Typification of the genus Zizyphoides Seward et Conway (Magnoliophyta, Trochodendraceae)

Type material of Paliurus colombii Heer, Populus arctica Heer, Hakea arctica Heer, and Hedera macclurii Heer from the Atanikerdluk locality (Paleocene, Greenland) was restudied based on the original collection, stored in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. All these species were joined under the name Zizyphoides colombii (Heer) Seward et Conway, type species of the genus Zizyphoides Seward et Conway. A lectotype of Zizyphoides colombii is designated and the diagnosis of this species is emended. An emended diagnosis of the genus Zizyphoides is also presented.

The Polycytellidae viewed as Gondwanan Glosselytrodea

The material of Glosselytrodea from the Molteno Formation (Triassic, South Africa), consisting of two specimens, is herein studied. A preliminary comparative analysis is conducted based on the new material and new data on Polycytella triassica Tillyard, 1922 (Triassic, Australia), highlighting the relevance of the width of the area anterior to RA (particularly, opposite the end of ScP), an area very broad in Polycytella Tillyard, 1922, Argentinoglosselytrina Martins-Neto and Gallego, 2001 (Triassic, Argentina) and in the new material from the Molteno. An emended diagnosis of the Polycytellidae is elaborated accordingly. The material from the Molteno is assigned to Polycytella rasnitsyni gen. et sp. nov. and Moltenojurina parva gen. et sp. nov., the latter being the smallest Glosselytrodea known to date. As newly delimited, the Polycytellidae are strictly Gondwanan.

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) new trilobites from the Upper Yangtze Region, South China, and their macroevolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications

Two new genera and six new species of trilobites are systematically documented herein: Sinagnostus mirabilis new genus new species, Yanpingia punctata n. gen. n. sp., Illaenus taoyuanensis n. sp., Panderia striolatus n. sp., Nileus yichongqiaoensis n. sp., and Paratiresias peculiaris n. sp. The materials were collected from the Darriwilian (late Middle Ordovician) strata in the Upper Yangtze Region, South China. Also provided is an emended diagnosis of the genus Paratiresias based on the new species Paratiresias peculiaris, which is the oldest known species of this genus with an extremely narrow (sag. and exsag.) preglabellar field. Those Chinese species previously referred to Nanillaenus are reassigned to Illaenus sensu lato. These trilobites add new data for the Darriwilian trilobite macroevolution and show highly endemic to South China and the faunal exchanges between South China and Tarim, Kazakhstan, Alborz, as well as Sibumasu and North China. UUID: http://zoobank.org/ec3be9be-b003-4367-910d-7a0ac4edc982

Redescription of Promecostethus unifalculatus, the only known harvestman from Crozet Islands (Opiliones: Triaenonychidae)

Promecostethus unifalculatus Enderlein, 1909, is the only representative of the order Opiliones from the Crozet Islands. The species belongs to the family Triaenonychidae and is biogeographically interesting because it is a candidate for transoceanic dispersal, a very rare event in this ancient family. Despite this significance, P. unifalculatus is taxonomically still poorly known, and a redescription of this species using modern taxonomic standards is urgently needed. Here we redescribe the species, offer the first description and illustrations of the male genitalia and provide a full exomorphological survey of the species using scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, we provide an emended diagnosis for the genus Promecostethus and discuss its relationship with some morphologically similar genera.

Description of Aporcella minor sp. n. (Dorylaimida: Aporcelaimidae) from Iran, with an updated taxonomy of the genus

Summary A new species belonging to the genus Aporcella, collected in cultivated soils of East Azarbaijan province, Iran, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterised by its 1.08 (1.05-1.15) mm long body, two-layered cuticle, lip region offset by constriction and 12 (11-13) μm broad, odontostyle 13.0 (12.5-14.0) μm long or nearly equal to lip region diam., neck 310 (293-325) μm long, pharyngeal expansion 137 (128-144) μm long, occupying 43-45% of the total neck length, female genital system didelphic-amphidelphic, uterus simple, 34-48 μm long, vulva transverse (V = 59 (58-61)), tail conical with finely rounded terminus (30 (29-33) μm long, c = 34 (33-36), c′ = 1.5 (1.4-1.6)), and male absent. Molecular analyses, using Bayesian inference based on partial LSU sequences, confirm the monophyly of Aporcella as well as its clustering with other dorylaimid taxa characterised by the absence of pars refringens vaginae. The taxonomy of the genus is updated, with an emended diagnosis, list of species, key to their identification, and a compendium of the main morphometrics of species/populations described since the last available revision.