New Strophalosiidae (Brachiopoda) from the early Permian of Argentina

New representatives of the family Strophalosiidae (Brachiopoda) are described from the Tupe Formation of the Paganzo Basin, Argentina. The genus Coronalosia Waterhouse & Gupta is reviewed and the new taxa Coronalosia argentinensis sp. nov. and Tupelosia paganzoensis gen. et sp. nov. proposed. The age of the Tupe Formation is reviewed and a middle to late Asselian (Early Permian) age is preferred.
The new genus Guadalupelosia from the mid-Permian of West Texas, USA, is also proposed.

New species of the Bryozoan Genera Batopora and Lacrimula (Batoporidae) from Australia

Examination of samples of bryozoans from the south- eastern slope sediments of Australia ("Franklin" SLOPE Stations 6, 7), has revealed the presence of many specimens of several genera with species which have minute, rooted colony forms. Among these are new species of the genera Batopora Reuss (B. problematica) and Lacrimula Cook (L. affinis). The structure of colonies is briefly described. The family Batoporidae is considered to contain only these two genera, although they have relationships with the discoidal genus Orbitulipora, and similarities in colony form to the genera assigned to the Conescharellinidae.

New pasture plants intensify invasive species risk

Agricultural intensification is critical to meet global food demand, but intensification threatens native species and degrades ecosystems. Sustainable intensification (SI) is heralded as a new approach for enabling growth in agriculture while minimizing environmental impacts. However, the SI literature has overlooked a major environmental risk. Using data from eight countries on six continents, we show that few governments regulate conventionally bred pasture taxa to limit threats to natural areas, even though most agribusinesses promote taxa with substantial weed risk. New pasture taxa (including species, subspecies, varieties, cultivars, and plant-endophyte combinations) are bred with characteristics typical of invasive species and environmental weeds. By introducing novel genetic and endophyte variation, pasture taxa are imbued with additional capacity for invasion and environmental impact. New strategies to prevent future problems are urgently needed. We highlight opportunities for researchers, agribusiness, and consumers to reduce environmental risks associated with new pasture taxa. We also emphasize four main approaches that governments could consider as they build new policies to limit weed risks, including (i) national lists of taxa that are prohibited based on environmental risk; (ii) a weed risk assessment for all new taxa; (iii) a program to rapidly detect and control new taxa that invade natural areas; and (iv) the polluter-pays principle, so that if a taxon becomes an environmental weed, industry pays for its management. There is mounting pressure to increase livestock production. With foresight and planning, growth in agriculture can be achieved sustainably provided that the scope of SI expands to encompass environmental weed risks.

A Lopingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna from the Qubuerga formation at Shengmi in the Mount Qomolangma region of Southern Xizang (Tibet), China

A small fauna of 11 species belonging to 10 genera of Permian Brachiopoda from the lower part of the Qubuerga Formation outcropping near Shengmi village in the Qomolangma region of southern Xizang (Tibet) is figured and new taxa are described. New taxa are Quinquenella semiglobosa and Costatumulus shengmiensis. The fauna is most likely of Wuchiapingian (Djhulfian) age as indicated by the majority of the brachiopod species.

Permian brachiopods from the Selong Xishan section, Xizang (Tibet), China. Part 2: palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications, spiriferida, athyridida and terebratulida

Brachiopods from the Selong Group at the Selong Xishan section indicate a typical Peri-Gondwanan affinity, but possibly a rapid invasion of tropical/subtropical Tethyan elements into the Himalayan region at the very end of Permian. A brief analysis of taphonomy and composition of the Selong fauna indicate that Selong Xishan lay on the shallow continental shelf near shore and brachiopods suffered substantial abrasion from contemporaneous wave action. Species of Spiriferida, Athyridida and Terebratulida are herein described and revised. New taxa are Nakmusiella selongensis nov. gen. et sp. and ? Bullarina striata nov. sp.

A review of Australian Conescharellinidae (Bryozoa : Cheilostomata)

The family Conescharellinidae Levinsen is defined and is regarded as comprising seven cheilostome genera (Conescharellina, Bipora, Trochosodon, Flabellopora, Zeuglopora, Crucescharellina and Ptoboroa). The astogeny of colonies, that consists of frontally budded zooids with "reversed" orientation, is briefly described and compared between genera. The morphology of zooids and heterozooids is defined and keys to genera and Australian species are provided. Taxa that were first described from Australia or from reliable subsequent records are redescribed and illustrated where possible. Australian specimens that have been identified as non-Australian species, have generally been found to be distinct and are here redescribed as new species. Some non-Australian records of specimens previously assigned to Australian species have also been re-examined. These are described and sometimes referred to other taxa. Altogether, eight previously described species that have not been found in the present material are discussed and 27 taxa are described from collections, principally from the eastern and southern coasts of Australia and from the Tertiary of Victoria. Eighteen of these are considered to be new species. Where possible, type or at least topotype material of previously described species has been examined. Colonies from the collections of Museum Victoria (NMV) and the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH), have been examined. New species from Australia described here are: Conescharellina cognata, C. ecstasis, C. diffusa, C. obscura, C. stellata, C. plana, C. perculta, C. pustulosa, C. ocellata, C. macgillivrayi, C. humerus; Trochosodon fecundus, T. asymmetricus, T. diommatus, T. aster, T. anomalus, T. praecox and Crucescharellina australis. In addition, the New Zealand bryozoan Trochosodon multiarmatus (Gordon, 1989) (not Bipora multiarmata Maplestone, 1909) is described as Trochosodon gordoni sp. nov.

Early carboniferous brachiopod faunas from the Baoshan block, west Yunnan, southwest China

38 brachiopod species in 27 genera and subgenera are described from the Yudong Formation in the Shidian-Baoshan area, west Yunnan, southwest China. New taxa include two new subgenera: Unispirifer (Septimispirifer) and Brachythyrina (Longathyrina), and seven new species: Eomarginifera yunnanensis, Marginatia cylindrica, Unispirifer (Unispirifer) xiangshanensis, Unispirifer (Septimispirifer) wafangjieensis, Brachythyrina (Brachythyrina) transversa, Brachythyrina (Longathyrina) baoshanensis, and Girtyella wafangjieensis. Based on the described material and constraints from associated coral and conodont faunas, the age of the brachiopod fauna from the Yudon Formation is considered late Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous), with a possibility extending into earlyViseacutean.

Permian brachiopods from the Baoshan and Simao Blocks in Western Yunnan, China

This paper describes and illustrates four Permian brachiopod assemblages (Assemblages A–D) from western Yunnan, southwest China. Assemblage A occurs in the basal part of the Yongde Formation in the Xiaoxinzhai section in the southern Baoshan Block and is assignable to the latest Artinskian or earliest Kungurian. Assemblage B occurs about 50 m stratigraphically above Assemblage A in the same section, and is of Chihsian (Kungurian–Roadian) age. Assemblage C was collected from the Yongde Formation in the Anpaitian section in the southern Baoshan Block and is most likely Roadian to Wordian in age. Assemblage D came from the Longtan Formation in the Simao Block and is of late Wuchiapingian in age. The brachiopod faunas from the Yongde Formation of the Baoshan Block, as a whole, is dominated by species characteristic of the Cathaysian Province, although some links with Peri-Gondwanan faunas are also evident. In contrast, Assemblage D from the Simao Block is characterised exclusively by taxa of the Cathaysian Province. New taxa described and illustrated are Neochonetes (Huangichonetes) inflatus n. sp. Costatumulus minor n. sp. and Celebetus yunnanensis n. sp.

Chonetoidea (Brachiopoda) from the Lopingian (Late Permian) of South China

en species of the superfamily Chonetoidea from the Lopingian (Late Permian) of South China are described or revised. A review of all recorded Chonetoidea species from the Lopingian (Late Permian) of South China indicates that some 22 species of five genera can be recognised. Species of Tethyochonetes and Neochonetes are characteristic in the lithofacies dominated by mudstone, siltstone or siliceous rocks in the Lopingian and some argillaceous limestone and clay rock facies near the Permian-Triassic boundary. New taxa are Neochoneles (Zhongyingia) subgen. nov., Neochonetes (Huangichonetes) subgen. nov. and Tethyochonetes flatus sp. nov.

A Wuchiapingian (Late Permian) brachiopod fauna from an exotic block in the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone, southern Tibet, and its palaeobiogeographical and tectonic implications

A brachiopod fauna including 19 species of 17 genera from an exotic block in the Indus–Tsangpo suture zone in southern Tibet is described and illustrated. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Martinia elegans and two new taxa: Jinomarginifera lhazeensis gen. et sp. nov. and Zhejiangospirifer giganteus sp. nov. The fauna is closely comparable with those from the middle and upper parts of the Wargal Formation and the Chhidru Formation in the Salt Range of Pakistan, the Chitichun Limestone in southern Tibet, and the Basleo area of West Timor, and these correlations suggest a Wuchiapingian age. The fauna exhibits substantial links with both peri–Gondwanan and Cathaysian faunas, which may imply that it is a seamount biota originally located in the southern margin of the Neotethys during the Late Permian, and was later (in the early Cenozoic) displaced and became sandwiched into younger marine deposits in the collision process between India and Eurasia.

Earliest Wuchiapingian (Lopingian, Late Permian) brachiopods in southern Hunan, South China : implications for the Pre-Lopingian crisis and onset of Lopingian recovery / radiation

The uppermost 5-15 m of the Douling Formation in the southern Hunan area. South China, yields a diverse fauna comprised of ammonoids, bivalves, and brachiopods. The brachiopods reported in this paper consist of 51 species in 34 genera and are dominated by the Lopingian (Late Permian) species associated with a few species persisting from the underlying Maokouan (Late Guadalupian). This fauna is of earliest Wuchiapingian in age as precisely constrained by the associated conodont Clarkina postbitteri postbitteri and the Guadalupian-type ammonoid fauna of the Roadoceras-Doulingoceras Zone in the brachiopod horizon. The discovery of the Lopingian species-dominated brachiopod fauna in the earliest Wuchiapingian in southern Hunan suggests a much less pronounced effect of the pre-Lopingian crisis (end-Guadalupian mass extinction) than the end-Changhsingian mass extinction in terms of brachiopods, a contemporaneous onset of the Lopingian recovery/radiation during the pre-Lopingian crisis period, and taxonomic selectivity of the pre-Lopingian crisis in terms of different fossil groups. New taxa are Echinauris doulingensis n. sp., Pararigbyella quadrilobata n. gen. and n. sp. and P. doulingensis n. gen. and n. sp.

The use of molecular phylogenetic and morphological tools to identify cryptic and paraphyletic species : examples from the diminutive long-fingered bats (Chiroptera : Miniopteridae : Miniopterus) on Madagascar

Based on nearly complete (1125 bp) cytochrome-b sequence data and morphological characters, two new endemic species of Miniopterus are described from Madagascar that were previously identified as M. manavi. Using phylogenetic analysis, the basal nodes of major lineages in the Malagasy members of this genus are weakly supported, while, in most cases, the branches leading to each of the clades are well resolved. Miniopterus mahafaliensis, new species, occurs in the southwestern semidesert areas and M. brachytragos, new species, has a broad distribution across the northern half of the island, ranging across several different biomes. Phylogenetic inference indicates that these two new taxa are not closely related to M. manavi sensu stricto, with average genetic distances of 9.2% and 5.7% from this taxon, respectively. On the basis of this and previous revisions, the former M. manavi complex is now recognized to represent at least five taxa, which do not form a monophyletic group with respect to one another, and represent extraordinary examples of convergent evolution. Miniopterus brachytragos is closely related to the recently named M. aelleni, while M. mahafaliensis is not closely associated with any of these species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis was imperative to resolve the species limits of these taxa and morphology then provided the means to corroborate the recovered clades. There are localities on the island, specifically limestone karstic zones, where four species of the former M. manavi sensu lato complex occur in strict sympatry. These species often use the same day-roost caves and have similar external and craniodental measurements. This raises intriguing questions as to how these animals divide their worlds with regard to dietary regimes and foraging strategies, as well as their speciation history.

New gall midge taxa (Diptera : Cecidomyiidae) from Australian Chenopodiaceae

Five new species and a new genus of gall midge are described from flower galls on native chenopod plants in Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Asphondylia vesicaria sp. n. induces galls on Atriplex vesicaria; A. mcneilli sp. n. on Sclerolaena diacantha; and A. tonsura sp. n. on Enchylaena tomentosa. Infested flowers develop into galls and produce no seeds. DNA analysis of part of the cytochrome-c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene supported the morphological and biological differences between each of the new species and the previously described A. floriformis (Veenstra-Quah & Kolesik) and A. sarcocorniae (Veenstra-Quah & Kolesik) that induce galls on leaves and branches, respectively, of Sarcocornia quinqueflora (Chenopodiaceae) in Australian salt marshes. A new genus, Dactylasioptera gen. n. and two new species of Lasiopterini, D. adentata sp. n. and D. dentata sp. n. are described – both were reared from galls of A. mcneilli and A. tonsura.