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Tiny, pelagic arthropods from the Anisian Luoping Biota exposed in two quarries near Luoping, Yunnan Province, China, represent the numerically most abundant organisms in the assemblage. They form the basis for definition of two, and possibly three, species referred to the order Lophogastrida, family Eucopiidae. Yunnanocopia grandis new genus new species and Y. longicauda n. gen. new species represent the oldest occurrence of mysidaceans in the fossil record. Their anatomy allies them with the Ladinian species Schimperella acanthocercus Taylor, Schram, and Shen, 2001, from Guizhou Province, China, which previously was thought to be the oldest lophogastrid, and with extant species of Eucopiidae. Their appearance in the Anisian represents one additional element of the early faunal radiation within the Luoping Biota following the end-Permian extinction event. Presence of well-preserved oostegites, along with other morphological features, documents a conservative bauplan expressed in Eucopiidae. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A large assemblage of small specimens of Tridactylastacus sinensis Feldmann, Schweitzer, and Zhang in Feldmann et al., 2012, from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Luoping Biota, Yunnan Province, China, permitted cladistic analysis confirming their placement within Litogastridae in the superfamily Glypheoidea. Orientation of 86 specimens closely spaced on a single slab from one bedding surface revealed a preferred orientation suggestive of mild current activity. The specimens were interpreted to have been victims of a mass kill, possibly an algal bloom, within the water column. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new Raninoida crabs from the Cretaceous of Texas are described, Planocorystes robreidi new genus new species, and Texicancer new genus to accommodate Necrocarcinus renfroae. All the previously described raninoid-like decapods from the Pawpaw Formation have been reassigned according to Karasawa et al. (2014). Cretaceous raninoid-like crabs are the dominant taxa amongst the fossil decapods found in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, with hundreds of specimens collected. All of these fossils have been collected from limonitic nodules, and most of them present a good degree of preservation, with articulated pereiopods, pleons, venter and in rare occasions even the gills. The decapod fauna of the Pawpaw Formation represents a diverse population, with a large number of taxa in high abundance. One specimen of P. robreidi appears to exhibit a lethal bite mark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phyllocarids of the Waukesha Biota were systematically and taphonomically evaluated. Three Ceratiocaris species are present in the biota: C. macroura Collette and Rudkin, 2010; C. papilio Salter in Murchison, 1859; and C. pusilla Matthew, 1889. Specimens range in completeness from nearly complete, including the cephalic to caudal regions, to isolated telsons and furcae. Evidence of Salter’s position is present in only three specimens. Relatively complete specimens are interpreted to represent corpses, rather than molts; whereas specimens including only the pleon and caudal region, or caudal region, and specimens with evidence of Salter’s position likely represent exuviae. Specimens are preserved essentially as compression fossils exhibiting two types of preserved cuticle: brown inner cuticle, which tends to be impressed over the topography of bedding planes on which specimens are preserved, and blue-gray phosphatized cuticle exhibiting sub-millimeter scale relief. Cuticle phosphatization likely occurred during early diagenesis. The presence of characteristic near-shore species and C. pusilla, only known from turbidite facies, interpreted to possibly represent a marine trough, suggests that the Waukesha phyllocarid assemblage might represent a transported assemblage, rather than a biota, or that C. pusilla from the Jones Creek Formation was transported basinward in sediment gravity flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of all recognized biotic elements was mapped on five extensive surfaces of the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation exposed in quarries near Luoping, Yunnan Province, China. A 0.5 m2 grid was overlain on the surfaces, and all recognizable fossils were located by placing them in one of nine quadrants within the grid. A total of 240 m2 were mapped, and each specimen observed was recorded as one of 15 categories, subsequently grouped as pelagic, benthic, and other (bone, trace fossils, algae). The pelagic component, fish, thylacocephalans, and mysidaceans, dominated all layers. The benthic component was sparse on all surfaces; epifaunal, vagrant organisms were the dominant forms, suggesting that the substrate was unsuitable for infaunal and sessile epifaunal organisms. Shrimp and bivalves dominated the benthic organisms. Two of the surfaces were overwhelmingly dominated by mysidaceans, and one was dominated by thylacocephalans, suggesting that their remains documented periodic mass kills of swarming, pelagic organisms. Scanning electron microscope analysis of the bedding surfaces revealed nothing remarkable about the sediment, suggesting that the cause of death of the organisms was likely due to an event within the water column, possibly an algae bloom, not recorded in the sediment record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single specimen of a shrimp-like crustacean, Devonostenopus pennsylvaniensis, new genus and species is described from the Huntley Mountain Formation, which is Devonian-Carboniferous (Mississippian) in age. The specimen was collected in north-central Pennsylvania. Devonostenopus pennsylvaniensis is attributed to Stenopodidae. Co-occurrence of the specimen with pinnules of Archaeopteris halliana Goeppert, 1852, suggests that it is Devonian in age. Occurrence of a stenopodidean in the Devonian of North America is significant, as only three definitive decapods have been previously described from the Paleozoic and only two have been described from the Devonian. The earliest stenopodideans described to date are Cretaceous (Cenomanian and Santonian) in age. As such, Devonostenopus pennsylvaniensis extends the geologic range of Stenopodidea from Cretaceous to Late Devonian. Occurrence of a stenopodidean in the Devonian of North America, as well as the occurrence of the only two other known Devonian decapods in North America, suggests that Laurentia might have been a major area of endemism for Devonian decapods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new genera, Anisaeger and Distaeger, and three new species, Anisaeger brevirostrus, A. spiniferus, and Distaeger prodigiosus, extend the range of the Aegeridae (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeoidea) into the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of China. Seven decapod crustacean species are now known from the Luoping biota of southern China. Morphological features of shrimp that are present but rarely mentioned in the neontological literature are recognized as potentially useful in classifying fossil material, including a diaeresis on the exopod of the uropods and multiarticulate flagellae on pleopods. Unusual taphonomic features of the shrimp include fractured cuticle, preservation in lateral, dorsal, and ventral position, and twisted cephalothoraxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new penaeoid shrimp collected from the Middle Triassic Member II of the Guanling Formation in the vicinity of the city of Luxi, Yunnan, southwest China, is a new species, Aeger luxii n. sp. The new species possesses prominent spinose third maxillipeds, which is one of the typical characteristics of Aeger. The new species differs from the type species, Aeger tipularius from the Jurassic Solnhofen Plattenkalk, in having a long, smooth rostrum with no subrostral spines. The new taxon increases the diversity of Chinese decapods, and further expands our knowledge of the phylogeny and evolution of the Mesozoic decapods. The find is the first complete specimen of Aeger in the Middle Triassic, and reveals a close biogeographic connection of the marine ecosystem between Eastern and Western Tethys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large collection of macrurous decapod crustaceans is recorded from the middle-late Anisian (Middle Triassic) Guanling Formation in Yunnan Province, China. A remarkable assemblage of over 20,000 vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant fossils collectively referred to as the Luoping Biota has been collected from quarries in the vicinity of the city of Luoping. Among these, arthropods including the decapods are the most common element although articulated fish and reptiles are also common. The decapods represent new taxa, including Koryncheiros luopingensis n. gen. n. sp. within Clytiopsidae, a newly elevated family within Erymoidea; Tridactylastacus sinensis n. gen. n. sp. within Glypheidae; and Yunnanopalinura schrami n. gen. n. sp. within Palinuridae. A single specimen has been referred to Palinuridae sp. Koryncheiros luopingensis exhibits a unique cheliped architecture and the second through fourth chelipeds are subchelate, an extremely rare configuration. Tridactylastacus sinensis also exhibits subchelate closures of pereiopods 2-4, but it bears a distinctive subchelate first pereiopod with an intercalated spine between the fingers on the distal margin of the propodus. Yunnanopalinura schrami represents the oldest occurrence of Palinuridae and Achelata. Collectively, these expand our knowledge of Chinese decapods significantly in that only six species of fossil decapods have been described previously from the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the Etyidae and Feldmanniidae new family have unique arrangements of the spermatheca and gonopores that permit placement of each in different families and that differentiate each from all other brachyurans. Spermathecal openings are not always positioned along the sternal suture between sternites 7 and 8, suggesting that reproductive architecture within the Brachyura and what was formerly regarded as the Podotremata is considerably more diverse and disparate than previously thought. Etyidae and Feldmanniidae radiated in the early Cretaceous and survived into the Paleogene. New taxa include Steorrosia new genus, Bretonia new genus, Faksecarcinus new genus, and sixteen new combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new decapod crustacean species, Shinkaia katapsyxis, is reported from the Eocene Humptulips Formation of western Washington, USA. The specimens were collected from a hydrocarbon seep deposit that has been well-documented and contains a well-described molluscan fauna. The new occurrence extends the geologic range of the genus Shinkaia Baba and Williams, 1998, and subfamily Shinkaiinae Baba and Williams, 1998, into the Eocene from its only other known occurrences in hydrothermal vent environments in the Pacific Ocean. The range extension of an extant decapod genus into the Eocene is not uncommon and adds to the evidence that the Decapoda may be unusually resistant to extinctions and are distinctly conservative evolutionarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Description of a new species of crab, Ekalakia exopht ha/mops, brings to two the number of species within this Late Cretaceous genus from the upper mid-west in North America. Discovery of eyes and orbital structures in both species permits placement of the genus within the superfamily Glaessneropsoidea Patrulius, 1959 and family Glaessneropsidae Patrulius, 1959, extending the range of those taxa from the Late Jurassic into the Late Cretaceous. The extraordinarily large eyes relative to body size suggests that the Jurassic reef-dwelling crabs were adapted for a cryptic lifestyle which preadapted them for the deep-water, dysphotic, level-bottom habitat occupied by the Cretaceous descendants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Description of two new species of macruran decapod crustaceans, Hoploparia uzbekensis and Linuparus dzheirantuiensis, from Late Cretaceous rocks in the Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan, represents the first published record of decapods from that country. Hoploparia is considered to be an intact, integrated genus. Specimens of Hoploparia uzbekensis and Linuparus dzheirantuiensis collected from the Aitym and Bissekty formations, respectively, are preserved as altered cuticular material in a sandy matrix. Specimens of Hoploparia and Linuparus collected from the Uchkuduk and Dzheirantui formations, respectively, are preserved as ironstone replacements, an unusual preservation style for decapods. The cephalothorax on the specimen of Linuparus from the Dzheirantui Formation has been partially broken in a manner suggestive of predation. The lateral thoracic flanks of the holotype of Linuparus dzheirantuiensis bear a raised, ridged area suggestive of a stridulating structure. These genera, although cosmopolitan in the Cretaceous fossil record, have not been recognized previously in central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleobiogeographic patterns of decapod crustaceans from the Southern Hemisphere, based upon 441 species-level records arrayed in 154 genera, document global patterns of distribution that can be compared to those previously published on decapods from the North Pacific and Central American regions. All known records of decapods from the Southern Hemisphere spanning the Early Triassic to Pleistocene have been compiled, nearly all have been personally verified, and patterns of origin and distribution have been interpreted. Interchange between hemispheres, including amphitropical and bipolar distributions, are recognized from Jurassic to post— Miocene time. The high southern latitudes was a site of origin of several generic-level taxa during the Jurassic through Eocene and many of these taxa have been identified in subsequent times in lower latitude regions in shallow- and deepwater environments in both hemispheres. The isolation of Antarctica due to ocean currents significantly diminished the role of the high southern latitudes as an area of origin for decapods. The Tethys was an important dispersal pathway for decapods during the Cretaceous through early Miocene. Endemism was high during the Eocene, similar to the North Pacific and Central America. The magnitude of the Cretaceous/Paleogene extinction event on the Southern Hemisphere decapod fauna was not profound; most Cretaceous extinctions seem to have occurred well before the end of the Cretaceous, and 85% of the Cretaceous families are known from the Paleogene in the Southern Hemisphere taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the collection of Maastrichtian ammonites in Tunisia. Supply of single small isopod specimen from the Kalaat Senaan region; Citations of the genus wherein Palaega Rugosa come from; Features of the late Maastrichtian macrofauna associated with the isopod specimen.

Fossil Horseshoe crabs are rare, and new discoveries have the potential for providing important taxonomic and biostratigraphic information. The superfamily Limulacea Zittel, 1885, embraces the lineal ancestors of the modern genera, including Limulus Muller, 1785, within the Limulidae Zittel, 1885. The geologically oldest of the limulaceans are arrayed within the late Paleozoic Paleolimulidae Raymond, 1944. The first discovery, as well as all authentic specimens, of fossil paleolimulids have been from the Late Paleozoic rocks of Kansas and Illinois. This paper not only describes a new genus and species of horseshoe crab but also records the first occurrence of the family in north-central Texas, and clarifies placement of taxa within the Paleolimulidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a preliminary description of a plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Toarcian Posidonienschiefer near the village of Holzmaden in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and discusses its phylogenetic relevance. This new taxon, Plesiopterys wildi new genus and species, is remarkable in its retention of several plesiomorphic features. A phylogenetic analysis places Plesiopterys as the sister group of the Plesiosauroidea, and as such the taxon is the most basal taxon yet known on the branch leading to this major clade. Plesiopterys possesses a high count of cervical vertebrae and a relatively small head, yet the limbs and limb girdles are plesiomorphic in proportion. The skull displays a mosaic of features, reminiscent of both Thalassiodracon and the rhomaleosaurids in some characters, yet similar to Plesiosaurus in others. The basicranium is plesiomorphic and resembles that of nothosaur-grade sauropterygians in several respects. A faunal comparison between Holzmaden and the Lower Toarcian deposits on the Yorkshire coast of England concludes that the Holzmaden fauna is more plesiomorphic than the roughly coeval Yorkshire fauna in two of three plesiosaur subclades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epibionts on both living and fossil decapod crustaceans may serve as valuable proxies for paleoecological factors such as behavior and environment. Prevalence of epibionts, as observed primarily on the carapaces of fossil brachyurous decapod crustaceans, appears to be less than observed on living crabs, based upon observations in the literature, and from the study of a limited preserved biological and fossil collection. Among these factors, the three most important are that many extant epibionts do not possess skeletal structures and, therefore, are unlikely to be preserved; the epicuticle upon which epibionts attach to living brachyurans is lightly calcified and tends to be lost readily as a result of taphonomic processes; and the most common mode of preservation of fossil brachyurans is in concretions which tend to break open and leave a layer of cuticle on the counterpart, thus obscuring the potential surface of attachment of epibionts. Other factors such as the life habits of the crab, whether burrowing, burying, or remaining above the substrate; lifestyle, whether benthic or pelagic; and duration of the intermolt phase of the organism also play important roles in potential prevalence of epibionts. Careful preparation of part and counterpart remains of brachyurans as well as reference to the occurrence of epibionts in systematic studies will enhance knowledge of the host and epibiont. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reevaluation of 21 specimens of Permian crustaceans from near Palermo, Italy, referred to Palaeopemphix Gemmellaro, 1890, has resulted in transfer of the genus from the decapod Crustacea to a new suborder, the Palaeopemphida, and a new superfamily, Palaeopemphidae, of the archaeostracan Phyllocarida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimaerastacus pacifluvialis, new genus and species, is established on the basis of fossils from the Middle Triassic Liard Formation of northeastern British Columbia. It has well-defined cervical, postcervical, and branchiocardiac grooves; three longitudinal ridges on the cephalic region; and true chelae on the first through third pereiopods. The morphological features of the carapace are a combination of traits used to define both the erymids and the glypheids. A cladistic analysis of 31 decapod genera defines the Astacidea as a monophyletic group, supports the inclusion of the Glypheoidea within the infraorder Astacidea, illustrates the relationships of the Glypheoidea with other astacid groups, and suggests erection of a new family, the Chimaerastacidae, for our new genus and species of decapod. Specimens of C. pacifluvialis are preserved in a sandy bioclastic floatstone that was deposited near the Peace River Embayment in the Middle Triassic. The host lithology suggests that the decapods inhabited a transitional environment between low relief biostromes and the shoreface. This environment provided a unique set of conditions that allowed exceptional preservation of the decapod material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on fossil decapod crustaceans has accelerated since the publication of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology dealing with the group. Increase in the number of paleontologists studying the Decapoda, exploration of previously poorly known areas, and major advances in neontological research has made it possible to transform fossil decapods from the category of interesting and beautiful fossils to that of useful subjects for research in paleoecology and paleobiogeography. Classification of fossil decapods has become more refined as new taxa have been recognized in the fossil record and as neontological approaches to classification, including larval anatomy, comparative spermatology, morphology of novel structures, and molecular analysis, are considered in conjunction with fossil evidence. This combination of approaches can now be used to develop testable hypotheses regarding phylogeny of the group. Detailed observational data on living and fossil biotic associations has been coupled with experimental studies to enhance our understanding of organic interactions as well as to understand the biasing factors of taphonomy that affect the fossil record of organisms with organic exoskeletons. Broad studies of distribution of decapods in time and space are now possible, owing to the increase in number of fossil sites studied and taxa described. We can define patterns of biogeographic distribution that can be tested against patterns derived from the study of more commonly preserved organisms, such as the mollusks. As this research continues, it is anticipated that studies of paleobiogeography and paleoecology will increasingly rely on data from the fossil record of the decapod Crustacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new collection of fossil decapod crustaceans from the Cretaceous Rosario Formation, the Eocene Tepetate Formation and the Oligocene El Cien Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico, has yielded two new genera and several new species, Amydrocarcinus dantei n. gen. and sp., Levicyclus tepetate n. gen. and sp., Eriosachila bajaensis n. sp., Oregonia spinifera n. sp., Archaeopus mexicanus n. sp., and Necronectes nodosa n. sp. Additionally, new occurrences of the previously described Lophoranina bishopi, Xandaros sternbergi, lcriocarcinus xestos, and Lobonotus mexicanus as well as Dardanus cf. D. mexicanus are reported. As part of ongoing work on global evolutionary and paleobiogeographic patterns within the Decapoda, the work has prompted a review and synthesis of decapod occurrences in the tropical and subtropical Americas including the southern United States, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. As a result of the systematic review, several new combinations are reported herein which include Eriosachila bartholomaeensis (Rathbun, 1919), Lobonotus sandersi (Blow and Manning, 1996; 1998), and Matutites americanus (Rathbun, 1935). Icriocarcinus is transferred to the Goneplacidae, extending the range of that family into the Cretaceous. Most Cretaceous through Miocene tropical and subtropical American taxa appear to have originated within the area and a large number were endemic. Most of the immigrants to the central Americas appear to have evolved along North Atlantic shelves and subsequently dispersed to the Americas, probably via continental shelf routes. In addition, as demonstrated by several previous studies, decapod crustaceans appear to have evolved in numerous middle- and high- latitude areas with subsequent dispersal to lower latitudes, contrary to the long held notion that the tropics are areas of origin with subsequent dispersal to other regions. Low-latitude decapod taxa tend to remain in low-latitude areas. The Maastrichtian... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizes the carcineretid crab of Colombia. Assignment of five genera to family; Presence of structural distortion of the species; Attribution of carcineratid crab to swimming crabs.

Focuses on the functional morphology and taxonomic significance of a novel cuticular structure in Cretaceous (C.) raninid crabs from the Pawpaw Formation of Fort Worth, Texas. Similarity of endocuticular, exocuticular and epicuticular ultrastructure in Raninoides louisianensis and C. punctata; Surface of the carapace of C. punctata; Absence of pebbled surface in other decapod taxon.

Examines the crustacean-bearing continental deposits in the Petrolia Formation of North-Central Texas. Characteristic of pygoecephalomorph crustaceans; Relationship of terrestrial forms with close taxonomic ties to genera or families recorded in Upper Carboniferous deposits; Presence of biotic elements in Permian Petrolia Formation.

Examines specimens of crustacean Carcineretes planetarius, a member of the extinct decapod family Carcineretidae from the upper part of the Ocozocuautla Formation in Chiapas, southeast Mexico. Paleontologic investigation of the specimens; Occurrence of index species of benthic and planktic foraminifera with diagnostic rudist species.

Describes commonly preserved dorsal carapace characters useful in distinguishing genera of Hexapodidae fossil specimens. Generic differentiation of fossil specimens; Dorsal carapace morphology; Systematic paleontology.

Reevaluates the generic and family relationships within the Portunoidea using additional fossil portunoids of southern Argentina and west coast of North America. Suggestion for the derivation of Geryonidae from portunid progenitor Proterocarcinus; Implication for amphitropical distribution of the genus; List of the species combinations.

Examines the dorsal carapace characters of fossils and extant genera of the Calappidae sensu lato. Reclassification of the Calappidae; Analysis on the distinct organization and dispersal history of Calappidae; Usage of the characters of the dorsal carapace for identifying and classifying fossil taxa.

Discusses the discovery of a Miocene occurrence of decapods that signifies the first well-documented report for portunid crabs from Mexico. Two species of portunids, Portunus atecuicitli and Necronectes tajinensis found in the Miocene decapods; Features of the Tuxpan Formation.

Describes the fossils of decapod and stomatopod crustaceans that were collected from mass mortality surfaces and bioclastic lags in Turonian siliceous shales of Colombia's San Rafael and La Frontera formations. Remains of the swimming carcineretic crab, Opthalmoplax spinosus; Ecology of cretaceous decapods; Crab-bearing interval of the San Rafael Formation.

Reports on a study examining the feminization of the `Tumidocarcinus giganteus Glaessner,' adult male xanthid crabs in Miocene, New Zealand. Relationship between the parasitic barnacles and the decapod crustaceans; Methodology used to conduct the study; Results of the study.

Describes the ten species of brachyuran decapos crustacena, with focus on paleotology. Methodology used to gather the information; Detailed information on the results.

Describes the diverse arthropod fauna of the Tlayua Formation, discussing its paleoecological implications. Details on the marine taxa at the Tlayua Formation in quarries at Tepexi, Mexico; Details on the preservation at Tlayua; Details on the study.

Presents an article in which a species of carcineretid crab, Carcineretes planetarius, is described from the Upper Cretaceous Barton Creek Dolomite at Albion Island, Belize. How the age of the specimen was determined; What paleoenvironmental and paleoecological analyses suggest about the species.

Introduces the decapod species Costacopluma salamanca from the Danian Salamanca Formation in Patagonia, Argentina. Extension of the geographic range of the taxon; Identification of three groups based on the geographic position; Description of the stratigraphy, age and paleoenvironment.

Recognition of a fossil previously identified as a "large Cretaceous beetle" as a glypheid lobster permits the definition of a new species, Glyphea wiffenae. The specimen was collected from the richly fossiliferous, Upper Cretaceous Maungataniwa Sandstone in eastern North Island, New Zealand. Several other fossil decapods with high southern latitude affinities have been described previously from the unit, supporting the placement of the Zealandia region within the Weddellian Biotic Province. This is only the fourth glypheid known from New Zealand and the first Cretaceous occurrence of the genus in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the new family, genus, and species of lobster from the Gadvan formation of Iran. There are scarce records of fossil decapod crustaceans from Iran. Microcoprolites with an internal structure characteristics of decapods are known from the Jurassic of Iran which is the basis for description of a new family, genus, and species of palinuroid lobster.

An incomplete arthropod fossil, Tricarina gadvanensis Feldmann et al., 2007, from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian–Aptian) of Iran, originally interpreted as a lobster (Malacostraca, Eucarida, Decapoda), is reinterpreted herein as a representative of a seroloid isopod crustacean (Malacostraca, Peracarida, Isopoda). The body orientation of the fossil is reversed, and the alleged cephalothoracic shield is reinterpreted as being the pleotelson. Tricarina gadvanensis, with its unique configuration of pleonite fusion (pleonites 1–4 are free, whereas pleonite 5, with still visible epimera, is fused with the pleotelson), is suggested to represent a close relative of Serolidae. The preservation of T. gadvanensis in deepwater shales speaks for conservativeness in environmental preferences of seroloid isopods for at least 125 million years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that paleontologist Antonio De Angeli has received the Harell L. Strimple Award for 2013.

A new helminthomorph millipede, Sinosoma luopingense new genus new species, from the Triassic Luoping biota of China, has 39 body segments, metazonites with lateral swellings that bear a pair of posterolateral pits (?insertion pits for spine bases), and sternites that are unfused to the pleurotergites. This millipede shares a number of characters with nematophoran diplopods, but lacks the prominent dorsal suture characteristic of that order. Other 'millipede' material from the biota is more problematic. Millipedes are a rare part of the Luoping biota, which is composed mainly of marine and near-shore organisms. Occurrences of fossil millipedes are exceedingly rare in Triassic rocks worldwide, comprising specimens from Europe, Asia, and Africa, and consisting of juliform millipedes and millipedes that are either nematophorans or forms very similar to nematophorans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harpactocarcinus punctulatus istriensis Bachmayer and Nosan, 1959 is elevated to species level. Analysis of the larger foraminiferans associated with specimens of H. istriensis suggests a habitat preference for off-shore, clear, shelf environments below fair-weather wave base and an age of early to middle Lutetian (Eocene). A review of the paleoenvironmental indicators for nearly all species within the genera referred to the Zanthopsidae Via, 1959 suggests that all exhibit similar habitat preferences. Description of the palcoenvironmental preference for an entire extinct decapod family has not before been possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species, Harpactocarcinus yozgatensis from the early Eocene (Ypresian) Yoncalı Formation of Turkey and H. dalmatius from the middle Eocene (Bartonian) Foraminiferal limestones of Hvar Island, Croatia, are described. Harpactocarcinus yozgatensis suggests an early Eocene origin of the genus. Their discovery posits a more easterly point of origin for the genus than was previously known, a position which is supported by the foraminiferal assemblages of both localities. Evaluation of species referred to Harpactocarcinus has resulted in one new combination, Neozanthopsis achalzicus (Bittner in Abich, 1882). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of clawed lobster, Hoploparia albertaensis, is reported from the late Coniacian, shallow-marine Bad Heart Formation of northwestern Alberta, Canada. Hoploparia is a well-known, clawed lobster genus with a record extending from Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) to Miocene. Fifty-one species of Hoploparia are known worldwide; 13 from the North American Western Interior Seaway. None of the 12 other Interior Seaway species, of any age, closely resembles the new species. The new species strongly resembles Hoploparia gabbi Pilsbry, 1901 from the upper Santonian-lower Campanian of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the eocene decapods crustacean specimens from Chiapas, Mexico. Description of patterns of dispersal within the decapoda; List of taxa; Factors affecting the dispersal of taxa westward across the Atlantic.