The Cretaceous and Paleocene pleurotomariid (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda) fauna of Seymour Island, Antarctica

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 750-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Harasewych ◽  
Anton Oleinik ◽  
William Zinsmeister

Leptomaria antipodensis and Leptomaria hickmanae are described from the Upper Cretaceous [Maastrichtian] Lopez de Bertodano Formation, Seymour Island, and represent the first Mesozoic records of the family Pleurotomariidae from Antarctica. Leptomaria stillwelli, L. seymourensis, Conotomaria sobralensis and C. bayeri, from the Paleocene [Danian], Sobral Formation, Seymour Island, are described as new. Leptomaria larseniana (Wilckens, 1911) new combination, also from the Sobral Formation, is redescribed based on better-preserved material. The limited diversity of the pleurotomariid fauna of Seymour Island is more similar to that of the Late Cretaceous faunas of Australia and New Zealand in terms of the number of genera and species, than to the older, more diverse faunas of South America, southern India, or northwestern Madagascar, supporting the status of the Weddelian Province as a distinct biogeographic unit. The increase in the species richness of this fauna during the Danian may be due to the final fragmentation of Gondwana during this period.

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene A. Martin

The family Onagraceae is a relatively minor part of the Australian flora but it has a long history in Australia: a probable Ludwigia dates from the Eocene; Fuchsia, not native to Australia today, is present from early Oligocene times; and Epilobium is found only in the Pleistocene. Onagraceae first appears in the Late Cretaceous in northern South America and southern North America, where it is thought to have originated, and Ludwigia dates from the Palaeocene. It is thought that Ludwigia migrated into Australia via a northern route. Fuchsia in Australia predates its first appearance in New Zealand, suggesting that New Zealand Fuchsia may have been derived from the Australian Fuchsia.


1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (S18) ◽  
pp. 1-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos E. Macellari

One of the richest and best preserved late Campanian-Maastrichtian ammonite faunas of the world occurs within the Lopez de Bertodano Formation on Seymour Island. The excellent exposure of this sequence has offered an opportunity for detailed stratigraphic study of the fauna, providing a stratigraphic control unavailable for most other Southern Hemisphere strata of similar age.Ammonites are restricted to the Cretaceous portion of the Lopez de Bertodano Formation, becoming more abundant and increasing in diversity within a 600-m interval below the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The ammonite-rich levels are divided into three zones (from oldest to youngest: Pachydiscus ootacodensis, P. riccardi and P. ultimus zones), extending from the late Campanian-Maastrichtian to the latest Maastrichtian.The taxonomic study of this fauna shows a predominance of endemic taxa of the family Kossmaticeratidae, including the species Maorites tuberculatus Howarth, M. seymourianus (Kilian and Reboul), M. densicostatus (Kilian and Reboul), M. weddelliensis n. sp., Grossouvrites gemmatus (Huppe) and Gunnarites bhavaniformis (Kilian and Reboul). These taxa, together with the members of the family Desmoceratidae Kitchinites (Kitchinites) darwini (Steinmann) and K. (K.) laurae n. sp., are mostly restricted to the margins of the Late Cretaceous Weddellian Province that extended from southern South America to Australia.Cosmopolitan genera described in this work become more abundant up section and include the species Anagaudryceras seymouriense n. sp., Zelandites varuna (Forbes), Pseudophyllites loryi (Kilian and Reboul), Diplomoceras lambi Spath, Pachydiscus (Pachydiscus) ootacodensis (Stoliczka), P. (P.) riccardi n. sp. and P. (P.) ultimus n. sp.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. B. Hoare ◽  
John S. Dugdale

Xanadoses nielseni, gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from New Zealand, where it is the only native member of the superfamily Incurvarioidea. The larva is a bark-miner, making long tortuous galleries on the trunks of various species of smooth-barked tree and pupating under a raised silk-lined 'cap' of bark. The moth is assigned to the Cecidosidae on the basis of five apomorphies shared with this family, but is considered to represent the basal lineage within the family as it lacks at least four apomorphies shared by all other genera. The distribution of this concept of Cecidosidae (South America, South Africa and New Zealand) confirms it is an ancient group that originated before the break-up of Gondwana in the late Cretaceous. A checklist of cecidosid taxa is provided.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 1655-1667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darla K. Zelenitsky ◽  
L. V. Hills ◽  
Philip J. Currie

Examination of a large number of eggshell fragments collected from the Oldman Formation of southern Alberta reveals a greater ootaxonomic diversity than is known from complete eggs or clutches. Three new oogenera and oospecies of the ornithoid-ratite morphotype and one of the ornithoid-prismatic morphotype are established, based on the eggshell fragments. Porituberoolithus warnerensis oogen. et oosp. nov. and Continuoolithus canadensis oogen. et oosp. nov. have a microstructure similar to that of elongatoolithid eggs of theropod dinosaurs. Tristraguloolithus cracioides oogen. et oosp. nov. and Dispersituberoolithus exilis oogen. et oosp. nov. possess an external zone and thus have a microstructure like modern avian eggshell. Tristraguloolithus has a shell thickness, microstructure, and surface sculpture similar to those of recent bird eggshell of the family Cracidae (order Galliformes). Dispersituberoolithus exhibits the primitive or normal eggshell condition of some recent neognathous avian taxa. The ootaxa described indicate a diversity of both avian and theropod dinosaur egg layers within Devil's Coulee and Knight's Ranch, southern Alberta, during the Late Cretaceous.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Giribet ◽  
Kate Sheridan ◽  
Caitlin M. Baker ◽  
Christina J. Painting ◽  
Gregory I. Holwell ◽  
...  

The Opiliones family Neopilionidae is restricted to the terranes of the former temperate Gondwana: South America, Africa, Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Despite decades of morphological study of this unique fauna, it has been difficult reconciling the classic species of the group (some described over a century ago) with recent cladistic morphological work and previous molecular work. Here we attempted to investigate the pattern and timing of diversification of Neopilionidae by sampling across the distribution range of the family and sequencing three markers commonly used in Sanger-based approaches (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and cytochrome-c oxidase subunit I). We recovered a well-supported and stable clade including Ballarra (an Australian ballarrine) and the Enantiobuninae from South America, Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, but excluding Vibone (a ballarrine from South Africa). We further found a division between West and East Gondwana, with the South American Thrasychirus/Thrasychiroides always being sister group to an Australian–Zealandian (i.e. Australia + New Zealand + New Caledonia) clade. Resolution of the Australian–Zealandian taxa was analysis-dependent, but some analyses found Martensopsalis, from New Caledonia, as the sister group to an Australian–New Zealand clade. Likewise, the species from New Zealand formed a clade in some analyses, but Mangatangi often came out as a separate lineage from the remaining species. However, the Australian taxa never constituted a monophyletic group, with Ballarra always segregating from the remaining Australian species, which in turn constituted 1–3 clades, depending on the analysis. Our results identify several generic inconsistencies, including the possibility of Thrasychiroides nested within Thrasychirus, Forsteropsalis being paraphyletic with respect to Pantopsalis, and multiple lineages of Megalopsalis in Australia. In addition, the New Zealand Megalopsalis need generic reassignment: Megalopsalis triascuta will require its own genus and M. turneri is here transferred to Forsteropsalis, as Forsteropsalis turneri (Marples, 1944), comb. nov.


2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1792) ◽  
pp. 20140811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián Apesteguía ◽  
Raúl O. Gómez ◽  
Guillermo W. Rougier

Rhynchocephalian lepidosaurs, though once widespread worldwide, are represented today only by the tuatara ( Sphenodon ) of New Zealand. After their apparent early Cretaceous extinction in Laurasia, they survived in southern continents. In South America, they are represented by different lineages of Late Cretaceous eupropalinal forms until their disappearance by the Cretaceous/Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary. We describe here the only unambiguous Palaeogene rhynchocephalian from South America; this new taxon is a younger species of the otherwise Late Cretaceous genus Kawasphenodon . Phylogenetic analysis confirms the allocation of the genus to the clade Opisthodontia. The new form from the Palaeogene of Central Patagonia is much smaller than Kawasphenodon expectatus from the Late Cretaceous of Northern Patagonia. The new species shows that at least one group of rhynchocephalians not related to the extant Sphenodon survived in South America beyond the K/Pg extinction event. Furthermore, it adds to other trans-K/Pg ectotherm tetrapod taxa, suggesting that the end-Cretaceous extinction affected Patagonia more benignly than the Laurasian landmasses.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo A. Otero ◽  
David Rubilar-Rogers ◽  
Roberto E. Yury-Yañez ◽  
Alexander O. Vargas ◽  
Carolina S. Gutstein ◽  
...  

AbstractWe describe a new chimaeriform fish, Callorhinchus torresi sp. nov., from the uppermost Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) of the López de Bertodano Formation, Isla Marambio (Seymour Island), Antarctica. The material shows it is distinct from currently known fossil and extant species of the genus, whereas the outline of the tritors (abrasive surfaces of each dental plate) shows an intermediate morphology between earlier records from the Cenomanian of New Zealand and those from the Eocene of Isla Marambio. This suggests an evolutionary trend in tritor morphology in the lineage leading to modern callorhynchids, during the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene interval.


1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 234-234
Author(s):  
E. M. Pike

Assessment of changes in terrestrial ecosystems since Cretaceous time, until recently, has had to rely on paleobotany (including paleopalynology) and vertebrate paleontology to provide data for analysis. Insects contribute a major portion of the terrestrial diversity in any ecosystem, but their fossil record and state of preservation had discouraged paleoecological study beyond the Pleistocene. With the discovery of prolific Upper Cretaceous amber deposits in Russia and Canada, and the investigation of Tertiary amber deposits from the Baltic, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the USA, the prospect of clarifying changes in insect diversity and ecology over time becomes real. Methods are reported which allow the description of species richness and relative abundance of arthropod taxa from an Upper Cretaceous (Campanian: 75 MYA) amber deposit in Alberta, Canada. Diversity and abundance are described at the Order level for hexapods, and for the Acarina and Araneae. Taxa present, in order of abundance, are Homoptera (66 specimens/kg of amber), Diptera (28/kg), Acarina (21/kg), Hymenoptera (13/kg), Araneae (12/kg), Psocoptera (4/kg), Coleoptera (2/kg), Blattodea (1/kg), Thysanoptera (1/kg), Trichoptera (0.6/kg). Other orders present are Lepidoptera, Collembola, Dermaptera, Mantodea, and Ephemeroptera. In total, of 35 identified families, 8 are extinct. There are about 20 genera identified, of which only 1 is extant. All identified species are extinct. Estimated species richness is about 100 species of arthropods. In comparison, virtually all Families reported from Baltic amber (Oligocene) are still extant, as are the majority of genera. Morphology and feeding structures are well within the variation seen in modern insects. This suggests that throughout the Tertiary, Entomologists would feel quite at home with the insect fauna, and during the Upper Cretaceous, they would have little difficulty identifying insects at least to the family level. It is hypothesized that the taxonomic structure of modern insect communities was well established before the end of the Cretaceous, and that the structure and interrelationships of insect guilds were also very similar to those of today.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 957 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Jennings ◽  
A. D. Austin

This study examines the phylogeny, taxonomy, distribution and biology of the gasteruptiid subfamily Hyptiogastrinae and, at the same time, presents an overview of the family. Following a cladistic analysis of 35 discrete morphological characters, two monophyletic genera are recognised, Hyptiogaster Kieffer and Pseudofoenus s. l. Kieffer. As a consequence, the genera Aulacofoenus Kieffer, Crassifoenus Crosskey, and Eufoenus Szépligeti are synonymised with Pseudofoenus. A total of 88 species are recognised for the subfamily, 10 species of Hyptiogaster, which are restricted to mainland Australia, and 78 species of Pseudofoenus, 40 of which are described as new. Pseudofoenus has a restricted Gondwanan distribution and is found in Australia including Tasmania (65 spp.), New Guinea and New Britain (5 spp.), the south-west Pacific (New Caledonia, New Hebrides and Fiji – 2 spp.), New Zealand (4 spp.) and South America (2 spp.). No new species have been recorded from either New Zealand or South America. For Pseudofoenus, information on the distribution of each species, their biology (if known) and an identification key are presented.Following a taxonomic revision, the following new species are described: P. baileyi, sp. nov., P. baitetaensis, sp. nov., P. beverlyae, sp. nov., P. caperatus, sp. nov., P. cardaleae, sp. nov., P. carrabinensis, sp. nov., P. claireae, sp. nov., P. collessi, sp. nov., P. coorowensis, sp. nov., P. crosskeyi, sp. nov., P. douglasorum, sp. nov., P. eliseae, sp. nov., P. ericae, sp. nov., P. eustonensis, sp. nov., P. feckneri, sp. nov., P. gressitti, sp. nov., P. gullanae, sp. nov., P. hackeri, sp. nov., P. imbricatus, sp. nov., P. iqbali, sp. nov., P. kadowi, sp. nov., P. karimuiensis, sp. nov., P. kelleri, sp. nov., P. leinsterensis, sp. nov., P. macdonaldi, sp. nov., P. malkini, sp. nov., P. marshalli, sp. nov., P. masneri, sp. nov., P. mitchellae, sp. nov., P. morganensis, sp. nov., P. nalbarraensis, sp. nov., P. pumilis, sp. nov., P. schmidti, sp. nov., P. stevensi, sp. nov., P. tasmaniensis, sp. nov., P. taylori, sp. nov., P. umboiensis, sp. nov., P. walkeri, sp. nov. and P. zborowskii, sp. nov. The synonymy of Aulacofoenus, Crassifoenus and Eufoenus with Pseudofoenus result in the following new combinations: from Aulacofoenus: P. bungeyi (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. deletangi (Schletterer), comb. nov., P. fallax (Schletterer), comb. nov., P. fletcheri (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. goonooensis (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. infumatus (Schletterer), comb. nov., P. kurmondi (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. loxleyi (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. marionae (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. perenjorii (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. swani (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. thoracicus (Guérin Menéville), comb. nov., P. whiani (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov. and P. wubinensis (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov.; from Crassifoenus: P. houstoni (Jennings & Austin), comb. nov., P. grossitarsis (Kieffer), comb. nov and P. macronyx (Schletterer), comb. nov.; and from Eufoenus: P. antennalis (Schletterer), comb. nov., P. australis (Westwood), comb. nov., P. crassitarsis (Kieffer), comb. nov., P. darwini (Westwood), comb. nov., P. extraneus (Turner), comb. nov., P. ferrugineus (Crosskey), comb. nov., P. floricolus (Turner), comb. nov., P. inaequalis (Turner), comb. nov., P. melanopleurus (Crosskey), comb. nov., P. minimus (Turner), comb. nov., P. nitidiusculus (Turner), comb. nov., P. patellatus (Westwood), comb. nov., P. pilosus (Kieffer), comb. nov., P. reticulatus (Crosskey), comb. nov., P. rieki (Crosskey), comb. nov., P. ritae (Cheesman), comb. nov. and P. spinitarsis (Westwood), comb. nov. Pseudofoenus microcephalus (Crosskey), comb. nov. is transferred from Hyptiogaster and Eufoenus flavinervis (Kieffer) remains incertae sedis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kenneth Ernest Lee

<p>The study of New Zealand earthworms has been extensive, but has been confined principally to the systematics of the group. Only one family of the Oligochaeta, the Megascolecidae, is represented in the endemic fauna, but within this family, over eighty species, belonging to seventeen genera, have been recorded and described. Apart from the Megascolecidae, certain species, lumbricids, worldwide in their distribution, are present and are regarded as having been introduced through the agency of man. The family Megascolecidae is confined almost entirely to the Southern hemisphere, and the southern regions of the Northern hemisphere, and within these regions, the greatest number of species occur in New Zealand, South America, South Africa, and Australia. When the distribution of the Megascolecidae became known, in the late nineteenth century, its sporadic nature evoked a great deal of interest among zoo-geographers, since earthworms, being terrestrial, and unable to tolerate immersion in salt water, form an ideal basis for the consideration of dispersal problems among terrestrial animals as a whole. The interest thus aroused in the Megascolecidae led to much work on the group in New Zealand. Michaelsen (1913 (b)) accounts for the predominance of the Megascolecidae in the southern continental areas by postulating that originally the family had a wide distribution in the nothern and southern continents, and that other families (e.g. the Glossoscolecidae), evolved more recently in the northern continents, have gradually superseded the Megascolecidae in all but the most remote regions of their original area of distribution. Matthew (1915) came to a similar conclusion in regard to the origin of present southern faunas in the course of his work on the distribution and evolution of the Mammalia. Evidence in favour of Michaelsen's conclusions can also be derived from the distribution of slugs, spiders, Collembola, Coleoptera, littoral Echinoderms, Polychaeta and Brachiopoda in the southern land masses.</p>


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