A new species of Leptotarsus (Diptera: Tipulidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil

Leptotarsus (sensu lato) lukashevichae sp. nov. is described and illustrated, based on a single but very well preserved female specimen from the Crato Formation of Brazil (Aptian, ca. 112 Ma). Along with other Leptotarsus species recently described from Lower Cretaceous beds of Brazil, Spain, Russia and China, this new species is among the oldest known records of the genus Leptotarsus and the family Tipulidae.     

New Cretaceous Elcanidae from China and Myanmar (Insecta,Orthoptera)

A new species of Elcanidae (Orthoptera: Elcanoidea), Panorpidium yixianensis sp. nov., is described based on two new specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China. It differs from other species in forewing characters and spines on the hind tibiae. In addition, a new specimen Burmelcana sp., is described and figured based on an amber inclusion from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese (Myanmar) amber. P. yixianensis sp. nov. represents the first definite record of Elcanidae in the Early Cretaceous Jehol biota, and Panorpidium is the only genus of Ensifera to be found in the Early Cretaceous faunas of England, Russia and China.     

Dinosaur eggshells from the Santonian Milk River Formation of Alberta,Canada

The North American fossil record of dinosaur eggshells for the Cretaceous is primarily restricted to formations of the middle (Albian–Cenomanian) and uppermost (Campanian–Maastrichtian) stages, with a large gap in the record for intermediate stages. Here we describe a dinosaur eggshell assemblage from a formation that represents an intermediate and poorly fossiliferous stage of the Upper Cretaceous, the Santonian Milk River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. The Milk River eggshell assemblage contains five eggshell taxa: Continuoolithus, Porituberoolithus, Prismatoolithus, Spheroolithus, and Triprismatoolithus. These ootaxa are most similar to those reported from younger Campanian–Maastrichtian formations of the northern Western Interior than they are to ootaxa reported from older middle Cretaceous formations (i.e., predominantly Macroelongatoolithus). Characteristics of the Milk River ootaxa indicate that they are ascribable to at least one ornithopod and four small theropod species. The taxonomic affinity of the eggshell assemblage is consistent with the dinosaur fauna known based on isolated teeth and fragmentary skeletal remains from the formation, although most ornithischians and large theropods are not represented by eggshell. Relative to the Milk River Formation eggshell, similar oospecies occurring in younger Cretaceous deposits tend to be somewhat thicker, which may reflect an increase in body size of various dinosaur lineages during the Late Cretaceous.     

A reassessment of Iteravis huchzermeyeri and Gansus zheni from the Jehol Biota in western Liaoning,China

The authors reassessed the taxonomic distinction of Iteravis huchzermeyeri and Gansus zheni, which are two species of Ornithuromorpha based on specimens from the same locality in western Liaoning and derive from the Jehol Biota. The detailed comparisons of the holotype and referred specimens of both species, reveal no anatomical features that distinguish these taxa as separate species. Some minor differences are considered to relate to ontogenetic or interspecific differences. The stratigraphic occurrence for both specimens is the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation. Accordingly, the authors conclude that Iteravis huchzermeyeri has priority, by 15 days, for this taxon and that Gansus zheni is a junior synonym. The diagnosis of Iteravis huchzermeyeri is revised based on further study on all specimens referred to this species. Its generic distinction from Gansus is maintained thereby removing a potential genus-level correlation linking Xiagou Formation in Gansu Province with the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning Province.     

A new pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Santana Formation (Cretaceous) of Brazil

A partial skull comprising fused maxilla/premaxilla and palate of a ctenochasmatoid pterosaur from the Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin in NE Brazil is named as the new genus and species Unwindia trigonus gen. et sp. nov. on account of its long slender rostrum, isodonty with raised dental alveoli and dentition of seven tooth pairs restricted to the portion of the rostrum anterior to the nasoantorbital fenestra. Unwindia is assigned to the Ctenochasmatoidea, and is probably basal within the clade.     

A new Late Cretaceous crocodyliform from the western margin of Gondwana (La Rioja Province,Argentina)

The Cretaceous witnessed the greatest diversity of Gondwanan notosuchian crocodyliforms, which displayed high levels of diversity and a notable array of specialized forms that developed in different ecological niches. Among this diversity, the advanced notosuchians are a clade of mid body sized forms which displays a remarkable abundance but is restricted to two lithological units from the Late Cretaceous of South America, the Adamantina Formation in southeastern Brazil and the Bajo de la Carpa Formation in Patagonia (Argentina). The only exceptions known so far were the Late Cretaceous Labidiosuchus from the Marilia Formation in Brazil and Yacarerani from the Cajones Formation in Bolivia. Herein we report a new Cretaceous crocodyliform, Llanosuchus tamaensis gen. nov. et sp. nov., found in the Los Llanos Formation (Campanian?) in northwestern Argentina (La Rioja Province). The small specimen includes well preserved fragments of the cranium and mandible with an estimated skull size of about 9 cm lengths. This crocodyliform shares several derived characters with Notosuchus terrestris from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Patagonia) and it was found in a weakly developed sandy paleosol profile formed in wet local conditions but in a region characterized by semi-arid climate and active eolian sedimentation. The presence of a new advanced notosuchian in the Cretaceous of western Gondwana, and its intermediate geographical region between the known South American species (Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia), has interesting implications, and adds another record of an advanced notosuchian in deposits with inferred warm climates and semi-arid paleoenvironments. Finally, Llanosuchus tamaensis supports a Late Cretaceous age for Los Llanos Formation with important geological implications for La Rioja Province.     

Fossil coniferous wood from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning,NE China: New material and palaeoclimate implications

The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, one of the most important Mesozoic lagerstätten in East Asia, is especially well-known for occurrences of fossil feathered dinosaurs and early angiosperms. However, the terrestrial biodiversity, especially the fossil wood record, is poorly known. In this study, several structurally preserved coniferous wood specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation are investigated, based on collections from the Heichengzi Basin in Beipiao of western Liaoning, Northeast China. Four species referred to four genera of fossil wood are described, including Taxodioxylon heichengziense sp. nov., Thujoxylon beipiaoense sp. nov., Sciadopityoxylon liaoningense Ding and Protocedroxylon shengjinbeigouense sp. nov. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the Yixian Formation up to 10 species in 9 genera, and provide further insights into the forest vegetation composition of the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Systematic analysis of the floral constitution indicates that the petrified forests of the Yixian Formation are dominated by conifers, represented by Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae, Sciadopityaceae, Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in the western Liaoning region. Palaeoclimatical analysis of the fossil wood assemblage implies that the western Liaoning region was dominated by a cool temperate, wet and seasonal climate with variable interannual water supply in the western Liaoning region during the Early Cretaceous.     

A new species of Chifengiinae (Orthoptera: Prophalangopsidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Zhonggou Formation of the Jiuquan Basin,Northwest China

A new orthopteran species, Ashanga jiuquanensis Wang and Zhang sp. nov., is assigned to the subfamily Chifengiinae of Prophalangopsidae (Insecta: Orthoptera) and is reported based on male and female forewings from the Lower Cretaceous Zhonggou Formation in the Jiuquan Basin, Gansu Province, Northwest China. The discovery of the new species extends not only the age range of the subfamily Chifengiinae, but also the geographical distribution of the genus Ashanga.     

Mawsoniid remains (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia) from the lacustrine Missão Velha Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Araripe Basin,North-East Brazil

Mawsoniids are a lineage of extinct fresh/brackish water coelacanth fishes, common in Cretaceous Godwanan deposits of South America, North and West Africa and Madagascar. Here we formally describe mawsoniid remains from the fluvio-lacustrine Missão Velha Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Araripe Basin, North-East Brazil. The examples from the Missão Velha Formation are here described as Mawsonia cf. gigas, based mainly on elements of the lower jaw and opercular series. The occurrence of M. cf. gigas in the Missão Velha Formation expands the stratigraphic and geographical ranges of the type species.     

New caddisflies species (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Cretaceous Taymyr amber

Four new Trichoptera species: Kliganigadukia taymyrensis gen. et sp. nov. (Hydrobiosidae), Archaeopolycentra yantardakh sp. nov. (Polycentropodidae), Taymyrodipseudon protopegasus gen. et sp. nov. (Dipseudopsidae), and Siberoclea parapolaria gen. et sp. nov. (Leptoceridae) from Late Cretaceous amber (Santonian, Kheta Formation, 85 Ma) of Taymyr (Siberia, Russian Federation) are described and illustrated. Data on the Cretaceous amber Trichoptera (13 families, 20 genera, 29 species) are summarized and discussed.     

A new neoselachian shark from the marine Early Cretaceous of Southern England

Rare, isolated teeth of Corysodon multicristatus sp. nov. are described from two levels in the Atherfield Clay Formation (Early Aptian, Early Cretaceous) of Atherfield Point on the Isle of Wight, UK. Ten teeth of the new species were recovered from 1095 kg of washed and graded sediment residues. The teeth themselves are very small (around 0.5 mm high) and possess a distinctive crown bearing a tiered series of transverse crests adapted for rasping. Details of the dental architecture of the Atherfield Clay Formation specimens clearly indicate that the Cretaceous material differs significantly from the teeth of the type species for the genus, Corysodon cirinensis, recorded from the Kimmeridgian of northern France and Switzerland. C. multicristatus is the first substantiated record of the genus from the Early Cretaceous, thereby extending the stratigraphic range of the genus from the latest Jurassic, and the geographical range from continental Europe to the UK.     

Discovery of 2Obaichthyidae gars (Holostei,Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) in the Aptian Codó Formation of the Parnaíba Basin: Remarks on paleobiogeographical and temporal range

Here we report the first 2obaichthyid gar from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Codó Formation of the Parnaíba Basin, Northeastern Brazil. It shows the following obaichthyid characters: numerous odontods firmly attached to the outer surface of the dermal bones, free and mobile maxilla, presence of interopercle, lack of contact between the metapterygoid and ectopterygoid, absence of lacrimomaxillary bones, and a prominent spine at the posterior margin of the scales. Due to the presence of scales bearing a prominent ventral posterior spine and a number of additional posterior marginal spines, the fish from the Codó Formation is noticeably the same species found in the Albian Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin, Dentilepisosteus laevis. Although probably restricted to fresh or brackish water, the new discovery adds one more taxon to the assemblages found in the Parnaíba and the Araripe basins. The new record extends the temporal range of this species down into the Aptian (about ∼10 myr older than the previous occurrence).     

A new afrograptid (Diplostraca: Estheriellina) from the Lower Cretaceous of southern England

The Family Afrograptidae is a ‘conchostracan’ group with multiple radial costae reaching to the umbo on their carapaces. It comprises four described genera: Afrograpta, Camerunograpta, Congestheriella and Graptoestheriella with a total of thirteen described species which are occasionally reported from the Jurassic and the Cretaceous in Africa, Europe and South America (i.e. Afrograpta from the Upper Cretaceous of Cameroon; Camerunograpta from the Jurassic to Cretaceous of Cameroon; Congestheriella from the Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous of the Congo Basin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Venezuela and Argentina; and Graptoestheriella from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous of Brazil). A new genus and a new species, Surreyestheria ockleyensis gen. et sp. nov., belonging to the Family Afrograptidae from the Lower Cretaceous (lower Barremian) Upper Weald Clay Formation of Ockley Village, Surrey County, southern England is described in this paper. The new genus mainly differs from the other four genera by the special reticulate ornamentation on its carapace. It indicates that the Family Afrograptidae was more diverse and more widely distributed in the late Mesozoic than previously supposed. Afrograptidae is a special branch of Estheriellina the latter originating in the late Palaeozoic and the former in the early Mesozoic. Afrograptids, as a whole had been widespread across Pangea in the Early Jurassic.     

New lacewings (Insecta,Neuroptera, Osmylidae,Nymphidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Burmese amber and Crato Formation in Brazil

One new osmylid genus and species, Burmaleon magnificus, and one new nymphid genus and species Rafaelnymphes cratoensis are described, respectively based on inclusions in the Cretaceous Burmese amber and on a compression fossil from the Crato Formation in Brazil. The nymphid Araripenymphes seldeni, from the Crato Formation, is redescribed on the basis of a new specimen, showing possible sexual dimorphism in wing coloration, a feature extremely rare among the Neuroptera. In a recently published phylogenetic analysis of the family, the attribution to the fossil taxa (versus rejection) of the larval characters proper to the modern nymphids, has a crucial impact on the resolution of the phylogeny. The compression fossils currently attributed to the Nymphidae should be revised because their wing venation alone is not really sufficient for an accurate family attribution to Nymphidae rather than to another family of Neuroptera (viz. Osmylidae).     

Planohybodus marki sp. nov., a new fresh-water hybodontid shark from the Early Cretaceous of northeastern Brazil

A new species of hybodontid shark is described for the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil. The type specimen is derived from pre-Aptian strata of Malhada Vermelha Formation, Lima Campos Basin (Ceará State, northeastern Brazil), with referred material from the Missão Velha Formation of Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil. The new taxon differs from other Planohybodus species by the presence of a stronger tooth ornamentation characterized by simple, usually non-branching cristae that nearly reach the apex of the main cusp as well as distinctly divergent lateral cusplets. In addition, certain North-American specimens formerly attributed to Hybodus are identified as Planohybodus. The new species presented herein, in addition to the North-American remains, represents an important contribution to the knowledge of the distribution of Planohybodus, expanding the geographic range of the genus to South and North America in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.     

First record of the beetle family Lasiosynidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of China

A new genus, Cretasyne gen. nov., in the family Lasiosynidae, with two species C. lata sp. nov. and C. longa sp. nov., is described from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. These fossils are the first record of the family from the Yixian Formation and provide significant information on lasiosynid morphology and diversity. The fossil record of Lasiosynidae is also reviewed.     

Taxonomic composition,paleoecology and biostratigraphy of Late Cretaceous diatoms from Devon Island,Nunavut, Canadian High Arctic

Upper Cretaceous sediments of the Kanguk Formation exposed in Eidsbotn and Viks Fiord grabens on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canadian High Arctic, yielded 91 fossil marine diatom species and varieties (including indeterminate taxa), representing 41 genera. Excellent preservation of the assemblages was aided by shallow burial, protection in downfaulted linear grabens, and the presence of abundant volcanic material. Planktonic species and resting spores comprise nearly 70% of the diatom assemblage, and provided abundant food resources for the Late Cretaceous Arctic ecosystem. Deposition of the approximately 225 m-thick stratigraphic sequence was predominantly in a shallow marine neritic setting, with an upward progression to interbedded terrestrial deposits of the Expedition Fiord Formation, reflecting a regression and eventual persistence of terrestrial facies into the Early Cenozoic. The Kanguk Formation is widespread across the Canadian Arctic, and diatom biostratigraphy indicates a Santonian–Campanian age for the sequences reported herein, based on the presence of Gladius antiquus in the lowermost strata and occurrence of Costopyxis antiqua throughout the succession. However, Amblypyrgus sp. A and Archepyrgus sp. aff. A. melosiroides, encountered in the lower part of the succession, are known exclusively from the Lower Cretaceous. This may suggest a slightly older age. New information on shallow shelf diatom assemblages from this study is compared to reports on two other Late Cretacous Arctic diatom assemblages. These three sites represent an environmental transect from shallow to distal shelf settings and into the oceanic realm.     

New material of the large-bodied caenagnathid Caenagnathus collinsi from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta,Canada

A reexamination of large caenagnathid material from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, reveals undescribed material referable to Caenagnathus collinsi. A femur, two astragalocalcanei, two metatarsals, two unguals, and a caudal vertebra provide anatomical information on Caenagnathus collinsi. Estimates of femoral length based on the proportions of other oviraptorids suggest that the non-femoral material represents a taxon intermediate in size between Chirostenotes pergracilis from the Dinosaur Park Formation and Anzu wyliei from the Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation. The femur is within the range of predictions, and confirms the body size estimates based on the other material. The large size of the material and a number of morphological characters distinguish the material from Chirostenotes pergracilis and suggest that it is referable to Caenagnathus collinsi. The relative diversity of caenagnathids in the Dinosaur Park Formation is likely underestimated.     

New protodiplatyids (Insecta: Dermaptera) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China

A new genus Barbderma gen. nov. with a new species, Barbderma oblonguata sp. nov., and a new species, Sinoprotodiplatys ellipsoideuata sp. nov., of the family Protodiplatyidae are described from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation at the Huangbanjigou Village, Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China. Both new species are assigned to Protodiplatyidae mainly based on their diagnostic characters of antenna, pronotum, tegmina, tarsi and the distinct long, slender, multi-segmented cerci. These findings of fossil Protodiplatyidae provide more evidence to confirm the existence of these basal earwigs in the Early Cretaceous. Key diagnostic characters for genera of Protodiplatyidae are compared to highlight the generic variations and similarities. Evolutionary trend of cerci morphology suggests that it is likely that the cerci were evolved from long, slender and segmented to the stout terminal forceps without segmentation.