Placodonts are a group of turtle-like animals, including placochelyids that are restricted entirely to the Triassic Tethyan realm. Their fossil remains are rare compared with other contemporaneous marine reptiles. Here, we report the first subadult specimen of the placochelyid Psephochelys polyosteoderma from south-western China. It is the most complete specimen of this taxon known. The new fossil is referred confidently to Psephochelys polyosteoderma on the basis of the narrow and spatulate rostrum, toothless premaxillae, and carapace composed of small and numerous armour plates with relatively smooth surfaces. The new specimen provides additional anatomical information for Psephochelys polyosteoderma including the presence of transverse processes on the dorsal vertebrae lacking anteroposterior expansion, and a phalangeal formula in the pes of 1-2-3-4-2. The

A new genus and species of istiodactylid pterosaur, Luchibang xingzhe gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China is erected based on a near complete specimen lacking only the posterior of the skull and the tail. The holotype individual is skeletally immature and already bigger than most istiodactylids suggesting a large wingspan at adult. This is the most complete istiodactylid specimen known to date and provides new information on the anatomy of this group and their putative ecology. The animal is unusual in having postcranial robust and elongate hindlimbs, which marks it as different to other istiodactylids and other pteranodontoids.

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Dromaeosaurids were bird-like dinosaurs with a predatory ecology known to forage on fish, mammals and other dinosaurs. We describe Daurlong wangi gen. et sp. nov., a dromaeosaurid from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Biota of Inner Mongolia, China. Exceptional preservation in this specimen includes a large bluish layer in the abdomen which represents one of the few occurrences of intestinal remnants among non-avian dinosaurs. Phylogenetically, Daurlong nests among a lineage of short-armed Jehol Biota species closer to eudromaeosaurs than microraptorines. The topographic correspondence between the exceptionally preserved intestine in the more stem-ward Scipionyx and the remnants in the more birdlike Daurlong provides a phylogenetic framework for inferring intestine tract extent in other theropods lacking fossilized visceral tissues. Gastrointestinal organization results conservative among faunivorous dinosaurs, with the evolution of a bird-like alimentary canal restricted to avialan theropods.

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