Gianni Insacco

Northern pygmy right whales highlight Quaternary marine mammal interchange

The pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, is the most enigmatic living whale. Little is known about its ecology and behaviour, but unusual specialisations of visual pigments [1], mitochondrial tRNAs [2], and postcranial anatomy [3] suggest a lifestyle different from that of other extant whales. Geographically, Caperea represents the only major baleen whale lineage entirely restricted to the Southern Ocean. Caperea-like fossils, the oldest of which date to the Late Miocene, are exceedingly rare and likewise limited to the Southern Hemisphere [4], despite a more substantial history of fossil sampling north of the equator. Two new Pleistocene fossils now provide unexpected evidence of a brief and relatively recent period in geological history when Caperea occurred in the Northern Hemisphere (Figure 1A,B).

New pygocephalomorph (Peracarida) from the Permian of the Sosio Valley (Sicily, Italy)

Sosiocaris schramin. gen. n. sp., is described from the Permian Sosio Limestone (Lercara Formation) of the Sosio Valley, Palermo Province, Italy. Sosiocaris schramiis attributed to Pygocephalomorpha incertae sedis. The brachyuran-like carapace morphology of S. schramisuggests that its overall morphology might have been convergent on that of brachyurans, an evolutionary trend that has also been observed in other pygocephalomorphs. Sosiocaris schramirepresents the first occurrence of a pygocephalomorph from the Sosio Limestone, an assemblage of Permian-aged limestone olistoliths from which several unusual crustaceans have been described.

The first coleoid cephalopods from the Upper Cenomanian of Sicily (Italy) and their implications for the systematic-phylogenetic position of the Palaeololiginidae (Teudopseina)

Our knowledge about the evolutionary history of coleoid cephalopods is mainly based on a few evolutionary windows. In particular, palaeogeographical data is strongly limited; every new fossil locality yielding coleoid remains is therefore of exceptional interest. Here, we describe the first coleoids from the Upper Cenomanian of Sicily (southern Italy). The material includes two fragmentary gladii, identified as Marekites nebrodensis sp. nov. and Rachiteuthis? sp. These two related taxa from the north-western Mediterranean region differ from most of their contemporaries in the south-eastern Mediterranean Lebanon fauna. Owing to their lanceolate posterior gladius, both taxa are classified as members of the Palaeololiginidae, a previously poorly defined family of Mesozoic gladius-bearing octobrachians. In the light of our observations, the family can now be characterized by its very gently arcuate hyperbolar zone, as well as the occurrence of a constriction of the median field. Marekites nebrodensis sp. nov. confirms that Cretaceous palaeololiginids share a relatively longer free (rachis-like) median field than their Jurassic forerunner Palaeololigo. Besides systematic-morphological implications, the higher level phylogenetic position of Paleololiginidae is discussed. In this context, we reject the idea of Palaeololiginidae as early bathyteuthoid decabrachians. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:075B36B1-2ECF-406F-AD99-79C98B06C271

A New Tubeworm of Possible Serpulid Affinity from the Permian of Sicily

A new tubeworm, Palaeotubus sosiensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Permian Pietra di Salomone limestone (Sosio Valley, W Sicily). The new species is characterized by a thick tube ornamented with slightly flared peristomes and numerous longitudinal keels. The internal structure of the tube was obliterated during diagenesis, which prevents the tube unequivocal systematic attribution. Nevertheless, all preserved morphological characters strongly suggest that the new tube belongs to serpulids. When confirmed by further findings, the positive attribution of this new species to serpulids will imply that it represents the ancestor of the Serpulidae, and the earliest evidence of calcareous tubeworm polychaetes from the Palaeozoic.

New serpulid polychaetes from the Permian of western Sicily

Two new tubeworms, “Serpula” calannai sp. nov. and “Serpula” prisca sp. nov. are described from the Permian limestone of the Sosio Valley, western Sicily. Both species possess large tubes with long free anterior portions circular in cross-section. All morphological characters, such as tube shape and ornamentation, as well as inner structure of the wall, even if barely visible due to diagenesis, are still preserved. These two new species increase the previously known diversity of the Permian serpulid community, which flourished at the shelf edge of the western sector of the Palaeotethys and disappeared thereafter. The likely Wordian age of these serpulids, and their presumed absence in younger rocks up to the Middle–Late Triassic, suggests reduction, or even extinction, of these reef-related serpulid taxa during the end-Guadalupian biotic crisis, before the end-Permian extinction.