographic provinces had not yet occurred.

The extensive fauna of vertebrates from the Lower Devonian Water Canyon Formation of Utah was initially reported and described by Branson and Mehl (1930, 1931), and subsequently described in detail by Denison (1952, 1953, 1958, 1967). A major part of the fauna consists of heterostracans, particularly pteraspidids (Denison, 1953, 1967), and to date six species are known from the Water Canyon Formation. This fauna comes from the upper Emsian and is similar in age to that of the Beartooth Butte Formation of Wyoming and Montana, and also to faunas recently reported from Nevada and California (Elliott, 1989; Ilyes and Elliott, 1991, 1992).

The Trinity Division exposures at Junction, Kimble County, Texas, yield a rich charophyte flora dominated by clavatoraceans. The presence of Atopochara trivolvis ssp. trivolvis (Peck, 1938) Grambast, 1968, and Clypeator corrugatus (Peck, 1941) Grambast, 1962, indicates an Aptian age for these strata and makes them the continental equivalent of the Lower Glen Rose. Atopochara trivolvis, whose type-material was recovered from the Trinity in a deep well in southern Texas, is known from numerous freshwater to oligohaline lakes from the Mesogean area in Europe and North Africa as well as from Cretaceous oil-bearing basins in China. Charophytes are clear indicators of supratidal environments and the abundant remains at Junction suggest a positive structural feature in this part of central Texas that might have been either an island or directly connected to the Llano Uplift.

Fossil crinoids are poorly known from the Antillean islands. To the five taxa of fossil crinoid previously recorded from Jamaica are added two further species of isocrinid, both based on pluriocolumnals and left in open nomenclature. Austinocrinus n. sp. is the first Lower Cretaceous echinoderm to be described from Jamaica and represents the earliest report of this genus. It is the only fossil stalked crinoid from Jamaica to occur in a shallow-water deposit. Isselicrinus cubensis? (Valette, 1926) forms part of an allochthonous assemblage in the Lower Eocene Port Maria shell bed. Isselicrinus cubensis was originally described from Cuba, and the genus also occurs in Haiti, Mexico, and elsewhere.

Forty-seven samples of the Bromide Formation (Simpson Group) of south-central Oklahoma produced a collection of 10,216 conodonts assigned to 46 species. The conodont fauna is dominated by species of Phragmodus and Plectodina and indicates a latest Whiterockian to early Mohawkian (Black Riveran) or late Llandeilian to early Caradocian age. Five new species are named including Ansella crassa, Bryantodina aequalis, Plectodina edentula, Walliserodus declivis, and Pharagmodus ambiguus. The latter species is distinct from Phragmodus flexuosus Moskalenko, a species to which it has been assigned in past reports.

Analysis of conodont distribution with respect to the shallow-water Bromide lithofacies distinguishes shallow to deeper water conodont associations. Samples from shallower water facies contain Ansella crassa n. sp., Cahabagnathus sweeti (Bergström), Curtognathus spp., Eoplacognathus elongatus (Bergström), Erismodus typus Branson and Mehl, Oneotodus? ovatus (Stauffer), Phragmodus ambiguus n. sp., Phragmodus flexuosus, and Staufferella falcata (Stauffer). Samples from deeper water facies contain forms such as Ansella nevadensis (Ethington and Schumacher) and Baltoniodus gerdae (Bergström).

Palynoflorules containing sparse but regularly occurring chitinous-walled fungal, probably ascomycete, spores have been obtained from silty limestone nodules in the Jurassic Coon Hollow Formation in the Wallowa terrane in Hells Canyon, Idaho. The fungal spores are associated with moderately abundant embryophytic spores and pollen that suggest late Early Jurassic to early Middle Jurassic age, which agrees with dating provided by marine animals stratigraphically just above. The fungal spores constitute the most diverse such assemblage of robust-walled spores described from pre-Cretaceous rocks. Two new species of the fossil fungal spore form-genus Diporicellaesporites, D. idahoensis and D. serratulus, and one new species of form-genus Fractisporonites, F. pittsburgensis, are described.

The St. George Group in western Newfoundland is nearly 600 m thick and is subdivided into the Watts Bight, Boat Harbour, Catoche, and Aguathuna Formations. The group is a nearly complete Lower Ordovician succession representing about 15–20 m.y. The depositional environment of the St. George Group is represented by three main lithofacies (supratidal, peritidal, and subtidal), expressed as two first-order cycles and five second-order cycles.

In the study of St. George Group conodonts, over 70 multielement species are represented in 45,000 conodont specimens from 432 samples of 10 sections. Computer cluster analysis of most of those samples on the basis of similarity of conodont species was used to determine conodont community structure. Both the principal coordinate analysis (PCA) partitioning method and the agglomerative method (UPGMA with Bray-Curtis) were chosen for the statistical analysis. The four lithological formations and five secondary lithological cycles in the St. George Group emerge as distinct entities when the samples are clustered together on the basis of conodont data for analysis of first-order and second-order variations in community composition.

Two deeper water, five shallow-water, and five intermediate communities through this time interval are recognized. The majority of conodonts from these communities are of Midcontinent Realm affinities, but some species represent strong North Atlantic Realm influxes during the transgressive periods.

All species of North American marsupials from the Chadronian through Hemingfordian are reviewed. Most North American species of didelphids previously referred to Peratherium are allocated to Herpetotherium. Five species of Herpetotherium are recognized.

The Chadronian Peratherium donahoei Hough is synonymized with Herpetotherium valens (Lambe). The Orellan species Herpetotherium stevensoni Cope is resurrected and referred, along with the Chadronian Peratherium titanelix Matthew, to a new genus, Copedelphys. Both Copedelphys and Herpetotherium can be derived from known Duchesnean species of Peratherium from North America.

Two genera of peradectids are recognized, Nanodelphys McGrew and Didelphidectes Hough. Nanodelphys minutus is synonymized with “Herpetotherium” hunti Cope and a second species of Nanodelphys is recognized from the Arikareean, though not named.

The oligopygoid echinoid Haimea bajasurensis n. sp. is described from middle lower Eocene (”Capay Stage”) shallow-marine sandstones in the middle part of the Bateque Formation and shallow-marine limestones in the upper part of the Tepetate Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The new species is both the earliest and the westernmost oligopygoid, and the first occurrence of Haimea in North America.