Brachiopods from the Lower-Middle Cambrian Lancara Formation of the Cantabrian Mountains, Northwest Spain

Abstract

Micro- and macrobrachiopods from eight stratigraphic sections of the carbonate upper member of the Middle Cambrian Lancara Formation (comprising lower Beleno facies and upper Barrios facies) in the Cantabrian Mountains are analysed. They comprise ten species, two of which are new, assigned to nine genera, two of which are new. They are: Acrothele primaeva (de Verneuil and Barrande in de Prado, 1860), Acrothele sp., Eoobolidae gen. et sp. indet., Genetreta trilix gen. et sp. nov., Iberotreta sampelayoi gen. et sp. nov., Luhotreta? proclinis (Mergl and Elicki, 2004), Micromitra cf. sculptilis (Meek, 1873), Nisusia vaticina (de Verneuil and Barrande in de Prado, 1860), Trematobolus simplex (Vogel, 1962) and Yorkia zafrensis (Gil-Cid and Melou, 1986). Stratigraphic distribution patterns of the brachiopod fauna mirror the drowning of the environment. Trematobolus simplex is exclusively found in the carbonates of the Beleno facies, whereas Nisusia vaticina and Yorkia zafrensis are typical representatives of the nodular limestones of the Barrios facies. The species of the genera Trematobolus, Nisusia and Yorkia demonstrate the affinity of the upper Lancara brachiopod association with faunas of the Siberian platform, New South Wales and some Avalonian terranes (Newfoundland, New Brunswick).