A paradoxidid moult ensemble from the Cambrian of Sweden

Abstract

A mass aggregation of 148 paradoxidid trilobites and associated specimens of the agnostoid Pentagnostus praecurrens is preserved on a surface of a split orsten lens from the Middle Cambrian Series 3 Acadoparadoxides pinus–P. praecurrens Zone in Jämtland, Sweden. Most specimens are complete or nearly complete, lying parallel to the sediment surface and seem unaffected by currents or sorting. The association is interpreted as a moult ensemble. Paradoxidid specimens are represented by two taxa, identified as paradoxidid sp. 1 (n = 28 specimens) and Eccaparadoxides sp. 2 (n = 45 specimens). The species are preserved both dorsum up and dorsum down, in about equal number, which may reflect a natural tendency to moult in either posture. They probably moulted by opening the cephalic sutures along the wide rostrum. The dorsal sutures are invariably open and the librigenae are very often displaced, commonly backwards in relation to the cranidium, but not symmetrically in relation to the axial shield. The glabella of the paradoxidids is often crushed, so that sometimes the underlying hypostome is outlined. Very few examples show the joint between the cranidium and the trunk being broken. Facies interpretation suggests deposition below storm wave base. Rapid burial, possibly by blanketing from hypopycnal flows followed by an extended period of slow sediment input (Type 1 facies of Brett et al. 2012) may explain the unusual preservation. The animals may have lived in an ex-aerobic environment, but evidence to support this is at the moment insubstantial.