Mississippian Faunas Research Articles

A bryozoan fauna from the Mississippian (Tournaisian and Viséan) of Belgium

Eleven bryozoan species are described from the Mississippian of southern Belgium, including one new species, Atactotoechus vaulxensis, and one species left in open nomenclature (Stenophragmidium sp.). From this fauna, four species are restricted to the Tournaisian stage, and seven occur in the Viséan. The fauna is mainly small-sized, represented by branched ramose, encrusting and reticulate growth forms. Bryozoans in the Mississippian of southern Belgium preferred deeper, clay-rich environments. The identified bryozoan species are mainly distributed within the European basin, with some similarities with the Mississippian faunas of Siberia and Kazakhstan.

Revision of the Chen and Yao Devonian to Permian crinoids from Western Yunnan

In 1993, Chen and Yao described the first major Paleozoic echinoderm faunas reported from China. Restudy of these Middle and Late Devonian, Early Carboniferous, and Early Permian faunas collected from the Basoshan tectonic block of western Yunnan resulted in some systematic and paleogeographic revisions. The Baoshan block originated on the northern part of Gondwana at about 30°S latitude in the Devonian and Carboniferous, drifted away in the Early Permian, and docked with Cathaysia by the Late Triassic, becoming part of South China. Devonian and Early Carboniferous crinoids lived in a carbonate shelf environment, but Early Permian faunas lived in a colder water glaciogene environment. The Devonian and Mississippian faunas are more closely related to coeval European faunas than they are to North American faunas. The Yunnan Devonian and Mississippian faunas are camerate dominated, with few cladids, and lack flexible crinoids. As currently recognized, Middle Devonian endemic crinoids of western Yunnan are Shidianocrinus, Parascyphocrinites, Ovalocrinus, and Quasicydonocrinus. Early Carboniferous endemics of western Yunnan are Yunnanocrinus and Parabarycrinus. The crinoids in the Yudong Formation support a Tournaisian age for these crinoidal rich beds. The stratigraphic range of Stomiocrinus is extended downward into the Tournaisian. Shidianocrinus is reassigned to the Dimerocrinitidae and Parascyphocrinites is reassigned to the Melocrinitidae. Parabarycrinus is reassigned to the Gasterocomidae. New combinations are Ectocrinus anthodeus, Cantharocrinus sphaeroides, Rhodocrinites intermedius, Rhodocrinites excavatus, Rhodocrinites baoshanensis, Holcocrinus irregularis, and Separocrinus discoides. New taxa introduced are Amphoracrinus cheni n. sp., Synbathocrinus yaoi n. sp., and Platycrinites s.s. langbaensis n. sp.

Late Devonian echinoderms from the Hongguleleng Formation of northwestern China

Abstract The Late Devonian, Famennian, Hongguleleng Formation of northwestern China has yielded one of the most diverse echinoderm faunas known from China. New collections and re-evaluation of earlier collections results in recognition of new taxa, increases the known diversity, provides new morphological information on some of the previously reported taxa, and provides new information on the affinity of the Late Devonian echinoderms of the Hongguleleng Formation. New crinoid taxa introduced are Gnarycrinus lanei n. gen., n. sp., Anamesocrinus tieni n. sp., Histocrinus ? chenae n. sp., Eumhacrinus tribrachiatus n. gen., n. sp., Sostronocrinus aberratus n. sp. and Labrocrinus granulatus n. gen., n. sp. One new species of blastoid, Hadroblastus liaoi , n. sp. is described. Previous reports listed 46 echinoderms from the Hongguleleng Formation, including 13 blastoids and 33 crinoids. An additional 11 crinoid species bring the total crinoids to 44 species assigned to 32 genera. Similarly, the one additional species of blastoid brings the totals to 14 species assigned to 12 genera. The new echinoderms described herein include the first report of a dimerocrinitid, amphoracrinid, allagacrinid, glossocrinid, histocrinid, cercidiocrinid, dactylocrinid and neoschismatid from the Devonian of northwestern China. Additional morphologic information is provided for three of the previously described taxa and a revision of species assigned to Grabauicrinus is proposed. The crinoids and blastoids suggest closer affinity with Mississippian faunas than with Devonian faunas, and with North American faunas than European faunas. Collectively the blastoid and crinoid faunas from the Hongguleleng indicate that rediversification happened rapidly after extinction in contrast to current suggestions of a long interval of lowered origination following these extinction events.

A re-evaluation of Famennian echinoderm diversity: implications for patterns of extinction and rebound in the Late Devonian

Abstract Critical to understanding long-term trends in diversity is a dataset that is both worldwide in scope and based on a sound taxonomic foundation. In this paper we re-evaluate the Famennian (Late Devonian) echinoderm dataset, which has changed radically in the past decade, and reinterpret patterns of Late Devonian echinoderm extinction and rebound based on these new data. Historically, Famennian (Late Devonian) and earliest Carboniferous echinoderms have been poorly known on a global basis leading to interpretations of prolonged rebound from the Devonian extinction events. Recent discoveries of abundant and diverse Famennian echinoderm faunas from northwestern China, Colorado, Australia and Iran, together with re-examination of previously known echinoderm faunas from Germany and England, have altered drastically our understanding of the patterns of extinction and rebound of Famennian and earliest Carboniferous echinoderm communities. Overall, Famennian echinoderm diversity at the generic level is nearly five times greater than reported in the 2002 Sepkoski compilation, and familial level diversity is more than seven times greater than previously thought. Despite the increases in diversity, Famennian echinoderm faunas show a reduced diversity of camerate crinoids that typify both Middle Devonian and Lower Mississippian faunas and portend the rise of cladid crinoid diversity later in the Carboniferous. Individual Famennian faunas are numerically dominated by blastoids, which also portends trends seen at various times later in the Palaeozoic. In general, we are able to recognize the following trends. Rebound from the Late Devonian extinction events in echinoderms was more rapid than previously thought, but seems to be concentrated in Asia. Palaeogeographically Famennian echinoderms can be grouped into two broad regions: one includes China, Australia and Iran, all of which bordered the Palaeotethys; the other includes regions from Laurussia (Europe and North America) and northern Africa (Morocco).

Extensional Late Paleozoic deformation on the western margin of Pangea, Patlanoaya area, Acatlán Complex, southern Mexico

New mapping in the northern part of the Paleozoic Acatlán Complex (Patlanoaya area) records several ductile shear zones and brittle faults with normal kinematics (previously thought to be thrusts). These movement zones separate a variety of units that pass structurally upwards from: (i) blueschist-eclogitic metamorphic rocks (Piaxtla Suite) and mylonitic megacrystic granites (Columpio del Diablo granite ≡ Ordovician granites elsewhere in the complex); (ii) a gently E-dipping, listric, normal shear zone with top to the east kinematic indicators that formed under upper greenschist to lower amphibolite conditions; (iii) the Middle–Late Ordovician Las Minas quartzite (upper greenschist facies psammites with minor interbedded pelites intruded by mafic dikes and a leucogranite dike from the Columpio del Diablo granite) unconformably overlain by the Otate meta-arenite (lower greenschist facies psammites and pelites): roughly temporal equivalents are the Middle–Late Ordovician Mal Paso and Ojo de Agua units (interbedded metasandstone and slate, and metapelite and mafic minor intrusions, respectively) — some of these units are intruded by the massive, 461 ± 2 Ma, Palo Liso megacrystic granite: decussate, contact metamorphic muscovite yielded a 40Ar/ 39Ar plateau age of 440 ± 4 Ma; (iv) a steeply-moderately, E-dipping normal fault; (v) latest Devonian–Middle Permian sedimentary rocks (Patlanoaya Group: here elevated from formation status). The upward decrease in metamorphic grade is paralleled by a decrease in the number of penetrative fabrics, which varies from (i) three in the Piaxtla Suite, through (ii) two in the Las Minas unit (E-trending sheath folds deformed by NE-trending, subhorizontal folds with top to the southeast asymmetry, both associated with a solution cleavage), (iii) one in the Otate, Mal Paso, and Ojo de Agua units (steeply SE-dipping, NE–SW plunging, open-close folds), to (iv) none in the Patlanoaya Group. 40Ar/ 39Ar analyses of muscovite from the earliest cleavage in the Las Minas unit yielded a plateau age of 347 ± 3 Ma and show low temperature ages of ∼ 260 Ma. Post-dating all of these structures and the Patlanoaya Group are NE-plunging, subvertical folds and kink bands. An E–W, vertical normal fault juxtaposes the low-grade rocks against the Anacahuite amphibolite that is cut by megacrystic granite sheets, both of which were deformed by two penetrative fabrics. Amphibole from this unit has yielded a 40Ar/ 39Ar plateau age of 299 ± 6 Ma, which records cooling through ∼ 490 °C and is probably related to a Permo-Carboniferous reheating event during exhumation. The extensional deformation is inferred to have started in the latest Devonian (∼ 360 Ma) during deposition of the basal Patlanoaya Group, lasting through the rapid exhumation of the Piaxtla Suite at ∼ 350–340 Ma synchronous with cleavage development in the Las Minas unit, deposition of the Patlanoaya Group with active fault-related exhumation suggested by Mississippian and Early Permian conglomerates (∼ 340 and 300 Ma, respectively), and continuing at least into the Middle Permian (≡ 260 Ma muscovite ages). The continuity of Mid-Continent Mississippian fauna from the USA to southern Mexico suggests that this extensional deformation occurred on the western margin of Pangea after closure of the Rheic Ocean.

LATE DEVONIAN AND EARLY MISSISSIPPIAN ECHINODERMS FROM CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRAN

New Devonian (Frasnian and Famennian) crinoids are described from central and eastern Iran and a new Mississippian (late Tournaisian) echinoderm fauna is described from the south flank of the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran. Both the Devonian and Mississippian echinoderms were living in a carbonate shelf basin on the northern flank of Gondwana at approximately 30° south latitude.The geographic ranges of Hexacrinites and Eutaxocrinus are extended onto the northern margin of Gondwana and add to the sparsely known Famennian crinoids. The Mississippian fauna is dominated numerically and in diversity by cladids, unlike most late Tournaisian faunas that are dominated by camerates in numbers, if not diversity. The late Tournaisian fauna is most similar to a coeval fauna from southern Iran, both of which have a noted lack of actinocrinitids and rare platycrinitids. It also shows similarity with Tournaisian faunas of western North America with four common genera.New species introduced are: Hexacrinites persiaensis, Eutaxocrinus risehensis, Dichocrinus damghanensis, Amabilicrinus stellatus, Bridgerocrinus alborzensis, Bridgerocrinus semnanensis, Paracosmetocrinus mobarakensis, Decadocrinus clypeus, and Palaechinus iranensis.

LOWER MISSISSIPPIAN (OSAGEAN) SPIRE-BEARING BRACHIOPODS FROM CAÑÓN DE LA PEREGRINA, NORTH OF CIUDAD VICTORIA, TAMAULIPAS, NORTHEASTERN MÉXICO

Abstract Brachiopods are common in the lower and middle parts of the early Mississippian (Osagean) Vicente Guerrero Formation that is mainly a fine-grained quartz arenite found in the Ciudad Victoria area, Tamaulipas, northeastern Mexico. This shallow marine brachiopod fauna includes several spire-bearers: Lamellosathyris lamellosa, Cleiothyridina cf. tenuilineata, Camarophorella sp., Alispirifer tamaulipensis n. sp., Tylothyris? sp., Torynifer pseudolineatus, Syringothyris cf. typa, Syringothyris? sp., and Punctospirifer sp. Similar assemblages have been found in Osagean rocks of the Santiago Formation, Oaxaca, southeastern Mexico, and in several coeval formations in the USA: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. North American biogeographic affinities are suggested for these Mississippian faunas of northeastern Mexico. These contrast markedly with the Late Silurian situation, where the Tamaulipas material has Old World Realm, rather than North American, biogeographic affinities. This supports th...

Lower Mississippian (Osagean) brachiopods from the Santiago Formation, Oaxaca, Mexico: stratigraphic and tectonic implications

Four species of spiriferid brachiopods from the Santiago Formation of Oaxaca are described. The species described belong to the orders Athyridida ( Actinoconchus lamellosus), Spiriferida ( Torynifer pseudolineatus), and Spiriferinida (cf. Syringothyris sp. and Punctospirifer gigas new species). The association between A. lamellosus and T. pseudolineatus indicates an Early Mississippian (Osagean) age for the Santiago Formation. The Carboniferous succession in the area was originally divided into the Santiago Formation (formed by lower and upper members) and the Ixtaltepec Formation. The studied fauna belongs to the lower member of the Santiago Formation. Because Pennsylvanian brachiopods were found in strata of the upper member, it is now considered to have more affinity with the Ixtaltepec Formation. Therefore, we propose a change in the stratigraphy of the area to include the upper member of the Santiago Formation in the Ixtaltepec Formation. This change in the stratigraphy is supported because a major low-angle normal fault places the former upper member of the Santiago Formation on the lower member and indicates a tectonic contact between both members of the original Santiago Formation. Brachiopods from the Santiago Formation are similar to those in the Midcontinent province located in the eastern and central regions of the United States. The affinity of these Mississippian faunas has important tectonic implications, because Ordovician and Silurian faunas of Oaxaquia have strong biogeographic affinities with Gondwanan–European provinces. Therefore, there may have been a geographic connection between southeastern Mexico and North America during Lower Carboniferous times. This could change previous interpretations, which suggest that the collision of Oaxaquia with North America occurred during Permian time.

Biostratigraphic implications of the first North American occurrence of the Upper Mississippian ammonoid Platygoniatites

The late Mississippian ammonoid family Delepinoceratidae is comprised of the genera Platygoniatites and Delepinoceras, and is considered one of the more biostratigraphically significant families for lower Namurian correlation (Manger et al., 1985). Platygoniatites, the earliest member, is known from eastern and southern Europe (Ruzhencev and Bogoslovskaya, 1971; Wagner-Gentis, 1963, 1980) and North Africa (Lemosquet et al., 1985). Despite its wide distribution, Platygoniatites is generally a rare member (with the exception of the southern Ural Mountains) of latest Visean and earliest Namurian faunas. It has never been reported previously from North America, though thousands of ammonoids have been collected here from age equivalent beds. The discovery of a new species of the genus in the late Mississippian faunas of east-central Nevada provides new data for precise correlation of the ammonoid zonations of Gordon (1970) to the type Namurian and indicates a need for revision of the current correlations between the southern Urals and northwestern Europe.

Itkilyariak Formation: New Mississippian Formation of Endicott Group, Arctic Slope of Alaska

The Itkilyariak Formation of Mississippian age has been recognized for at least 300 mi (480 km) along a linear trend both on the surface and in the subsurface of the northern Arctic Slope, Alaska. Typical lithologies in the formation are red and maroon sandstone, conglomerate, breccia, and limestone interbedded with maroon and greenish-gray shale and light-gray quartzitic sandstone. The Itkilyariak is gradational with the overlying Alapah Limestone of the Lisburne Group. The base of the formation is probably an unconformity. Outcrop thickness is as much as 150 ft (45 m), but over 500 ft (150 m) of redbeds in a similar stratigraphic position have been found in some wells. Irregular distribution suggests that the formation is related to the truncation of pre-Mississippian c astic rocks. The formation is thought to grade in a short distance southward to the normal marine shales and carbonates of the Endicott and Lisburne Groups, and is believed to have been deposited near the Mississippian shoreline. A Late Mississippian fauna has been collected from a surface exposure.

Devonian-Mississippian Boundary in Canadian Rocky Mountains: ABSTRACT

Over most of the Alberta Rocky Mountain region, the Palliser formation, containing an Upper Devonian fauna, is overlain with disconformity by the Exshaw formation. The Exshaw, consisting of a lower black shale and an upper calcareous siltstone, has been considered to be Devonian but the faunal evidence of Devonian age is inconclusive. The Exshaw, though widespread, is not present throughout the region and in some sections the Mississippian Banff formation rests disconformably on the Palliser. The Exshaw occupies the same stratigraphic position and is lithologically similar to the Bakken of Saskatchewan. The Sappington of Montana which is reported to contain an early Mississippian fauna bears some lithological resemblance to the siltstone member of the Exshaw. It is sugges ed that the Devonian-Mississippian boundary be placed at the base of the Exshaw formation in the Alberta Rocky Mountains. End_of_Article - Last_Page 418------------

Some Problems of Mississippian Stratigraphy in Southwestern United States

The southwestern Mississippian problems discussed include the relation of Lower Mississippian strata to their subjacent rocks, especially the problems involved in the evaluation of the Ouray limestone and the Percha formation as possible transitional units from the Devonian. Further problems are indicated in the relation of the Escabrosa limestone, with an impoverished brachiopod fauna, to the Redwall limestone, which is rich in brachiopods, and in the interrelation of the fossiliferous Lower Mississippian strata of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. Although insufficient knowledge of the regional stratigraphic paleontology is a serious handicap for interpretation, the relation between the autochthonous forms of the southwestern Lower Mississippian and the species characteristic of the Mississippi Valley Basin suggest a westward migration from the latter region. However, the nature of the ways of communication is still problematical. For instance, the abundance of typical Mississippi Valley species and the lack of southwestern brachiopods in the Lower Mississippian of New Mexico do not favor a direct connection with the Redwall and the Escabrosa basins. The Upper Mississippian Paradise formation of southeastern Arizona, most readily comparable paleontologically and stratigraphically to the standard Upper Mississippian of the Mississippi Valley, still has no other counterparts in the Southwest and is not easily traceable eastward through New Mexico and Texas or through Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico. The southernmost outpost of the comparable western unit, the Brazer limestone, with stratigraphically diffused paleontological indices and without Archimedes facies, is a long distance to the north, which suggests research problems in the intermediate areas, whereas the recent finds of Mississippian faunas in Sonora suggest the possibility of a southwestern orientation of a late Mississippian passageway in agreement with the pre-Mississippian paleogeographical setting and in common with the general direction of other Paleozoic outlets of that region.

Genera of Mississippian Loop-Bearing Brachiopoda

Previous articleNext article FreeGenera of Mississippian Loop-Bearing BrachiopodaStuart WellerStuart Weller Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 19, Number 5Jul. - Aug., 1911 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/621866 Views: 92Total views on this site Citations: 7Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:John L. Carter, David K. Brezinski, Albert D. Kollar, J. Thomas Dutro Brachiopoda Taxonomy and Biostratigraphy of the RedWall Limestone (Lower Mississippian) of Arizona, Annals of Carnegie Museum 82, no.33 (Jul 2014): 257–290.https://doi.org/10.2992/007.082.0306Guang R. Shi, Zhong-Qiang Chen, Li-Pei Zhan Early Carboniferous brachiopod faunas from the Baoshan block, west Yunnan, southwest China, Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 29, no.11 (Jan 2005): 31–85.https://doi.org/10.1080/03115510508619560YUANLIN SUN, MA XUEPING, BALIŃSKI ANDRZEJ, YUBO ZHANG A NEW MERISTID BRACHIOPOD GENUS FROM THE LOWER CARBONIFEROUS OF GUIZHOU, CHINA, Journal of Paleontology 78, no.11 (Jan 2004): 240–244.https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0240:ANMBGF>2.0.CO;2YUANLIN SUN, MA XUEPING, BALIŃSKI ANDRZEJ, YUBO ZHANG A NEW MERISTID BRACHIOPOD GENUS FROM THE LOWER CARBONIFEROUS OF GUIZHOU, CHINA, Journal of Paleontology 78, no.11 (Jan 2004): 240–244.https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0240:ANMBGF>2.0.CO;2Shuzhong Shen, Jin Yugan Brachiopods from the Permian–Triassic boundary beds at the Selong Xishan section, Xizang (Tibet), China, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 17, no.44 (Aug 1999): 547–559.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(99)00004-8Fernando Alvarez, Rong Jia-Yu, A. J. Boucot The classification of athyridid brachiopods, Journal of Paleontology 72, no.55 (Jul 2015): 827–855.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000027189D. V. Ager, P. Copper, G. M. Dunlop, G. F. Elliott, F. A. Middlemiss, A. J. Rowell, A. Williams, A. D. Wright Chapter 12 Brachiopoda, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 2, no.11 (Jun 2022): 397–421.https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1967.002.01.30

Correlation of the Middle and Upper Devonian and the Mississippian Faunas of North America

Previous articleNext article FreeCorrelation of the Middle and Upper Devonian and the Mississippian Faunas of North AmericaStuart WellerStuart Weller Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 17, Number 3Apr. - May, 1909 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/621608 Views: 40Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1909 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jack C. Pashin, Frank R. Ettensohn Palaeoecology and sedimentology of the dysaerobic Bedford fauna (late Devonian), Ohio and Kentucky (USA), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 91, no.1-21-2 (Jan 1992): 21–34.https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(92)90029-5Alan S. Horowitz, Susan Able, H. L. Strimple Abnormalities in Pentremites Say (Blastoidea) from the Pella Formation (Upper Mississippian) of Iowa, Journal of Paleontology 60, no.22 (May 2016): 390–399.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000021909