Ectaetia capdoliensis sp. n., first Cretaceous and oldest representative of the scatopsid subfamily Ectaetiinae, is described from the Late Albian / Early Cenomanian amber of southwestern France. This fossil demonstrates the remarkable morphological stability of these flies since at least the mid-Cretaceous. It suggests the presence of rotten wood under wet palaeoenvironment for the correspondi...

The Pelona, Orocopia, and Rand Schists and the schists of Portal Ridge and Sierra de Salinas constitute a high–pressure-temperature terrane that was accreted beneath North American basement in Late Cretaceous–earliest Tertiary time. The schists crop out in a belt extending from the southern Coast Ranges through the Mojave Desert, central Transverse Ranges, southeastern California, and southwest...

A new type of turtle egg fossil was established: Emydoolithus laiyangensis oogen. et oosp. nov.. Based on its elliptical morphological shape, rigid eggshells, and eggshell characteristics, it is different from other types of round chelonian egg fossils. It is the second chelonian egg fossil found in Cretaceous in China. This discovery shows the Laiyang ecosystem in Late Cretaceous is more diver...

The Mahajanga Basin Project, initiated in 1993 and centered in Upper Cretaceous strata of northwestern Madagascar, has resulted in the discovery of some of the most complete, well-preserved, and significant specimens of Late Cretaceous vertebrate animals from the Southern Hemisphere and indeed the world. Among the most important finds are various specimens of crocodyliforms, non-avian dinosaurs...

Abderaz Formation is one of the Upper Cretaceous formations in the Kopet-Dagh sedimentary basin. A stratigraphic section from the mentioned formation is selected for detailed systematic description with regard to echinoids. Numerous well preserved representatives of the families Mircrasteridae wright, 1857 and Echinocorythidae Lambert, 1920 are described from the Ghaleh-Zoo stratigraphic sectio...

The oceans at the time of the Cenomanian– Turonian transition were abruptly perturbed by a period of bottom-water anoxia. This led to the brief but widespread deposition of black organic-rich shales, such as the Livello Bonarelli in the Umbria–Marche Basin (Italy). Despite intensive studies, the origin and exact timing of this event are still debated. In this study, we assess leading hypotheses...

In the continuing debate about the timing of the origin of major extant placental clades, both proponents of a divergence after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary and those advocating divergence deep within the Cretaceous too often miss what the Late Cretaceous record of placentals actually shows. For example, Foote et al. (1) are correct that many Late Cretaceous reports of extant ordinal ...

In the continuing debate about the timing of the origin of major extant placental clades, both proponents of a divergence after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary and those advocating divergence deep within the Cretaceous too often miss what the Late Cretaceous record of placentals actually shows. For example, Foote et al. (1) are correct that many Late Cretaceous reports of extant ordinal ...

The fossil record of Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae) is scarce and the few reported macrofossil findings are in need of taxonomic revision. Aponogeton pollen is highly diagnostic and when studied with light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) it cannot be confused with any other pollen types. The fossil Aponogeton pollen described here represent the first reliable Cretaceous and...

Angiosperms evolved rapidly in the late Mesozoic. Data from the genetic-based approach called ’molecular clock’ permit an evaluation of the radiation of flowering plants through geological time and of the possible influences of Mesozoic mass extinctions. A total of 261 divergence ages of angiosperm families are considered. The radiation of flowering plants peaked in the Albian, early Campanian,...