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In Bilateria, the formation of the coelomic mesoderm occurs in various ways and is of great significance for comparative embryology and phylogeny. Several early ontogenetic stages were studied in the brachiopod Coptothyris grayi by scanning electron microscopy and cytochemistry combined with confocal laser microscopy. Two sources of the mesoderm were observed to form simultaneously from the anterior and posterior walls of the archenteron at the gastrula stage. Both anterior and posterior rudiments form enterocoely as unpaired protrusions of the wall of the archenteron and are subsequently separated from it. The findings confirmed the previous data on enterocoely in brachiopods. Moreover, a dual origin of the coelomic mesoderm from an anterior and a posterior precursor was for the first time demonstrated for all brachiopods. Analysis of the literature showed that two sources of the coelomic mesoderm in ontogeny are characteristic of representatives of various groups of protostomes and deuterostomes. This fact may provide evidence for the earlier hypothesis of plesiomorphy of two sources of the mesoderm in Bilateria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We described a new association of 10 morphospecies of crinoid columnar ossicles from eight different morphogenera. The biota includes Cylindrocauliscus fiski, Cyclocaudex cf. plenus, Cyclocaudex costatus, Preptopremnum cf. rugosum, Preptopremnum leave, Heterostelechus jeffordsi, Cycloscapus laevis, Cyclocaudiculus regularis, Nothrosterigma merum, and Cyclogrupera minor. The specimens were located in rocks from the Grupera Formation of Asselian-Sakmarian age (lower Permian). The lithostratigraphic unit belongs to the Carboniferous-Permian succession that outcrops in the Chicomuselo region in southeastern Mexico. It is recorded the first occurrence of C. costatus, P. rugosum, C. laevis, and N. merum for the Cisuralian of North America. Likewise, it highlights the first record of N. merum in Mexico, which along with P. rugosum are reported for the first time in the Cisuralian of North America. Despite controversy over the usefulness of crinoid ossicles as index fossils, it was possible relating the rocks of the locality studied to an approximate Asselian-Sakmarian age (early Cisuralian), previously suggested for the formation. Furthermore, the find of ossicles associated with other filtering marine invertebrates such as bryozoans and brachiopods, as well as preservation and lithological features of the rocks, allowed establishing that the depositional paleoenvironment was related to shallow water facies of high energy, well-illuminated, and with an important terrigenous supply. Regarding paleobiogeography, the distribution of crinoids was associated with the region's geologic history, which was influenced by oceanic and continental changes that occurred during the formation of the Pangea supercontinent in the Late Pennsylvanian. This favored the emergence of generic and specific provincialisms in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents new records of brachiopods from the Lower Miocene deposits of the Qom Formation from two sections, Bagh and Ramsheh in the Isfahan province, Central Iran. Three species, i.e. Argyrotheca bitnerae, Joania cordata, and Platidia anomioides, have been identified in the investigated material. All species are present in the Bagh section whereas in the material from Ramsheh A. bitnerae was not found. Although the species recognized here were already described from the Miocene of the Qom Formation, this is their first report from the localities of Bagh and Ramsheh, providing new data on the distribution of brachiopods in the Cenozoic of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lower Devonian Klerf Formation is an exceptional Konservat-Lagerstätte, exposed at multiple sites in the Waxweiler region in the Eifel area, western Germany. It has been studied for its various fossils, mainly arthropods, fishes, plants, molluscs, brachiopods and crinoids. At Waxweiler, the strata are palaeoecologically interpreted as a prograding deltaic depositional system elongate from NW to SE in the Ardenno-Rhenish area. The Klerf Formation has, however, not been studied in full in terms of its microflora and microfauna. Our study of the formation from two different quarries in the Waxweiler area yielded fairly diverse miospore assemblages dominated by abundant organic matter in varying degrees of coalification. The miospore assemblages are mainly composed of classic Lower Devonian taxa of the Old Red Continent (Laurussia). These belong, among others, to the genera Ambitisporites, Apiculiretusispora and Retusotriletes. Biostratigraphically more important species recovered include Acinosporites lindlarensis, Apiculiretusispora brandtii, Cymbosporites asymetricus, Diatomozonotriletes franklinii, Emphanisporites annulatus, Verruciretusispora dubia and Verrucosisporites polygonalis. In addition, Emphanisporites foveolatus, which is known only from a limited area in the Ardenno-Rhenish region, is also identified, indicating an earliest Pragian to middle Emsian age for the composite section. These assemblages are found to be accompanied by reworked phytoplankton to a much lesser extent. Our results reveal a much larger palaeobotanical diversity from the Rhineland outcrops than previously known, indicating a well-developed Psilophyton-type vegetation with related plants. The results further suggest a likely presence of plants such as Leclercqia and Pertica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas is a mollusc with calcium carbonate shell, while the brachiopod Lingula anatina is with calcium phosphate biominerals. Here, we compared ultrastructure observations of the marginal region and the central region of mantles between C. gigas and L. anatina using histology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) approaches. Our results found both species have similar cell types including the columnar epidermis cell, electron-dense granules cell and electron-transparent granules cell. However, the ultrastructure of the columnar epidermal subtype cells and the inclusion contents of secretory cells in those two species were different. The columnar epidermal cells of C. gigas consists of subtype A that mainly concentrated on the marginal region of mantle, subtype B mainly concentrated on the central region of mantle and subtype C was not common. The sizes of those cells were 7-15 μm. Meanwhile, columnar epidermal cells of L. anatina consist of subtypes A', B' and C'. Their sizes are 10-15 μm. As for secretory cells, both species had electron-dense granules cell and electron-transparent granules cell. However, L. anatina also contained a special class of secretory cells containing lamellar bodies. Those results can partially explain the difference of shell composition between brachiopods and mollusc, and provide reference for the study of shell formation mechanism and mineralization of brachiopods and mollusc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since ctenostomes are traditionally regarded as an ancestral clade to some other bryozoan groups, the study of additional species may help to clarify questions on bryozoan evolution and phylogeny. One of these questions is the bryozoan lophophore evolution: whether it occurred through simplification or complication. The morphology and innervation of the ctenostome Flustrellidra hispida (Fabricius, 1780) lophophore have been studied with electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Lophophore nervous system of F. hispida consists of several main nerve elements: cerebral ganglion, circumoral nerve ring, and the outer nerve ring. Serotonin‐like immunoreactive perikarya, which connect with the circumoral nerve ring, bear the cilium that directs to the abfrontal side of the lophophore and extends between tentacle bases. The circumoral nerve ring gives rise to the intertentacular and frontal tentacle nerves. The outer nerve ring gives rise to the abfrontal neurites, which connect to the outer groups of perikarya and contribute to the formation of the abfrontal tentacle nerve. The outer nerve ring has been described before in other bryozoans, but it never contributes to the innervation of tentacles. The presence of the outer nerve ring participating in the innervation of tentacles makes the F. hispida lophophore nervous system particularly similar to the lophophore nervous system of phoronids. This similarity allows to suggest that organization of the F. hispida lophophore nervous system may reflect the ancestral state for all bryozoans. The possible scenario of evolutionary transformation of the lophophore nervous system within bryozoans is suggested. Highlights: The lophophore nervous system in Flustrellidra hispida includes outer nerve ring and outer tentacle nerves and is similar to that in phoronids. Such organization of the lophophore nervous system in Flustrellidra hispida may reflect the ancestral state for all bryozoans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Brachiopods have been thought to be in very low diversity in the Early Triassic for a long time. There are only several Olenekian brachiopod fauna reported worldwide, all of which are in very low diversity. This paper reports the most diverse Olenekian brachiopod fauna so far, containing 14 species with nine genera. Among them, three new species are proposed, and six genera are found in the Early Triassic for the first time. This diverse fauna indicates that the diversity of Olenekian brachiopod fauna has been underestimated. Based on precise age constrained by conodont biostratigraphy and quantitative data of brachiopod, it can be inferred that brachiopod recovery in the studied section occurred in the latest Spathian rather than the Smithian when the environment started to ameliorate. Global brachiopod data also indicates that the initial recovery of brachiopods happened in the Spathian. As one of the predominant benthic organisms in the Palaeozoic, brachiopod was largely eliminated in the Permian–Triassic boundary mass extinction, and then highly diversified in the Middle Triassic. Since fossil data from the Early Triassic are rarely reported, the recovery patterns of Early Triassic brachiopods remain unclear. This study documents a well-preserved fauna that is the most diverse Olenekian brachiopod fauna so far (age constrained by conodont biostratigraphy) from the Datuguan section of ramp facies in South China. This fauna is composed of 14 species within nine genera, including six genera (Hirsutella, Sulcatinella, Paradoxothyris, Dioristella, Neoretzia and Isocrania) found in the Early Triassic for the first time and three new species, including Paradoxothyris flatus sp. nov., Hirsutella sulcata sp. nov. and Sulcatinella elongata sp. nov. The Datuguan fauna indicates that the diversity of Olenekian brachiopod fauna has been underestimated, which can be caused by a combination of reduced habitats (in geographic size and sedimentary type) compared with the end-Permian, great bed thickness making it difficult to find fossils and most species in the fauna having low abundance. Based on the faunal change in the Datuguan section and environmental changes in South China, it can be inferred that brachiopod recovery in the studied section occurred in the latest Spathian rather than the Smithian when the environment started to ameliorate. Global brachiopod data also indicates that the initial recovery of brachiopods happened in the Spathian, and many genera that widely occurred in the Middle or Late Triassic had originated in the Olenekian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reefs of the Vasalemma Formation, late Sandbian, Late Ordovician, of northern Estonia contain an exceptional rich and abundant bryozoan fauna. They are an example of contemporaneous bryozoan-rich reefs known from around the world, representing the peak diversification interval of this group during the Ordovician. The global Ordovician bryozoan diversification was associated with a decrease in provinciality, a pattern known from other skeletal marine metazoans of this period. The diversification is associated with climatic cooling and increasing atmospheric and sea water oxygenation. However, the mechanisms that led to the bryozoan diversification are poorly known. Here we estimate the bryozoan richness (α and γ diversity) and turnover (β diversity) at the level of samples, reefs, and formations in the Vasalemma Formation and in contemporaneous reef limestone occurrences of the Baltoscandian region. The resulting richness and turnover values differ among the three observational levels and hence are scale dependent. A consistent pattern with lowest between-reef turnover and relatively high between-sample turnover could be detected, reflecting high small-scale (within reef) heterogeneities in lithology and original bryozoan habitat. This is consistent with published work, in which evidence has been presented for small-scale substrate heterogeneity as the most important diversification driver of the Ordovician brachiopod diversification in the Baltoscandian region. The fact that reefs and their local substrate are strongly organism moderated environments sheds light on the potentially important ecosystem engineering role of organisms, such as bryozoans, for the Ordovician diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Skyberg Biota is a new early Cambrian Konservat-Lagerstätte, documented from a 7.5-m-thick succession of the Skyberg Member, Ringstranda Formation, in the classical Mjosa area of Norway. It displays a high species diversity and contains: algae; sponges; brachiopods; hyoliths; bivalved arthropods; trilobites; palaeoscolecids and other vermiform organisms; weakly sclerotized fragments of unknown affinity; several tubicolous fossils; the enigmatic genus Lapworthella; and a number of additional problematica together with infrequent trace fossils consisting of burrows and faecal pellets. This novel macro-biota encloses the most diverse fossil assemblage known from the Cambrian Series 2 locally in the Mjosa area, and regionally in Baltoscandia, and currently includes around 50 species of 10 major animal groups and macro-algae. The Skyberg Biota contains taxa previously unknown from Norway, several are new to Baltoscandia and also includes a range of new species. The Skyberg biota offers a rare glimpse into the biodiversity of Baltoscandia just prior to the large faunal turnover at the late-middle Cambrian transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a potential anti‐predatory defensive structure, the shell ornamentation of marine calcifiers is usually used to understand the macro coevolution of the interactions between predators and preys. Marine calcifiers' shell ornamentation complexity is generally believed to vary negatively with latitude and water depth. In this paper, we explored the association between shell ornamentation and latitude/bathymetry using the latest global database of living brachiopods. We found that (1) ~59% of living brachiopods species are characterized by smooth shells and that (2) there is no statistically significant linear trend, either positive or negative, between the ornamentation index and latitudes nor with water depths. Both findings are puzzling for living brachiopods as they are sharply contrasted to the patterns of fossil brachiopods whereby the latter, especially Paleozoic brachiopods, are known to exhibit (1) a much greater ornamentation diversity and (2) (at least for the geological periods that have been studied) a linear latitudinal gradient of ornamentation complexity existed. The reasons why living brachiopods have such a high proportion of smooth or weakly ornamented shells and fail to demonstrate an unequivocal linear latitudinal ornamentation gradient were explored and are linked to a multitude of potential factors rather than uniquely only to the predation pressure. Among these, the most plausible factor seems to be the cryptic (refuge‐type) habitats (e.g., deep waters, cold polar regions, and submarine rock caves) that living brachiopods have been adapted to due to their low metabolism, where predation pressure is low, allowing brachiopods to enact the predator avoidance strategy rather than having to manufacture robust shell ornamentation to survive in an otherwise highly engaged predator–prey global marine ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Strophodontoid' brachiopods represented the majority of strophomenide brachiopods in the Silurian and Devonian periods. They are characterized by denticles developed along the hinge line. The evolution of denticles correlated with the disappearance of dental plates and teeth and were already present when the clade originated in the Late Ordovician. Specimens of Eostropheodonta parvicostellata from the Kuanyinchiao Bed (early–middle Hirnantian, uppermost Ordovician) in the Hetaoba Section, Meitan, Guizhou Province, South China, display clear fossil population variation, during a process of loss of dental plates and the development of denticles. Three phenotypes of E. parvicostellata are recognized in a single fossil bed, likely heralding a speciation process. Non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) based on five key characters of genera of the Family Leptostrophiidae shows a much wider morphospace for Silurian genera than for those in the Devonian. Phylogenetic analysis of the Family Leptostrophiidae supports the NMDS analysis and mostly tracks their geological history. The fossil population differentiation in E. parvicostellata discovered between the two phases of the Late Ordovician mass extinction event (LOME) linked to a major glaciation, suggests a Hirnantian origination of the 'strophodontoid' morphology, and links microevolutionary change to a macroevolutionary event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variations in the geochemical signatures of fossil brachiopod shells may be due to diagenesis and/or biological processes (i.e., 'vital effects'). It is critical to characterise them in order to identify reliable shell areas suitable for paleoclimate studies. This investigation contributes to an in-depth understanding of geochemical variations in Gigantoproductus sp. shells (SW Spain, Serpukhovian age), throwing light onto the Late Paleozoic Ice Age interpretation. Microstructural, crystallographic, cathodoluminescence and geochemical (minor and trace elements, δ18O, δ13C, and strontium isotopes) characterisations have been performed on the tertiary layer of the ventral valve, to assess the preservation state. Poorly preserved areas exhibit microstructural and geochemical changes such as recrystallisation, fracturing and higher Mn and Fe enrichment. Moreover, these areas have a higher dispersion of ⁸⁶Sr, ⁸⁷Sr, δ18O and δ13C than well-preserved areas. Three structural regions have been identified in well-preserved areas of the ventral valve by differences in valve curvature and thickness, such as the umbonal and thick and thin regions. These regions have different proportions of Mg, S, Na, δ18O, and δ13C, which are interpreted as 'vital effects' and probably related to growth-rate differences during shell growth. The Gigantoproductus tertiary layer seems the most suitable for paleoclimate studies, because it retains the original microstructure and geochemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Refrath Formation in the Bergisches Land, Germany, is an important stratigraphic unit for the study of Frasnian brachiopods. Nevertheless, few studies have been undertaken concerning its spiriferide and spiriferinide brachiopods (Cyrtospiriferidae, Verneuiliidae and Cyrtinidae). In this paper, three species representing, respectively, the above families, Cyrtospirifer cuspidatus (d'Archiac and de Verneuil, 1842), Verneuilia cheiropteryx (d'Archiac and de Verneuil, 1842), and Cyrtina bouchardi Brice, 1988, are described from this region for the first time. The first serial transverse sections of Verneuilia cheiropteryx show that the species has well-developed dental plates, contrary to previous consensus; it lacks true crural plates, which is different from typical members of the Ambocoelioidea George, 1931. The presence of this species in the Refrath Fm. demonstrates that it is a Frasnian brachiopod, rather than of Middle Devonian (Givetian) age, as previously considered. The ventral median septum of Cyrtina bouchardi supports and penetrates into the deep spondylium, becoming trifurcate anteriorly. Cyrtospirifer cuspidatus is internally characterized by a well-developed ctenophoridium (cardinal process) and a pair of rudimentary crural plates (crural bases) in the dorsal valve and a deeply sunk delthyrial plate and a pair of divergent dental plates (becoming parallel anteriorly) in the ventral valve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exceptionally preserved fossil deposits provide detailed information on fossil assemblages and critical data that illustrate the complexities of Cambrian marine ecosystems. The Balang Lagerstätte (Cambrian Stage 4), one of the important biotas from the slope facies of Guizhou Province, yields diverse and abundant well–preserved fossils distributed across a variety of fossil localities. Here we present the first report of a new soft–bodied fossil assemblage from the Balang Formation in Pingding Village, Majiang County, outside the area from which soft–bodied fossils were previously known to occur. This new fossil site contains a variety of exquisite fossils including sponges, chancelloriids, cnidarians, hyoliths, brachiopods, arthropods, priapulids and vetulicolians. Compared with other Balang localities, the Pingding fossil assemblage is a brachiopod-dominated palaeocommunity with diverse arthropods. Results of a detailed comparative study indicate that the Balang localities are highly heterogeneous in fossil composition. In addition, the discovery of this new locality bridges the environmental gap between the offshore and slope palaeoenvironments, and offers a unique opportunity to investigate the factors responsible for differences in palaeocommunity composition. In general, these findings illustrate great community complexity in the Balang Lagerstätte which reflects ecospace utilization along an environmental gradient in the aftermath of the Cambrian Explosion. [Display omitted] • Pingding fossil assemblage widens the palaeoenvironmental range of the Balang Lagerstätte to the proximal outer shelf; • The Balang localities are highly heterogeneous in fossil composition; • Our results indicate similar environmental and taphonomic constrains in regional palaeocommunity composition; • Brachiopods play a crucial role in structuring the community in shallow-water environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stratigraphic reference section of the Marhouma area (the so-called km 30 section) in the Ougarta Range (North Western Algerian Sahara) provides valuable insights for the Emsian/Eifelian boundary (Lower/Middle Devonian) around the main lithological facies change expressed between the Teferguenite Chefar el Ahmar Formation. This paper presents new data allowing to better constrain and locate regionally the previously established boundary and to locate the Choteč Bioevent. This revision places the boundary below the new record of Icriodus introlevatus Bultynck, 1970 in Bed 3. The ammonoid assemblages place this boundary either at the base of level 25 sensu Göddertz (1987), without excluding placing it a position several meters lower, above the "niveau coralligène of Le Maître (1952)". The "Choteč" Bioevent is distinguished within a likely polyphase, stepwise local development: i) a facies change well-expressed by a shift from benthic bioclastic packstones to pelagic wackestones (styliolinites); ii) an increasing deepening (thickest marly interval above level 25, Bed 2); iii) the Icriodus introlevatus wackestone Bed 3; iv) a bloom of goniatites (including Pinacites jugleri (Roemer, 1843) and P. eminens Chlupáč and Turek, 1977) in Bed 4, and finally v) a bloom of micromorphic brachiopods in Bed 5, which reflects monospecific mass reproduction due to increased specific trophic levels. This scenario happened in an alternation of marl-limestone layers with a Zoophycus-Chondrites ichnofossil assemblage, interspersed by greenish claystones and calcareous nodule rich in dacryoconarids. The platy shell bed (Bed 5) represented by micromorphic brachiopods represents the peak phase of Choteč Event Interval ranging locally from Bed 4 to Bed 5, and corresponding to Göddertz's level 27. The referential stratigraphic section of the Marhouma area (the so-called km 30) in the Ougarta Range (North Western Algerian Sahara) provides valuable insights: • The Lower Devonian/Middle Devonian boundary is located within the Chefar El Ahmar Formation, towards its lower part close to the Teferguenite Formation. • Emsian/Eifelian boundary is placed below the Icriodus introlevatus Bultynck, 1970 Bed 3 around the lithological main change facies expressed between the Teferguenit/Chefar el Ahmar Formations. • "Choteč" Bioevent is located at Bed 4. • "Choteč" Bioevent recognized by the change of facies, the deepening of the environment and the bloom of goniatites as well as micromorphic brachiopods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) serve as valuable tracers of the geochemical properties of paleo-seawater and diagenetic processes. Four different carbonate components, ooids, microbalites, cements and brachiopods, from upper Carnian (Upper Triassic) of the northwestern Sichuan Basin were analyzed for REY geochemistry. Petrographic and cathodoluminescence analyses were employed to identify diagenetic features. The bright luminescent microspar calcite cement, ooids and the microbialites from the lower part of Qingyangou (HWQ) section exhibit bell-shaped REY SN patterns. Microbialites from the upper part of HWQ section have relatively high REY concentrations with a flat REY SN pattern. The high content of ΣREY and terrigenous elements (e.g., Al, Zr, Th) in ooids and microbialites reflect the input of terrigenous clastic in the northwestern Sichuan Basin during Late Carnian. Articulated terebratulid brachiopods in the study area display a generally modern seawater-like REY SN pattern. However, this pattern may be influenced by the presence of sparry cement that has infilled the cracks and punctae of the brachiopod shells. The ooids, microbalites, cements and brachiopods are unsuitable for reconstructing the REY characteristics of Carnian seawater in the northwestern Sichuan Basin due to diagenetic alteration and terrigenous input. This study also highlights the necessity of thoroughly evaluating carbonate components for diagenetic effects and terrigenous contamination when employing them for REY characteristic reconstruction. • The calcite of articulated terebratulid brachiopods in the study area exhibits a modern seawater-like REY SN pattern. • The infilling of sparry cement in the cracks and punctae of the brachiopod shell may lead to variations in the REY SN pattern. • REY features of brachiopod, ooid, microbialite, and cement in this study were affected by diagenesis and terrigenous inputs. • The effect of diagenesis on the carbonates must be thoroughly evaluated before reconstructions of seawater REY characteristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lower Ordovician carbonate rocks exposed in the Tuntunudé hill north of the Sierra Agua Verde, northeast of the town of Mátape, in central Sonora, consists of intraformational breccia, conglomeratic limestone, sandy limestone and limestone, which are overlain by a mixed succession of quartz sandstone and dolomitic sandstone. This succession is in turn unconformably overlain by an Upper Devonian sequence of dolomitic limestone, marl, conglomeratic limestone and sandy dolomite. The Lower Ordovician rocks contain abundant bioclasts of gastropods, brachiopods, trilobites, echinoderms, and sponges. Their microfacies show a marine medium to low energy environment, with sedimentation dominated by distal tempestites in laminar stages and intraclast debris formation during deposition. The depositional paleoenvironment corresponds to a marine middle-to-outer ramp. These strata are characterized by conodonts belonging to the Oepikodus communis and Reutterodus andinus biozones, as well as cyanobacteria incertae sedis Nuia sibirica. Devonian rocks overlying the Ordovician strata contain bioturbation and abundant bioclasts of echinoderms, brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, chaetetiform sponges, stromatoporoids; and also, colonial corals like Hexagonaria attenuata , Phillipsastrea hennahii and Phillipsastrea jachowiczi , monothalamous foraminifera like Vicin e sphaera sp., monoserials such as Tikhinella measpis and planispiral such as Nanicella gallowayi. The microfacies show a high-energy environment in marine tropical shallow open-sea lagoonal waters, with ooids and reef building organisms. • A microfacies analysis is performed from Agua Verde Sonora (Ordovician-Devonian). • Depositional environments ranging from middle to outer ramp. • This locality belongs to the Nuia Province previously proposed for Mexico. • Sediments were deposited around the western margin of Laurentia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven brachiopod species of the order Rhynchonellida of a new locality (Las Margaritas I section) from the Las Delicias Formation in Coahuila, Mexico are described. The fauna includes four taxa identified as Bryorhynchus bisulcatum , Leiorhynchioidea schucherti , Leiorhynchoidea amygdaloidea , and Paranorella imperialis , as well as three species assigned with open nomenclature: Leiorhynchioidea cf. scelesta , Stenoscisma sp., and Rhynchopora sp. The brachiopod fauna identified, together with the record of different middle Permian ammonoids allowed us to establish a Wordian (middle Guadalupian) age for the Las Margaritas I section. The assignment of this relative age enabled restricting the stratigraphic range of Leiorhynchioidea schucherti and Paranorella imperialis to the middle Guadalupian since previously had only been related inaccurately to the middle Permian. The record of the species Bryorhynchus bisulcatum , Leiorhynchioidea cf. scelesta , and Leiorhynchoidea amygdaloidea , as well as the genus Stenoscisma is the first in Mexico. The preservation of specimens, lithological features, and associated fauna suggest that rhynchonellid brachiopods were deposited in different platform facies: shallow lagoonal or offshore, characterized by low to medium energy, stenohaline conditions, and continuous terrigenous input. • Seven species of rhynchonellid brachiopods from the Permian of Coahuila, Mexico, are described. • The new fossil biota includes the first record of three species and a genus for Mexico. • The age of the section was related to the Wordian (middle Guadalupian). • The fauna was associated with two different depositional marine environments. • The taxa described are related to the Biotic Grandian Province of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper Paleozoic rocks crop out in the central part of Sonora, northwestern Mexico. The Sierra La Flojera, located southeast of Hermosillo City, is an isolated hill with a north-south orientation whose age remains controversial due to the scarcity of well-preserved fossils. However, previous information points out the occurrence of rocks from the Pennsylvanian-Permian and the Upper Triassic (Carnian). This paper focuses on the Permian rocks and describes a stratigraphic succession mainly composed of sandstone, conglomerate, limestone, and fossiliferous limestone with abundant fusulinids, and bryozoan, brachiopod, gastropod, and crinoid remains deposited on a shallow marine shelf. The Permian (early Leonardian) age was determined based on the occurrence of the fusulinids Paraskinnerella sp., Skinnerella sp., and Chalaroschwagerina sp., and Paraschwagerina sp. (reworked), which were associated with crinoid-isolated columnar plates of Preptopremnum cf. laeve. The fossil record studied points out that the Sierra La Flojera section was deposited during the early Leonardian and is coeval with other localities of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila (Mexico), and California and Texas (USA). • Permian stratigraphy from Sierra La Flojera, central Sonora, is described by first time. • These rocks were deposited on a shallow marine shelf. • Biota is composed of Paraskinnerella, Skinnerella, Chalaroschwagerina , and Paraschwagerina. • The Sierra La Flojera section was deposited during the early Leonardian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the final occurrence of coral-stromatoporoid biostromal reef and the faunal and facies change across the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary (DCB) at Changtanzi section, Longmenshan area of South China. The biostrome occurred in the third member of the Changtanzi Formation and is uppermost Famennian in age, characterized by abundant and high diversity stromatoporoids and tabulate corals, which were subsequently greatly affected with the environmental fluctuations indicated by the end-Devonian carbon isotope excursion. Stromatoporoids and tabulate corals survived and thrived in the uppermost Famennian but their association was eventually terminated in the Lower Hangenberg Crisis (LHC) by extinction of Famennian stromatoporoids. Brachiopods and rugose corals are found to occur as early as in the Upper Hangenberg Crisis (UHC), represented by solitary rugose corals Hebukophyllum sp., Neozaphrentis sp. and Uralinia sp., as well as abundant brachiopods, gastropods, in general representing post-disaster fauna of low species level diversity. This study shows distinctive faunal and lithofacies changes during the Hangenberg Crisis, and examines the strong link between faunal and environmental changes. The result indicates that the environmental fluctuations in the Devonian-Carboniferous transitions caused sudden and significant impacts on marine ecosystems, leading to the disappearance of coral-stromatoporoid metazoan reefs. • The final occurrence of coral-stromatoporoid biostrome • Faunal and facies changes across the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary • Extinction and biotic recovery throughout the Hangenberg Crisis [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zusammenfassung Ein kleiner glattschaliger rhynchonellider Brachiopode, Erymnaria Cooper, 1959 wurde in einer bislang unbekannten Lokalität der sogenannten Brülisau-Schuppenzone in der südhelvetischen Region der Nordostschweiz entdeckt. Es ist der Erstfund in dieser Region und in der Schweiz überhaupt. Die Form ist vergleichbar mit der Typusart von Erymnaria, E. polymorpha (Massalongo, 1850). Deren Identität ist zurzeit nicht bestätigt und die Spezies wird als Erymnaria sp.1 bezeichnet. Ein Hauptmerkmal von Erymnaria sp.1 ist die asymmetrische Schale. Dies war Anlass zu einer Gegenüberstellung von E. sp.1 mit anderen bekannten asymmetrischen Brachiopoden. Fragen zu Asymmetrie und Variabilität innerhalb des gleichen Genus und bei Brachiopoden im Allgemeinen werden diskutiert. Eine andere, grössere Brachiopoden-Art aus der neuen Fundstelle wird vorläufig Erymnaria? sp. 2 genannt. Die Fundschicht kann dem Chruteren-Member (Euthal-Formation) des frühen Yprésien zugeordnet und mit Grossforaminiferen datiert werden. Damit kann das bisherige Verbreitungsgebiet des Chruteren-Members erweitert werden.

The Middle and Upper Jurassic sequence near Foza (Asiago plateau; Venetian Alps) is characterized by important hiatuses. The relevant deposits are furthermore often found as sedimentary dikes, filling up fractures in the underlying carbonatic platform of the Calcari Grigi, Middle Liassic in age in the uppermost levels. The normal Middle and Upper Jurassic sequence includes, aver the Calcari Grigi the following formations: Lower Rosso Ammonitico Veronese and "Lumachella a Posidonia alpina", both Middle Ju­rassic in age; "Scisti ad Aptici", Upper Rosso Ammonitico Veronese and the basal part of the "Biancone", Upper Jurassic in age. In the Foza area the stratigraphic sequence changes quite rapidly in very short distances, with hiatuses involving one or more of the above mentioned formations. The presence of these hiatuses and of sedimentary dikes is in agreement with the location of the studied area near the edge of the "Trento plateau" during the Jurassic. A fossil assemblage was collected from a sedimentary dike near Lazzaretti of Foza. It consists of Brachiopods, Belemnites, Bivalves and Crinoid remains. Brachiopods are prevailing both in specimens and species number; among them 6 species, even if generally poorly preserved have been determined and described.

Ziyang Fauna is a significant early Ordovician Floian fossil Lagerstätte, recovered from blackish-grey mud limestone and calcareous mudstone of possible slope facies in the Yangtze platform in Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province, China, distinguished by predominate trilobites, accompanied with graptolites, brachiopods, arthropods and some trace fossils. It is marked by high abundance of exceptionally preserved Seleneceme (Trilobita). Two trilobite species named Caputrotundum bashanense and C. ziyangensis, are reassigned here to Seleneceme based on a detailed study of more than one hundred well-preserved specimens. The taxonomic generic and ontogeny characters of Seleneceme are as follows: cephalon semicircular in outline, with axial spine and genal spines; without eye lobes; glabella subcircular in outline, with deep longitudinal glabellar furrows; thorax and pygidium with much parallel segments. The morphological variation during ontogeny of Seleneceme is characterised by the gradual increase of the length/width ratio (L/W) of the body, but with a constant width/length ratio (W/L) of the cephalon, and also a faster growth rate in the pygidium than in the thorax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new arguments that contribute to support the hypothesis about the functional meaning of the commissural asymmetry in the Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) rhynchonellide Cyclothyris cardiatelia Berrocal-Casero. According to this hypothesis, commissural asymmetry is interpreted as an adaptation to life on soft substrates, which leads to a life position that is oblique and partially sunk in relation to the substrate. The taphonomic compression of one of the shell lobes observed in asymmetrical C. cardiatelia has been compared to the compression found in a symmetrical rhynchonellide in which the compression is located at the frontal part of the shell, supporting the idea of a different life position than in C. cardiatelia. Additionally, the fossil record shows that brachiopods exhibiting external asymmetry usually display the corresponding asymmetry in the brachidium, related to dysfunction or atrophy of one of the lophophore arms. Observations in extant rhynchonellides show they can live with one arm of the lophophore atrophied or misfunctioning, and even amputated. The applicability of this hypothesis to other cases of commissural asymmetry in rhynchonellides, such as those living in closely packed clusters, reef environments or affected by unidirectional currents, is discussed, considering that the common physiological response to these different palaeoenvironmental scenarios would be a differential use of the arms of the lophophore, in turn affecting commissure plication. This physiological response could explain the origin of obligate asymmetry in other rhynchonellide lineages besides Cyclothyris M´Coy, for instance in Torquirhynchia Childs. Continuous records of both facultative and obligate asymmetrical rhynchonellides along single phyletic lines will be necessary, in order to establish whether this interpretation is a generalized explanation for asymmetrical shells in rhynchonellides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is affecting the Antarctic continent in complex ways. Because Antarctic organisms are specialized to living in the cold, they are vulnerable to increasing temperatures, although quantitative analyses of this issue are currently lacking. Here we compiled a total of 184 estimates of heat tolerance belonging to 39 marine species and quantified how survival is affected concomitantly by the intensity and duration of thermal stress. Species exhibit thermal limits displaced toward colder temperatures, with contrasting strategies between arthropods and fish that exhibit low tolerance to acute heat challenges, and brachiopods, echinoderms, and molluscs that tend to be more sensitive to chronic exposure. These differences might be associated with mobility. A dynamic mortality model suggests that Antarctic organisms already encounter temperatures that might be physiologically stressful and indicate that these ecological communities are indeed vulnerable to ongoing rising temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eocene Nisai Formation of the Pishin Belt at its type section represents thick carbonatesiliciclastics, deposited in an intermittent sub-basin between Eurasian and Indian plates on the north-western margin of Pakistan. These carbonates contain rich assemblages of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) (Discocyclina, Operculina, Alveolina, Assilina, milliolids, Nummulites etc.), smaller benthic, planktonic foraminifera and other fossil assemblages such as molluscs, brachiopods, bryozoans, algae etc. Microfacies of the Nisai Formation have been studied using biota along with the lithological characters and sedimentary textures. Eight carbonate microfacies have been recognized representing deposition in an inner ramp to outer ramp settings. The association of abundant Nummulties, Assilina, lenticular Discocyclina and algae along with quartz grains at places represent a mid-ramp setting developed as result of episodic relative sea level fall, enhanced continental weathering and tectonic uplift. Flattened Discocyclina, Operculina, Nummulities, smaller benthic foraminifera, planktonic foraminifer accumulation indicates an outer ramp setting and milliolids contribute shallow marine inner ramp environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For examination of their internal features, 14 specimens of Pygope and Antinomia from the Bakony Mts. were sectioned longitudinally and transversely. The perforation of the dorsal valve continues in a long tube which joins a short collar of the ventral valve. In slightly opened shells a narrow gap appears between the collar and the tube. The posterior part of the gap is near the rim of the ventral collar. In the new model of the feeding mechanism of pygopides this feature involves that the exhalant jet passed directly over the ventral entrance of the tube. The propulsion of the exhalant jet might generate a low-pressure regime in the tube. An advantage of this process is increasing circulation through the mantle cavities of the lateral lobes, by the sucking effect of the low-pressure regime. The pygopide might lift itself from the mud by contracting the adjustor muscles of its pedicle. The underlying unconsolidated mud is stirred up and the fine grained organic-rich material may be sucked into the low-pressure area of the tube. Then this suspended matter might be ejected off the tube and the food might be recycled by the inhalant currents. With 14 figures and one table. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The San Cassiano Formation from the Dolomites, NE Italy, is a Ladinian-Carnian (Middle - Upper Triassic) lithostratigraphic unit belonging to the Western Tethys domain. In this formation numerous groups of marine invertebrates from reef communities have been reported. In particular, brachiopods are represented by different orders. Thecideids are the most abundant and diverse, with different species of the genus Thecospira. Despite the apparent abundance, only one report exists of a thecideid of the genus preserved in life position: Thecospira tyrolensis. In this study, we describe and discuss the first finding of Thecospira semseyi and Thecospira tenuistriata in life position based on the study of thin sections of Cipit boulders. Seemingly, the Th. semseyi shells were not firmly attached to the substrate by a small cementation surface; therefore, they could have lived embedded into the biogenic matrix. By contrast, Th. tenuistriata displays an umbonal region modified in a cementation area, allowing the attachment to the bio-builder. Most samples don't show any signal of transport since all specimens are articulated and are still attached to the substrate. Besides, the commissures are partially opened, free of any encrustation of sponge or bryozoan growing. The preservation of brachiopods suggests that the samples of both species were fossilized in life position. Moreover, Th. semseyi and Th. tenuistriata continued to live although the host's fabric was imbibing the brachiopods' ventral valve. This shows that thecideids were important components of Tethys reef communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most members of the speciose pea crab family (Decapoda: Brachyura: Pinnotheridae) are characterized by their symbioses with marine invertebrates in various host phyla. The ecology of pea crabs is, however, understudied, and the degree of host dependency of most species is still unclear. With the exception of one lineage of ectosymbiotic echinoid‐associated crabs, species within the subfamily Pinnotherinae are endosymbionts, living within the body cavities of mollusks, ascidians, echinoderms, and brachiopods. By contrast, most members of the two other subfamilies are considered to have an ectosymbiotic lifestyle, sharing burrows and tubes with various types of worms and burrowing crustaceans (inquilism). The body shapes within the family are extremely variable, mainly in the width and length of the carapace. The variation of carapace shapes in the family, focusing on pinnotherines, is mapped using landmark‐based morphometrics. Mean carapace shapes of species groups (based on their host preference) are statistically compared. In addition, a phylomorphometric approach is used to study three different convergence events (across subfamilies; between three genera; and within one genus), and link these events with the associated hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Lower Tremadocian (Tr1) lingulate assemblage from the Guayoc Chico Group (Pupusa Formation) is described and illustrated for the first time. The fauna consists of poorly preserved obolids referred to Libecoviella? sp. and Torobolus cf. subplanus Benedetto & Muñoz, 2015, the acrotretid Eurytreta harringtoni Mergl & Herrera, 2015 and the siphonotretid Celdobolus skrikus sp. nov. This is the first record of the genus Celdobolus in South America, previously recorded from slightly younger strata of Bohemia and Belgium. The Tremadocian lingulate fauna from the Central Andean basin displays closest biogeographical similarity with the Bohemian and Avalonian assemblages and supports a poleward (in Ordovician coordinates) dispersal trajectory along the clastic platforms bordering the Amazonian and NW Africa cratons. On the basis of recent coupled ocean-atmosphere circulation models for the Lower Ordovician it is inferred that larvae could have been transported by the boundary cold-water Antarctica Current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of shell damage has been described in Ordovician brachiopods in Porambonites (Porambonites) laticaudata. There is a pair of small pits with somewhat different outline in the shell surface at the anterior commissure of the brachiopod. These pits are oriented in lateral direction, about 40° from the direction of the sulcus on the anterior commissure. Previously known shell damage has resulted from failed predatory attacks by durophagous predators and differ from the shell damage in P. (P.) laticaudata. The pits in the shell margin are most likely the result of shell malformation caused by the presence of symbionts. It is plausible that the symbionts of the P. (P.) laticaudata benefitted from inhalant currents and were cleptoparasites. The symbionts caused damage to the host brachiopod, which also suggests a parasitic relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full understanding of diversity dynamics during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) requires analyses that investigate regional and species-level data and patterns. In this study, we combine bedding-plane scale data on brachiopod species counts and shell size col­lected from the Simpson Group of Oklahoma, USA, with species-level phylogenetic biogeography for three articulated brachiopod lineages that occurred throughout Laurentia. From these data, we ascertain that the primary influences of brachiopod shell size and diversity in the Simpson Group reflect global drivers, notably temporal position and paleotemperature. Similarly, the primary speciation pattern observed within Hesperorthis, Mimella, and Oepikina is the oscillation in speciation mode between dispersal and vicariance, which reflect the connection and disconnection of geographic areas, respectively. Processes that facilitate cyclical connectivity are global to regional in scale such as oceanographic changes, glacial cycles, or tectonic pulses. Therefore, both regional and continental scale analyses reinforce the importance of global factors in driving diversification during the GOBE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest Sandbian brachiopods and chitinozoans were studied in the Kõrgessaare and Haapsalu drill cores of Estonia. The brachiopod fauna shows a gradual renewal through the Keila Regional Stage (RS), differently from the rather persistent association of chitinozoans. An exception is the uppermost part of the stage, which differs in two sections in the taxonomic composition of chitinozoans and the occurrence of two species-level taxa of the Dalmanella kegelensis brachiopod group. D. kegelensis sensu lato has been considered an index taxon of the biozone in the Keila RS. It links the brachiopod faunas of North Estonia to those in NW Russia. In the latter region, the dolomitic and siliciclastic lagoonal and peritidal deposits overlying the strata with brachiopods of the D. kegelensis group are considered the youngest part of the Keila RS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its small areal extent, the island of Ireland exposes eight Caledonian tectonic terranes; six of them contain Ordovician brachiopod assemblages. These terranes record the early phases and destruction of the Iapetus Ocean through the occurrence of latitude-sensitive brachiopod faunas during the Middle Ordovician and early Late Ordovician; more cosmopolitan faunas characterized the later Ordovician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reviewed our department’s collections dealing with the Ordovician System, stored at the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NMNH NAS). The first investigation of the Ordovician palaeontology of Ukraine was published by the Romanian researcher T. Vascâuţsanu before the Second World War. The study of the Ordovician sections during the 1960s was related to geological prospecting. Most outcrops along the Dniester River in the middle of the valley were available for study before the construction of the dam of the Novodniestrovski Hydropower Station, which raised the level of the reservoir near the dam to 60 m. The reservoir is 198 km long and has covered outcrops ranging from the Ediacaran to the Pridoli. Ordovician fossils are represented by diverse remains of brachiopods, molluscs, corals, bryozoans, graptolites, echinoderms, conodonts, and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The western Iberian Chain of NE Spain represents a lateral prolongation of the West Asturian-Leonese Zone. As other proximal sectors fringing NW Gondwana, the chain comprises a con­formable and continuous Furongian‒Tremadocian transition, comprising a thick (3600‒4500 m) Lower Ordovician sedimentary succession, exclusively composed of siliciclastic strata and deposited in mid-latitude (temperate) waters. Although the shelly fossil record is not abundant, some key trilobites and brachiopods allow the identification of distinct biogeographic links with the Argentinian margin of West Gondwana, Oaxaca (Mexico), and the neighbouring Montagne Noire (France), with which a common biostratigraphic biozonation can be enviaged. Two phosphoritic interbeds rich in linguliformean brachiopods punctuate the Valconchán and Borrachón formations, and represent event beds related to condensation processes and sedimentation of explosive ignimbritic tuffs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Leptocoeliidae family (genera Anabaia, Australocoelia, Eocoelia, Leptocoelia, Leptocoelina and Pacificocoelia) has an important place in the global paleobiogeography, during the Silurian and Devonian. During these periods, global climate changes impacted a lot of invertebrate faunas in the epicontinental seas of Gondwana. In the Silurian, the genus Eocoelia reached a cosmopolitan behavior, while Leptocoelia emerged by adaptive sympatric processes and Anabaia became extinct. After that, during the Devonian, the genus Australocoelia emerged and reached cosmopolitan levels while Leptocoelina and Pacificocoelia emerged by sympatries in the equatorial regions. Australocoelia, during the Devonian, occupied the same ecological niches that were previously occupied by Anabaia in the Silurian. It can be said that the same occurred with Pacificocoelia and Eocoloelia in the seas of Laurentia, configuring a process of succession of faunas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total number of described, and known but undescribed, brachiopod species from the Aotearoa New Zealand region is 723 taxa, 69 of which are extant species and 646 of which are fossil species (Tables 15.1 & 15.2; Fig. 15.1). The New Zealand extant species totals comprise approximately 4%, 36%, and 16% of the global totals for brachiopod classes Lingulata, Craniata, and Rhynchonellata, respectively. Since MacFarlan et al. (2009), 5 new Triassic species, 15 new Jurassic species, 4 new Cretaceous species, 4 new Cenozoic genera/species, and 1 new extant species, have been described and the presence of a further 30 extant species has been identified. A checklist of extant and fossil New Zealand Brachiopoda is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over twenty years have passed since the first inventory of Aotearoa New Zealand's biodiversity was initiated, within the global millennial project, Species 2000 New Zealand. This immense undertaking culminated in the publication of three volumes reviewing New Zealand's entire known inventory of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms, covering all life in all environments, from the Cambrian to the present day (Gordon (Ed.) 2009, 2010, 2012). The impetus to update the inventory of New Zealand's marine biodiversity came in the year 2020, effectively two decades after the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity was conceived, and coinciding with the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (WCMB), held in Auckland in December 2020. Over the ensuing three years, sixty-five taxonomic experts from various national and overseas institutions revised and updated the inventory of their marine groups of interest, and summarised the status of knowledge on these taxa, to the date of publication. The geographic scope includes the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the wider New Zealand region encompassing the outer limits of the Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) and surrounding International Waters, occurring between 25° S and 56° 30' S, and 158° E and 170° W. Thirty-three chapters review and update the inventory of a range of marine phyla including: Opisthokonta-Holozoa (choanoflagellates and holozoan parasites); Kingdom Chromista (phyla Foraminifera and Ochrophyta); Kingdom Plantae (phyla Prasinodermatophyta, Chlorophyta, and Rhodophyta); Kingdom Animalia (phyla Acanthocephala, Annelida, Arthropoda (Crustacea, Insecta, and Pycnogonida), Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Chordata (Ascidiacea, Appendicularia, Aves, Mammalia, Reptilia, Thaliacea, and marine fishes), Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Dicyemida, Echinodermata, Gastrotricha, Gnathostomulida, Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, Mollusca, Nematoda, Nemertea, Phoronida, Platyhelminthes, Porifera, Priapulida, Rotifera, Tardigrada, and Xenacoelomorpha). Of the 73 taxonomic groups reviewed in Gordon (Ed.) (2009, 2010, 2012), 28 groups have not been formally reviewed in this volume. This is because several groups are beyond the general scope of this work (marine), being entirely terrestrial or freshwater inhabitants, or being single-celled (Foraminifera and Opisthokonta-Holozoa excepted). For some groups, there are still no marine species recorded from the New Zealand region, and for others, no one was available to provide an update. Minor updates have been provided in Preface Table 1 for Kingdoms Bacteria, Chromista (Oomycota), and Fungi (Basidiomycota) (B. Weir & J. Cooper, pers. comm.). Each chapter contains checklists of extant and fossil (where applicable) taxa, and a table that summarises species diversity numbers for the phylum under consideration, representing our current knowledge status of the biodiversity of extant and fossil marine biota of the New Zealand region. The checklists are usually arranged according to the currently accepted systematics and classificatory scheme employed by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) (http://www.marinespecies.org/), or taxonspecific databases associated with WoRMS, as unique to each taxon. The specimens that form the basis of the checklists in each chapter are either formally described taxa or taxonomically indeterminate taxa called operational taxonomic units (OTU), in national, international, and personal collections, and some may have been based upon images only, from Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) or deep-sea imaging systems such as NIWA's Deepsea Towed Underwater Imaging System (DTIS). Metadata surrounding the updated checklists of marine taxa will be made available online as a supplementary dataset, making it available to national and international databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Within the genera of fossil Brachiopoda eight junior homonyms are found and the following replacement names are proposed: 1) Brachiotesuquea Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Tesuquea Sutherland and Harlow, 1973 nec Klots, 1936 (Insecta, Lepidoptera); 2) Brachiosvalbardia Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Svalbardia Barkhatova, 1970 nec Thor, 1930 (Acari, Oribatida); 3) Rhyncholeptospira Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Leptospira Boucot, Johnson & Staton, 1964 nec Swainson, 1840 (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora); 4) Rhynchogilviella Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Ogilviella Lenz, 1968 nec Paramonov, 1954 (Insecta, Diptera); 5) Spiriarchboldiella Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Archboldiella Winkler Prins, 2008 nec Heinrich, 1934 (Insecta, Hymenoptera); 6) Brachiokasakhstania Ceccolini and Cianferoni nom. nov. = Kasakhstania Besnossova, 1968 nec Arnol'di, 1960 (Insecta, Curculionidae); 7) Thecidanella Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Danella Pajaud, 1966 nec Gray, 1869 (Anthozoa, Alcyonacea); 8) Brachiobittnerella Ceccolini & Cianferoni nom. nov. = Bittnerella Dagys, 1974 nec Dall, 1898 (Bivalvia, Arcida). Moreover, 16 new combinations (comb. nov.) are made accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limestones of the Upper Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous from the Hăghimaş Mountains were studied in two sections from the upper part of the Fagu Oltului valley, a tributary of the Olt River. The lower part of the succession is remarkable for the rich brachiopod fauna contained in a red limestone buildup, documented previously as a stromatactis mud-mound. The mound consists of bioclastic wackestones and packstones with numerous brachiopods, crinoids, and sponges. The mud-mound is covered with intraclastic grainstones and fine-grained limestones with pelagic bivalves. The following lithological units pass into shallow water limestone with nerineid gastropods, calcareous algae and foraminifera, in a regressive sequence. The micropaleontological association identified in the Upper Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous limestones from Fagul Oltului includes calcareous algae, foraminifera, saccocomid crinoid fragments, annelid worm tubes, sponge fragments, rare calpionellids and microorganisms with an uncertain systematic position. The identified microfossils have a wide stratigraphic distribution. The most important stratigraphic landmarks are Trocholina conica (which does not extend younger than Kimmeridgian) and Calpionella alpina (which does not appear before the upper Tithonian). Based on the whole micropaleontological assemblage, the lower part of the succession (the skeletal mud-mound) can be ascribed to the Kimmeridgian - lower-middle Tithonian, and the upper part to the upper Tithonian - Berriasian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Permo–Triassic interval encompasses three extinction events including the most dramatic biological crisis of the Phanerozoic, the latest Permian mass extinction. However, their drivers and outcomes are poorly quantified and understood for terrestrial invertebrates, which we assess here for insects. We find a pattern with three extinctions: the Roadian/Wordian (≈266.9 Ma; extinction of 64.5% insect genera), the Permian/Triassic (≈252 Ma; extinction of 82.6% insect genera), and the Ladinian/Carnian boundaries (≈237 Ma; extinction of 74.8% insect genera). We also unveil a heterogeneous effect of these extinction events across the major insect clades. Because extinction events have impacted Permo–Triassic ecosystems, we investigate the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on insect diversification dynamics and find that changes in floral assemblages are likely the strongest drivers of insects' responses throughout the Permo–Triassic. We also assess the effect of diversity dependence between three insect guilds; an effect ubiquitously found in current ecosystems. We find that herbivores held a central position in the Permo–Triassic interaction network. Our study reveals high levels of insect extinction that profoundly shaped the evolutionary history of the most diverse non-microbial lineage. The impact of three extinction events during the Permo–Triassic interval on terrestrial invertebrates is unclear. Here, the authors find that key abiotic and biotic factors, including changes in floral assemblages, were correlated with changes in insect diversity through this interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleotemperature proxy data form the cornerstone of paleoclimate research and are integral to understanding the evolution of the Earth system across the Phanerozoic Eon. Here, we present PhanSST, a database containing over 150,000 data points from five proxy systems that can be used to estimate past sea surface temperature. The geochemical data have a near-global spatial distribution and temporally span most of the Phanerozoic. Each proxy value is associated with consistent and queryable metadata fields, including information about the location, age, and taxonomy of the organism from which the data derive. To promote transparency and reproducibility, we include all available published data, regardless of interpreted preservation state or vital effects. However, we also provide expert-assigned diagenetic assessments, ecological and environmental flags, and other proxy-specific fields, which facilitate informed and responsible reuse of the database. The data are quality control checked and the foraminiferal taxonomy has been updated. PhanSST will serve as a valuable resource to the paleoclimate community and has myriad applications, including evolutionary, geochemical, diagenetic, and proxy calibration studies. Measurement(s) sea surface temperature proxy values Technology Type(s) various Sample Characteristic - Organism Planktonic Foraminifera • Brachiopoda • Mollusca • Conodonta • Thaumarchaeota • Haptophyte Sample Characteristic - Environment marine biome Sample Characteristic - Location global [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a revision of the history of the systematics of the order Spiriferida. Main directions of evolution of the major groups of Carboniferous spiriferids are identified and the corresponding changes in the composition of the superfamilies Martinioidea Waagen, 1883 and Spiriferoidea King, 1846 are recognized. The family Brachythyrididae Fredericks, 1924 including the subfamilies Brachythyridinae Fredericks, 1924, and Skelidorygminae Carter, 1994, was assigned to the superfamily Martinioidea. The family Angiospiriferidae Legrand-Blain, 1985, with the subfamilies Angiospiriferinae Legrand-Blain, 1985, Brachythyrininae Waterhouse, 2004, and Choristitinae Waterhouse, 1968, was recognized within the superfamily Spiriferoidea. The superfamily Neospiriferoidea Waterhouse, 1968 was established with the families Imbrexiidae Carter, 1992, Neospiriferidae Waterhouse, 1968, Trigonotretidae Schuchert, 1893, and Spiriferellidae Waterhouse, 1968 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interesting case of close external similarity (homoeomorphy) is revealed by the study of an Early Jurassic rhynchonellide brachiopod from Livari, Rumija Mountain, southern Montenegro. Shell microstructure was used as the primary diagnostic tool, applied before serial sectioning to study internal characters. Sepkoskirhynchia sphaerica gen. et sp. nov. is erected based on the presence of coarse fibrous shell microstructure and hamiform crura. Because of these primary diagnostic characters, the new genus is placed in the rhynchonellide family Basiliolidae. The shell microstructure of the new taxon is characterised by a differentiated secondary layer of coarse fibrous type. The fibres are rhombic or subquadrate in cross-section, in the external sublayer they are 55–60 μm wide and 40–50 μm thick, internally other sublayers are thinner with fibres 35–40 μm wide and 20–25 μm thick. The main character that distinguishes the new genus is that the secondary layer is differentiated into several sublayers, while in externally homoeomorphic Soaresirhynchia it is built of a single layer. The new taxon was found in the brachiopod and crinoidal limestones from the periplatform facies of the Dinaric Carbonate Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brachiopods belonging to order Atrypida originated in the Middle Ordovician and went extinct in the Late Devonian. Few cladistic studies have been undertaken for this group. Here we investigate their early evolution through Silurian time. We present a parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis of 41 characters and 70 genera representing all the early taxonomic groups within the order. The stratigraphical record of the fossil genera analysed strongly aligns with the phylogeny recovered from our parsimony analysis. Most currently recognized subfamilies and families may be identified within clades, except for the Atrypinae, Idiospirinae, and the Septatrypidae. This warrants subdivision of the former and redefinition of the latter two. The subfamily Atrypinae is redefined, and a new subfamily of the Atrypidae, the Protatrypinae, is split off. Tracing character evolution across the tree indicates that the calcified spiralia and a jugum or jugal processes characterize all members of the Atrypida, except the most basal clade, the Cyclospiridae, which lacks a calcified jugum. Ribs are a homoplasious character, occurring in numerous clades throughout the tree. Darriwillian through Sandbian ages represent times with rapid evolution when most new autapomorphies seen in the atrypides evolved. This interval is the first major part of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE). Solid teeth, dorsal direction of spiralia, elaborate ornamentation, and frills evolved in the latest Katian into early Silurian time. Solid teeth seen in distantly related clades from latest Katian onwards may be an analogous feature. The Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME) is indicated in the stratigraphical tree together with a possible event at the end of the Aeronian. The tree supports the long-held assumptions that the Plectatrypinae evolved from the Spirigerininae. It further suggests that the genus Tuvaella may be included with the Davidsonioidea. Likewise, the redefined Atrypinae is a sister group of the Lissatrypidae and a derived group in the phylogenetic tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]