Description: The Rotzo Formation is famous for its Lower Jurassic terrestrial flora and marine (invertebrate) and terrestrial (dinosaur footprint) fauna. However, lycophyte macrofossils were never described from this time period in Italy, although palynological analyses yielded abundant lycophyte spores. Dispersed megaspores, in association with charcoal and amber drops, were recently collected from several horizons and outcrops of the Monte Lessini area. Sedimentological and palaeontological data reconstruct the palaeoenvironment as a paralic swamp under a warm and humid (monsoonal) climate. This is the first record of Jurassic megaspores from Italy, increasing our understanding of Jurassic lycophyte diversity, since at least five microspore and five megaspore genera with selaginellalean botanical affinities can be distinguished. Moreover, this underlines how well these brackish environments were adapted for the preservation of fossil plant remains (including amber).

Description: Arborescent and sub-arborescent lycopsids are important floristic elements of the Brazilian early Permian post-glacial environments. However, the taxonomy and systematic position as well as the biology and ecology of these plants are poorly understood. The present study describes a remarkable assemblage of Brasilodendron cf. pedroanum axes preserved in the plant bearing sub-level N8b of the Morro do Papaléo outcrop, Rio Bonito Formation, early Permian of the Paraná Basin, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. These axes are massively concentrated, without any preferential depositional orientation, forming a monotypical assemblage. They are unbranched and preserved as impressions. Three morphological patterns, occurring on distinct axes, were described for leaf cushions. This mass-assemblage is probably a result of allochthonous deposition and hydraulic size-sorting. The massive concentration of B . cf. pedroanum suggests that this fossil taxon was an important floristic element somewhere in the upstream area of the braided river system studied here.

Description: A palynological and sedimentological study of an outcrop succession adjacent to the village of Kamyanka within the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine was carried out. The successions occur within the Dnieper–Donets Basin, which hosts vast successions (〉 20 km) of post mid-Devonian strata and is one of the main hydrocarbon-producing basins in Europe. Middle Jurassic sandstones, siltstones and claystones represent the sedimentary successions at the Kamyanska locality. Few palynological studies have been performed on the Jurassic of Ukraine and even fewer presented in the international literature. Thirty spore taxa and 21 pollen taxa were identified, together with taxa kept in open nomenclature (e.g. bisaccate pollen). Two palynological assemblages were identified within the Kamyanska succession (assemblages A and B) dated as Bathonian. Assemblage A is dominated by the fern spores ( Cyathidites and Osmundacidites ) and gymnosperm pollen produced by Cupressaceae ( Perinopollenites elatoides ), ginkgophytes/Cycadales/Bennettitales (monosulcates) and Cheirolepidiaceae ( Classopollis ). Assemblage B differs in also comprising high abundances of Gleicheniidites  and higher percentages of Pinuspollenites and Araucariacites  compared to assemblage A. Another difference between the two units is the high relative abundance of seed fern pollen ( Alisporites ) in the upper part of assemblage B. The thermal alteration index (TAI) of the palynomorphs is estimated to range from 3 to 3.5, indicating a burial depth corresponding to the mature main phase of liquid petroleum and, to some extent, gas generation. Comparisons between the miospore and macrofloral assemblages show that the palynoflora and macroflora are strongly similar at broad taxonomic levels. Importantly, the miospore assemblages described here compare well with European Middle Jurassic assemblages indicating limited provincialism, with similar vegetation extending from eastern Ukraine and across most of Western Europe.

Description: The Tarim Basin, located in northwestern China, is an important oil-bearing region, and the extensive non-marine Mesozoic successions make this a key location for understanding environmental changes through the Triassic and Jurassic. Palynological analyses on samples from Lunnan-1 and Tazhong-1 drill cores from the northern and central part of the Tarim Basin reveal well-preserved spore–pollen assemblages. Five palynological assemblages, i.e. Tarim Triassic 1 (TT1)–Tarim Triassic 4 (TT4) and Tarim Jurassic 1 (TJ1), spanning the Early Triassic to Early Jurassic were identified based on compositional changes, which are supported by ordination of samples using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The Early Triassic assemblages possess abundant bryophytes and Densoisporites spp.-producers, which potentially represent a recovery succession following the end-Permian event. The Late Triassic spore–pollen assemblages are more similar to those of the North China Palynofloral Province compared to the South China Province. Based on our phytogeographic analysis, we propose that the western section of the boundary between the North and South China palynofloras should be placed at the southern margin of the Tarim Basin.

Description: Isolated teeth of Melissiodontinae from two Eocene and four Oligocene localities in southeastern Serbia are described. One new genus and two new species are named. The study of the derived morphology of the cheek teeth and of the contrastingly primordial microstructure of the tooth enamel of this diverse material provides a glimpse into the early history of the subfamily. The supposedly Asian murid ancestor of the Melissiodontinae seems to have reached the Serbian-Macedonian land area during the early or middle Eocene, which is shortly after the split up of the Muridae and Dipodidae and before the ‘Grande Coupure’ of central and Western Europe. We interpret the rapid consequent specialisation of the morphology of the chewing apparatus of the Melissiodontinae as an adaptation to feeding on small invertebrates on the floor of the Eocene forest.

Description: A new carnivoran fauna composed of rare dental and long bone remains of basal arctoid carnivores from upper Oligocene lagoon deposits of Hungary are described. Despite the small sample size, four separate taxa could be identified including the semi-aquatic basal mustelid Potamotherium valletoni , the small-sized, terrestrial basal mustelidan Amphictis sp. or Franconictis sp., another indeterminate basal mustelidan, and the medium-sized, terrestrial basal ursoid Pachycynodon boriei . These or related taxa are typically known from the Oligocene–early Miocene of Western Europe and for a much lesser extent from Eastern Asia or North America. The new Hungarian occurrence provides the first record of Oligocene carnivorans from geographically intermediate coeval localities in Eastern Europe. These remains will aid biostratigraphic correlation of the terrestrial Oligo-Miocene of Western Europe with the marine Paratethys region.

Description: We describe the skeleton of a pregnant mare of the European equoid Eurohippus messelensis from the early middle Eocene of Grube Messel, Germany, 47.4–47.9 my of age (mammalian chronologic unit MP 11). This is the first detailed description of an individual skeleton of this species since Haupt (Abhandlungen der Hessischen Geologischen Landesanstalt, 6;1–159 Haupt 1925 ). Measurements prove that the skeleton of a pregnant mare fits exactly into the known variation of Eurohippus messelensis . Differences from the North American Eocene equid Arenahippus grangeri are only marginal. The size is similar, but the limb proportions indicate that cursoriality in A. grangeri had already achieved a higher level than in E. messelensis , which is 6-6.5 million years younger. We confirm the presence of rudimentary mc-I and mt-V in E. messelensis. The preservation of soft tissue is remarkable. We identified the distal end of the colon. SEM analyses display that it still contains plant material.

Description: Flood basalt volcanism has been implicated in several episodes of mass extinctions and environmental degradation in the geological past, including at the Triassic–Jurassic (Tr–J) transition, through global warming caused by massive outgassing of carbon dioxide. However, the patterns of biodiversity loss observed are complicated and sometimes difficult to reconcile with the effects of global warming alone. Recently, attention has turned to additional volcanic products as potential aggravating factors, in particular sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ). SO 2 acts both directly as a noxious environmental pollutant and indirectly through forming aerosols in the atmosphere, which may cause transient global dimming and cooling. Here, we present a range of morphological changes to fossil plant leaf cuticle surfaces of hundreds of Ginkgoales and Bennettitales specimens across the Tr–J boundary of East Greenland. Our results indicate that morphological structures of distorted cuticles near the Tr–J boundary are consistent with modern cuticle SO 2 -caused damage and supported by recent leaf-shape SO 2 proxy results, thus identifying cuticle surface morphology as a potentially powerful proxy for SO 2 . Recording the timing and duration of SO 2 emissions in the past may help distinguish between the driving agents responsible for mass extinction events and thus improve our understanding of the Earth System.

Description: Dinosaur footprints are abundant in the Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group of North Yorkshire, UK. Footprints are particularly common within the Bathonian Long Nab Member of the Scalby Formation and more so within the so-called ‘Burniston footprint bed’ at Burniston Bay. The Yorkshire Jurassic is also famous for its exceptional plant macrofossil and spore-pollen assemblages. Here we investigate the spore-pollen record from the dinosaur footprint-bearing successions in order to reconstruct the vegetation and assess possible dinosaur-plant interactions. We also compare the spore-pollen assemblages with the macroflora of the Scalby Ness Plant Bed, which occurs within the same geological member as the Burniston succession. The spore-pollen assemblages are dominated by Deltoidospora spp., the majority of which were probably produced by Coniopteris . Lycophyte spores (including megaspores) are common in the Yorkshire Jurassic, but lycophyte parent plants are extremely poorly represented in the macroflora. Seed ferns, represented by Alisporites spp., are moderately abundant. Conifer pollen assemblages are dominated by Araucariacites australis (probably produced by Brachyphyllum mamillare ), Perinopollenites elatoides and Classopollis spp., with additional bisaccate pollen taxa. Abundant Ginkgo huttonii in the macroflora suggests that much of the monosulcate pollen was produced by ginkgoes. The diverse vegetation of the Cleveland Basin presumably represented an attractive food source for herbivorous dinosaurs. The dinosaurs probably gathered at the flood plains for fresh-water and also used the non-vegetated plains and coastline as pathways. Although assigning specific makers to footprints is difficult, it is clear that a range of theropod, ornithopod and sauropod dinosaurs inhabited the area.