Andy Gale, Sietske Batenburg, Rodolfo Coccioni, Zofia Dubicka, Elisabetta Erba, Francesca Falzoni, Jim Haggart, Takishi Hasegawa, Christina Ifrim, Ian Jarvis, Hugh Jenkyns, Agata Jurowska, Jim Kennedy , Matteo Maron, Giovanni Muttoni, Martin Pearce, Maria Rose Petrizzo, Isabella Premoli-Silva, Nicolas Thibault, Silke Voigt, Michael Wagreich, Irek Walaszczyk. Episodes -0001;0:. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2022/022048

The Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation in central Spitsbergen has yielded two new species of asteroids and two species of ophiuroids, one of which is described as new. Polarasterias janusensis Rousseau & Gale gen. et sp. nov. is a forcipulatid neoasteroid with elongated arms, small disc and very broad ambulacral grooves with narrow adambulacrals. Savignaster septemtrionalis Rousseau & Gale sp. nov. is a pterasterid with well-developed interradial chevrons. The Spitsbergen specimens are the first described articulated material of Savignaster and reveal the overall arrangement of the ambulacral groove ossicles. Ophiogaleus sp. is an ophiacanthid with relatively long jaws and lateral arm plates, with a coarsely reticulate outer surface. Here again, we report the first articulated skeletons of this genus, providing unprecedented insights into the disc morphology. Ophioculina hoybergia Rousseau & Thuy gen. et sp. nov. is an ophiopyrgid with a well-developed arm comb and tentacle pores reduced to within-plate perforations starting at median arm segments. These new finds are important additions to the asterozoan fossil record with regard to their good degree of articulation and the high latitudinal position of the localities. They significantly add to the set of exhaustively known fossil asterozoan taxa which play a key role in the phylogenetic analysis and reconstruction of evolutionary history.

The taxonomy is modernized and updated for Jurassic planktonic foraminifera using all available literature and stratigraphic series of sediment samples from Canada, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Dagestan. The regional stratigraphy of all sampled sections is outlined. Many of the 65–200 µm sample residues yielded well-preserved free specimens, with local assemblages containing up to six species. Thin sections were studied also but do not allow detailed taxonomy. Two genera are described: Globuligerina and Conoglobigerina. Globuligerina probably appeared in the late Toarcian (late Early Jurassic) and Conoglobigerina first occurred in middle Oxfordian (early Late Jurassic). A principal difference between Globuligerina and Conoglobigerina is that the former has a smooth to pustulose wall surface texture and the latter a reticulate wall surface texture. Within the two genera, ten species are described, including from older to younger: Globuligerina dagestanica (Morozova), G. avariformis (Kasimova), G. balakhmatovae (Morozova), G. oxfordiana (Grigelis), G. bathoniana (Pazdrowa), G. jurassica (Hofman), G. oxfordiana (Grigelis) calloviensis Kuznetsova emended, G. tojeiraensis Gradstein, Conoglobigerina helvetojurassica (Haeusler), C. grigelisi Gradstein and C. gulekhensis (Gorbachik and Poroshina). The coarsely perforate ‘Globuligerina’ stellapolaris needs more investigation to establish its identity as a Jurassic or a Late Cenozoic taxon (Gradstein 2017a ). Globuligerina balakhmatovae, G. oxfordiana and G. bathoniana occur from Bajocian through early Kimmeridgian, or even Tithonian. Subtle morphological trends may refine stratigraphic usage. Other taxa have shorter stratigraphic ranges. Nineteen plates and ten type species figures detail morphology of all taxa. For key taxa, both the types and specimens from other localities are illustrated.

Asymmetrical thoracican cirripedes of superfically similar ‘verrucomorph’ morphology are shown to have evolved independently three times from pedunculate ancestors. In each case, the loss of a peduncle was accompanied by preferential attachment on one side or the other, such that the rostrum, carina and one of each paired scuta and terga (fixed) formed a wall-like structure; the opposite scutum and tergum (free or moveable) transforming into an opercular lid closed by the scutal adductor muscle. True verrucomorphs (Eoverruca + Verrucidae) have their origin in the mid-Cretaceous sessile genera Pycnolepas and Faxelepas gen. nov., which demonstrate a marked, but facultative, tendency towards capitular asymmetry, confirmed by strong morphological similarities in plate morphology to the basal verrucomorph genus Eoverruca of Late Cretaceous age. Proverruca, another Late Cretaceous asymmetrical form, is not closely related; it evolved independently from a scalpelliform ancestor. The extant hydrothermal vent genera Neoverruca and Imbricaverruca evolved from symmetrical scalpelliforms of the family Neolepadidae, as demonstrated by both molecular and morphological evidence. Cladistic analysis of 38 characters in 14 living and fossil taxa has yielded a consensus tree showing a monophyletic Verrucomorpha, made up of a stem group (Eoverruca) and crown group (Verrucidae). Faxelepas bruennichi comb. nov. and Pycnolepas rigida are sister taxa to the Verrucomorpha, and evolved from a pedunculate ancestor. The Verrucidae are divided into a basal stem group (Altiverruca, Globosoverruca) and a derived crown group (all other genera). Within the crown group, the monophyletic Priscoverrucinae subfam. nov. is identified. Systematic revision of Cretaceous verrucomorphs and basal sessilians includes description of Pedupycnolepas gen. nov., Faxelepas gen. nov., Youngiverruca gen. nov. and Priscoverruca gen. nov. and two new species, Youngiverruca ruegenensis sp. nov. and Verruca jagti sp. nov. The development of asymmetry was perhaps a feeding adaptation, enabling barnacles to catch crawling benthic prey in deep ocean environments where food is scarce. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:738C0B07-159F-41C9-8E93-ACE8A0BE85E8