The Rat Buri Limestone was sampled for silicified brachiopods at 7 localities along the southern peninsula of Thailand. From north to south these localities are: Ban Kao, Khao Phrik, Khao Tok Nam, Khao Chang, Phangnga, Ko Muk NE, and Ko Muk NW. This limestone forms steep monadnocks that project above the alluvium (or the sea at Muk Island), and lacks any clear stratigraphic succession. Fossils indicate that Permian limestones identified throughout Thailand as the Rat Buri range in age from Sakmarian through Kazanian. The brachiopods from the peninsular localities indicate a late Artinskian (Baigendzinian) age and are correlated with the lower Byro Group of Western Australia, the Bitauni fauna of Timor, the upper Amb Formation in the Salt Range of Pakistan, the Lower Permian in the Karakorum Range, and the Trogkofel Limestone of the Karawanken Range in Yugoslavia. Western Hemisphere correlations are with the Copacabana Group of Peru and Bolivia and, very tenuously, with the topmost Cathedral Mountain or the lower Road Canyon Formations in West Texas.Analyses of life habits of the brachiopods indicate the following: Ban Kao lay nearest the Permian shore; the Rat Buri region was under shallow and fairly clear water, perhaps offshore from a reef; Phangnga was a muddy environment with many spiny and attached forms; Ko Muk was also fairly clear, and an especially favorable place for the growth of brachiopods. Sampling efficiency ranges from rather poor (Index .30) to very good (Index .75) with an overall index of .85 for the entire fauna. The Permian Index indicates that these faunas lived under tropical conditions, but the presence of certain genera suggests that seaways were open to Boreal regions.The brachiopod fauna consists of 109 species and 81 genera, of which one family, 15 genera and 71 species are new; 78 of these genera are considered here. The new genera (with family position in parentheses) are:Nematocrania(Craniidae);Demonedys(Chonetidae);Stictozoster(Productellidae);Comuquia, Dyschrestia(Overtoniidae);Incisius(Incisiidae, new family);Caricula, Gratiosina(Marginiferidae);Bibatiola, Celebetes(Chonetellidae);Stereochia(Dictyoclostidae);Litocothia(Lyttoniidae);Goleomyxa(Atriboniidae);Cruricella(Ambocoeliidae);Tipispirifer(Cyrtospiriferidae).Certain genera and species were selected for functional analyses. The lophophore ofIncisiusis interpreted as a filled-in schizolophe. The muscles of the Ambocoeliidae are reconstructed with a set of adjustor muscles designed to raise the shell to allow it to gape. Life position and muscle arrangement ofParalyttonia(and by analogy,Rigbyella)are reconstructed. The mode of growth and possible function of the stegidial plates ofTipispiriferare presented and, in the same vein, previous interpretations are the sequence of growth in the stegidium of the Devonian genusSphenospiraare criticized and analyzed. The cardinalia ofCleiothyridinaare interpreted with regard to muscle attachment, and the apical perforation is compared to the cardinal process of other brachiopods. The lophophore ofChonetinais reconstructed as a ptycholophe whose direction of growth is determined by the position and configuration of the anderidia.Derbyiaand other Orthotetacea are depicted as having attached to the substrate by byssus-like pedicular fibers, and thus were able to cling to loose sediment.

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Xu, Guirong, and Richard E. Grant. Brachiopods Near the Permian-Triassic Boundary in South China. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, number 76, 68 pages, 54 figures, 7 tables, 1994.-Sixty-eight genera and 164 species in the Changxingian Stage and 12 genera and 20 species in the lower Griesbachian Stage are recorded on the basis of brachiopod fossils collected from 32 sections in South China and from review of the Chinese literature. Of these, 24 genera and 34 species are described here, including three new genera (Fanichonetes, Prelissorhynchia, and Rectambitus) and 24 new species (Acosarina strophiria, Enteletes

The morphologic features of the proximal femur are used in preoperative planning prior to total hip arthroplasty. Recent literature evaluating the anatomy of the proximal femur, as it relates to total hip arthroplasty, has relied heavily on radiographs or computed tomography. We used digital photographs to compare 200 cadaveric femora in individuals who died prior to 40 years of age: 25 AfricanAmerican males, 25 African-American females, 25 Caucasian males, 25 Caucasian females. With our technique and definition, the actual angles and dimensions of the proximal femur that we normally rely on during total hip arthroplasty were measured. There were small, but statistically significant differences, between males and females in neck-shaft angle, neck inclination, and absolute horizontal and vertical offset. Females tended to have a lower neck-shaft angle and more neck inclination. When standardizing the offset distances with femoral head diameter, the horizontal offset ratio was higher in female specimens. There was no correlation between horizontal and vertical offset. Improved knowledge of the morphology of the proximal femora will assist the surgeon in restoring the geometry of the proximal femur during total hip arthroplasty. This information also supports the concept of modularity of the femoral neck in order to independently adjust neck-shaft angle, neck inclination, and horizontal offset. ß