Mesozoic marine reptiles and modern marine mammals are often considered ecological analogs, but the extent of their similarity is largely unknown. Particularly important is the presence/absence of deep-diving suction feeders among Mesozoic marine reptiles because this would indicate the establishment of mesopelagic cephalopod and fish communities in the Mesozoic. A recent study suggested that d...

Mammalian lineage is deep rooted in Mesozoic, with several taxa and ichnotaxa described worldwide. One of the most prolific mammaliaform ichnospecies Brasilichnium elusivum, which extremely abundant Lower Cretaceous Botucatu Formation Brazilian Paraná Basin, as well other Mesozoic ichnofaunas North America Africa. In this contribution, we revisited proposed southernmost occurrence B. elusivum u...

A new genus and species of fossil trachypachid Fortiseode pervalimand Jia & Ren gen. et sp. nov., is described and illustrated. The new fossil with large and strong mandibles, short and robust legs, and pronotum widest near apical angle differs from other members of Eodromeinae. It is the first record of fossil trachypachid from the Mesozoic Yixian Formation of Huangbanjigou, Liaoning, China.

A new genus and species of ibis fly is described from an isolated wing in amber from the Late Albian-Early Cenomanian of Charentes, southwestern France. Galloatherix incompletus gen. et sp. n., is the first Athericidae fossilized in Cretaceous amber, and only the eighth Mesozoic species. It adds to the diverse aquatic and semiaquatic paleobiota already identified from Charentese amber. 

Newly discovered xenoliths within Pliocene and Quaternary intermediate volcanic rocks from southern Peru permit examination of lithospheric processes by which thick crust (60–70 km) and high average elevations (3–4 km) resulted within the Altiplano, the second most extensive orogenic plateau on Earth. The most common petrographic groups of xenoliths studied here are igneous or meta-igneous rock...

In orogenic belts, a basal décollement zone often develops at depth to accommodate the shortening due to folding and thrusting of the sedimentary cover. In the Early Mesozoic intracontinental Xuefengshan Belt of South China, such a décollement zone is exposed in the core of anticlines formed by the emplacement of the late-orogenic granitic plutons. The detailed, multi-scale structural analysis ...