Bathynotus: A key trilobite taxon for global stratigraphic boundary correlation between Cambrian Series 2 and Cambrian Series 3

Abstract

The Cambrian trilobite Bathynotus is a special morphology of Redlichiid, which is characterized by a wider thorax axis and an 11th macropleural segment bearing a long, backwardly directed spine. Additionally, its 12th and 13th pleural segments are narrow and they terminate at a fulcrum where they fuse together and to the posterior edge of the long macropleural spine. The genus is widely distributed, occurring in North America, Siberia, the Altay-Sayan fold belt of Russia, South China, the Tarim Basin of China, and Australia. It occurs primarily in deposits of the upper part of the continental slope, at the transition between stable platform settings and subsiding margins of the late Early Cambrian. Here, we recognize three species of Bathynotus from China, including B. holopygus which is widespread around the world. Although six species of Bathynotus have been reported from Siberia and the Altay-Sayan fold belt area of Russia, data presented here suggest that only three of these species are valid. Bathynotus exhibits a short geological range, with its first occurrence late in the unnamed Cambrian Series 2 and the last appearance datum of Bathynotus at the boundary of Cambrian Series 2 and Cambrian Series 3. The late appearance datum (LAD) of Bathynotus provides an important global stratigraphic marker of the boundary between Cambrian Series 2 and Cambrian Series 3.