Late Permian gastropod fauna in the Mt. Everest (Qomolangma) region, southern Tibet (Xizang), China is poorly known. This paper describes a small gastropod fauna collected by one of the authors (SSZ) from the upper part of the Qubuerga Formation at the Qubu section. The section is located at about 30 km north of Mt. Everest (Fig. 1). Although a limited number of specimens is available, the fauna is more diverse than all previously reported gastropod faunas (e.g., Yu, 1975) from southern Tibet. Description of the gastropod fauna in the Mt. Everest region adds significant data for understanding the distribution of gastropods during the Late Permian and the paleobiogeographic relationship between the Himalayan and Tethyan regions.

Subduction-Related Hydrocarbon-Seep carbonates in Cenozoic deepwater sediments in western Washington State, USA, yield fossil invertebrate communities that are largely endemic to these localized microhabitats (Goedert and Squires, 1990; Peckmann et al., 2002; Goedert et al., 2003; Kiel, 2006). An unusually large species of the deep-sea gastropod Abyssochrysos Tomlin, 1927 has been described from the oldest of these seep carbonates, which occurs in the Humptulips Formation on the southern slopes of the Olympic Mountains (Goedert and Kaler, 1996). New material of this species was recently collected at this site and shows that this species has a deep notch and a selenizone at the base of the outer lip, a feature that is very unusual among living gastropods, and unknown from Abyssochrysos. This feature is also present on two gastropod specimens, found in the collection of the Burke Museum (UWBM) that are, according to the label, from the Humptulips area but without detailed locality information. Stable isotope analysis of the micritic matrix adhering to the specimens showed δ13C values as low as −37 to − 41‰ relative to PDB standard. Such negative values clearly indicate that the carbonate formed under the influence of anaerobic oxidation of biogenic methane (cf. Whiticar, 1999; Peckmann et al., 2002). The isotope analysis was carried out in the same lab using the same methods as described in Kiel (2006). The Humptulips area is currently covered with dense vegetation and attempts to locate the carbonate outcrop where these two specimens could have come from have been unsuccessful. The purpose of this note is to introduce a new genus for this unusual species, to discuss its possible place among the gastropods, and to speculate about the function of the two deep sinuses in the outer lip of the aperture.

Parablackwelderia is the oldest known stalk-eyed trilobite and thrived during the middle-late Cambrian (Guzhangian Age) in eastern Gondwanaland. the elongated palpebral lobe extends outward and forward from the anterior corner of the cranidium and shows positive allometry, becoming markedly longer and relatively thinner in large specimens. the animal occurred in muddy environments and may have been a predator that burrowed for concealment. Stalked-eyes were independently derived in several trilobite clades, but whenever they appeared were restricted to small numbers of taxa and thus do not appear to have served as a key innovation that promoted extensive diversification of species bearing the structure. the stalk-eyed condition in trilobites has a striking modern analog in the hypercephaly of diopsinid flies, where it is commonly associated with mate recognition and mate selection. We document the first occurrence of Parablackwelderia in Shandong, North China and describe a new species, Parablackwelderia luensis sp. nov.

Lichenaria may be a representative of the most primitive stock of tabulate corals. The degree of paleobiologic complexity discovered in L. globularis and L. grandis is therefore surprising. Six types of corallite increase are recognized. All are lateral, which is the predominant mode in tabulates. Most types, however, are unique or are comparable to those in few other Ordovician taxa. Only Type 1 (L. globularis), yielding a single offset with a simple basal mural pore, is typical of tabulates. In Type 2 (L. globularis), one parent produces two offsets simultaneously, whereas in Type 3 (L. globularis), two offsets arise from separate parents at nearly the same time and join via a connective mural pore. Types 4 (L. globularis, L. grandis), 5 (L. grandis), and 6 (L. globularis, L. grandis), respectively, involve one, two, and two to four corallites in addition to the parent, which join via a connective mural pore at the site of offsetting.

Several features of L. globularis and L. grandis point to unexpectedly high levels of colony integration. Continuously fused common walls lacking back-to-back epithecae suggest soft tissue continuity among polyps above the corallum. Connective mural pores indicate temporary fusion of polyps. Coordinated behavior of polyps is suggested by the development of conjoined offsets from two parents during Type 3 increase, and by fusion during Types 4 to 6 increase. Attempts at certain types of increase sometimes failed to yield offsets, suggesting expendability of incipient buds, perhaps reflecting subjugation of individuals for the good of the colony.

In light of this study, genera that have previously been included in Lichenariidae and Lichenariida require reassessment and their phylogenetic relationships should be reconsidered. Unfortunately, this is hindered because fundamental characters such as corallite increase and wall structure remain inadequately known in most early tabulates.

A correct interpretation of ligament ontogeny and structure is essential for establishing phylogenetic relationships among higher taxa in the bivalve superorder Pteriomorphia. Recent research on pteriomorphian ligaments has focused on understanding ligament morphospace (Thomas et al., 2000; Ubukata, 2003) and evolutionary pathways. In this regard, studies of the transition from larval to post-larval and adult ligaments (Malchus, 2004) have been especially fruitful.

Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps sustain unique ecosystems with a highly adapted fauna that largely thrives on chemotrophic endosymbionts. This large biomass attracts not only predators but also parasitic taxa like the recently reported oophagous bivalve Acesta bullisis Vokes, 1963 that lives permanently attached to a vestimentiferan tube worm (Järnegren et al., 2005). Here I report large brachiopods of the Early Cretaceous seep-restricted genus Peregrinella Oehlert, in Fischer, 1887 that were infested by polychaete tubes inside their shells during their lifetime.

Scolecodonts are the mouth pieces of jaw-bearing polychaete annelid worms that occur in abundance as microfossils in the fossil record. Historical scolecodont collections (e.g., Hinde, 1879, 1880, 1882; Stauffer, 1933, 1939; Eller, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1942) are of crucial importance for the taxonomy of fossil polychaetes because they often include taxa with nomenclatural priority over more recently established ones. One significant problem, however, is that most publications dealing with these collections have rudimentary hand-drawings of the fossils that do not allow unambiguous identifications. In this study, all specimens assigned to Arabellites by Hinde (1879) have been re-examined and photographed. Over the years Arabellites has been used for a plethora of morphologically variable scolecodonts of uncertain taxonomic affinity, rendering its status questionable (e.g., Kielan- Jaworowska, 1962, 1966; Kozur, 1970; Jansonius and Craig, 1971; Szaniawski and Wrona, 1973; Eriksson and Bergman, 2003). However, first-hand studies of the type material have allowed new discussions of this genus. Moreover, Glycerites Hinde, 1879, is briefly discussed as it proved to be intimately linked to Arabellites.

The Huntington cluster (USNM 536849; Fig. 1) measures 4.1 mm in total length and is comprised of five elements of the maxillary apparatus; the first and second pair of maxillae (right and left MI and MII) and the basal plate (Bp) fitted into the bight of the right MI (for descriptive terminology for ramphoprionids, see Kielan-Jaworowska, 1966; Eriksson, 2001; Fig. 2). Both the MI are broken and lack approximately a third of the anterior end. The right MI also lacks part of its posterior denticulated ridge; the posteriormost tip (p in Fig. 1.2) is, however, still preserved and partly embedded in the slab. Most of the right MII is missing and only a thin rim is exposed, showing the outline of the element. The left MII is almost complete, lacking only a fifth of the anterodorsal end. The basal plate is well preserved and can be seen in full detail, except for a part of the antero-dextral flange, which is broken off (Fig. 1.3). Adjacent to the maxillary apparatus are other fragments that might be the carriers (Fig. 1.4), i.e., the posteriormost, supporting elements of the apparatus. Except for these possible carriers, all elements are more or less in natural position.

Critical reinvestigation of the bivalve Buchia cf. blanfordiana Jeletzky, 1965 from the Upper Jurassic of western British Columbia indicates that it is morphologically distinct from B. blanfordiana Stoliczka, 1866 of the Indo-Pacific region. We analyzed collections from relatively coeval sections containing multiple buchiid species from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and used ten morphological characters to describe Buchia shell shape and size. We tested for taxonomic differences on left and right valves using a traditional morphometric approach with both linear and angular measurements and Fourier (outline) analyses. Phenetic discrimination revealed considerable overlap in the morphospace, but high classification rates between the two groups when compared with a step-wise discriminant analysis. This study supports the retention of the Indo-Pacific genera Australobuchia Zakharov, 1981 and Malayomaorica Jeletzky, 1963 and confirms that Buchia (=Australobuchia) blanfordiana is restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, we propose the new name Buchia columbiana n. sp. for material assigned to Buchia cf. blanfordiana Jeletzky, 1965. Our results have implications for bipolarity and migration of the genus Buchia, supporting previous suggestions that buchiids formerly identified as Buchia from the Southern Hemisphere should be grouped as a separate genus.

Conulariids of West Africa have received relatively little detailed attention in the literature on this widespread extinct group of marine cnidarians. Recently, however, Babcock et al. (1995) described two new species, Paraconularia feldmanni and P. sahara, from the upper part of the Mississippian (Visean) Talak Shale Formation in the Tim Mersoi Basin of northern Niger. This was the first report of the genus Paraconularia Sinclair, 1940 from Africa as well as the first assignment of Carboniferous conulariids from that continent to the species level. Since then two of the present authors have collected 24 additional conulariid specimens from the Talak Formation in the same area that yielded the two specimens described by Babcock et al. (1995). Like the previously described material, most of the new specimens, described below, have been worn or weathered to such an extent that it is difficult to identify them to the species level. In some cases, moreover, identification to the genus level is problematical, but this may ultimately be due to the fact that currently recognized conulariid genera (e.g., Moore and Harrington, 1956b) have been defined phenetically, rather than on the basis of prior analysis of the phylogenetic relationships among conulariid species. This means that at least some currently recognized conulariid genera may have been defined by similarities that are primitive or analogous.

Wrangellia was one of the first described and probably the most widely known of the North American Cordilleran terranes. On the basis of Triassic stratigraphy (Jones et al., 1977) and paleomagnetism (Hillhouse, 1977), the name Wrangellia was proposed for large areas of outcrop in Alaska, British Columbia, and Oregon (Fig. 1).

The Cambrian trilobite Shantungia Walcott, 1905 is a monotypic genus, with S. spinifera Walcott, 1905 as the genotype and is characterized by its long frontal spine extending medially from the anterior cranidial border. The genus has hitherto been known restricted in occurrence to the traditional Drepanura Zone of North China (Walcott, 1913; Endo and Resser, 1937; Qiu et al., 1983; Zhang and Jell, 1987). As Drepanura Bergeron, 1899 is preoccupied by a collembolan insect and Neodrepanura Özdikmen, 2006 was proposed as a replacement, this zone is referred to as the Neodrepanura Biozone herein.

The Genus Glyptorthis Foerste, 1914 is a rare component of the Late Ordovician to early Silurian brachiopod faunas of the East Baltic. Hints and Röömusoks (1997) reported on the occurrence of Glyptorthis in seven stratigraphie levels within the Upper Caradoc, Ashgill and Llandovery, in a paper summarizing the stratigraphy of Estonia. To date, however, very few of these brachiopods have been studied in detail. Three species from the Ashgill and Llandovery were established by Rubel (1962) and Röömusoks (1970), whereas some unnamed Caradoc taxa were listed only in the latter paper. Collections made since 1987 by S. S. Terentiev and M. A. Zuykov revealed that rare specimens of Glyptorthis-like brachiopods occur in fossiliferous lower Caradocian (Idavere Regional Stage) strata in the western part of the St. Petersburg region, northwestern Russia. These specimens, assigned herein to a new glyptorthid genus and species Bassettella gracilis, comprise the core of this paper. Moreover, generic affinities of Estonian species from the Ashgill currently assigned to Glyptorthis are discussed. The type specimen of J. Hall (1847) in the American Museum of Natural History (New York) and specimens from the type area in the Sch¨chtert Brachiopod Collection in the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University (New Haven), have been investigated for comparative purposes.

The genus Bicarinella Rode et al., 2003 was erected for a new hipponicharionid bradoriid species described from the early Cambrian of East Antarctica, characterized by a subtriangular carapace with prominent anterior and posterior lobes developed as two distinctive, sharp ridges (bi = two, carina = ridges). Unfortunately, the name Bicarinella is preoccupied by two different gastropod genera: Bicarinella Waterhouse 1966, a Permian gastropod from New Zealand and Australia, and Bicarinella Akopyan 1976, a gastropod from Late Cretaceous strata of Armenia, Serbia, Romania, Tajikistan, and Egypt (Mennessier, 1994; Banjac, 1998; Pana, 1998). Mennessier (1994) transferred Bicarinella Akopyan, 1976 from its original status as an independent taxon to a subgenus of Pseudomesalia Douvillé 1916, but subsequent workers have continued to consider Bicarinella a valid genus (Pena, 1998; Banjac, 1998). Due to the preoccupation, the bradoriid genus is herein renamed in accordance with the requirement of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999, article 60). It is also noted here that the one of the two distinct gastropod genera should be renamed. The name Bicarinellata (bi = two, carina = ridges) is proposed as a replacement name for Bicarinella Rode et al., 2003. This name retains the original prefixes to preserve taxonomic stability as much as possible. The type species of Bicarinellata is B. evansi by original designation (Rode et al., 2003).

According to Ubaghs (1978), syzygies are brachial articulations in which radiating ridges and furrows on the two joint faces oppose each other rather than interlock as in symplexies. Cryptosyzygies differ from syzygies by having very short ridges that may be replaced by rows of tubercles or granules, with a tendency toward irregular arrangement and disappearance. Among Triassic crinoids, only representatives of the orders Isocrinida Sieverts-Doreck, 1952 and Comatulida Clark, 1908 had cryptosyzygial or syzygial brachial articulation, respectively. According to Rasmussen (1978), among Isocrinidae the articulations of primibrachial 1 and 2 and secundibrachial 1 and 2 were cryptosyzygial or synarthrial (but see also comments in Simms, 1988a). Among Comatulida, syzygial articulations generally occur between brachials 3 and 4 and in more distal arm parts.

Eight well-preserved cephalopod jaw fossils were discovered from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian and Campanian) deposits of Vancouver Island, Canada, and Hokkaido, Japan. They occur individually in calcareous concretions and retain their three-dimensional architecture. Seven of them consist of a widely open outer lamella and a posteriorly projected inner lamella with a pointed rostrum. Both lamellae are made of fluorapatite, which may represent diagenetically altered chitin, and lack a calcareous element. Based on these diagnostic features, the seven jaw fossils are identified as lower jaws of the Coleoidea. Comparison with the lower jaws of modern coleoids allows us to distinguish the following new genera and species among them; Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyi of the Order Vampyromorphida, and Paleocirroteuthis haggarti and P. pacifica of the Order Cirroctopodida. The lower jaws of these new taxa are clearly distinguished by having a much less projected inner lamella from those of modern and extinct species of the Superorder Decabrachia and the Order Octopodida. The maximum lengths of their outer lamellae (35.0-67.1 mm) are much larger than those of most modern vampyromorph and cirroctopodid species, indicating the large body size and weight of their owners. One of the other three lower jaws examined, characterized by a posteriorly extended outer lamella, may be assigned to the Octopodida. This study clearly demonstrates that large octobrachiate coleoids existed in the Late Cretaceous North Pacific.

The cooling during the Pliocene that preceded major continental glaciation in North America is recorded by thick fluvial and lacustrine sequences at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (HAFO) in southcentral Idaho (McDonald et al., 1996). Fossiliferous beds at HAFO occur within the nearly 200 m of exposed Glenns Ferry Formation west of the Snake River. This formation extends from southwestern Idaho into easternmost Oregon (Malde and Powers, 1962). The Glenns Ferry Formation within HAFO contains hundreds of localities that are within the Blancan North American Land Mammal Age. Collection of specimens from these localities since the late 1920s has resulted in large repositories of fossils currently housed, in part, at the United States National Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology (UMMP), and the Idaho Museum of Natural History (IMNH); additionally, smaller collections were accumulated by other museums (McDonald et al., 1996). Today the paleontological resources of HAFO are stewarded by the National Park Service. In spite of the extensive previous collections, significant new discoveries are still being made at HAFO.