A critical reassessment of foraminiferan parasitism on echinoid hosts, past and present, identifies all previous records as doubtful and circumstantial evidence as being limited to possible ...foraminiferan bioerosion traces on a Late Cretaceous Echinocorys perconicus host from Northern Germany. Here, we report on a second type of putative foraminiferan attachment trace fossils found on a Late Cretaceous Echinocorys jaekeli from the Danish Basin, and establish the new ichnogenus and ichnospecies Solichnus aestheticus within the ichnofamily Centrichnidae. These delicate sun-shaped etchings are diagnosed as bowl-shaped circular depressions, wider than deep, from which numerous open canals radiate in a meandering fashion, ramify, and thin out. The canals indicate a mutual avoidance pattern with those of neighbouring specimens and they circumvent the areoles of the echinoid's primary tubercles. We interpret the central depression as anchoring site of a foraminiferan test and the radiating canals, formed right at the interface of the stereom and epithelium, as the work of its long and ramifying pseudopodia. The symbiotic relationship was probably of parasitic nature (sensu stricto), with the foraminiferan feeding on the organic tissue of the epithelium (epithelium browsing) and profiting from protection offered by the host's spines and defensive pedicellariae. The echinoid survived the infestation and formed skeletal regeneration textures that clearly identify the association as syn vivo. The high degree of specialisation required to infest an echinoid host and form the complex attachment trace might suggest that the pronounced rarity of the trace is not a case of a false host but of host specificity. The identity of the foraminiferan parasite remains unknown, although the bioerosion traces show some affinity to those of the extant species Cymbaloporella tabellaeformis and Gypsina vesicularis. Key words : Echinoidea, Echinocorys, Foraminifera, 3D scanning, bioerosion, ichnotaxonomy, parasitism, trace fossil, symbiosis.
Cover
The cover image is based on the Research Article Distinctive microfossil supports early Paleoproterozoic rise in complex cellular organization by Erica V. Barlow et al., ...https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12576
The systematic position of Noeggerathiales was long uncertain until the whole plant species Paratingia wuhaia was restored and proved to belong to progymnosperms due to its spore-producing fertile ...organ and secondary wood producing a large stem. However, whether Tingia Halle as the most diversified genus in Noeggerathiales belongs to progymnosperms has yet remained uncertain as the anatomy of the main stem of this plant is unknown, that is, whether the anatomy of the main stem with the anatomical characteristics of gymnosperms woods remains uncertain. Here, the stem anatomy of Tingia unita is presented based on fossil materials from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, China. The well-developed secondary wood, plus previously accumulated evidence of the spore-bearing nature of this plant, confirms that this genus belongs to progymnosperms. As such, the genera Tingia and Paratingia are all certainly progymnosperms in affinity. Tingia Halle, a representative genus of the Cathaysia Flora, has been studied for nearly 100 years, being a small heterosporous tree based on the gross morphology of Tingia unita. However, the systematic affinity of Tingia is uncertain. Now, a number of well-preserved fossils of T. unita from the Taiyuan Formation of Lower Permian in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia facilitates an examination of wood anatomy. The stem anatomy of T. unita shows parenchymatous pith, endarch primary xylem, pycnoxylic secondary xylem, and cortex, typically a type of gymnosperm wood, which taken together with pteridophytic reproduction, certainly evidences that Tingia Halle is a progymnosperm. In addition, Tingia together with Paratingia provide strong evidence to link the Noeggerathiales with progymnosperms.
Retro review: The Earliest Englishman Donovan, S. Kenneth
Geology today,
May/June 2023, 2023-05-00, 20230501, Letnik:
39, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
One of the most notable events in the history of palaeoanthropology was the description of ‘Piltdown Man’, a hoax that took 40 years to uncover. At the centre of this episode was Sir Arthur Smith ...Woodward, who was duped by the ‘discoverer’ and fossil forger, Charles Dawson. Smith Woodward never doubted the authenticity of this find and died before the dénouement of the Piltdown episode. His last major work was a summary of Piltdown Man and its associated ‘science’. The Earliest Englishman is well‐written and crafted, and still is worthy of being read at the present day, 70 years since the forgery was exposed.
We describe lark (Alaudidae) fossils from the upper Pliocene of the Beregovaya (southern Transbaikalia) and Shaamar (northern Mongolia) localities. The presence of 4 extinct forms in these localities ...is established, including the new fossil horned lark Eremophila orkhonensis (Zelenkov et Kurochkin, 2012), comb. nov. This is the oldest member of Eremophila in the fossil record, indicating a possible Central Asian origin of the genus. Two other larks Alaudala aff. A. rufescens and Calandrella aff. C. brachydactyla also probably represent extinct forms. The paper describes in detail the osteology of larks and compares it with other passerines in its size class. The evolutionary history of Eremophila is discussed, and the environmental preferences of larks and their relationship to the late Pliocene landscapes of Central Asia are considered.
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