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Filistatids, the crevice weavers, are an ancient family of cribellate spiders without extant close relatives. As one of the first lineages of araneomorph spiders, they present a complicated mixture of primitive and derived characters that make them a key taxon to elucidate the phylogeny of spiders, as well as the evolution of phenotypic characters in this group. Their moderate diversity (187 species in 19 genera) is distributed mainly in arid and semi‐arid subtropical zones of all continents, except Antarctica. The objective of this paper is to generate a comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis for this family to advance the understanding of its morphological evolution and biogeography, as well as lay the basis for a natural classification scheme. By studying the morphology using optical and electronic microscopy techniques, we produced a matrix of 302 morphological characters coded for a sample of 103 species of filistatids chosen to represent the phylogenetic diversity of the family. In addition, we included sequences of four molecular markers (COI, 16S, H3 and 28S; 3787 aligned positions) of 70 filistatid species. The analysis of the data (morphological, molecular, and combined) consistently indicates the separation of the Filistatidae into two subfamilies, Prithinae and Filistatinae, in addition to supporting several groups of genera: Filistata, Zaitunia and an undescribed genus from Madagascar; Sahastata and Kukulcania; all Prithinae except Filistatinella and Microfilistata; Antilloides and Filistatoides; a large Old World group including Pritha, Tricalamus, Afrofilistata, Labahitha, Yardiella, Wandella and putative new genera; and a South American group formed by Lihuelistata, Pikelinia and Misionella. Pholcoides is transferred to Filistatinae and Microfilistata is transferred to Prithinae, and each represents the sister group to the remaining genera of its own subfamily. Most genera are valid, although Pikelinia is paraphyletic with respect to Misionella, so we consider the two genera as synonyms and propose a few new generic combinations. Considering the new phylogenetic hypothesis, we discuss the evolution of some morphological character systems and the biogeography of the family. The ages of divergence between clades were estimated using a total‐evidence tip‐dating approach by including fossils of Filistatidae and early spider clades; this approach resulted in younger age estimates than those obtained with traditional node‐dating. Filistatidae is an ancient family that started diversifying in the Mesozoic and most genera date to the Cretaceous. Clades displaying transcontinental distributions were most likely affected by continental drift, but at least one clade shows unequivocal signs of transoceanic long‐distance dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body size is of fundamental importance to our understanding of extinct organisms. Physiology, ecology and life history are all strongly influenced by body size and shape, which ultimately determine how a species interacts with its environment. Reconstruction of body size and form in extinct animals provides insight into the dynamics underlying community composition and faunal turnover in past ecosystems and broad macroevolutionary trends. Many extinct animals are known only from incomplete remains, necessitating the use of anatomical proxies to reconstruct body size and form. Numerous limitations affecting the appropriateness of these proxies are often overlooked, leading to controversy and downstream inaccuracies in studies for which reconstructions represent key input data. In this perspective, we discuss four prominent case studies (Dunkleosteus, Helicoprion, Megalodon and Perucetus) in which proxy taxa have been used to estimate body size and shape from fragmentary remains. We synthesise the results of these and other studies to discuss nuances affecting the validity of taxon selection when reconstructing extinct organisms, as well as mitigation measures that can ensure the selection of the most appropriate proxy. We argue that these precautionary measures are necessary to maximise the robustness of reconstructions in extinct taxa for better evolutionary and ecological inferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beetles have a remote evolutionary history dating back to the Carboniferous, with Mesozoic fossils playing a pivotal role in elucidating the early evolution of extant families. Despite their exceptional preservation in amber, deciphering the systematic positions of Mesozoic trogossitid‐like beetles remains challenging. Here, we describe and illustrate a new trogossitid‐like lineage from mid‐Cretaceous Kachin amber, Foveapeltis rutai Li, Kolibáč, Liu & Cai, gen. et sp. nov. Foveapeltis stands out within the Cleroidea due to the presence of a significant large cavity on each hypomeron. While the exact phylogenetic placement of Foveapeltis remains uncertain, we offer a discussion on its potential affinity based on our constrained phylogenetic analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Evidence for secondary growth extends into the Early Devonian, 407 million years ago, raising questions about tempo and mode of origination of this key developmental feature. To address such questions, we analyze anatomy in the four oldest fossil plants with well‐characterized woody tissues; one of these represents a new genus, described here formally.The new fossil is documented using the cellulose acetate peel technique and associated methods. We use the paradigm of structural fingerprints to identify developmental components of cambial growth based on fossil anatomy. We integrate developmental inferences within a theoretical framework of modular regulation of secondary growth.The fossils possess structural fingerprints consistent with four different combinations of regulatory mechanisms (modules) acting in cambial growth, representing four distinct modes of secondary growth.The different modes of secondary growth demonstrate that cambial growth is an assemblage of regulatory modules whose deployment followed a mosaic pattern across woody plants, which may represent ancestors of younger lineages that exhibit woody growth. The diverse modes of wood development occupy a wide morphospace in the anatomy of wood in the Early Devonian, suggesting that the origins of secondary growth and of its modular components pre‐date this interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Brazil provide a unique opportunity to study the diet and habitat use of the extant franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) prior to human influence. Here, we subject 19 fossil and 21 contemporary specimens to stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis (after first ruling out diagenesis via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The two groups differ in their isotopic composition (PERMANOVA, p < .01), with fossils yielding more disparate d13C values and recent samples more disparate d18O values. Their isotopic niches show an overlap of -20%, with that of the fossils being slightly wider (SEAc = 2.25-2 versus 1.84-2). We attribute these differences to impoverished modern fish communities and temporal changes in freshwater influx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We analyze the oldest fossil occurrences of wound‐response periderm to characterize the development of wound responses in early tracheophytes. The origin of periderm production by a cambium (phellogen), an innovation with key roles in protection of inner plant tissues, is poorly explored; understanding periderm development in early tracheophytes can illuminate key aspects of this process.Anatomy of wound‐response tissues is characterized in serial sections in a new Early Devonian (Emsian; c. 400 Ma) euphyllophyte from Quebec (Canada) – Nebuloxyla mikmaqiana sp. nov. – and compared to previously described euphyllophyte periderm from the same fossil locality to reconstruct periderm development.Characterizing development in these oldest periderm occurrences allows us to propose a model for the development of wound‐response periderm in early tracheophytes: by phellogen activity that is poorly coordinated laterally but bifacial, producing secondary tissues initially outwardly and subsequently inwardly.The earliest occurrences of wound periderm pre‐date the oldest known periderm produced systemically as a regular ontogenetic stage (canonical periderm), suggesting that periderm evolved initially as a wound‐response mechanism. We hypothesize that canonical periderm evolved by exaptation of this wound sealing mechanism, whose deployment was triggered by tangential tensional stresses induced in the superficial tissues by vascular cambial growth from within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Neanderthals is a topic of growing interest and it may even be considered that this subject will get more attention in the future. The demise and diets of the various Neanderthal populations are controversial issues that promote heated debates. In this work, a bibliometric study of all the publications contained in the Scopus database until 2021 has been conducted, analysing more than 3800 of them. The main authors, institutions and countries researching this subject have been identified, and their future development. Furthermore, the links between the authors, the countries and the topics researched have been analysed through communities detection. The most frequent keyword on this topic is 'fossil'. Three clearly focused research clusters in this area have been detected: those focused on molecular evolution, those focused on Neanderthal biology, and those focused on palaeoanthropology. Furthermore, it has been noted that the most central countries to the networks of collaboration are the United States, Spain, France and Germany. Research on Neanderthals is in its infancy and the appearance of new clusters is expected, such as those related to the diet and the demise of Neanderthals, considering the growing number of works recently developed on these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid radiation and dispersal of crown reptiles following the end‐Permian mass extinction characterizes the earliest phase of the Mesozoic. Phylogenetically, this early radiation is difficult to interpret, with polytomies near the crown node, long ghost lineages, and enigmatic origins for crown group clades. Better understanding of poorly known taxa from this time can aid in our understanding of this radiation and Permo‐Triassic ecology. Here, we describe an Early Triassic specimen of the diapsid Palacrodon from the Fremouw Formation of Antarctica. While Palacrodon is known throughout the Triassic and exhibits a cosmopolitan geographic range, little is known of its evolutionary relationships. We recover Palacrodon outside of crown reptiles (Sauria) but more crownward than Youngina capensis and other late Permian diapsids. Furthermore, Palacrodon possesses anatomical features that add clarity to the evolution of the stapes within the reptilian lineage, as well as incipient adaptations for arboreality and herbivory during the earliest phases of the Permo–Triassic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euphorbiaceae Juss. is a globally distributed angiosperm family with considerable diversity. It is divided into five subfamilies, each of which possesses pollen of distinct morphology. The subfamily Crotonoideae, occurring in evergreen, moist deciduous as well as dry deciduous forests of the world, shows a disjunct distribution pattern in Gondwana and Southeast Asia. This subfamily underwent multiple speciation and extinction events during the northward voyage of the Indian Plate during the Late Cretaceous‐early Paleogene. We studied Crotonoideae fossil pollen from the Late Cretaceous Deccan Intertrappeans (Central India) and early Paleogene sediments from the western Indian lignite mines, and as a result, report 10 pollen fossils showing similarity with the extant genera Blachia, Croton, Endospermum, Jatropha, Klaineanthus, and Tetrorchidium, representing 4 tribes of Crotonoideae viz. Adenoclineae, Codiaeae, Crotoneae, and Jatropheae. Fossil evidences from the present study suggest a Gondwanan origin for Crotonoideae. Based on the extant and fossil species, Africa could be the place of origin for most of the Crotonoideae lineages that later dispersed to India via the Kohistan‐Ladakh Island Arc during the late Maastrichtian‐Paleocene time. The former distribution of Crotonoideae in mid‐high latitudinal regions is due to the dispersal of the subfamily from Africa to mid latitudinal regions of northern hemisphere during the early Paleogene via the boreotropical dispersal route. This study also corroborates the "Out of India" hypothesis for the dispersal of Crotonoideae from India to Southeast Asia. The present deep‐time fossil records from India discussed in this study substantiate the evolutionary and biogeographic history of subfamily Crotonoideae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aquatic insects, mayfly nymphs have developed a remarkable diversity of life strategies and feeding habits. However, the early evolution of these strategies and the role of mayfly nymphs in freshwater palaeoecosystems remain largely unknown. We investigated fossil mayfly nymphs from the Grès à Voltzia Formation from the Middle Triassic, France, which represents the oldest known outcrop yielding a diverse mayfly fauna. We focused on three species, namely Mesoplectopteron longipes, Vogesonympha ludovici and Triassoephemera punctata, and investigated both original type material and numerous previously unstudied specimens. As a result, we provide a new interpretation of their morphology, life histories, and systematics: the nymphs of M. longipes, V. ludovici and T. punctata were aquatic and at least the former two species undoubtedly lived in flowing water as passive filter‐feeders. This finding represents the so far earliest occurrence of this feeding strategy in aquatic insects. The most obvious morphological adaptations to this lifestyle are long filtering setae arranged in rows on forelegs, analogous to some modern mayfly nymphs. We place the three investigated species M. longipes, V. ludovici and T. punctata in a newly established, unranked higher taxon, Sinebranchia, representing the sister group to Heptabranchia (Coxoplectoptera + Ephemeroptera). Sinebranchia share a single‐segmented tarsus synapomorphic with Heptabranchia, but retain the plesiomorphic condition of double tarsal claws. Sinebranchia are also characterized by their autapomorphic lack of tracheal gills, probably connected to their life in flowing, well‐oxygenated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulmaceae is a woody family widespread in northern temperate forests. Despite the ecological importance of this family, its phylogeny and biogeographic history are poorly understood. In this study, we reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the family and infer spatio‐temporal diversification patterns based on chloroplast genome (complete cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences (nrDNA). The seven Ulmaceae genera are resolved in two main clades (temperate vs. tropical) by both cpDNA and nrDNA sequences. The temperate clade includes four genera, Hemiptelea, Zelkova, Planera, and Ulmus. The relationships among Planera and other genera are controversial because of inconsistent topologies between plastid and nuclear data. The tropical clade includes three genera ((Ampelocera, Phyllostylon), Holoptelea). Molecular dating and diversification analyses show that Ulmaceae originated in the Early Cretaceous (ca. 110–125 Ma) with the main lineages establishing from the Late Cretaceous to the early Eocene. The diversification rate slowed during the middle to the late Paleogene (ca. 23–45 Ma), followed by a rapid diversification of the East Asian temperate group in the Neogene, congruent with a global cooling event. The ancestral state optimization analysis suggests an East Asian origin of the temperate Ulmaceae clade during the Paleocene, which is consistent with the fossil record. Both phylogenomic and fossil evidence support East Asia as a center of origin and diversification for the temperate woody lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We suggest that mammalian endothermy was established amongst Middle Jurassic crown mammals, through reviewing state‐of‐the‐art fossil and living mammal studies. This is considerably later than the prevailing paradigm, and has important ramifications for the causes, pattern, and pace of physiological evolution amongst synapsids. Most hypotheses argue that selection for either enhanced aerobic activity, or thermoregulation was the primary driver for synapsid physiological evolution, based on a range of fossil characters that have been linked to endothermy. We argue that, rather than either alternative being the primary selective force for the entirety of endothermic evolution, these characters evolved quite independently through time, and across the mammal family tree, principally as a response to shifting environmental pressures and ecological opportunities. Our interpretations can be tested using closely linked proxies for both factors, derived from study of fossils of a range of Jurassic and Cretaceous mammaliaforms and early mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria play an important role in the fossilization of soft tissues; their metabolic activities drive the destruction of the tissues and also strongly influence mineralization. Some environmental conditions, such as anoxia, cold temperatures, and high salinity, are considered widely to promote fossilization by modulating bacterial activity. However, bacteria are extremely diverse, and have developed metabolic adaptations to a wide range of stressful conditions. Therefore, the influence of the environment on bacterial activity, and of their metabolic activity on fossilization, is complex. A number of examples illustrate that simple, general assumptions about the role of bacteria in soft tissue fossilization cannot explain all preservational pathways: (i) experimental results show that soft tissues of cnidaria decay less in oxic than anoxic conditions, and in the fossil record are found more commonly in fossil sites deposited under oxic conditions rather than anoxic environments; (ii) siderite concretions, which often entomb soft tissue fossils, precipitate due to a complex mixture of sulfate‐ and iron reduction by some bacterial species, running counter to original theories that iron reduction is the primary driver of siderite concretion growth; (iii) arthropod brains, now widely accepted to be preserved in many Cambrian fossil sites, are one of the first structures to decay in taphonomic experiments, indicating that their fossilization processes are complex and influenced by bacterial activity. In order to expand our understanding of the complex process of bacterially driven soft tissue fossilization, more research needs to be done, on fossils themselves and in taphonomic experiments, to determine how the complex variation in microbial metabolic activity influences decay and mineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Key sources of information on the nature of early terrestrial ecosystems are the fossilized remains of plants and associated organic encrustations, which are interpreted as either biofilms, biological soil crusts or lichens. The hypothesis that some of these encrustations might be the remains of the thalloid gametophytes of embryophytes provided the stimulus for this investigation.Fossils preserved in charcoal were extracted from Devonian Period (Lochkovian Stage, c. 410–419 Myr old) sediments at a geological site in Shropshire (UK). Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) of the fossils were compared with new and published SEMs of extant bryophytes and tracheophytes, respectively. One specimen was further prepared and imaged by transmission electron microscopy.Fossils of thalloid morphology were composed almost entirely of cells with labyrinthine ingrowths; these also were present in fossils of axial morphology where they were associated with putative food‐conducting cells. Comparison with modern embryophytes demonstrates that these distinctive cells are transfer cells (TCs).Our fossils provide by far the earliest geological evidence of TCs. They also show that some organic encrustations are the remains of thalloid land plants and that these are possibly part of the life cycle of a newly recognized group of plants called the eophytes. See also the Commentary on this article by Tomescu, 233: 1018–1021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The earliest evidence for land plants comes from dispersed cryptospores from the Ordovician, which dominated assemblages for 60 million years. Direct evidence of their parent plants comes from minute fossils in Welsh Borderland Upper Silurian to Lower Devonian rocks. We recognize a group that had forking, striated axes with rare stomata terminating in valvate sporangia containing permanent cryptospores, but their anatomy was unknown especially regarding conducting tissues.Charcoalified fossils extracted from the rock using HF were selected from macerates and observed using scanning electron microscopy. Promising examples were split for further examination and compared with electron micrographs of the anatomy of extant bryophytes.Fertile fossil axes possess central elongate cells with thick walls bearing globules, occasional strands and plasmodesmata‐sized pores. The anatomy of these cells best matches desiccation‐tolerant food‐conducting cells (leptoids) of bryophytes. Together with thick‐walled epidermal cells and extremely small size, these features suggest that these plants were poikilohydric.Our new data on conducting cells confirms a combination of characters that distinguish the permanent cryptospore‐producers from bryophytes and tracheophytes. We therefore propose the erection of a new group, here named the Eophytidae (eophytes). See also the Commentary on this article by Tomescu, 233: 1018–1021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fossil record of the cephalopod genus Nautilus has been obscured because a few influential taxonomists during the 20th Century decided that fossils similar to Nautilus were instead other genera. We now recognize fossils once classified as species of other genera as species of Nautilus. This includes fossils from Miocene rocks of Taiwan that were previously described as Kummelonautilus taiwanum but herein recognized instead as being the northernmost Neogene record of Nautilus in the Indo‐Pacific region. The name is corrected to Nautilus taiwanus, and now known to occur in two formations in central Taiwan, the early Miocene Shihmentsun and early to middle Miocene Houdongkeng formations. Miocene fossils from Indonesia that were placed in other genera are now considered to represent Nautilus as they were originally assigned, in addition to several Miocene species from Australia, which provide the southernmost Neogene fossil record for the genus. Some of these Indo‐Pacific fossils may represent the same species, but more specimens are needed to determine the amount of variability within these Neogene taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise: Reconstructing the light environment and architecture of the plant canopy from the fossil record requires the use of proxies, such as those derived from cell wall undulation, cell size, and carbon isotopes. All approaches assume that plant taxa will respond predictably to changes in light environments. However, most species‐level studies looking at cell wall undulation only consider "sun" or "shade" leaves; therefore, we need a fully quantitative taxon‐specific method. Methods: We quantified the response of cell wall undulation, cell size, and carbon isotopes of Platanus occidentalis using two experimental setups: (1) two growth chambers at low and high light and (2) a series of outdoor growth experiments using green and black shade cloth at different densities. We then developed and applied a proxy for daily light integral (DLI) to fossil Platanites leaves from two early Paleocene floras from the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. Results: All traits responded to light environment. Cell wall undulation was the most useful trait for reconstructing DLI in the geological record. Median reconstructed DLI from early Paleocene leaves was ~44 mol m−2 d−1, with values from 28 to 54 mol m−2 d−1. Conclusions: Cell wall undulation of P. occidentalis is a robust, quantifiable measurement of light environment that can be used to reconstruct the paleo‐light environment from fossil leaves. The distribution of high DLI values from fossil leaves may provide information on canopy architecture; indicating that either (1) most of the canopy mass is within the upper portion of the crown or (2) leaves exposed to more sunlight are preferentially preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An abrupt transition in the fossil record separates Early Devonian euphyllophytes with a simple structure from a broad diversity of structurally complex Middle–Late Devonian plants. Morphological evolution and phylogeny across this transition are poorly understood due to incomplete sampling of the fossil record. We document a new Early Devonian radiatopsid and integrate it in analyses addressing euphyllophyte relationships.Anatomically preserved Emsian fossils (402–394 Ma) from the Battery Point Formation (Gaspé, Quebec, Canada) are studied in serial sections. The phylogenetic analysis is based on a matrix of 31 taxa and 50 characters emphasising vegetative morphology (41 discrete, nine continuous).The new plant, Kenrickia bivena gen. et sp. nov., is one of very few structurally complex euphyllophytes documented in the Early Devonian. Inclusion of Kenrickia overturns previously established phylogenetic relationships among Radiatopses, reiterating the need for increased density of Early Devonian taxon sampling. Kenrickia is recovered as the sister lineage to all other radiatopsids, a clade in which paraphyletic Stenokoleales led to a lignophyte clade where archaeopterids and seed plants fall into sister clades.Our results shed light on early euphyllophyte relationships and evolution, indicating early exploration of structural complexity by multiple lineages and reiterating the potential of a single origin of secondary growth in euphyllophytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Body mass is one of the most important determinants of animal ecology. Unlike other important traits it is also readily inferable from fossils and it is therefore one of the only traits that can be directly analysed and compared between fossil and contemporary communities. Despite this, no comprehensive database of the body mass of larger clades of extinct species exists. Analysis of fossils has therefore been restricted to small clades or to smaller, potentially biased, subsets of species. We here describe CarniFoss, an open‐access database of body masses of all 1,322 extinct species of non‐pinniped Carnivoramorpha and two related extinct groups of carnivorous mammals, Hyaenodonta and Oxyaenidae. Main types of variables contained: We gathered lengths of teeth of fossil and extant species and body mass for extant species and a few of the best‐known fossil species. Following this we estimated body mass for all species through phylogenetic imputation. Spatial location and grain: Global, terrestrial. Time period and grain: We collected data on all known species within the focal groups. The known species all lived in the Palaeogene, Neogene or Quaternary (i.e., the last 66 Myr). Major taxa and level of measurement: We searched for data on reported tooth size of all described species of Carnivoramorpha (excluding pinnipeds) and selected extinct related groups (Hyaenodonta and Oxyaenidae). We combined this with measured body mass for all extant species and inferred body mass based on long‐bones for selected extinct species, as well as a species‐level phylogeny including all extant and extinct species in the group, and inferred the body mass for all species using phylogenetic imputation. Software format: Data are provided as a series of.csv files, with all metadata in a separate PDF file. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birds are some of the most diverse organisms on Earth, with species inhabiting a wide variety of niches across every major biome. As such, birds are vital to our understanding of modern ecosystems. Unfortunately, our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern ecosystems is hampered by knowledge gaps in the origin of modern bird diversity and ecosystem ecology. A crucial part of addressing these shortcomings is improving our understanding of the earliest birds, the non‐avian avialans (i.e. non‐crown birds), particularly of their diet. The diet of non‐avian avialans has been a matter of debate, in large part because of the ambiguous qualitative approaches that have been used to reconstruct it. Here we review methods for determining diet in modern and fossil avians (i.e. crown birds) as well as non‐avian theropods, and comment on their usefulness when applied to non‐avian avialans. We use this to propose a set of comparable, quantitative approaches to ascertain fossil bird diet and on this basis provide a consensus of what we currently know about fossil bird diet. While no single approach can precisely predict diet in birds, each can exclude some diets and narrow the dietary possibilities. We recommend combining (i) dental microwear, (ii) landmark‐based muscular reconstruction, (iii) stable isotope geochemistry, (iv) body mass estimations, (v) traditional and/or geometric morphometric analysis, (vi) lever modelling, and (vii) finite element analysis to reconstruct fossil bird diet accurately. Our review provides specific methodologies to implement each approach and discusses complications future researchers should keep in mind. We note that current forms of assessment of dental mesowear, skull traditional morphometrics, geometric morphometrics, and certain stable isotope systems have yet to be proven effective at discerning fossil bird diet. On this basis we report the current state of knowledge of non‐avian avialan diet which remains very incomplete. The ancestral dietary condition in non‐avian avialans remains unclear due to scarce data and contradictory evidence in Archaeopteryx. Among early non‐avian pygostylians, Confuciusornis has finite element analysis and mechanical advantage evidence pointing to herbivory, whilst Sapeornis only has mechanical advantage evidence indicating granivory, agreeing with fossilised ingested material known for this taxon. The enantiornithine ornithothoracine Shenqiornis has mechanical advantage and pedal morphometric evidence pointing to carnivory. In the hongshanornithid ornithuromorph Hongshanornis only mechanical advantage evidence indicates granivory, but this agrees with evidence of gastrolith ingestion in this taxon. Mechanical advantage and ingested fish support carnivory in the songlingornithid ornithuromorph Yanornis. Due to the sparsity of robust dietary assignments, no clear trends in non‐avian avialan dietary evolution have yet emerged. Dietary diversity seems to increase through time, but this is a preservational bias associated with a predominance of data from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Lagerstätte. With this new framework and our synthesis of the current knowledge of non‐avian avialan diet, we expect dietary knowledge and evolutionary trends to become much clearer in the coming years, especially as fossils from other locations and climates are found. This will allow for a deeper and more robust understanding of the role birds played in Mesozoic ecosystems and how this developed into their pivotal role in modern ecosystems. Video abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a diverse aquatic insect assemblage from McGraths Flat, a Miocene Lagerstätte in central New South Wales, Australia that includes representatives of Sialidae, Limoniidae, Chironomidae and Chaoboridae. The aquatic insect fossils from this deposit consist predominantly of larvae. These include a new species of phantom midge (Chaoborus, Chaoboridae), three morphotypes of non‐biting midges (Chironomidae), one morphotype of cranefly (Limoniidae) and one morphotype of alderfly (Sialidae). The large number of fossil specimens enabled us to study the ontogeny of the new midge species. We discerned growth rates in fossil larvae, using morphometry of all four instars of Chaoborus. The simultaneous presence of taxa associated with still water and taxa associated with flowing water supports the hypothesis that McGraths Flat was deposited in an isolated water body (oxbow lake/billabong) with influence from a river during high water events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anurans are one of the most diverse vertebrate groups, particularly in Amazonia, where species richness exceeds that of anywhere else. Amazonian frogs belong to three main lineages (Hyloidea, Microhylidae and Pipidae), each of which diversified during the Cenozoic. However, due to the virtual absence of an anuran fossil record in that area, the evolutionary history of modern lineages has so far remained accessible only via molecular data. In recent decades, a series of field campaigns in Peruvian Amazonia led to the discovery of an unparalleled set of anuran bone fragments, scattered across different sites spanning the Eocene–Miocene time interval. Here, we describe these first Palaeogene and early Neogene anurans from Peru with a focus on humeral and ilial morphology, identifying five humeral and five ilial morphotypes. Humeral morphotypes suggest the presence of different lineages of Brachycephaloidea in Peruvian fossil assemblages, whereas ilial morphotypes suggest the presence of Leptodactylidae, although leptodactylid‐like ilia also occur in some extant brachycephaloids. Pipids were also identified based on both humeral and ilial fragments. This study fills a major temporal and geographical gap in the evolutionary history of South American anurans, while further uncovering a lack of knowledge in the skeletal morphology of extant anuran families, as well as their inter‐ and intra‐species variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]