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).

Ostracod association from the Upper Triassic (Tropites dilleri zone of the Carnian stage) of the sedimentary succession (Mufara Formation) exposed along the east side of Monte Scalpello (Catenanuova, central eastern Sicily) have been studied for the first time. The specimens, silicified, are rare but well preserved and often consist of complete carapaces. They belonging to eight families: Healdiidae, Cavellinidae, Bairdiidae, Acratiidae, Bythocyprididae, Pontocyprididae, Judahellidae, Glorianellidae. Twenty -three taxa have been listed; the family Bairdiidae is the most represented among all the others with fifteen species. Four species are new: Bairdia scaliae n. sp., Acratia maugerii n. sp., "Anchistrocheles"gemmellaroi n. sp. and Judahella? montanarii n. sp. Other species are left in open nomenclature because of the lack of specimens. Résumé L'association d'ostracodes de la succession sédimentaire du Trias supérieur (Carnien, Tropites dilleri zone, Mufara Formation) affleurant du côté oriental du Monte Scalpello (Catenanuova, Sicile centre-orientale) a été étudiée pour la première fois. Les spécimens, silicifiés, 2 sont rares mais bien conservés et se composent souvent de carapaces complètes. Les espèces appartiennent à huit familles: Healdiidae, Cavellinidae, Bairdiidae, Acratiidae, Bythocyprididae,Pontocyprididae, Judahellidae, Glorianellidae. La famille Bairdiidae est la plus représentée avec quinze espèces sur les vingt-trois répertoriées. Quatre espèces sont nouvelles: Bairdia scaliai n. sp., Acratia maugerii n. sp., "Anchistrocheles" gemmellaroi n. sp. et Judahella? montanarii n. sp. D'autres espèces sont laissées en nomenclature ouverte.

Coronuloid barnacles are epibionts of several marine vertebrates (including cetaceans and sea turtles) as well as invertebrates, and are assigned to two families of turtle barnacles (Chelonibiidae Pilsbry, 1916 and Platylepadidae Newman & Ross, 1976) and one family of whale barnacles (Coronulidae Leach, 1817). Chelonibiids and coronulids have a scanty, albeit significant fossil record extending back to the Eocene and Pliocene, respectively; in turn, the fossil record of platylepadids is limited to a single record from the Upper Pleistocene. Here we report on an isolated carinolateral compartment of Platylepas Gray, 1825, the type genus of the family, from Lower Pleistocene (Gelasian) epibathyal deposits exposed at Milazzo (Sicily, Italy). This specimen is here designated holotype of a new species, †Platylepas mediterranea sp. nov. We argue that, like most extant members of Platylepas, †P. mediterranea sp. nov. lived partially embedded in the skin of a sea turtle. This record of an extinct platylepadid – the first from the Mediterranean region and the second worldwide – pushes back the fossil record of Platylepadidae to the lowermost Quaternary, thus possibly supporting an even earlier (e.g., Neogene) timing for the origin of this family and adding a new chapter to the evolutionary history of one of the most diverse and successful lineages of epizoic crustaceans.

Some tubular fossils attributable to sabellids and serpulids, and a serpulid operculum are described for the first time from the Wordian to upper Permian "Pietra di Salomone", "Rupe di San Calogero", and "Rupe di San Benedetto" limestones (Sosio Valley, western Sicily, Italy

We report on three shells of whale barnacle (Cirripedia: Coronulidae) collected from Pleistocene shallow-marine deposits exposed at Cinisi (northwestern Sicily, southern Italy). These specimens are identified as belonging to the extinct species Coronula bifida BRONN, 1831. Calcareous nannoplankton analysis of the sediment hosting the coronulid remains places the time of deposition between 1.93 and 1.71 Ma (i.e., at the Gelasian-Calabrian transition), an interval during which another deposit rich in whale barnacles exposed in southeastern Apulia (southern Italy) formed. Since Coronula LAMARCK, 1802, is currently found inhabiting the skin of humpback whales [Cetacea: Balaenopteridae: Megaptera novaeangliae (BOROWSKI, 1781)], and considering that the detachment of extant coronulids from their hosts' skin has been mainly observed in occurrence of cetacean breeding/calving areas, the material here studied supports the existence of a baleen whale migration route between the central Mediterranean Sea (the putative reproductive ground) and the North Atlantic (the putative feeding ground) around 1.8 Ma, when several portions of present-day southern Italy were still submerged. The early Pleistocene utilization of the epeiric seas of southern Italy as breeding/calving areas by migrating mysticetes appears to be linked to the severe climatic degradation that has been recognized at the Gelasian-Calabrian transition and that is marked in the fossil record of the Mediterranean Basin by the appearance of "northern guests" such as Arctica islandica (LINNAEUS, 1767) (Bivalvia: Veneroida). The subsequent abandonment of the Mediterranean Sea by most species of mysticetes is likely to have resulted from the progressive emergence of shallow-water coastal environments that occurred in Calabrian and Middle Pleistocene times.

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Helix mazzullii De Cristofori & Jan, 1832 s.l.(Pulmonata, Stylommatophora, Helicidae) is an endemic, rupicolous, saxicavous taxon of northwestern Sicily. Its populations are vulnerable and it is of great ecological significance. However, its taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography are still uncertain. The present paper reports on a comprehensive analysis of morphological diagnostic characters (shell and genitalia) joined by the molecular study of two mitochondrial (16S rRNA and 12S rRNA) and one nuclear (ITS-2) partial gene sequences, investigated by individual segment analyses or combining the three gene fragments with a concatenate analysis. Our results corroborated the hypothesis that this species is rather a group (i.e., the mazzullii group) including three different taxa (mazzullii, cephalaeditana and insolida) recognized as species. Moreover, molecular dating of lineages suggests that this complex might have occurred long before the Messinian salinity crisis. Finally, peculiar morphological and ecological features along with molecular data strongly support the proposal to re-introduce the genus Erctella Monterosato, 1894 for the H. mazzullii complex. Synonyms and bibliographic references are reported in the systematic part; collection records are listed in Appendix 1.

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