A new phyllocarid (Crustacea, Archaeostraca) from the Early Devonian (late Emsian) Heckelmann Mill Fossil-Lagerstätte (Lahn Syncline, Rhineland-Palatinate, SW-Germany)

Abstract

Reasonably well preserved rhinocaridid archaeostracan phyllocarids from the late Emsian Heckelmann Mill Lagerstatte in the Lahn Syncline are described and figured. For comparison, the holotype specimen of Nahecaris lata is re-figured along with a new specimen assigned here to Nahecaris cf. frankei. The Heckelmann Mill specimens clearly fit the concept of the genus Nahecaris, but differ slightly from previously established species. A new species, Nahecaris sabineae sp. nov., is thus proposed and constitutes one of the stratigraphically youngest records of the genus. The genus Nahecaris is more speciose in the Rhenish Early Devonian than previously recognized, and probably has a worldwide distribution.