Graptolite Faunas Research Articles

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) graptolites from Sierra de Lina and Cauchari, Argentine Puna

This contribution reports two graptolite assemblages from the Puna Turbidite Complex, outcropping in Sierra de Lina and Cauchari locality, western Puna, Jujuy and Salta provinces, Argentina. In Sierra de Lina, the graptolite assemblage comprises Didymograptus sp., Glossograptus fimbriatus, Cryptograptus schaeferi, Archiclimacograptus sp., Pseudamplexograptus distichus, Pseudamplexograptus latus, ?Urbanekograptus retioloides and Hustedograptus sp. The graptolite fauna collected from Cauchari locality includes Didymograptus spp., Archiclimacograptus caelatus, Archiclimacograptus sp. cf. A. micidus, scarce and incomplete specimens doubtfully referred to the genera Archiclimacograptus and Acrograptus and scarce siculae of Cryptograptus sp. The associations allow us to identify the Pseudamplexograptus distichus Zone in Sierra de Lina and possibly the Pterograptus elegans Zone at Cauchari locality. Graptolite assemblages recorded in both zones allow assigning a middle‐late Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) age for the bearer levels.

New Ludlovian (Silurian) graptolite faunas from Los Espejos Formation, Central Precordillera, San Juan Province, Argentina: correlations and biostratigraphic remarks

New Ludlovian (Silurian) graptolite faunas from Los Espejos Formation, Central Precordillera, San Juan Province, Argentina: correlations and biostratigraphic remarks

The Ordovician Tøyen Shale (Floian) and its graptolite fauna at Kinnekulle, Västergötland, Sweden – a regional overview

ABSTRACT The graptolites of the Tøyen Shale Formation of Kinnekulle in Västergötland, south-central Sweden, are described for the first time and their biostratigraphic distribution is documented from drill core and outcrop material. The faunas indicate an age of mid to late Floian (Billingenian), thus showing a reduced biostratigraphic range of the Tøyen Shale as compared to other areas where this rock unit occurs. A considerable stratigraphic gap is apparent at its base, from the late Tremadocian to mid-Floian, as the limestones of the Ceratopyge acicularis trilobite Zone (late Tremadocian Bjørkåsholmen Formation) are followed by shales with a fauna of the Baltograptus jacksoni graptolite Biozone. Unverified records suggest that mid–late Ottenbyan (Hunnebergian) strata (Megistaspis planilimbata trilobite Zone s.l.) locally may be present in the uppermost Bjørkåsholmen Formation as identified herein. There is no indication that the Tøyen Shale reaches into the Dapingian, as Dapingian graptolites have not been recognized. The overlying limestones of the “Lanna Limestone” belong to the Megistaspis polyphemus trilobite Zone and the Baltoniodus triangularis conodont Zone, suggesting a gradual contact of the lithological units.

Biostratigraphy, organic petrography and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy of the Ordovician-Silurian black shales from the Northwestern Domain of Peninsular Malaysia

Integrated biostratigraphy, petrography, organic carbon and carbon isotope chemostratigraphy were used in tandem to assess the paleoenvironment and hydrocarbon potential of the latest Ordovician to Early Silurian basin in the Northwestern Domain of Peninsular Malaysia. Graptolite biostratigraphy indicated a Hirnantian to Aeronian age for the Tanjung Dendang Formation in Pulau Langgun, Langkawi. The graptolite fauna from the Langkawi Islands demonstrates a close association with the South Chinese fauna. The graptolite fragments show a non-granular surface morphology and are mostly present in a long, stipe-like, lath shape when observed under reflected white light microscopy. The pyrites present are relatively small and sparse during the latest Ordovician, suggesting a euxinic condition, but during the Silurian, the pyrites are larger and more common, suggesting anoxic and later dysoxic bottom water. The mean random reflectance of non-granular graptolite in sections perpendicular to the bedding range from 1.8% to 3.07%, and the equivalent vitrinite reflectance ranges from 1.86% Ro to 3.12% Ro, suggesting an overmature stage in term of hydrocarbon generation. The TOC of the Langkawi black shale averages 2.1 wt%, while the rock from the Mahang and Sungai Petani areas measures 1.37 wt% and 0.47% wt%, respectively. δ13Corg chemostratigraphy for the Tanjung Dendang Formation resulted in δ13Corg level between −31.4 ‰ to −28.7 ‰. The Hirnantian Isotope Carbon Excursion (HICE), signalled by a high δ13Corg value, is documented near the base of the formation, followed by a sudden negative shift towards the Ordovician-Silurian boundary. δ13Corg more or less maintained during the Silurian except for slight carbon excursion events during the middle Rhuddanian and early Aeronian. The δ13Corg excursion events from the Tanjung Dendang Formation in Langkawi can be accurately correlated with successions from China, the United Kingdom and Artic Canada.

New insights on the Silurian graptolite biostratigraphy of the La Chilca Formation, Poblete Norte section, Central Precordillera of San Juan, Argentina: faunal replacement and paleoenvironmental implications

New data and a biostratigraphic review on Silurian graptolites of the La Chilca Formation are presented. Silurian retiolitids and monoserial graptolites are described for the first time in the lower layers of the Salto Macho Member at the Poblete Norte section, exposed in the Central Precordillera, San Juan Province, western Argentina. This member (late Hirnantian-early Wenlock) begins with a pebble paraconglomerate covered by a sedimentary succession of dark grey shales and greenish-yellowish siltstones. Two graptolite assemblages were collected therein. The first association includes Pseudoplegmatograptus reticulatus, Stimulograptus sedgwickii, Talacastograptus leanzai, Metaclimacograptus asejradi, Coronograptus sp., and biserial and monoserial indeterminate graptolites. The second contains Retiolites geinitzianus, Monograptus priodon, Stimulograptus sp., Pristiograptus sp., and unknown monoserial colonies. The late Aeronian Stimulograptus sedgwickii Zone is recorded due to the presence of the index taxon in the middle levels of the Salto Macho Member. The second graptolite fauna has been related to the early Sheinwoodian Cyrtograptus murchisoni Zone, based on the presence of palynomorph assemblages from the La Chilca Formation, previously studied in another sections. The biotic changes of the graptolite faunas, sedimentary variations, and prevalent paleoenvironmental conditions observed in the lower beds of the Salto Macho Member, could indicate the first evidence of the Sedgwickii Event in Precordillera, which is recognized globally and involves comparable features.

The age of the Euconochitina symmetrica Zone and implication for Lower Ordovician chitinozoan and graptolite zonations of Laurentia

An Euconochitina symmetrica Zone was defined in the G-locality at Lévis, Quebec, within an interval belonging to Zone A of Raymond that contains Paratetragraptus approximatus. The interval was consequently attributed to the Floian. E. symmetrica was also recognized in Northern Gondwana, and the species was considered an undisputed marker for the base of the Floian. During the past decades, several occurrences of E. symmetrica have been reported from Avalonia, southern China, and even from Northern Gondwana in Tremadocian strata casting doubt on the Floian age of the Zone.Revisions of the graptolites in the G locality and N section at Lévis provides a frame on which the age of the E. symmetrica Zone can be precisely documented. At both localities the E. symmetrica chitinozoan assemblage is older than the base of the Paratetragraptus approximatus graptolite Zone. Therefore, the presence of E. symmetrica can no longer be correlated with the graptolite P. approximatus Zone as it was initially suggested. It rather characterizes the upper Tremadocian Sagenograptus murrayi Zone, its upper part could however reach the Floian.An older assemblage characterized by a Lagenochitina gigas n. sp. assemblage (previously designated Lagenochitina maxima) occurs in strata correlated with the Tremadocian Aorograptus victoriae graptolite Zone.Correlation of the biostratigraphic ranges of the chitinozoan and graptolite faunas in the lower part of the Lévis Formation allowed for a better positioning of the Lower Ordovician Laurentian chitinozoan zones on the Ordovician time scale.

Silurian stratigraphy and graptolite faunas of the Mora 001 and Solberga 1 drill cores, Siljan District, central Sweden

The Mora 001 and Solberga 1 drill cores provide the best available overview on the early Silurian (Llandovery, Rhuddanian to Telychian) graptolite succession available for the Siljan Ring impact structure of central Sweden. The Solberga 1 succession includes a nearly complete graptolite succession from the Pernerograptus revolutus Biozone (late Rhuddanian) to the Oktavites spiralis Biozone (late Telychian). Older graptolite faunas are unknown from the Siljan region. The Mora 001 drill core includes a graptolitic succession from the Monoclimacis crenulata Biozone to the O. spiralis Biozone, found in two lithostratigraphically separated lithological units here identified as the Kallholn Formation. A slice of the Orsa Sandstone Formation of possible later Silurian age is tectonically introduced into the Kallholn Formation in the Mora 001 drill core. The strong tectonic deformation of the Kallholn Formation in both drill cores can easily be understood through the Devonian impact history of the region.

The first Early Ordovician graptolites and marine incursions in eastern Alborz, Iran

AbstractGraptolites 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 ofRhabdinoporasp. cf.R. flabelliformis, indicating the presence of lower Tremadocian strata there; stratigraphically, they lie between two limestone beds with the euconodontCordylodus 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 ofHunnegraptus? sp.; the second major flooding surface is associated with an incursion ofBaltograptus geometricus. They were most probably synchronous with those in the lower part of theHunnegraptus copiosusBiozone and at the base of theCymatograptus protobalticusBiozone in the of the Tøyen Shale Formation succession of Västergötland, Scandinavia, suggesting that observed characters of sedimentation were eustatically controlled.

Upper Ordovician (Hirnantian) to Lower Silurian (Telychian, Llandovery) graptolite biostratigraphy of the Tielugou section, Shennongjia anticline, Hubei Province, China

The Tielugou section, Shennongjia Anticline, Hubei Province (China) includes a relatively complete succession of Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) to basal Telychian (Llandovery, early Silurian) graptolite faunas. The section shows the first record of a fauna of the late Aeronian Stimulograptus halli Biozone from South China, even though the index species was not reported. The Stimulograptus sedgwickii Biozone may not be represented, indicating a possible gap at the base of the Stimulograptus halli Biozone. The interval yields a number of taxa that are elsewhere reported to originate only in the Stimulograptus halli Biozone. The youngest graptolitic levels are included in the Spirograptus guerichi Biozone based on specimens of Parapetalolithus dignus and Parapetalolithus palmeus not known from earlier intervals. Spirograptus guerichi is not represented in the section. The Tielugou section provides the first detailed information on the faunas and thickness of the encountered biostratigraphic units for the Shennongija region.

Devonian and Carboniferous dendroid graptolites from Belgium and their significance for the taxonomy of the Dendroidea

Devonian and Carboniferous dendroid graptolites from Belgium are evaluated and partly revised. New finds in two different stratigraphic intervals of the ‘Carrière de Lompret’, an active quarry exploiting Frasnian limestones and shales east of Frasnes-lez-Couvin, allow the identification of Callograptus sp. and Dictyonema fraiponti, both belonging to the dendroid family Acanthograptidae. The relatively high diversity of the dendroid graptolite fauna from the Viséan Marbre noir de Denée, one of the few Carboniferous graptolite faunas in the world, can be shown to be based on astogenetic and preservational aspects. Nearly all known specimens can be included in the highly variable Dictyonema fraiponti, a fan-shaped large dendroid species with complex stipes formed from tubular thecae, possessing simple to complex bridges connecting adjacent stipes. Some of the graptolite material is well preserved and provides important information on the tubarium construction of Devonian to Carboniferous dendroid graptolites and, thus, is highly significant for a taxonomic and phylogenetic understanding of the youngest dendroid graptolite faunas worldwide. The genera Callograptus and Ptiograptus are revised based on their type species (Callograptus elegans from Quebec, Canada; Ptiograptus percorrugatus from the Silurian or Devonian of Kentucky, USA) and referred to the Acanthograptidae.

The Lac au Renard Tephra Cluster: a record of Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) volcanism in the Indian Point Formation, Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, Canada

Approximately twenty tephra beds, comprising the Lac au Renard Tephra Cluster (new), occur in the Rosebush Cove and Petit Portage members of the Indian Point Formation (Chaleurs Group) on the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, Canada. The tephra beds range in thickness from <1.0 cm to 82 cm and occur in a mudrock-dominated sequence with coarser tempestite interbeds. Mineralogically and texturally graded accumulations of phenocrysts mark the bases of the thickest tephra beds. Early diagenetic concretions in one composite tephra preserve pre-compaction fabrics and original hypocrystalline textures with microphenocrysts and devitrified glass shards. The presence of plagioclase, quartz, K-feldspar, biotite, apatite, and zircon suggest a rhyolitic source. The coarseness of the microphenocrysts in the basal accumulations, along with the abundance and thickness of the tephras, suggest that deposition in the Gaspe area was in a proximal position relative to the volcanic source. The zonal graptolites Monograptus praehercynicus and Monograptus aequabilis ssp. from the Petit Portage Member indicate a middle Lochkovian age for the Lac au Renard Tephra Cluster of the Indian Point Formation. Correlation with the tephra cluster that includes the Judds Falls Bentonite in the New Scotland Formation and other possible tephras in the Kalkberg Formation (Helderberg Group) of New York and the Corriganville and Mandata formations of Pennsylvania is likely. The graptolite fauna of the Indian Point and probable correlations to New York may provide additional biostratigraphic constraints on a U–Pb zircon radiometric age determination of 417.6 Ma from New York that has been used to estimate the age of the Silurian–Devonian boundary.

Latest Ordovician graptolites from the Mandalay Region, Myanmar

The graptolite fauna of the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, is poorly known. In this paper, 13 species in the genera Avitograptus, Korenograptus, Metabolograptus, Neodiplograptus and Normalograptus are described from the uppermost Ordovician strata of the area. Two of these species, Korenograptus selectus X. Chen n. sp. and Neodiplograptus mandalayensis X. Chen n. sp., are new. On the basis of the graptolite faunas, a biostratigraphic scheme for the uppermost Ordovician (Hirnantian: Metabolograptus extraordinarius Biozone and Metabolograptus? persculptus Biozone?) strata in this area is erected.

Katian (Ordovician) to Aeronian (Silurian, Llandovery) graptolite biostratigraphy of theYD‐1 drill core, Yuanan County, Hubei Province, China

AbstractThe graptolite succession of theYD‐1 drill core provides a new view into the lower Silurian (Llandovery) biostratigraphy of the Yichang region on the Yangtze platform of China. A thick succession of black to greenish, fine to silty shales and siltstones with a variable amount of poorly to well‐preserved graptolite faunas ranges from the upper OrdovicianDicellograptus ornatusBiozone (upper Katian) to the lower SilurianLituigraptus convolutusBiozone (mid Aeronian). TheMetabolograptus extraordinarius/Metabolograptus persculptusandAkidograptus ascensus/Parakidograptus acuminatusBiozone intervals are strongly condensed and bear poorly preserved graptolite faunas. A considerable gap can be detected above theCystograptus vesiculosusBiozone, as the succeeding graptolite fauna indicates the upperPribylograptus leptothecaBiozone. The interval of the upper RhuddanianCoronograptus cyphusBiozone to the Lower AeronianCoronograptus gregariusBiozone is missing.Lituigraptus convolutuswas found from 1322.85 to 950.20 m, indicating a thickness of theLituigraptus convolutusBiozone of at least 378.47 m. The age of the highest available graptolite faunas from the 729.40–750.70 m is inconclusive, but the level may still belong to theLituigraptus convolutusBiozone. The correlation of the succession with other successions on the Yangtze platform of China indicates the need for a considerable modification of the graptolite biostratigraphy of the Yangtze platform in the Yichang region and revision of the described faunas. The Llandovery appears to be highly incomplete in the eastern flank of the Huangling anticline and the age of the biostratigraphically younger part of the succession cannot be dated precisely with graptolite faunas.

Кокчетау-Иссыккульский террейн Казахстанского палеоконтинента и его палеоширотное положение в ордовике

Research subject. The Kazakhstan (Kazakh-Kyrgyz) paleocontinent attracts much research attention. In this article, we present data on the tectonic structure of the Early Paleozoic Kokchetau-Issykkul sialic terrain. Materials and methods . The geodynamic position of the Kokchetau-Issykkul terrain was determined by analysing samples of Ordovician rocks collected across 11 sites using the paleomagnetism method. Thus, we studied the paleomagnetism of red sandstones, siltstones, tuffaceous siltstones and basalts, as well as that of andesite and tuffaceous rocks in marine sediments, which affiliation to different Ordovician formations was established on the basis of trilobite, brachiopod, conodont and graptolite fauna. Results. Early Paleozoic rocks are exposed in the northern part of the studied terrain (Kokchetau district) and in the Issyk-Kul region, which covers southern Kazakhstan, northern Kyrgyzstan and western Xinjiang. The sutures of Chistopol-Terskei and Iradir-Ili ocean basins serving as the boundaries of the Kokchetau-Issykkul terrain are located in the allochthonius position. A multi-storey system of napes composed of pre-Paleozoic and Early Paleozoic rocks of the oceanic crust, volcanic oceanic island arcs and continental slope were studied near the Terskei margin of the terrain. This system of napes is covered by sediments containing graptolites of the Floian-Darriwilian age. Subduction-related volcanism near this margin of the terrain is of the Darriwilian and Sandbian age, while I-type granites are of the Darriwilian age. The over-thrusting of the Iladyr-Ili oceanic crust on the Ili border of the terrain also occurred in the middle Ordovician. Subduction-related mag-matism occurred here in the Late Darriwilian and Sandbian periods. Conclusion. The conducted studies testify to the geodynamics of the region. In the Early and Middle Ordovician, the Kokchetau-Issykkul terrain was a sialic volcanic arc separated from other sialic terrains by ocean basins. In the Middle Ordovician, the counter subduction of the oceanic crust under the Kokchetau-Issykkul island arc occurred. This process led to the closure of the Chistopol-Terskei and Iradir-Ili ocean basins in Middle Ordovician and to the formation the Kazakhstan continent by the collision of the Early Paleozoic sialic terrains and oceanic island arcs. According to the study of the paleomagnetism of Ordovician rocks in the Kokchetau-Issykkul island, the position of the middle part of this arc is determined to be at the paleogeographic latitude of 9.1 ± 5.4°.

A restudy of the Sandbian to Katian (Upper Ordovician) graptolites from the East Qilianshan (Chilianshan), Northwest China

AbstractThe Upper Ordovician Sandbian to Katian strata from the East Qilianshan (northeastern Tibet Plateau) bear a graptolite fauna of moderately high diversity. Graptolites from theAmplexograptus maxwellibeds to theAppendispinograptus longispinusBiozone (Sa2–Ka4 intervals) proposed herein include 27 species of 13 genera. This important graptolite fauna is first described herein although it was initially reported in 1963. Most of them occur in theA. longispinusBiozone corresponding to theDicellograptus complexustoParaorthograptus pacificusbiozones of the Wufeng Formation in the Yangtze region.Alulagraptusnew genus is established based on the materials from the East Qiqiaogou section. The endemic species, e.g.,Alulagraptus ensiformis(Mu and Zhang in Mu et al., 1963),Dicellograptus sinicusMu and Zhang in Mu et al., 1963, andClimacograptus?papilioMu and Zhang in Mu et al., 1963, could indicate that East Qilianshan block was separated from South China.UUID:http://zoobank.org/84ab69a2-0b56-4ec3-912e-730da08ab10a

Little known Homerian (lower Silurian) graptolites from kosov quarry near Beroun, the Czech republic

Abstract The Homerian graptolite fauna of the upper Cyrtograptus lundgreni and lower Colonograptus ludensis-Colonograptus gerhardi biozones, recovered from densely sampled sections in Kosov quarry includes several poorly known species, which appear to be useful in high resolution correlation. Gothograptus kozlowskii, Gothograptus aff. domeyki, Semigothograptus meganassa, Pristiograptus auctus, Monograptus ambiguus, Monograptus subflexilis and Cyrtograptus hemmanni are described and discussed in detail with reference to their stratigraphic range and palaeogeographic distribution which indicates close links between the Homerian graptolite faunas of Baltica, Avalonia and peri-Gondwanan Europe.

Graptolite biostratigraphy of the Ordovician Almelund and Sularp Shale formations of the Fågelsång-3 drill core, Scania, Sweden

ABSTRACTThe upper Middle to basal Upper Ordovician succession (Darriwilian to Sandbian) of the Fågelsång-3 drill core provides new important information on the graptolite biostratigraphy of Scania, southern Sweden. The Scanian succession is known largely from drill cores and a few scattered outcrops exposing only parts of the interval. The Darriwilian Almelund Shale Formation overlies the Komstad Limestone Formation and has a thickness of more than 42 m in the Fågelsång-3 drill core. A seemingly complete succession through the Holmograptus lentus, Nicholsonograptus fasciculatus, Pterograptus elegans, Pseudamplexograptus distichus and Jiangxigraptus vagus biozones can be recognized. Some intervals are poorly documented by their respective graptolite faunas or show extensive post-depositional tectonic deformation. The Nemagraptus gracilis Biozone of earliest Sandbian age cannot be positively identified, even though fragments of Nemagraptus have been discovered in the uppermost part of the Almelund Shale below the Fågelsång Phosphorite Bed.

Plant Diversity of The Mid Silurian (Lower Wenlock, Sheinwoodian) Terrestrial Vegetation Preserved in Marine Sediments from The Barrandian Area, The Czech Republic

Plant mega- and microfossils are described from the middle Sheinwoodian of the Barrandian area. The material comes from the Loděnice locality and the same horizon as the earliest unequivocal land plant, Cooksonia barrandei LIBERTÍN, J.KVAČEK, BEK, ŽÁRSKÝ et ŠTORCH. Its age (432 Myr) is inferred from the associated graptolite fauna, including the zonal index graptolite Monograptus belophorus. Megafossils have clear similarity with Cooksonia, due to their dichotomised axes with slightly widened subtending axes bearing putative sporangia. They document some of the plant diversity that was in place when the first proven representative of the genus Cooksonia appeared, and together with dispersed spores they provide strong and important evidence that a diversified terrestrial ecosystem had developed on the Barrandian volcanic archipelago in the peri-Gondwanan realm by the end of the Sheinwoodian Stage of the Silurian Period.

A graptolite-rich Ordovician–Silurian boundary section in the south-central Pyrenees, Spain: stratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical significance

AbstractAn Ordovician–Silurian boundary section marked by an uninterrupted, relatively high rate of black shale sedimentation and abundant, diverse graptolites is described from the south-central Pyrenees. The structurally simple Estana section comprises the uppermost part of the quartzite-dominated Bar Formation and overlying black shales of late Hirnantian and early Rhuddanian age, which have been dated by graptolites to the upperMetabolograptus persculptusand lower–middleAkidograptus ascensus–Parakidograptus acuminatusbiozones. Due to the absence ofM. persculptus, aMetabolograptus parvulusBiozone correlative with the upper part of thepersculptusBiozone is recognized below the lowest occurrence of akidograptids, which indicate the base of the Silurian System. The graptolite fauna comprise 27 species includingNormalograptus minor,N. lubricus,N. rhizinus,Hirsutograptus,Korenograptus bifurcus,K. bicaudatus, K. lanphereiandNd. shanchongensis, most of which were formerly considered to be endemic to the low-latitude palaeobiogeographical province of China, Siberia and northern North America. Two new species,N. baridaensisandN. ednae, are described. The succession of graptolite assemblages in the Estana section, and occurrence of several cosmopolitan taxa in itsparvulusand lowerascensus–acuminatusbiozones that are unknown elsewhere in peri-Gondwanan Europe, suggest that strata immediately surrounding the Ordovician–Silurian boundary may be absent, highly condensed or oxic and barren of graptolites in other sections of northwestern peri-Gondwana. Common graptolite synrhabdosomes and abnormal rhabdosomes may indicate some environmental stress in theparvulusBiozone, although the rather uniform black shale lithology, total organic carbon content andδ13Corgvalues suggest uninterrupted sedimentation under stable, anoxic conditions.

The Lower Ordovician Tøyen Shale succession in the Fågelsång-3 drill core, Scania, Sweden

The Ordovician Tøyen Shale Formation of the recently retrieved Fågelsång-3 drill core provides some important information on the graptolite biostratigraphy of the unit and its completeness in the region. The drill core reached downwards into the Kiaerograptus supremus Biozone of late Tremadocian age. Above a major fault zone, faunas with a number of specimens referred to Pseudophyllograptus densus are indicative of a late Dapingian age. Rare specimens of Azygograptus sp. also help constrain the age. The presence of Arienigraptus zhejiangensis indicates that the base of the Darriwilian Komstad Limestone Formation is of Levisograptus austrodentatus Biozone age. Specimens of Tetragraptus cor and Levisograptus sinicus in a shale bed within the lower part of the Komstad Limestone Formation can be referred to the upper subzone of the L. austrodentatus Biozone, the Levisograptus sinicus Subzone. This fauna represents the youngest graptolite fauna beneath the massive Komstad Limestone Formation. The Tøyen Shale Formation can be shown to be highly incomplete in Scania, possibly due to post-depositional tectonic deformation and faulting.