Lingulate Brachiopods Research Articles

Lingulates of the Monograptus belophorus Biozone (Motol Formation, Sheinwoodian, Wenlock) of the Barrandian area, Czech Republic: insight into remarkable lingulate brachiopod diversity in the Silurian

Lingulates of the Monograptus belophorus Biozone (Motol Formation, Sheinwoodian, Wenlock) of the Barrandian area, Czech Republic: insight into remarkable lingulate brachiopod diversity in the Silurian

Lingulate brachiopods from the Vinařice Limestone (Devonian, Pragian) of the Barrandian area, Czechia

Lingulate brachiopods from the Vinařice Limestone (Devonian, Pragian) of the Barrandian area, Czechia

A ROWELLELLA (LINGULATA, BRACHIOPODA) NESTLER IN A TRYPANITES BORING FROM THE MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN OF ESTONIA: AN EARLY COLONIZER OF HARD SUBSTRATE BORINGS

ABSTRACT A steinkern of an endoceratid nautiloid siphuncle contains a Trypanites sozialis boring with a lingulate brachiopod Rowellella sp. shell inside. The steinkern of this endoceratid formed during early lithification of the sediment on the seafloor. The lithified steinkern of this siphuncle was either initially partially exposed to the seawater or was exhumed and stayed exposed on the seafloor, where it was colonized by boring organisms. This bioerosion resulted in numerous Trypanites borings in the siphuncle. After the death or exit of the Trypanites trace maker, a vacant boring was colonized by a small lingulate nestler Rowellella sp. This lingulate was likely preadapted to life in hard substrate borings when it first found its way into borings in living substrates in the Late Ordovician. The increased availability of hard substrate borings, combined with the increased predation pressure due to the GOBE, enhanced the colonization of hard substrate borings by lingulate brachiopods.

Lower Tremadocian (Ordovician) lingulate brachiopods from the Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina) and their biogeographical links

Lower Tremadocian (Ordovician) lingulate brachiopods from the Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina) and their biogeographical links

The oldest Cambrian trilobite – brachiopod association in South China

Limestones of the Xihaoping Member of the Dengying Formation in the Xiaoyangba section, South China, yield the oldest known Cambrian brachiopod–trilobite association. In this member, the trilobite Parabadiella cf. huoi co-occurs with the new brachiopod species Eoobolus incipiens sp. nov. The association provides potential for correlation of lower Cambrian successions and gives novel insights into the origin, palaeobiogeographic distribution and early evolution of linguliform brachiopods. Parabadiella occurs in shallow marine clastic and carbonate rocks in South China, demonstrating a broad distribution for this taxon. The new discovery indicates an early Chiungchussuan age (Parabadiella trilobite Zone, Cambrian Age 3) for the longstanding problematic Xihaoping Member. Furthermore, this earliest Parabadiella–Eoobolus association helps to establish close links with the oldest known trilobite–brachiopod assemblage from the upper Micrina etheridgei Zone (Parabadiella huoi trilobite Zone) in Australia. Eoobolus incipiens represents one of the earliest known linguliform brachiopods, with a distinctive mixture of characters shared with both problematic tommotiids, as well as paterinide, lingulide and acrotretide brachiopods, indicating that these features may be plesiomorphic for the Linguliformea. An age-constrained dispersal mode for early lingulate brachiopods is proposed, indicating that the Subphylum Linguliformea may have originated in East Gondwana and South China during Cambrian Age 3, and only subsequently dispersed to other major Cambrian palaeocontinents (e.g. Siberia, Laurentia, Antarctica, Baltica, Avalonia, West Gondwana, North China) during the late stage of the Cambrian evolutionary radiation of animals.

The repaired durophagous scar in the shell of a lingulid brachiopod immediately after the end Ordovician mass extinction

Repaired shell injuries, widely reported mainly on mollusks, give first hand evidence of biological activity in fossil communities. Scars in fossil brachiopods from predation are rarely found, particularly after major biotic crises. A repair scar on a lingulid brachiopod Pseudolingula? sp. that lived immediately after the end Ordovician mass extinction is reported for the first time here. The specimen, cohabited with other components of Cathaysiorthis fauna, was collected from the basal Shiyang Formation (earliest Rhuddanian, Llandovery, Silurian), Jiangxi, southeast China. The scar’s near-margin position and its drape-like shape, together with the quiet middle to deeper shelf living environment and nearly infaunal lifestyle of the species, suggest that the shell damage was biotic-induced, from a failed predation, possibly by a nautiloid cephalopod. The successful repair supports previous studies showing that environmental conditions ameliorated quickly after the extinction. To analyze its repair mode, another repaired specimen of its living relative Lingula anatina collected from the Yellow Sea, China was examined here as well. Compared to the much more efficient repair for the living lingulids, the drape-like structure of the scar on the shell of Pseudolingula? sp. is more similar to the published repair specimens of Cambrian lingulate brachiopods, which may indicate the evolution of its repair mechanisms.Bing Huang [bhuang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China; Rongyu Li [lir@brandonu.ca] Department of Geology, Brandon University, 270-18th Street, Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6A9, Canada.

The oldest ‘Lingulellotreta’ (Lingulata, Brachiopoda) from China and its phylogenetic significance: integrating new material from the Cambrian Stage 3–4 Lagerstätten in eastern Yunnan, South China

The origin of Cambrian brachiopods and their phylogenetic relationship with other lophotrochozoans is far from clear. Lingulellotretidae, the oldest family of lingulate brachiopods, is typified by possessing a pouch-like coelomic extension beyond the hinge line, subtended in a triangular pseudointerarea. The early Cambrian (Stage 4) linguloid brachiopod – originally described as ‘Lingulepis’ malongensis Rong, and later referred to Lingulellotreta within the Family Lingulellotretidae – is here redescribed and assigned to Eoobolus within the Family Eoobolidae, based on new exceptionally preserved topotype material from the type locality, part of the Guanshan Lagerstätte (Wulongqing Formation), Kunming–Malong area, eastern Yunnan, South China. For the first time, we provide a record of the soft anatomy, including a pedicle for the cosmopolitan genus Eoobolus. Due to loss of the type specimen, a neotype of E. malongensis is selected. Differing from the Guanshan E. malongensis, the Chengjiang species is slightly bigger in shell size, and possesses an elongated ventral pseudointerarea. In addition, new flattened specimens of ‘Lingulellotreta malongensis’ from the Chengjiang (Stage 3) biota, preserved in lateral and dorsoventral views, demonstrate an interior lophophore organization and a well-developed pedicle foramen, typical of the genus Lingulellotreta. When compared to the type species – Lingulellotreta ergalievi Koneva – from the Shabakty Group (Cambrian Stage 4), Malyi Karatau Range, Kazakhstan, the Chengjiang species possessed a more elongated ventral pseudointerarea, accommodating an extended body cavity, deepening posteriorly, with a recurved digestive tract. Accordingly, the Chengjiang specimens are thus referred to a new species, Lingulellotreta yuanshanensis sp. nov. The elongated, tubular extended body cavity of Lingulellotreta, which is not present in the slightly younger Guanshan Eoobolus, has recently gained further phylogenetic significance, as support continues to emerge for the view that a ‘tubular’ body plan may be primitive within the lophotrochozoans, notably brachiopods.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org.pub:B3212125-F671-4B88-82C5-40C37B5C1631:

Brachiopods from the Byrd Group (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) Central Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica: biostratigraphy, phylogeny and systematics

AbstractBrachiopods from Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4 carbonate strata of the Byrd Group in the Central Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica, are described for the first time. These include six lingulate, one paterinate and one rhynchonelliform taxon, including the new lingulate brachiopod Plicarmus wildi gen. et sp. nov. The biostratigraphy correlates closely to the brachiopods recently reported from the Xinji Formation (Shuiyu section) in North China, as well as brachiopods recovered from the Dailyatia odyssei Zone across the Arrowie Basin of South Australia. These findings also support the previously identified close palaeobiogeography of these regions. The first unambiguous example of the acrotretid brachiopod Eohadrotreta zhenbaensis Li & Holmer outside South China is also identified in the context of its ontogenetic stages. Well‐preserved specimens of the acrotheloid Schizopholis yorkensis (Holmer & Ushatinskaya) facilitate a new reconstruction of its musculature and visceral region. These data are synthesized into a new cladistic analysis that resolves Acrotheloidea as a well‐supported monophyletic clade and supports previous hypotheses of a morphocline in acrotheloid evolution.

First lingulate brachiopods from the Ordovician volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Famatina Range, western Argentina

Lingulids and siphonotretids (Lingulata) are described from the Ordovician (Floian–Dapingian) Suri Formation of the Famatina Basin in western Argentina. This is the first record of lingulate brachiopods from the arc-related volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Famatina Range. The fauna includes the new obolids Famatinobolus cancellatum gen. et sp. nov. and Lithobolus limbatum sp. nov., and the new siphonotretid Chilcatreta lariojana sp. nov. Associated forms are the glosselins Glossella sp. and Rafanoglossa sp., the elkaniid Monobolina sp. nov., and an unnamed new genus of Lingulellotretidae. The biogeographical affinities of the described Famatinan lingulate assemblage are mixed, sharing Chilcatreta and Glossella with the Laurentian-derived Cuyania terrane, Lithobolus and Rafanoglossa with Bohemia, Monobolina with the Anglo-Welsh basin, and a new lingulellotretid with the Celtic assemblages of Wales.

Lingulate brachiopods across the Kačák Event and Eifelian-Givetian boundary in the Barrandian area, Czech Republic

Lingulate brachiopods across the Kačák Event and Eifelian-Givetian boundary in the Barrandian area, Czech Republic

The problematic lingulate brachiopod Aulonotreta from the Ordovician (Dapingian–Darriwilian) of Baltoscandia

The enigmatic and aberrant lingulate brachiopod Aulonotreta antiquissima (Eichwald) from the Dapingian (Volkhov Stage) Toila Formation of northern Estonia and St Petersburg area (Historical Region ...

Lingulate Brachiopods of Tremadocian Age from the Abandoned Gabriela Mine (Krušná Hora, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic)

Abstract Lingulate brachiopods are described from a lithic sandstone referred to the upper part of the Třenice Formation. Loose blocks were sampled from a dump of abandoned Gabriela Mine in Krušná Hora Hill near Beroun, Central Bohemia. Apart of the Acrotreta aff. grandis Klouček, 1919, genera Teneobolus, Rosobolus, Broeggeria, Rowellella and Siphonobolus are distinguished. Comments to their ontogeny, affinity, stratigraphical and spatial occurrences and taphonomy are discussed.

Linguliformean Brachiopods from the Las Plantas Formation (Ordovician, Sandbian), Argentine Precordillera

This paper is a brief contribution to the taxonomy of the still poorly known Ordovician lingulate brachiopods of Argentina. A linguliform brachiopod fauna from the Las Plantas Formation (Sandbian, Ordovician) in the northern Precordillera, west-central Argentina, is described for the first time. The large obolid Anomaloglossa and the pitted obolid Foveola are recorded. In addition, a new species of the microbrachiopod Acrotreta calabozoi n. sp. is described and illustrated.

Post‐metamorphic allometry in the earliest acrotretoid brachiopods from the lower Cambrian (Series 2) of South China, and its implications

AbstractThe earliest growth of post‐metamorphic (post‐larval) shells in two species of Eohadrotreta is described from the Cambrian Shuijingtuo Formation of South China. Two different growth patterns can be observed by quantifying developmental variations in size and shape of successive stages of post‐metamorphic shell growth (including the pedicle foramen forming stage, pedicle foramen enclosing stage and intertrough increasing stage) of Eohadrotreta zhenbaensis and Eohadrotreta? zhujiahensis. The pedicle foramen is never enclosed within the metamorphic shell of E. zhenbaensis, while the enclosed pedicle foramen of E.? zhujiahensis is located directly outside the metamorphic shell after the pedicle foramen enclosing stage. A strongly allometric growth pattern of E. zhenbaensis is demonstrated by the early enclosure of the pedicle foramen; an accelerated lengthening of the ventral intertrough is associated with the development of a more complex dorsal median septum during the intertrough increasing stage. By contrast, E.? zhujiahensis demonstrates possible paedomorphic development by delayed enclosure of pedicle foramen and an associated decreased lengthening of ventral intertrough during the intertrough increasing stage. This ontogenetic developmental sequence represents the marginal accretionary formation and growth of the pedicle foramen, which resembles that of linguloid brachiopods. Furthermore, the developmental process of the pedicle foramen of Eohadrotreta seems to recapitulate the likely evolutionary transition from the Botsfordiidae, with open delthyrium, to the Acrotheloidea, with an enclosed foramen. This study provides a unique opportunity to obtain a complete understanding of the ontogenetic development of the earliest acrotretoids, and casts new light on the phylogeny of lingulate brachiopods.

Ecology, biofacies, biogeography and systematics of micromorphic lingulate brachiopods from the Ordovician (Darriwilian–Sandbian) of south‐central China

AbstractOrdovician (Darriwilian to Sandbian) micromorphic linguliform lingulate brachiopods are described from the Guniutan Formation at the Fenxiang section in Hubei province, and the Maocaopu and Cili sections in Hunan province of south‐central China, situated on the Yangtze Platform. A total of 7560 specimens from 155 limestone samples (within the interval of Lenodus variabilis – Pygodus anserinus biozones) are assigned to 22 species, representing a low taxonomic diversity and low abundance fauna. The fauna is dominated by the Acrotretoidea, mainly species of the Torynelasmatidae, with Torynelasma the most abundant (more than 40% of total number of specimens), along with the Eoconulidae and Eoconulus (18% of total) representing the second most common forms. Species of the Ephippelasmatidae are also common (16% of total) diverse, and include representatives of Myotreta and Numericoma, as well as Ephippelasma, whereas species of the Scaphelasmatidae are somewhat less common (13% of total). All three investigated sections represent outer shelf environments, but the Maocaopu section is situated in a relatively deeper position, in proximity of the south‐eastern outer margin of the Upper Yangtze Platform, close to its boundary with the Jiangnan Slope. A quantitative analysis of the relative abundance data was carried out in order to investigate the biofacies distribution of the micromorphic brachiopod communities across the Yangtze Platform, something that has not been attempted before with Palaeozoic linguliforms. Six lingulate microbrachiopod communities could be recognized in the sections. The major biofacies shift, which occurred in the Cili section in the upper part of the Microzarkodina ozarkodella Zone, at the time of the onset and initial rise of the Mid Darriwilian Carbon Isotope Excursion (MDICE) suggests that these biofacies may have been depth controlled.

Schizocrania (Brachiopoda, Discinoidea): taxonomy, occurrence, ecology and history of the earliest epizoan lingulate brachiopod

The lingulate brachiopod Schizocrania (Trematidae, Discinoidea) is reviewed. Ptychopeltis is definitively synonymized with Schizocrania, because new data indicate that convexity of the shell, profile of the anterior margin commissure, density of the dorsal valve costellation, ornamentation of the ventral valve and shape of the pedicle notch are worthless for separation of these genera. Four Ordovician species of Schizocrania are reported from the Barrandian area: S. multistriata (Darriwilian), S. hornyi (Sandbian), S. incola (Sandbian) and the new species S. equestra sp. nov. (Katian). Occurrence of Schizocrania striata is confirmed for the first time around the S/D boundary in the Barrandian area. Schizocrania has a wide geographic range with mid-Ordovician to early Devonian occurrences in Laurentia, Avalonia, West Gondwana and the Silurian occurrence in Baltica. Schizocrania was the earliest lingulate brachiopod adhering to floating objects in an open sea (both living cephalopods and their empty drifting shells), but it was highly opportunistic, and used any vacant hard surface on the sea floor (conulariids, strophomenid brachiopods, trilobites) as a suitable substrate for settlement of the larva. Decline of the genus coincided with disappearance of planktic graptolites, and might have been caused by competition of rapidly evolving planktic dacryoconarids, increased predation pressure, and rebuilding of the trophic structure in the early Devonian seas.

Middle Cambrian trilobites from the Ekspedition Bræ Formation of North Greenland, with a reappraisal of the genusElrathina

AbstractThe richly fossiliferous Ekspedition Bræ Formation of North Greenland yields a typical oligospecific fossil assemblage with well-preserved trilobites, helcionelloids, and lingulate brachiopods. The trilobites includeItagnostus subhastatusnew species,Itagnostussp. cf.I.gaspensis(Rasetti, 1948),Elrathina aphroditenew species,Elrathina athenanew species,Elrathina heranew species, andElrathia groenlandicanew species—a fossil assemblage typical of theBathyuriscus-ElrathinaZone as known from the Cordilleran regions of Laurentia. Excellent preservation allows a detailed assessment of the prosopon and elucidates aspects of the ontogenetic development ofElrathinaandElrathia. An evaluation ofElrathinaincludes a redescription of its type species,E.cordillerae(Rominger, 1887), based on the type material, and indicates that most specimens collected from the Burgess Shale and previously dealt with asE.cordilleraerepresent a new species.

Rare encrusted lingulate brachiopods from the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary beds of Baltica

Vinn, O., December 2015. Rare encrusted lingulate brachiopods from the Cambrian–Ordovician boundary beds of Baltica. Alcheringa 40, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518Encrustation is rare on late Cambrian and Tremadocian brachiopods of Baltica. The encrusting fauna is represented by a single taxon, Marcusodictyon. Only Schmidtites celatus is encrusted in the Furongian of Estonia. The Marcusodictyon–Schmidtites association is the earliest example of syn vivo encrustation and symbiosis from the Baltica palaeocontinent. The encrusting faunas of the late Cambrian and Tremadocian of Baltica were unusual presumably owing to palaeogeographic reasons because the other known examples of early encrustation originate from lower palaeolatitudes.Olev Vinn [olev.vinn@ut.ee], Department of Geology, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50411 Tartu, Estonia.

An in situ shelly fauna from the lower Paleozoic Zapla diamictite of northwestern Argentina: Implications for the age of glacial events across Gondwana

A shelly fauna from the upper part of the Zapla glacial diamictite includes the lingulate brachiopod Orbiculoidea radiata Troedsson, the rhynchonelliforms Dalmanella cf. testudinaria (Dalman) and Paromalomena sp., the bivalve Modiolopsis? sp., and the trilobite Dalmanitina subandina Monaldi and Boso. Both taphonomic and paleoecologic data indicate a lack of transport reflecting the original community. The assemblage is closely comparable to the widespread latest Ordovician Hirnantia-Dalmanitina fauna. The Hirnantian age of the Zapla diamictite is further corroborated by the record of the northern Gondwana chitinozoans Spinachitina cf. oulebsiri Paris and Desmochitina minor typica Eisenack. The graptolites and chitinozoans from the overlying Lipeón Formation indicate that the postglacial transgression took place in the earliest Llandovery (Parakidograptus acuminatus Biozone). According to the tectonosedimentary evidence, the Early Silurian age of the Cancañiri and San Gabán diamictites of north–central Bolivia and south Peru based on their palynological record is more likely the age of posglacial gravity flows and not that of the glaciation. We support the hypothesis that the weakly lithified glacigenic deposits of Hirnantian age were reworked and redistributed by high-energy marine processes during the postglacial transgression and then transported to the adjacent deep-marine trough. Iron-rich horizons have been recognized in many basins of southern South America reflecting eustatic and paleoclimatic fluctuations. Most of them formed during the early stages of the postglacial transgression at the Ordovician/Silurian transition and are associated with low sedimentation rates and condensed intervals. The mild maritime postglacial climate, the increasing atmospheric CO2, and possibly the presence of incipient vegetated areas led to extensive weathering of glacigenic sediments supplying iron into the marine system to form ferruginous deposits. The sea level fall related to the peak of glaciation is recorded by both paleovalley incision and a sharp subaerial to subglacial unconformity. The transgressive systems tract starts with fluvio-estuarine deposits within incised valleys followed by widespread deposition of subtidal to open marine organic-rich shales onlapping regionally the basement rocks. The recognition of key stratigraphic markers (e.g. sequence boundary, flooding surface, ferruginous beds), alongside reliable micro and macropaleontological evidence allow a more accurate correlation between the Central Andean Basin of Peru, Bolivia and NW Argentina, the W Puna region, the Paraguayan and Brazilian sectors of the Paraná Basin, the Precordillera Basin of W Argentina, and the Cape Basin of South Africa.

Lingulate brachiopods from the Lampazar Formation (late Cambrian) of the Cordillera Oriental of northwestern Argentina

AbstractThe Angosto de Lampazar, a classic locality for the study of lower Paleozoic successions in the Cordillera Oriental, NW Argentina, has yielded a late Cambrian relatively diverse, lingulate brachiopod fauna. Sandy lenses with calcareous cement from the uppermost levels of the Lampazar Formation have yielded abundant remains of articulate and phosphatic brachiopods. Among the latter, the new speciesEurytreta harringtoniMergl and Herrera,Lingulella?melonicaMergl and Herrera,Libecoviella lenticularisMergl and Herrera, andSchizambon cardonalisMergl and Herrera, as well as the new genus and speciesSaltaia lampazarensisMergl and Herrera are formally introduced. Trilobites and conodonts from the same horizons characterize theCordylodus proavusZone, allowing a correlation with Stage 10 of the Furongian Series. Although the information on lingulate brachiopods from theC.proavusZone is scarce across the world, the composition of the studied association displays a relationship with coeval and slightly younger faunas of Utah and Kazakhstan. The Argentine brachiopods, the first described from the late Cambrian Proto-Andean margin of Gondwana, are more closely related to temperate Laurentian faunas than to those from the high latitude North African margin of Gondwana.