Allochthonous limestones less than 3m thick are intercalated lenticularly within sandstones and mudstones of the upper part of the Upper Permian Toyoma Formation in the South Kitakami Belt. They are bedded and laminated, and have many thin interbeds of sandstone and mudstone. These limestones are narrowly distributed exclusively in the Kesennuma area, and largely differ from platform limestones of the Lower Permian Sakamotozawa and Middle Permian Kanokura formations, both widely distributed in the South Kitakami Belt, in their occurrence and extent. Thirty-two species of foraminifers, some of which are restricted to the Changhsingian, are discriminated in limestones, limestone conglomerates, and calcareous sandstones of the upper part of the Toyoma Formation. This foraminiferal fauna evidently belongs to the Tethyan province paleobiogeographically, and is characterized by dominant Colaniella parva, subordinate Nanlingella cf. meridionalis, and accessory Palaeofusulina sp. These three species are described herein.

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A new coelacanth fish of the genus Mawsonia, M. brasiliensis sp. nov. is described on the basis of a specimen from the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation in the Araripe Plateau, Brazil. This is the third species of coelacanth from the Cretaceous of Brazil and the holotype is the first complete, articulated specimen of the genus. This new species differs from its congeners in the proportion of the cranium, gular plates and angular, and the position of the otic canal fossa. M. brasiliensis has thin cycloid scales without ornament (no tubercles or ridges). This new addition to the genus Mawsonia is significant in increasing understanding of the diversity of the suborder Latimeroidei in the early Cretaceous, which lineage continues to the Recent coelacanths of the genus Latimeria.

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A new genus and species of the trigonoceratid nautilid, Echigoceras sasakii, is described. Specimens of this cephalopod occur in the Middle Carboniferous (probable late Bashkirian) bioclastic rudstone/grainstone of the Omi Limestone Group, Central Japan. Echigoceras is most closely related to the Early Carboniferous genus Stroboceras, but differs in its strongly curved cyrtoconic shell and siphuncular position near the ventral margin. It is possible that Echigoceras is the descendant of Stroboceras.

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This paper gives a revised definition of the genus Carthaginites Previnquiere, 1907 on the basis of material from Hokkaido, Japan, that enhances previously available material. Two species from the middle Cenomanian rocks of Hokkaido are described : C. asiaticum (Matsumoto and Takahashi, 2000) and C. yamashitai sp. nov. Brief comments are also made on some species which were previously described from the upper Cenomanian rocks of North America and Europe. Morphologically and stratigraphically Carthaginites is intimately related to Neostlingoceras Klinger and Kennedy, 1978, of early Cenomanian age.

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We reevaluate the classifications of the anthracotheres (Mammalia; Artiodactyla) from the latest middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar), mentioning other anthracotheres from the Eocene of Asia. The three anthracotheriid genera previously known from the Pondaung Formation, Anthracothema, Anthracokeryx, and Anthracohyus, are synonymized into Anthracotherium. As many as 13 species had been recognized in the Pondaung anthracotheres, but they are summarized into four species (Anthracotherium pangan, Anthracotherium crassum, Anthracotherium birmanicum, and Anthracotherium tenuis), based on the difference of M₁ size (∼ body size). Dental morphology in each species indicates high variation, and the four species are not separable based on their dental morphology. The dental morphology of the Pondaung Anthracotherium species is distinct from that of other species and is the most primitive. In addition, the Pondaung Anthracotherium species are the oldest of the genus. The genus Anthracotherium might have originated and rapidly radiated around the Pondaung area during the latest middle Eocene. Siamotherium pondaungensis described from the Pondaung Formation as an anthracotheriid is synonymized to Pakkokuhyus lahirii (Artiodactyla; Helohyidae).

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