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.

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: During the Jurassic, Sardinia was close to continental Europe. Emerged lands started from a single island forming in time a progressively sinking archipelago. This complex palaeogeographic situation gave origin to a diverse landscape with a variety of habitats. Collection- and literature-based palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies studies were carried out on the Genna Selole Formation for palaeoenvironmental interpretations. They evidence a generally warm and humid climate, affected occasionally by drier periods. Several distinct ecosystems can be discerned in this climate, including alluvial fans with braided streams (Laconi-Gadoni lithofacies), paralic swamps and coasts (Nurri-Escalaplano lithofacies), and lagoons and shallow marine environments (Ussassai-Perdasdefogu lithofacies). The non-marine environments were covered by extensive lowland and a reduced coastal and tidally influenced environment. Both the river and the upland/hinterland environments are of limited impact for the reconstruction. The difference between the composition of the palynological and palaeobotanical associations evidence the discrepancies obtained using only one of those proxies. The macroremains reflect the local palaeoenvironments better, although subjected to a transport bias (e.g. missing upland elements and delicate organs), whereas the palynomorphs permit to reconstruct the regional palaeoclimate. Considering that the flora of Sardinia is the southernmost of all Middle Jurassic European floras, this multidisciplinary study increases our understanding of the terrestrial environments during that period of time.

Description: Several dispersed reproductive organs of bennettitopsid gymnosperms are described and illustrated from Triassic to Cretaceous strata of Australia: Williamsonia eskensis sp. nov. (Middle Triassic), Williamsonia ipsvicensis sp. nov. (Upper Triassic), Williamsonia durikaiensis sp. nov. (Lower Jurassic), Williamsonia sp. (Lower Jurassic), Williamsonia rugosa sp. nov. (Middle Jurassic), Williamsonia gracilis sp. nov. (Lower Cretaceous), Cycadolepis ferrugineus sp. nov. (Lower Jurassic), Cycadolepis sp. (Lower Cretaceous), and Fredlindia moretonensis Shirley 1898 comb. nov. (Upper Triassic). Among these, W. eskensis appears to represent the oldest bennettitalean reproductive structure yet identified. Although global floras expressed less provincialism during the Mesozoic and many genera are cosmopolitan, Australian bennettopsid species appear to have been endemic based on the morphological characters of the reproductive structures. Bennettopsids have a stratigraphic range of around 210 million years in Australia and are widely and abundantly represented by leaf fossils, but only around 20 specimens of reproductive structures, of which half are attributed to Fredlindia , have been recovered from that continent’s geological archive. The extremely low representation of reproductive organs vis-à-vis foliage is interpreted to reflect a combination of physical disintegration of the seed-bearing units while attached to the host axis and, potentially, extensive vegetative reproduction in bennettopsids growing at high southern latitudes during the Mesozoic.

Description: Three Paracricetodon species from the late Eocene locality Buštranje and the Early Oligocene localities Valniš, Strelac-1, -2, -3 and Raljin (south-east Serbia) are described; Paracricetodon dehmi Hrubesch, 1957 and two new species: Paracricetodon stojanovici and P. gracilis. A review of Paracricetodon species suggests that the species P. spectabilis , P. cadurcensis , P. dehmi , P. walgeri and P. wentgesi are primarily distinct in size. Paracricetodon kavakderensis and P. kodjayarmensis from Turkish Trace are considered junior synonyms of P. dehmi . The diversity and abundance of the Paracricetodontinae in the rodent assemblages from Serbia is not known from elsewhere and suggest that they underwent a radiation on the Serbian-Macedonian land area.

Description: A new dinosaur tracksite was recently discovered in the Upper Jurassic deposits from the Oléron Island (Atlantic Ocean, western France). Tracks are located along the coastline in the tidal area of La Morelière near “Pointe de Chassiron”. They were observed in situ in an evaporitic interval from the “Purbeck beds” Unit. Sediments consist of calcite recrystallised after gypsum dissolution within limestone layers which are composed of thin laminites. The track-bearing surface shows abundant mud cracks and some ripple marks. Ichnofossils consist of medium-sized tridactyl footprints of theropods forming a narrow trackway. In order to obtain 3D reconstructions of the track-bearing surface, the trackway was scanned with a resolution of 0.5 mm using an Artec Eva 3D white-light scanner. As indicated by the track dimensions, the probable trackmaker is assigned to a medium-sized non-coelurosaur tetanuran, such as a megalosauroid or an allosauroid theropod. The palaeoenvironmental context is interpreted as a tidal flat in an evaporitic basin. In addition to the tridactyl tracks, we report sauropod- and thyreophoran-like tracks on two other surfaces from Chassiron–La Morelière.

Description: A rich and diverse ichthyofauna is described from the upper Oligocene (Egerian) sands of Máriahalom, Hungary. The site is dominated by brackish molluscs that are preserved together with rare marine and terrestrial vertebrates. Based on the isolated elasmobranch and bony fish remains, eight sharks, four rays and seven teleost taxa were identified from Máriahalom. The ichthyofauna represents a nearshore marine subtropical community dominated by odontaspidid and carcharhinid sharks and by euryhaline durophagous sparids and by sciaenid teleost fishes. Epibenthic feeders were common, whereas piscivorous taxa included barracudas, billfishes and numerous sharks, including the macropredatory Otodus angustidens. Palaeontological, sedimentological and stratigraphical data indicates a tide-influenced and fluvial-influenced nearshore palaeoenvironment with brackish lagoons and normal marine littoral habitats. The remains of terrestrial, brackish and nearshore marine invertebrates and vertebrates accumulated in a tidal channel. The systematics of the ichthyofauna is consistent with the palaeogeography inferred from invertebrates, i.e. a Central Paratethys connected to the Mediterranean area during the Egerian.

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: The Upper Triassic Xujiahe and Lower Jurassic Zhenzhuchong formations of the Sichuan Basin, China, are important sources of plant fossils and windows into the intervening extinction event. However, there is an on-going debate as to whether the environment represented by the Xujiahe and Zhenzhuchong formations was continental or included an important marine component. We studied the Xujiahe–Zhenzhuchong section near Qili Town of Xuanhan County, in the east of the basin and report hummocky and swaley cross-stratification in the Xujiahe Formation. This, along with minor Skolithos and heterolithic bedding, provides strong evidence for shallow marine conditions and favours an interpretation as the deposits of a wave-dominated coast. It also suggests common and extreme storm activity, possibly hurricanes, at what was a mid-latitude (c. 34–40°N) location in the Late Triassic. Charcoal is found in most samples throughout the section. The predominant fossil wood morphology is consistent with Xenoxylon . Together, the sedimentological evidence of storms and fire suggests a highly disturbed environment.