Reassessment of the problematic Burgess Shale sponge Takakkawia lineata Walcott, 1920

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1087-1095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph P. Botting
Keyword(s):  
Organic Layer ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Similar Morphology ◽  
Stem Group ◽  
The Family ◽  
Fine Microstructure ◽  
New Material ◽  
Primary Column

The monotypic Burgess Shale sponge genus Takakkawia Walcott, 1920, has been previously assigned to the Protomonaxonida, despite showing several unique features. A reassessment of the genus, including restudy of previously described material and the addition of new material that includes partially disarticulated specimens, has allowed a greatly modified understanding of its structure. The sponge possessed four primary columns (each divided into two) of highly modified spicules, with an outer organic layer extended into a unique, complex flange that shows a fine microstructure. The flanges within one column overlap to give the impression of radial fins, and each column is surmounted by an enlarged marginal spicule of similar morphology. Multi-rayed spicules are present both within the primary column architecture and as marginalia lining the osculum. The architecture most closely resembles Metaxyspongia Wu et al., 2005, which is placed into the Takakkawiidae. This restudy supports an interpretation of the family as a very early-branching sponge lineage, diverging within the early stem group of Silicea or prior to the separation of Calcarea and Silicea.

Middle Cambrian arthropods from Utah

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek E. G. Briggs ◽  
Bruce S. Lieberman ◽  
Jonathan R. Hendricks ◽  
Susan L. Halgedahl ◽  
Richard D. Jarrard
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Stem Group ◽  
New Material ◽  
A New Species

The Middle Cambrian Spence Shale Member (Langston Formation) and Wheeler and Marjum Formations of Utah are known to contain a diverse soft-bodied fauna, but important new paleontological material continues to be uncovered from these strata. New specimens of anomalocaridids include the largest and smallest near complete examples yet reported from Utah. New material of stem group arthropods includes two new genera and species of arachnomorphs: Nettapezoura basilika and Dicranocaris guntherorum. Other new arachnomorph material includes a new species of Leanchoilia comparable to L. protogonia Simonetta, 1970; Leanchoilia superlata? Walcott, 1912; Sidneyia Walcott, 1911a; and Mollisonia symmetrica Walcott, 1912. L. protogonia from the Burgess Shale is confirmed as a separate species and is not a composite fossil. The first example of the trilobite Elrathia kingii preserving traces of the appendages is described. In addition, new material of the bivalved arthropods Canadaspis Novozhilov in Orlov, 1960; Branchiocaris Briggs, 1976; Waptia Walcott, 1912; and Isoxys Walcott, 1890 is described.

New data on Homocladus grandis, a Permian stem-mantodean (Polyneoptera: Dictyoptera)

2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 746-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Béthoux ◽  
Roy J. Beckemeyer ◽  
Michael S. Engel ◽  
Joseph D. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Hind Wing ◽  
Wing Morphology ◽  
Stem Group ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material

Representatives of the family Strephocladidae have been considered as fossil relatives (i.e., stem-group) of Mantodea (mantises) based on characters of the forewing morphology. Here we describe new specimens from the Wellington Formation that we assign to the strephocladid species Homocladus grandis Carpenter, 1966. The range of morphological variation exhibited by the new material, in addition to wing morphology variability documented in extant mantises and roaches, suggest that H. ornatus Carpenter, 1966 and Paracladus retardatus Carpenter, 1966, reported from the same formation, are new junior subjective synonyms of H. grandis. We describe the first hind wing for this species based on a well-preserved specimen. It exhibits a combination of character states unique to dictyopteran insects.

scholarly journals A reexamination of Yuknessia from the Cambrian of British Columbia and Utah

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven T. LoDuca ◽  
Jean-Bernard Caron ◽  
James D. Schiffbauer ◽  
Shuhai Xiao ◽  
Anthony Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
National Park ◽  
Red Alga ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinity ◽  
New Material ◽  
Scanning Electron

AbstractTo investigate the phylogenetic affinity of Yuknessia simplex Walcott, 1919, scanning electron microscopy was applied to the Burgess Shale (Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5) type material and to new material from the Trilobite Beds (Yoho National Park) and specimens from the Cambrian of Utah. On the basis of fine-scale details observed using this approach, including banding structure interpreted as fusellae, Yuknessia Walcott, 1919 is transferred from the algae, where it resided for nearly a century, to the extant taxon Pterobranchia (Phylum Hemichordata). Considered as such, Yuknessia specimens from the Trilobite Beds and Spence Formation (Utah) are amongst the oldest known colonial pterobranchs. Two morphs regarded herein as two different species are recognized from the Trilobite Beds based on tubarium morphology. Yuknessia simplex has slender erect tubes whereas Yuknessia stephenensis n. sp., which is also known in Utah, has more robust erect tubes. The two paratypes of Y. simplex designated by Walcott (1919) are formally removed from Yuknessia and are reinterpreted respectively as an indeterminate alga and Dalyia racemata Walcott, 1919, a putative red alga.

The family Onychiuridae (Collembola) from karst caves of the Basque biospeleologic district, with description of four new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5040 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-194
Author(s):  
ENRIQUE BERUETE ◽  
JAVIER I. ARBEA ◽  
ENRIQUE BAQUERO ◽  
RAFAEL JORDANA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Karst Caves ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material

The study of Onychiuridae from 42 caves of the north of the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France has revealed the existence of 32 species inhabiting the caves of the Basque bio-speleological district, among which four new species are described: Deuteraphorura bizkaiensis sp. nov., Deuteraphorura bolivari sp. nov., Onychiurus arbailakensis sp. nov. and Protaphorura leitzaldeaensis sp. nov. Furthermore, three species, Deuteraphorura boneti (Gisin, 1953), Deuteraphorura akelaris (Jordana & Beruete, 1983) and Spinonychiurus vandeli (Cassagnau, 1960), are redescribed based on type and new material to furnish the description of some characters, especially concerning the chaetotaxy, not considered in the original description. Keys to the recorded species are also reported.  

Protohemiphlebiidae fam. nov., a stem hemiphlebioid damselfly from Cretaceous amber in Kachin

2021 ◽  
pp. SP521-2020-249
Author(s):  
Daran Zheng ◽  
Edmund A. Jarzembowski ◽  
De Zhuo ◽  
André Nel
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Early Evolution ◽  
Relict Species ◽  
Wing Base ◽  
New Family ◽  
Stem Group ◽  
The Family

AbstractHemiphlebiidae are the most basal lestomorphan family following the latest phylogenetic analysis of the Zygoptera: this unique damselfly family today contains one relict species found in the wetlands of Australia. It was, however, very diverse and widespread during the Mesozoic. Nevertheless, very few species were known obscuring the origination and early evolution of the family. Here we propose a new stem hemiphlebioid taxon (Protohemiphlebiidae Zheng, Jarzembowski & Nel, fam. nov.) based on a new genus and two species: Protohemiphlebia zhangi Zheng, Jarzembowski & Nel, sp. nov. and Protohemiphlebia meiyingae Zheng, Jarzembowski & Nel, sp. nov. The new family shares the characters of both Hemiphlebiidae and Coenagrionoidea, but it is more closely related to Hemiphlebiidae in having the pterostigma with a ‘star-shaped’ microsculpture, and AA originating from the wing base slightly distal of Ax0. Protohemiphlebia Zheng, Jarzembowski & Nel, gen. nov. is further considered to belong to the stem group of Hemiphlebioidea, instead of belonging to the Hemiphlebiidae, in possessing pretibial combs and a weakly kinked RP1 below the Pt-brace. The new damselflies will help to calibrate the origin of Hemiphlebiidae, which could be earlier than their current oldest records in the Kimmeridgean (Late Jurassic).

Mesodiphthera Tillyard, 1919, from the Late Triassic of Queensland, the oldest cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Cicadoidea: Tettigarctidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4567 (2) ◽  
pp. 358 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN J. LAMBKIN
Keyword(s):  
Basal Cell ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Nodal Line ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Fossil Insect ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material ◽  
Cross Vein

New specimens of its type species from the Queensland Late Triassic (Norian) (~227–~208.5 Ma) fossil insect locality at Dinmore have revealed that the old and obscure Late Triassic genus Mesodiphthera Tillyard, 1919, from nearby Denmark Hill, is a tettigarctid cicada, the earliest record of the family and the oldest cicada. The genus is distinguished by the combined presence of three characters: the primary forks of R and M at about the same level, midway between the basal cell and the nodal line; RA2 with four or five terminal branches; and the inter-medial cross-vein backwardly inclined, running between M2 and M3. Of the three species originally ascribed to Mesodiphthera by Tillyard, only its type, M. grandis Tillyard, 1919, is retained in the genus. The other two species differ significantly from the type and are transferred to Tardilly gen. nov., which is similar to Mesodiphthera in the more or less aligned primary forks of R and M placed at about midway between the basal cell and the nodal line, and the backwardly inclined inter-medial cross-vein which runs between M2 and M3. It differs, however, in its smaller size, broader costal space, three-branched M3+4, and differently shaped CuA and CuA2. The new material, all of which is of M. grandis, provides a complete picture of the shape, colour and venation of its tegmen, whereas Tardilly prosboloides (Tillyard) comb. nov., 1922 and Tardilly dunstani (Tillyard) comb. nov., 1922 are still known only from their poorly preserved type specimens. Mesodiphthera and Tardilly exhibit a number of presumed plesiomorphies, viz the costal space much wider than the CuA cell, the basal cell strongly narrowed apically, and the post-nodal cross-vein series closer to the nodal line than the apex, which place it in the probable paraphyletic subfamily Cicadoprosbolinae. A more informed assessment of their relationships, however, must await a comprehensive analysis of the now 29 fossil genera of the family. The Tettigarctidae were the only cicadas of the Mesozoic and the discovery in the Triassic of Australia of Mesodiphthera and Tardilly clearly distinct from the 24 previously known Mesozoic genera, further demonstrates the family’s high degree of structural diversity, and emphasises its almost world-wide distribution in that Era. 

New records and a confirmation of three perlodid species in China, with additional notes and images of Rauserodes epiproctalis (Zwick, 1997)(Plecoptera: Perlodidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4808 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-474
Author(s):  
QING-BO HUO ◽  
ZHEN-NING CHEN ◽  
XIANG-BO KONG ◽  
YU-ZHOU DU
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
New Records ◽  
Changbai Mountain ◽  
Jilin Province ◽  
Autonomous Region ◽  
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material ◽  
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Three species of the family Perlodidae are newly reported or confirmed for China, Isoperla asiatica Raušer from Arxan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Isoperla eximia Zapekina-Dulkeit from Changbai Mountain, Jilin Province, and Mesoperlina capnoptera (McLachlan, 1886) from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Based on new material, additional taxonomic notes and images of another perlodid stonefly, Rauserodes epiproctalis (Zwick, 1997) is provided. 

Rare primitive deuterostomes from the Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Conway Morris ◽  
Susan L. Halgedahl ◽  
Paul Selden ◽  
Richard D. Jarrard
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Type Species ◽  
The Body ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Anterior Section ◽  
Stem Group ◽  
Stratigraphic Range ◽  
New Discovery

AbstractThe fossil record of early deuterostome history largely depends on soft-bodied material that is generally rare and often of controversial status. Banffiids and vetulicystids exemplify these problems. From the Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah, we describe specimens of Banffia episoma n. sp. (from the Spence Shale) and Thylacocercus ignota n. gen. n. sp. (from the Wheeler Formation). The new species of Banffia Walcott, 1911 shows significant differences to the type species (B. constricta Walcott, 1911) from the Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) Burgess Shale, notably in possessing a prominent posterior unit but diminished anterior section. Not only does this point to a greater diversity of form among the banffiids, but also B. episoma indicates that the diagnostic median constriction and crossover of either side of the body are unlikely to be the result of taphonomic twisting but are original features. Comparisons extend also to the Cambrian (Series 2) Heteromorphus Luo and Hu in Luo et al., 1999 and, collectively, these observations support an assignment of the banffiids to the vetulicolians. The new taxon T. ignota represents the first discovery of a vetulicystid from beyond China and also significantly extends its stratigraphic range from Series 2 Cambrian into Series 3 Cambrian. Despite overall similarities in bodyplan, T. ignota differs from other vetulicystids in a number of respects, notably the possession of an anterior zone with broad tentacle-like structures. This new discovery is consistent with the vetulicystids representing stem-group ambulacrarians.

A new haplolepid fauna (Osteichthyes: Actinopterygii) from the Lower Coal Measures of Scotland: Westphalian A; Langsettian, Carbonicola communis chronozone (Bashkirian)

2014 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis M. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
Strong Indication ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Comprehensive Description ◽  
The Family ◽  
Generic Position ◽  
New Material ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Dermal Bones ◽  
Brackish Environment

ABSTRACTSeven new species and one new genus of the family Haplolepidae (Actinopterygii: Palaeonisciformes) are described from new material obtained from the Drumgray coal shales, North Lanarkshire: Westphalian A (Bashkirian): Protohaplolepis isabellae; Protohaplolepis limnades; Protohaplolepis traquairi; Parahaplolepis alexandrae; Parahaplolepis elenae; Pyritocephalus youngii and Millerolepis eleionomae. The discovery of these new taxa increases the number of haplolepid species found in Europe to 16, thus producing a faunal count more than comparable to that of North America. This high concentration of haplolepid remains in limnic deposits is also a strong indication that these fish were not only adapted to a coastal paralic basin, but also well-adapted to a freshwater brackish environment. A comprehensive description of the skull roof morphology, including a short description of some of the larger dermal bones, is given of seven new haplolepid species obtained from the coal shale tips at Wester Bracco and Shotts in North Lanarkshire. In consequence, a revised table of the stratigraphical distribution of the Haplolepidae in Europe is provided. Furthermore, the new genus Millerolepis is assigned to the subfamily Parahaplolepinae and the generic position of the problematic Haplolepis attheyi from Newsham, Northumberland is discussed, with the taxonomic position of Protohaplolepis proposed.

Morphology, anatomy, phylogenetics and distribution of fossil and extant Trochodendraceae in the Northern Hemisphere

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R Manchester ◽  
Zlatko Kvaček ◽  
Walter S Judd
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Basal Part ◽  
Parsimony Analysis ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
New Material ◽  
Fossil Fruit

Abstract We present the oldest known occurrences of crown-group Trochodendraceae based on new material from the Palaeocene of Wyoming, USA. Two genera are recognized, Trochodendron and Eotrochion gen. nov. The fossil fruit of Trochodendron infernense sp. nov. is represented by a pedicellate, apically dehiscent capsular fruit composed of nine follicle-like units, each bearing a persistent convex style. The basal part is ornamented with numerous raised stamen scars. From the same deposits, Eotrochion is represented by infructescences, fruits and associated leaves. The infructescences are racemes of numerous apically dehiscent capsules, each with c. 14–16 styles, each with an underlying nectary and receptacles lacking stamen scars, but possessing a prominent perianth scar. A phylogenetic assessment of the modern species, plus representatives of four extinct genera of fossil Trochodendraceae based on available morphological characters, yields a favoured topology of Trochodendron(Eotrochion(Concavistylon kvacekii(C. wehrii (Pentacentron, Tetracentron)))). A parsimony analysis of currently available characters indicates that C. wehrii renders Concavistylon non-monophyletic. Accordingly, we transfer it to Paraconcavistylon gen. nov., characterized by pendent, rather than erect infructescences. We also reconsider the extinct Nordenskioeldia (Late Cretaceous to Miocene), the prior placement of which in Trochodendraceae has been challenged, and we consider it to fall outside the crown group of the family.

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