Abstract Hyolitha represent one of the major constituents of the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna, first appearing in the Terreneuvian and rapidly diversifying soon after. Recent work has both enriched the hyolith fossil record and expanded our understanding of their biology, but studies documenting the evolutionary trajectory of Cambrian hyoliths remain scarce. Here we present the first study of changes in morphological disparity in Cambrian hyoliths over time with the aim of characterizing the evolutionary trajectory of hyoliths throughout their primary period of diversification. Our results show ..read more

Abstract The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Coalfield is formed by an almost continuous succession of upper Carboniferous deposits, from which an extremely diverse macroflora has historically been described. Recent evidence has highlighted a clear pattern of changing species diversity, showing some differences from what is seen in other coalfields of Variscan Euramerica. We further study this significant macroflora, focusing on the biostratigraphical changes and their palaeoecological implications. Clustering and ordination analyses have indicated key floral discontinuities that enable the standard region ..read more

Abstract Fossil evidence suggests that ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) diversified greatly after the largest mass extinction event at the Permian–Triassic boundary. This radiation resulted in a diversity peak in the Middle Triassic, which is manifested in diverse feeding specializations, especially among small-bodied Neopterygii. We present new material from an early Spathian (Early Triassic) outcrop in northern Dobrogea, southeast Romania. The material includes isolated jaw and palatal bones that evidently belong to a single individual, a durophagous actinopterygian, and isolated scales re ..read more

Abstract A rich and diverse charophyte flora is described from the Bathonian marginal marine beds of southern France. It includes nine species that belong to the families Porocharaceae, Characeae and Clavatoraceae: Porochara gr. fusca, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. kimmeridgensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. westerbeckensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. douzensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. obovata, Auerbachichara saidakovskyi, A. tataouinensis, Aclistochara mädleri and Echinochara cf. peckii. This is the most diverse Middle Jurassic flora reported from France and Laurasia to date, eluc ..read more

Abstract Enicocephalomorpha, also known as unique-headed bugs, are a seldom-collected infraorder of heteropteran insects whose evolutionary relationships have puzzled entomologists for more than a century. Unique-headed bugs are exceptionally rare in the fossil record, which hinders our understanding of the morphological transformations of the lineage across time and also affects the calibration of molecular clock estimates used to date the origins of the infraorder. Here, we report the discovery of Enicocephalinus ibericus sp. nov. from Iberian amber in the Ariño deposit in Spain, early Albia ..read more

Abstract This work presents a taxonomic, palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical study of the ostracod fauna around the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary from the El Matuasto section, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The analysis of 64 samples resulted in the recovery of 82 marine ostracod species, of which four are new: Hemiparacytheridea condilomata, Paramunseyella stictus, Hysterocythereis acuminata and Aleisocythereis? picnus. In addition, the genera Sapucariella, Monoceratina, Aracajuia, Microceratina and Pelecocythere are reported for the first time from the Neuquén Basin. Palaeoecological infe ..read more

Abstract A very rich gastropod fauna from the upper Anisian (Nevadites secedensis Zone) platform carbonates of the Dolomites, represented by more than 200 species, was collected over recent decades. Its study contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of the recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction. This paper deals with the Pleurotomariida. A total of 35 species, 22 genera and 9 families have been identified. Of these, 12 species and 7 genera are new, namely Rufilla wilckensi sp. nov., Rufilla giacomellii sp. nov., Viezzenella ruvida gen. et sp. nov., Temnotropis maestroettor ..read more

Cover: The echinoderm Cambroblastus guolensis from the Cambrian Sandu Formation of Guangxi, South China. Specimen is housed at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS 156159). Theca approximately 10 mm wide ..read more

Papers in Palaeontology, Volume 10, Issue 2, March/April 2024 ..read more

Abstract This study reports elasmobranch remains from two fossil-rich horizons in the earliest Danian Olching Formation at Waidach, Austria. These outer neritic assemblages complement previous fine-scale bulk-sampling of latest Maastrichtian horizons at Waidach and document a regional elasmobranch faunal turnover across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K–Pg) boundary. The Danian assemblages show homogeneity in species richness and are dominated by squaliforms. The fauna comprises 16 species belonging to 12 genera including several new taxa (Centrodeania rugosa gen. et sp. nov., Centrodeania annae ge ..read more