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Sunday, June 1st, 2025
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 9:27a | [Paleontology • 2025] Megaglomerospora lealiae • A new fossil fungus (Glomeromycetes) from upper Carboniferous of Portugal: the Largest glomeromycotan fungal spores
Highlights: • Fossil fungi discovered in the continental Carboniferous of Portugal. • New fossil fungus is erected based on a dense cluster of unusual silicified large spores. • Megaglomerospora lealiae is the first record of Glomeromycotan fungal spores from the Carboniferous of Iberia. • Megaglomerospora lealiae represents the largest Glomeromycotan fungal spores documented so far. • New insights on the diversity of the Glomeromycotan spores and the Carboniferous endomycorrhizal fungi. Abstract A new genus and species of fossil fungus, Megaglomerospora lealiae, is described from the Buçaco Carboniferous Basin (upper Stephanian C, Upper Pennsylvanian, upper Carboniferous), in central western Portugal. The new fossil fungus consists of a dense cluster of silicified large spores. These new fungal spores are oblong, subelliptical to subspherical-shaped, with a glabrous surface characterized by having a lipid-filled lumen, and display a strong septate-like hypha attached. The presence of lobe-shaped germination shields suggests close affinities to Diversisporales (Glomeromycota). Megaglomerospora lealiae nov. gen., nov. sp. is remarkably distinctive because it is by far the largest fossil fungal spore (∼1.6 mm long) documented for the phylum Glomeromycota. This is the first report of an endomycorrhizal‐like fungus from the Carboniferous of Iberia.  Systematic palaeomycology Domain Eukaryota Chatton, 1925 Kingdom Fungi Moore, 1980 Division Glomeromycota Walker et Schüßler, 2004 Class Glomeromycetes Cavalier-Smith, 1998 Order Diversisporales Walker et Schüßler, 2004 Family Incertae sedis Genus Megaglomerospora Correia, Sá et Pereira, nov. Pedro Correia, Artur A. Sá and Zélia Pereira. 2025. Megaglomerospora lealiae nov. gen., nov. sp. from the upper Carboniferous of Portugal: the Largest glomeromycotan fungal spores. Geobios. 91; 1-9. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.010 | ||||||
| 10:23a | [PaleoEntomology• 2025] Ampatiri eloisae • Back to the Poop: the Oldest Hexapod Scales discovered within a Triassic Coprolite from Argentina
Highlights: • After end-Permian mass extinction, the Triassic witnessed a super-radiation of modern insects (i.e., hymenopterans, dipterans, and lepidopterans). • We report the oldest known record of hexapod scales, which were recovered from a megaherbivore dicynodont coprolite. • The coprolite comes from a communal latrine in lower Carnian deposits (∼236 Ma) of the Chañares Formation, NW Argentina. • The unique combination of features (e.g., ornamented hollow scales with internal lumen) suggests lepidopteran affinities. • The Chañares scales contribute to the temporal mismatch between phylogenomic and fossil evidence of lepidopterans. Abstract Life on Earth nearly came to an end during the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME; c. 252 Ma). In its aftermath, the Triassic witnessed the adaptation of survivors to a postapocalyptic world and the establishment of modern ecosystems. Inland, these changes included an outstanding turnover between amniote groups triggered by the diversification of plants and arthropods. A super-radiation of morphologically modern insects occurred in the Triassic, including some of their most successful and ecologically relevant groups, such as Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). Here, we describe the oldest evidence of hexapod scales, preserved within a megaherbivorous kannemeyeriiform dicynodont coprolite. This specimen comes from a communal latrine in the lower Carnian deposits (∼236 Ma) of the Chañares Formation, La Rioja Province, northwestern Argentina. The tiny fossil scales are hollow and ornamented, which is a synapomorphy of Lepidoptera and suggests that they could belong to this group. If this is the case, the Chañares scales would partially fill the temporal mismatch between phylogenomic date and the fossil evidence of butterflies and moths because they preceded the previously oldest lepidopteran record by c. 35 million years. Moreover, the scales have a combination of features present in early diverging glossatan lepidopterans. The inclusion of the temporal data provided by the Chañares scales into an updated temporal calibration of lepidopteran phylogeny shows that the proboscis, a key evolutionary novelty for the group (Glossata), evolved between c. 260–244 Ma. Thus, the proboscis-bearing lepidopterans would be part of the repertory of new plants and animals that diversified during the aftermath of the EPME.    Systematic palaeontology Euarthropoda Walossek, 1999 Hexapoda Latreille, 1825 cf. Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758 Ampatiri eloisae gen. et sp. nov. Diagnosis. The type series of Ampatiri eloisae is distinguished from other hexapod and lepidopteran scales because of the following combination of character states (autapomorphies indicated with an asterisk): hollow bilayer scales–synapomorphy of Glossata–ornamented by dense longitudinal ridges with some dichotomous or anastomosed ridges; up to 70 longitudinal ridges on the upper ...  Lucas E. Fiorelli, Ezequiel I. Vera, Valeria S. Perez Loinaze, Javier Torréns, Martín D. Ezcurra, María B. Lara and Julia B. Desojo. 2025. Back to the Poop: the Oldest Hexapod Scales discovered within a Triassic Coprolite from Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 162, 105584. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2025.105584 [15 August 2025]  | ||||||
| 11:08a | [Paleontology • 2025] Itaguyra occulta • Continuous presence of dinosauromorphs in South America throughout the Middle to the Late Triassic
Abstract The dawn of dinosaurs is marked by the appearance of the saurischian lineages in the Late Triassic fossil record, around 230 million years ago. This early burst of diversification of the group is majoritarily represented by sauropodomorphs and herrerasaurids in late Carnian to early Norian of Brazil, Argentina, India, and Zimbabwe. However, “silesaurids”, an older and enigmatic group of quadrupedal dinosauromorphs, were recently found, in some works, as stem ornithischians. In this scenario, dinosaurs would have originated far earlier than the end of the Ladinian, a time in which “silesaurids” are already spread through Gondwana. Despite being also recorded in more recent dinosaur-bearing beds in Brazil, “silesaurids” are absent in strata from the early Carnian, an important time frame for dinosaur evolution. Here we present a new “silesaurid”, Itaguyra occulta gen. et sp. nov., that fills up the remaining gap of occurrence of these dinosauromorphs and provides new clues to the success of these putative early ornithischians. ARCHOSAURIA Cope, 1869 (sensu Gauthier and Padian, 1985). AVEMETATARSALIA Gauthier, 1986 (sensu Sereno, 1991). DINOSAUROMORPHA Benton, 1985 (sensu Ezcurra et al. 2020). Itaguyra occulta gen. nov. et sp. nov. Etymology: The genus name combines the native Tupi words Ita- (= stone) and -guyra (= bird), referring to the avemetatarsalian nature of the specimen. The specific epithet, derived from Latin, means hidden and refers to the fact that the remains were initially identified as being “mixed up” with other indeterminate cynodont fragments with which they had been collected.
 Holotype: UFRGS-PV-1365(a)-T, a left ilium (Fig. 1A). Paratype: UFRGS-PV-1365(b)-T, associated ischium (Fig. 1A). Type and referred locality: The type-materials were collected in the Schoenstatt Sanctuary fossil site (52°27′0.5″ W; 29°44′26.2″ S), in the Santa Cruz do Sul municipality (Fig. 1D), Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Diagnosis: Itaguyra occulta differs from all other known “silesaurids” with comparable material in (*local autapomorphy): having a faint crest connecting the preacetabular process and the supracetabular crest of the ilium, unlike the prominent ridge of most “silesaurids”*; height of the postacetabular process sub-equal to the height of the acetabulum (shared with Silesaurus opolensis and Kwanasaurus williamparkeri), differing from Lutungutali sitwensis and Gamatavus antiquus (see Discussion); supracetabular crest rounded (shared with Asilisaurus kongwe, Lewisuchus admixtus, Lutungutali sitwensis, and Gamatavus antiquus), unlike the straight outline of Ignotosaurus fragilis, and Kwanasaurus williamparkeri; brevis fossa almost entire visible in lateral view (shared with Silesaurus opolensis Kwanasaurus williamparkeri), being different from Lewisuchus admixtus and Asilisaurus kongwe which are more ventrally oriented; presence of a triangular process continuous to the posterior margin of the brevis fossa (absent in Gamatavus antiquus); triangular ventral margin of the medial wall of the iliac acetabulum (shared with Asilisaurus kongwe, Lutungutali sitwensis, Ignotosaurus fragilis and probably Gamatavus antiquus, but not with Silesaurus opolensis and Kwanasaurus williamparkeri); and, tall shaft of the ischium* (see Discussion). 
 Voltaire D. Paes Neto, Flávio A. Pretto, Agustín G. Martinelli, Francesco Battista, Maurício Garcia, Rodrigo T. Müller, Mauricio R. Schmitt, Tomaz P. Melo, Heitor Francischini, Cesar L. Schultz, Felipe Pinheiro, Marina B. Soares and Alexander W. Kellner. 2025. Continuous presence of dinosauromorphs in South America throughout the Middle to the Late Triassic. Scientific Reports. 15, 18498. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99362-5 [30 May 2025] | ||||||
| 3:40p | [Ichthyology • 2024] Garra magnarostrum • A New Species of cyprinid fish (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from the Brahmaputra River Drainage, Northeastern India
Abstract Garra magnarostrum sp. nov. is described from the Ranga River, Brahmaputra River drainage in Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is distinguished from congeners in the Indian sub-continent, Myanmar and China in having (vs. lacking) many small and budding tubercles on the ventral side of the transverse lobe of the snout. It further differs from congeners in having a combination of the following characters: a multilobed proboscis on the snout, a long head, a long snout, small eye, a deep caudal peduncle, a small gular disc, 14½ branched pectoral-fin rays, 33 lateral line scales, 11 predorsal scales, 13 circumpeduncular scales and presence of multicuspid tubercles on the snout. Keywords: Cyprinidae, India, New Species, Ranga River  Garra magnarostrum sp. nov. Pratima Singh, Asha Kiran Tudu and Shantabala Devi Gurumayum. 2024. Garra magnarostrum, A New Species of cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Brahmaputra River drainage, Northeastern India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India. 124(3); 219–227. DOI: 10.26515/rzsi/v124/i3/2024/172296 | ||||||
| 4:24p | [Botany • 2022] Ceriscoides glabra (Rubiaceae: Gardenieae) • A New Species from Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, southern Vietnam
Abstract Ceriscoides glabra, a new species of the tribe Gardenieae (Rubiaceae), is described and illustrated. The species was discovered in 2017–2018 in Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve (Gia Lai Province, southern Vietnam), in the vicinity of the locally well-known K50 waterfall, also known as Hang En waterfall. The new species differs from its congeners by the following features: plant entirely glabrous, leaf blade mostly less than 6.5 cm long and less than 4 cm wide, with 3–4 pairs of secondary veins and without domatia, calyx in female flowers glabrous with lobes more than 9 mm long, and corolla lobes in female flowers more than 10 mm long and distinctly longer than wide. Keywords: brachyblasts, Eastern Indochina, floral dimorphism, Gia Lai Province, plant diversity, plant taxonomy, thorns, Eudicots  Ceriscoides glabra Tran Duc Binh, Bui Hong Quang, Nguyen The Cuong, Ha Quy Quynh, Duong Thi Hoan, Do Van Hai, Khang Sinh Nguyen and Maxim S. Nuraliev. 2022. Ceriscoides glabra (Gardenieae: Rubiaceae), A New Species from Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, southern Vietnam. Phytotaxa. 574(2); 158-164. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.574.2.4 |
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