Abstract Among all of the dinosaurs, the Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaurs, in addition to troodontid dinosaurs, boast the best fossil records ranging from numerous eggs and embryos, seven clutch–adult associations, highly organized egg clutches, two gravid adults and possible colonial nesting grounds, to plenty of species described from skeletons from East Asia. These well-preserved fossils provided insights into the reproductive biology, ecology, behaviour and developmental biology of oviraptorid dinosaurs, contributing to several groundbreaking palaeontological discoveries in the last decade. Some of them received further support, while the others remain controversial, indicating that a comprehensive, rigorous re-examination using all available evidence is required. In a recent review, oviraptorosaurs were considered as an intermediate stage in moving towards the modern avian reproduction, whose reproductive biology can be inferred based on the avian model. With the new insights generated from the shell histology of several embryo-containing eggs and evidence from previous studies, this study offers a synthetic view of the reproductive biology of the Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaurs, illuminating the peculiar reproductive biology of oviraptorosaurs. In conclusion, oviraptorosaurs had an essentially unique reproductive biology lacking modern analogies. Thus, simply applying either avian or reptilian models to infer the biology of extinct animals appears inappropriate in the case of oviraptorosaurs.

Abstract A new ommatin beetle, Omma ( Coronomma ) axsmithi subgen. et sp. nov. (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata: Ommatidae sensu stricto (Cupedidae sensu lato )) is described in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. The new taxon distinctly differs from nominotypical Omma in possessing a subquadrilateral v. subglobose pronotum, the latter visible in Omma lii from the same deposit. The uniquely preserved male genitalia of the latter are compared and contrasted with extant ommatins and fossil notocupedins. This new analysis suggests that the living Australian ommatin beetles ( Omma , Beutelius ) may not be as ancient as is sometimes supposed.

Abstract Spores from coprophilous fungi are some of the most widely used non-pollen palynomorphs. Over the last decades, these spores have become increasingly important as a proxy to study the Pleistocene and Holocene megafauna. Although the number of types used in palaeoecology is relatively small, there is a wide range of coprophilous fungal taxa whose utility in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction remains under-researched. However, environmental and taphonomic factors influencing preservation and recovery of these spores are still poorly understood. Furthermore, our understanding of whether and how spores are transported across the landscape is limited. Dung fungal spore presence appears to correlate well with megaherbivore presence. However, depending on the site, some limitations can remain to quantitative reconstructions of megaherbivore abundance from dung fungal spore records. The presence of dung fungal spores is often more significant than their absence and variation in abundance with time should be interpreted with caution. Correlation with other proxies may provide a promising way forward. The majority of studies using dung fungal spores as an indicator for large herbivore abundance are of records of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age, with a focus on Late Quaternary megafaunal extinction. However, more research could potentially extend records further back in time.