A modern palaeobiological approach to the taxonomy, making full allowance for a wide range of variation, has allowed the distinction of 22 Jurassic trigoniid species in Europe, grouped into 7 genera. Most species were con®ned to shallow marine habitats ranging up to a few tens of metres in depth but were adapted to low energy environments as well as environments of moderate to high energy. The presence of external ornament on the shell¯anks was probably an adaptation to facilitate burrowing, but in the absence of useful external ornament other adaptations to increase burrowing ef®ciency may have been realized by the development of an elongate shape. Because their occurrence in Jurassic strata is only intermittent, con®dent inferences on evolutionary patterns are limited to the two commonest genera, Trigonia and Myophorella. Phyletic size increase has been recognized in the latter but not the former genus. The calculated species longevities correspond fairly closely with those established for Jurassic bivalve species in general. The mode of speciation is dominantly punctuational, but only one likely example of species splitting is recognized.

Geriatric trauma has historically been associated with poor outcomes, particularly in the setting of severe polytrauma. Although geriatric trauma protocols are common, there are limited data on their impact in patients with high injury severity. In this study, we sought to investigate the impact of a geriatric injury protocol on outcomes in patients with severe trauma acuity. Ninety-eight geriatric patients (age ≥65) admitted to our trauma center with injury severity scores (ISS) ≥15 comprised the study cohort. The mean age was 75 ± 7.7 yrs. The mean ISS was 25 ± 9.2, and the mean geriatric trauma outcome score was 150 ± 3. Mortality was 17 per cent and 70 per cent were due to central nervous system injury. When patients with nonsurvivable injuries or advanced directives resulting in early care withdrawal were excluded, the mortality was 6 per cent. Extremes of age did not impact mortality [(>80 years, 21%) vs (65–79, 16%, P = 0.5)]. Most patients (53%) were discharged home. The application of our geriatric trauma protocol led to favorable results despite high injury acuity. These data suggest that even at the extremes of age, a large percentage of patients can be expected to survive. A prospective validation of these findings is warranted.