scholarly journals A miniature Ordovician hurdiid from Wales demonstrates the adaptability of Radiodonta

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 200459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Pates ◽  
Joseph P. Botting ◽  
Lucy M. E. McCobb ◽  
Lucy A. Muir

Originally considered as large, solely Cambrian apex predators, Radiodonta—a clade of stem-group euarthropods including Anomalocaris— now comprises a diverse group of predators, sediment sifters and filter feeders. These animals are only known from deposits preserving non-biomineralized material, with radiodonts often the first and/or only taxa known from such deposits. Despite the widespread and diverse nature of the group, only a handful of radiodonts are known from post-Cambrian deposits, and all originate from deposits or localities rich in other total-group euarthropods. In this contribution, we describe the first radiodont from the UK, an isolated hurdiid frontal appendage from the Tremadocian (Lower Ordovician) Dol-cyn-Afon Formation, Wales, UK. This finding is unusual in two major aspects: firstly, the appendage (1.8 mm in size) is less than half the size of the next smallest radiodont frontal appendage known, and probably belonged to an animal between 6 and 15 mm in length; secondly, it was discovered in the sponge-dominated Afon Gam Biota, one of only a handful of non-biomineralized total-group euarthropods known from this deposit. This Welsh hurdiid breaks new ground for Radiodonta in terms of both its small size and sponge-dominated habitat. This occurrence demonstrates the adaptability of the group in response to the partitioning of ecosystems and environments in the late Cambrian and Early Ordovician world.

1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 606-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Stinchcomb

Fourteen new species and six new genera of the molluscan class Monoplacophora are described from the Upper Cambrian Potosi and Eminence formations and the Lower Ordovician Gasconade Formation of the Ozark Uplift of Missouri and some new biostratigraphic horizons are introduced. A new superfamily, the Hypseloconellacea nom. trans. Knight, 1956, and a new family, the Shelbyoceridae, are named. The genus Proplina is represented by five new species: P. inflatus, P. suttoni from the Cambrian Potosi Formation, P. arcua from the Cambrian Eminence Formation and P. meramecensis and P. sibeliusi from the Lower Ordovician Gasconade Formation. A new genus and species in the subfamily Proplininae, Ozarkplina meramecensis, is described from the Upper Cambrian Eminence Formation. Four new monoplacophoran genera in the superfamily Hypseloconellacea and their species are described, including: Cambrioconus expansus, Orthoconus striatus, Cornuella parva from the Eminence Formation, and Gasconadeoconus ponderosa, G. waynesvillensis, G. expansus from the Gasconade Formation. A new genus in the new family Shelbyoceridae, Archeoconus missourensis, is described from the Eminence Formation and a new species of Shelbyoceras, S. bigpineyensis, is described from the Gasconade Formation.


1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 951-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Lajoie ◽  
Yvon Héroux ◽  
Bernard Mathey

Three sections of lower Paleozoic flysch in the Quebec Appalachians were sampled at Beaumont, Bic, and Trois Pistoles in order to determine the position, composition, and relief of the source area. At Beaumont, the mean flow direction of sediment transport is east-southeasterly; at Trois Pistoles and Bic it is south-southeasterly. Locally there is strong dispersion of the data but no northerly directions have been observed.Albite is the common plagioclase in all Cambrian sandstones; grains generally show polysynthetic twins, but in a few beds only untwinned albite is present. Oligoclase and andesine are the dominant plagioclases in Lower Ordovician rocks. The accessory suite has few diagnostic species; pink garnet is present in all sections, but absent in the basal unit at Bic. Diopside, sphalerite, and barite are found only in the Lower Ordovician rocks at Beaumont. At the three localities, the feldspar content, grain size, and sand/shale ratio vary up-section.The original source area for the sandstones and conglomerates consisted of an early Paleozoic shelf and a Precambrian land-mass. The oldest sands were derived from Precambrian metasediments, Paleozoic shelf sediments, Precambrian sodic plutons, and to a minor degree from gneisses. In Late Cambrian time the major contributors were sedimentary rocks of the shelf, sodic plutons, and gneisses. By Early Ordovician time most of the sands were derived from Grenvillian gneisses and shelf sedimentary rocks.The relief of the Grenvillian Orogenic Belt was high and denudation rapid from Early Cambrian to Late Cambrian, suggesting continuous, but irregular uplift. Uplift of the shelf began early in Cambrian, with major movements occurring in Late Cambrian when the Grenvillian source was rejuvenated. The source area was stabilized by Early Ordovician time.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1775-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
O Salad Hersi ◽  
G S Nowlan ◽  
D Lavoie

The Philipsburg tectonic slice is bounded to the west by a northeast–southwest-trending thrust fault (Logan’s Line) and preserves 10 formations of Middle (?) to Late Cambrian (Milton, Rock River, and Strites Pond formations), Early Ordovician (Wallace Creek, Morgan Corner, Hastings Creek, and Naylor Ledge formations), and early Middle Ordovician (Luke Hill, Solomons Corner, and Corey formations) age. The strata were previously assigned to the Philipsburg Group. Early correlations between the Philipsburg succession and coeval strata of the St. Lawrence Platform were mainly based on sparse macrofauna and inferred stratigraphic position. Unconformities at the Cambrian–Ordovician and Early Ordovician – Middle Ordovician boundaries occurring in autochthonous St. Lawrence Platform and the allochthonous Philipsburg succession (Philipsburg tectonic slice) highlight new stratigraphic interpretations between the inner-shelf (St. Lawrence Platform) and the outer-shelf (Philipsburg) successions. The succession in the Philipsburg tectonic slice is divided into three new groups. The Middle (?) to Upper Cambrian Missisquoi Group (new) includes the Milton, Rock River, and Strites Pond formations. The upper boundary of the Missisquoi Group is defined by the upper unconformable contact between the Upper Cambrian Strites Pond Formation and overlying Lower Ordovician Wallace Creek Formation. The Missisquoi Group correlates with the Potsdam Group of the St. Lawrence Platform. The Lower Ordovician School House Hill Group (new) includes the Wallace Creek, Morgan Corner, Hastings Creek, and Naylor Ledge formations. The upper boundary of this group is marked by a regionally extensive unconformity at the top of the Naylor Ledge Formation and correlates with the younger Beekmantown-topping unconformity. The School House Hill Group is correlative with the lower to upper part of the Beekmantown Group (Theresa Formation and the Ogdensburg Member of the Beauharnois Formation) of the St. Lawrence Platform. The Middle Ordovician Fox Hill Group (new) consists of the Luke Hill, Solomons Corner, and Corey formations. This group correlates with the uppermost part of the Beekmantown Group (Huntingdon Member of the Beauharnois Formation and the Carillon Formation).


2015 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 524-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAVIER ORTEGA-HERNÁNDEZ ◽  
PETER VAN ROY ◽  
RUDY LEROSEY-AUBRIL

AbstractA new euarthropod with an uncommon morphology, Brachyaglaspis singularis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Early Ordovician (middle Floian) Fezouata biota of Morocco. The presence of a pair of postventral plates, widely attached to each other and located under the posterior-most trunk tergite and the base of the tailspine, indicates a phylogenetic relationship with the enigmatic group Aglaspidida. The overall morphology of Brachyaglaspis most closely resembles that of the ‘Ordovician-type’ aglaspidids, more specifically the late Cambrian – Early Ordovician genus Tremaglaspis. However, the presence of a prominent cephalon and only six trunk tergites in the new genus deviates from the organization of all other known aglaspidid species, notably extending the known range of morphological disparity of the group. A taxonomic revision of this euarthropod group indicates that the most accurate name and authorship combination correspond to Aglaspidida Walcott, 1912.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 1030-1047
Author(s):  
Shunxin Zhang

The strata exposed along Lord Lindsay River on southern Boothia Peninsula were previously named the Netsilik Formation, and then recognized as the Turner Cliffs Formation; the interpretation of the age and correlation was based on limited data. New detailed field investigation at 23 localities along the section resulted in the discovery of over 640 identifiable conodont specimens, with 35 species representing 16 genera, among which a new species, Rossodus? boothiaensis sp. nov., is recognized. Five North American standard conodont zone/subzone-equivalent faunas are documented from the section, namely the Hirsutodontus hirsutus Subzone-equivalent, Cordylodus angulatus, Rossodus manitouensis, Acodus deltatus/Oneotodus costatus and Oepikodus communis Zone-equivalent faunas. These faunas enable a new understanding of the age and stratigraphic position of the Netsilik and Turner Cliffs formations on southern Boothia Peninsula. The Netsilik Formation can be correlated with the lower member (except for the lowest part) and upper member of the Turner Cliffs Formation; the previously unmeasured upper part of the section can be associated with the lower Ship Point Formation. Based on the new conodont data, these three units are dated as early Age 10, late Cambrian to middle Tremadocian, Early Ordovician; late Tremadocian, Early Ordovician; and early Floian, Early Ordovician, respectively. This study fills a gap in upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician biostratigraphy on Boothia Peninsula, and links the regional biostratigraphy to that of Laurentia.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 612-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Serpagli ◽  
Annalisa Ferretti ◽  
Robert S. Nicoll ◽  
Paolo Serventi

The conodont genus Teridontus was introduced in 1980 by Miller and was based on the Late Cambrian species Oneotodus nakamurai Nogami, 1967 from the Yencho Member of the Fengshan Fm. of northeast China. Teridontus was later reported from either the Upper Cambrian or Lower Ordovician (Landing et al., 1980; Miller, 1980; Landing and Barnes, 1981; Landing, 1983; An et al., 1983, 1985; Ni et al., 1983; Peng et al., 1983; Nowlan, 1985; Landing et al., 1986; Bagnoli et al., 1987; An, 1987; Buggisch and Repetski, 1987; Pohler and Orchard, 1990; An and Zheng, 1990; Seo and Ethington, 1993; Wang, 1993; Lehnen, 1994; Nicoll, 1994; Seo et al., 1994; Ji and Barnes, 1994; Taylor et al., 1996; Lehnert et al., 1997; Jia, 2000; Dubinina, 2000; Pyle and Barnes, 2002; Zeballo et al., 2005) sediments in numerous localities around the world, but a unanimous interpretation of the composition of the Teridontus apparatus organization was far from accepted.


2019 ◽  
Vol 484 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-65
Author(s):  
R. M. Antonuk ◽  
A. A. Tretyakov ◽  
K. E. Degtyarev ◽  
A. B. Kotov

U–Pb geochronological study of amphibole-bearing quartz monzodiorites of the alkali-ultramafic Zhilandy complex in Central Kazakhstan, whose formation is deduced at the Early Ordovician era (479 ± 3 Ma). The obtained data indicate three stages of intra-plate magmatism in the western part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Late Neoproterozoic stage of alkali syenites of the Karsakpay complex intrusion, Early Cambrian stage of ultramafic-gabbroid plutons of the Ulutau complex formation, and Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician stage of formation of the Zhilandy complex and Krasnomay complex intrusions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Adrian W. A. Rushton ◽  
Mansoureh Ghobadi Pour ◽  
Leonid E. Popov ◽  
Hadi Jahangir ◽  
Arash Amini

Abstract Graptolites have been collected from sections through Lower Ordovician strata in northern Iran. At the Saluk Mountains, in the Kopet–Dagh region, mudrocks yielded fragmentary tubaria of Rhabdinopora sp. cf. R. flabelliformis, indicating the presence of lower Tremadocian strata there; stratigraphically, they lie between two limestone beds with the euconodont Cordylodus lindstromi. At Simeh–Kuh in the eastern Alborz Mountains (Semnan Province), upper Tremadocian – lower Floian strata include laminated dark mudstones that contain restricted graptolite faunas, mainly of small declined didymograptids; these are thought to represent incursions of plankton during periods of marine highstands. The lower major flooding surface in Simeh–Kuh coincides with an invasion of the graptolite biofacies and an incursion of Hunnegraptus? sp.; the second major flooding surface is associated with an incursion of Baltograptus geometricus. They were most probably synchronous with those in the lower part of the Hunnegraptus copiosus Biozone and at the base of the Cymatograptus protobalticus Biozone in the of the Tøyen Shale Formation succession of Västergötland, Scandinavia, suggesting that observed characters of sedimentation were eustatically controlled.


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