We present a systematic study of thyasirid bivalves from Cretaceous to Oligocene seep carbonates worldwide. Eleven species of thyasirid bivalves are identified belonging to three genera: Conchocele, Maorithyas, and Thyasira. Two species are new: Maorithyas humptulipsensis sp. nov. from middle Eocene seep carbonates in the Humptulips Formation, Washington State, USA, and Conchocele kiritachiensi...

Pliosauridae is a globally distributed clade of aquatic predatory amniotes whose fossil record spans from the Lower Jurassic to the Upper Cretaceous. However, the knowledge of pliosaurid interrelationships remains limited. In part, this is a consequence of a few key taxa awaiting detailed reassessment. Among them, the taxon Polyptychodon is of special importance. It was established on isolated ...

Myanmymar aresconoidesgen n., sp. n. is described from one female in Burmese amber, dated as about 100 my. It is similar to Arescon on wing features but is unique among Mymaridae in having distinctly segmented palpi. It is the fifth mymarid genus definitely referable to the Cretaceous period. A key to Cretaceous mymarid genera is presented and the features of Myanmymar are compared with the oth...

The Upper Cretaceous (?Santonian) Aitym Formation in the central Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan, produced remains of a cimolodontan multituberculate (Uzbekbaatar wardi), a spalacotheriid symmetrodont (cf. Shalbaatar sp.), a deltatheroidan (cf. Deltatherus sp.), possibly the asioryctithere aff. Daulestes sp., possibly two zalambdalestids (Kulbeckia sp. cf. K. kulbecke and aff. Kulbeckia sp.), two s...

Mid-Mesozoic kalligrammatid lacewings (Neuroptera) entered the fossil record 165 million years ago (Ma) and disappeared 45 Ma later. Extant papilionoid butterflies (Lepidoptera) probably originated 80-70 Ma, long after kalligrammatids became extinct. Although poor preservation of kalligrammatid fossils previously prevented their detailed morphological and ecological characterization, we examine...

Flower, enclosed ovule and tetrasporangiate anther are three major characters distinguishing angiosperms from other seed plants. Morphologically, typical flowers are characterised by an organisation with gynoecium and androecium surrounded by corolla and calyx. Theoretically, flowers are derived from their counterparts in ancient ancestral gymnosperms. However, as for when, how and from which g...

Abstract A late early Maastrichtian dinosaur trampling site is reported from the Farrokhi Formation of Khur area, Central Iran. The largely indeterminate footprints, some which may represent undertracks, can be classified as natural moulds (i.e. concave epireliefs) bordered by a raised rim displaced sediment. They reach diameters up to 0.5 m and were impressed under very shallow subaerial condi...

Evolution of planktic organisms from benthic ancestors is commonly thought to represent unidirectional expansion into new ecological domains, possibly only once per clade. For foraminifera, this evolutionary expansion occurred in the Early-Middle Jurassic, and all living and extinct planktic foraminifera have been placed within 1 clade, the Suborder Globigerinina. The subsequent radiation of pl...

This paper discusses the lithostratigraphy of the Xinminbao Group in the Mazongshan area of Gansu Province, northwestern China, and the correlation of its biota. The Xinminbao Group was deposited in a fluviolacustrine setting in Mesozoic graben basins under a semi-arid, subtropical climate. The fossil sites concentrated in the lower part of the group have yielded dinosaurs, mammals and other ve...

The Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous shallow water platform carbonates of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Plassen Formation, “Lärchberg Formation”) and the resedimented deposits of the latter within basinal series (Barmstein Limestone, Tressenstein Limestone) are currently under re-investigation (SCHLAGINTWEIT et al., 2003; GAWLICK et al., 2005). This shallow water development is directly linke...