The latitudinal distributions in Devonian-Cretaceous ammonoids were analyzed at the genus level, and were compared with the hatchling sizes (i.e., ammonitella diameters) and the geological durations. The results show that (1) length of temporal ranges of ammonoids effected broader ranges of fossil distribution and paleobiogeography of ammonoids, and (2) the hatchling size was not related to the...

In the Dusina area, which is built up of Lower Palaeozoic metasediments, Devonian carbonate complex and Upper Palaeozoic metarhyolites unconformably overlain by Upper Permian sediments, numerous ore occurrences have been investigated: (a) "stratabound" metamorphic hematite deposits in the pre-Devonian metasediments; (b) epigenetic veins and pipes of barite (& calcite) with accessory Hg-tetrahed...

Water and gas samples were collected from (1) nine shallow groundwater aquifers overlying Marcellus Shale in north-central West Virginia before active shale gas drilling, (2) wells producing gas from Upper Devonian sands and Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania, (3) coal-mine water discharges in southwestern Pennsylvania, and (4) streams in southwestern Pennsylvania and ...

Gigantism is widespread among Palaeozoic arthropods, yet causal mechanisms, particularly the role of (abiotic) environmental factors versus (biotic) competition, remain unknown. The eurypterids (Arthropoda: Chelicerata) include the largest arthropods; gigantic predatory pterygotids (Eurypterina) during the Siluro-Devonian and bizarre sweep-feeding hibbertopterids (Stylonurina) from the Carbonif...

The history of the appearance and evolution of the suture, one of the major structural elements of the shells of ammonoids (a subclass of Cephalopoda), is briefly discussed. Its morphology is considered in the Devonian Anarcestida, the first members of which are very similar to the ancestral Bactritoidea, in the Late Devonian Clymeniida, the Devonian–Permian Tornoceratida, the Carboniferous–Per...

The distribution and dispersal histories of Eurypterida are examined in a phylogenetic and palaeogeographic context. It is suggested that all the eurypterid clades originated and had most of their evolutionary history on the palaeocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica, Avalonia, the Rheno–Hercynian Terrane and some presence in Siberia. The Siluro–Devonian Stylonurina and the eurypterine superfamilie...

Recent discoveries of tetrapod trackways in 395 Myr old tidal zone deposits of Poland (Niedźwiedzki et al. 2010 Nature 463, 43-48 (doi:10.1038/nature.08623)) indicate that vertebrates had already ventured out of the water and might already have developed some air-breathing capacity by the Middle Devonian. Air-breathing in lungfishes is not considered to be a shared specialization with tetrapods...

Coelacanths are well-known sarcopterygian (lobe-finned) fishes, which together with lungfishes are the closest extant relatives of land vertebrates (tetrapods). Coelacanths have both living representatives and a rich fossil record, but lack fossils older than the late Middle Devonian (385-390 Myr ago), conflicting with current phylogenies implying coelacanths diverged from other sarcopterygians...

New observations on the axial skeleton of the extant lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri (Dipnoi; Sarcopterygii) indicate that neural and haemal arch elements develop more independently than previously believed. For example, while the cartilaginous neural arches/spines begin development anteriorly, just behind the skull, the distal supraneurals first form separately in the posterior region of the ax...

A wide range of carbon isotope values in the Devonian fossil Prototaxites has been interpreted to support heterotrophy and the classification of Prototaxites as a giant fungus. This inference remains controversial because of the huge size of Prototaxites relative to co-occurring terrestrial vegetation and the lack of existing fungal analogues that display equally broad isotopic ranges. Here, we...