Wenlock Series Research Articles

A vicissicaudatan arthropod from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte, UK.

A new arthropod, Carimersa neptuni gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) Herefordshire Konservat-Lagerstätte, UK. The head bears pedunculate eyes and five pairs of appendages. Triflagellate antennae are followed by two pairs of uniramous limbs each with an endopod bearing a pronounced gnathobasic basipod. The posterior two pairs of head limbs and all trunk limbs bear an endopod, exopod and filamentous exite. The trunk consists of 10 appendage-bearing segments followed by an apodous abdomen of four segments. The arthropod resolves as sister taxon to Kodymirus and Eozetetes + Aglaspidida. It is the first representative of Vicissicaudata reported from the Herefordshire Lagerstätte and the first Silurian example with well-preserved appendages. The preservation of a cluster of radiolarians apparently captured by the trunk appendages is the first direct association of predator and prey discovered in the Herefordshire fauna, and suggests that Carimersa was a nektobenthic form that used its gnathobasic basipods in microdurophagy.

ANALYSIS OF THE TAXONOMIC COMPOSI TION OF THE LLANDOVERIAN AND WENLOCKIAN FOSSILS OF MOLDAVIAN PRIDNESTROVYE ENTERED IN THE ELECTRONIC DATABASE “THE PALAEONTOLOGY OF PRIDNESTROVYE”

Problem statement and purpose. In geological surveys of the territory of the Moldavian SSR from the 1960th to the 1990th, deep horizons of Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks were discovered, the leading place among which belongs to the Silurian deposits. At that time, several dozen species and genera of fossils were identified in the Silurian of Moldavian Pridnestrovye. In 2020, as part of the work financed from the state budget on the theme of the creation of GIS “The Geology of Pridnestrovye”, the laboratory “The Geological Resources” developed an electronic database called “The Palaeontology of Pridnestrovye”. The fauna included in the database of palaeontology was divided into groups corresponding to their palaeontological classes and stratigraphic horizons: “Ordovician brachiopods”, “Silurian tabulates”, “Palaeogene foraminifers”, “Neogene bivalves”, etc. Species and genera of the fauna were linked to specific formations and locations, which provides good opportunity for palaeontological analysis of individual formations, horizons, cores of drilling and outcrops. The purpose of this article is to compile lists of fauna from the Llandoverian and Wenlockian formations of Moldavian Pridnestrovye and to compare their chronology with fossil fauna data on the sameage rocks of Podillia, Estonia and Lithuania. Material and methods. Four survey reports deal that on sheets L‑35-V and L‑35-XII were used as the material. The goal was concerning the sedimentary rocks of Llandovery and Wenlock Series. In the local scheme it corresponds to the Marasesti, Step-Soci, Cioc-Maidan (all in Llandovery), Balti formations and Lower Puhoi subformation (Wenlock). The intervals of the formations in boreholes are composed of organogenic limestones, silty, argillaceous stones, argillites and dolomites. The species and genera of the fauna from these intervals are compared with the biostratigraphic data from Podillia, Estonia and Lithuania. Results. In the stratigraphic sequences of Llandovery and Wenlock of the Moldavian Pridnestrovye, (in most cases) species and genera unique to those divisions of brachiopods, tabulates, stromatoporoids, ostracods, rugosans, and trilobites were identified by specialists; a smaller part of the taxa pass between the lowest formations of the Silurian and the overlying Balti formation. Most taxa have correspondences in the Podillian and Baltic basins; however, in these regions, the species and genera identified in Llandovery or Wenlock of Moldavian Pridnestrovye are mostly transitive between Silurian divisions, up to the Ludlow and Pridoli Series. There is practically no identified fauna in the Lower Puhoi sub-formation of Moldavian Pridnestrovye because of its facial specifics. The species Acidolites lateseptatus (Lindstroem), Altha modesta Neckaja, Longiscula caudalis (Jones) in Llandovery and Pentamerus oblongus Sowerby, Halysites catenularius Linnaeus = Halysites priscus Klaamann in Llandovery and Wenlock Series were the only guideing fauna for the first two Silurian series of Moldavian Pridnestrovye. Due to the attribution of the Muksha sub-formation of Podillia to Ludlow Series, no guiding species of the Wenlock stage was identified in the Balti formation of Moldavian Pridnestrovye.

A Silurian ophiuroid with soft‐tissue preservation

AbstractMost Palaeozoic brittle stars lack the fused arm ossicles (vertebrae) that facilitate the remarkable mode of walking that characterizes living forms. Here we describe a stem ophiuroid from the Herefordshire Lagerstätte (Silurian, Wenlock Series), which is exceptional in preserving the body cavity uncompacted and the long tube feet. We assign the specimen to the order Oegophiurida. The morphology of the arms and attitude of the specimen suggest that locomotion may have been achieved by arm propulsion combined with podial walking. This ophiuroid increases the diversity of echinoderm higher taxa with preserved soft parts represented in the Herefordshire Lagerstätte.

Sequential, multi-taxon encrustation of an orthoceratid cephalopod by stalked blastozoan echinoderms in the middle Silurian (Wenlock Series) of southeastern Indiana, USA

Sequential, multi-taxon encrustation of an orthoceratid cephalopod by stalked blastozoan echinoderms in the middle Silurian (Wenlock Series) of southeastern Indiana, USA

A high-precision global biostratigraphy of myodocope ostracods for the Silurian upper Wenlock Series and Ludlow Series

The wide, trans-oceanic geographical distribution of myodocope ostracods during the Silurian (especially during the Ludlow and Pridoli epochs), and their widespread preservation in rocks of that age, permits the establishment of a transcontinental biostratigraphy of comparable resolution to coeval graptolite/chitinozoan/conodont biozones. Seven myodocope biozones, extending from the Homerian Stage, upper Wenlock Series Cyrtograptus lundgreni graptolite biozone to the middle part of the Ludfordian Stage of the Ludlow Series, enable a time-resolution for each biozone of circa 1 million years. These biozones can provide high-resolution correlation across Europe into Arctic Russia and Central Asia. There is also the potential for a myodocope biostratigraphy applicable from the uppermost Silurian (Pridoli) to the Carboniferous.

Early Silurian δ13Corg excursions in the foreland basin of Baltica, both familiar and surprising

The Sommerodde-1 core from Bornholm, Denmark, provides a nearly continuous sedimentary archive from the Upper Ordovician through to the Wenlock Series (lower Silurian), as constrained by graptolite biostratigraphy. The cored mudstones represent a deep marine depositional setting in the foreland basin fringing Baltica and we present high-resolution data on the isotopic composition of the section's organic carbon (δ13Corg). This chemostratigraphical record is correlated with previously recognized δ13C excursions in the Upper Ordovician–lower Silurian, including the Hirnantian positive isotope carbon excursion (HICE), the early Aeronian positive carbon isotope excursion (EACIE), and the early Sheinwoodian positive carbon isotope excursion (ESCIE). A new positive excursion of high magnitude (~4‰) is discovered in the Telychian Oktavites spiralis Biozone (lower Silurian) and we name it the Sommerodde Carbon Isotope Excursion (SOCIE). The SOCIE appears discernible in δ13Ccarb data from Latvian and Estonian cores but it is not yet widely recognized. However, the magnitude of the excursion within the deep, marine, depositional setting, represented by the Sommerodde-1 core, suggests that the SOCIE reflects a significant event. In addition, the chemostratigraphical record of the Sommerodde-1 core reveals the negative excursion at the transition from the Aeronian to Telychian stages (the ‘Rumba low’), and suggests that the commencement of the EACIE at the base of the Demirastrites triangulatus Biozone potentially is a useful chemostratigraphical marker for the base of the Aeronian Stage.

Graptolite biostratigraphy of the lower Silurian of the Sommerodde-1 core, Bornholm, Denmark

The Sommerodde-1 core provides a continuous record through the subsurface of southern Bornholm from the Wenlock Series (Silurian) through to the Lower Cambrian. The Silurian graptolite biostratigraphy of the core is described. For the Rhuddanian and Aeronian (lower and middle Llandovery), the succession and thickness of biozones are very similar to those in the Øleå rivulet nearby. For the upper Llandovery, the lower Telychian Spirograptus guerichi and Sp. turriculatus biozones are significantly thicker in the core than in Øleå, whilst the uppermost Telychian (represented by more than 30 m of strata in nearby sections) is largely absent in the core. This is likely to be a reflection of synsedimentary faulting influencing deposition. It has previously been suggested that much of the Sheinwoodian is missing on Bornholm; this is not the case. The Sheinwoodian is represented by an apparently continuous sequence, at least 31 m thick, in the Sommerodde-1 core.

The Homerian carbon isotope excursion (Silurian) within graptolitic successions on the Midland Platform (Avalonia), UK: implications for regional and global comparisons and correlations

New δ13Ccarb data from the most stratigraphically extensive graptolitic sections of Homerian age in the study area are reported from Wenlock Edge and the Ludlow Anticline (UK). These sections, situated upon the Midland Platform (Avalonia), were key in establishing the Homerian graptolite biozonation used within the type Wenlock Series, and are consequently of international importance. Based upon 162 δ13Ccarb samples from four outcrops (Eaton Track, Longville–Stanway Road Cutting, Burrington Section and Mortimer Forest Stop 1), new graptolite collections and a re-evaluation of the original graptolite collections, the onset of both lower (older) and upper (younger) peaks of the Homerian Carbon Isotope Excursion have been calibrated to a revised graptolite biozonation (lundgreni – nassa – praedeubeli-deubeli – ludensis biozones). In addition, high-resolution correlation between the Ludlow Anticline and Wenlock Edge has been achieved by bio-, chemo- and sequence stratigraphic techniques. These correlations suggest a uniformity of depositional rates across the study area and indicate minor diachroneity at the base of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Finally, correlations of the Midland Platform Homerian Carbon Isotope Excursion have allowed for better comparisons with other sections from which high-resolution graptolite and carbon isotope data are available. Such comparisons highlight the pan-regional synchronicity of the Homerian Carbon Isotope Excursion.

The carbon isotope and sequence stratigraphic record of the Sheinwoodian and lower Homerian stages (Silurian) of the Midland Platform, UK

New high resolution δ13Ccarb isotope data are presented through the Sheinwoodian and lower Homerian stages of the Wenlock Series (Silurian) from sections in Shropshire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands (UK). This data identifies the well-known Early Sheinwoodian positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (ESCIE), the minor mid-ESCIE negative shift, and an Early Homerian positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (EHCIE) in the region of 1.4‰, as developed upon the Midland Platform and in close proximity to the Sheinwoodian and Homerian GSSPs. These carbon isotope excursions have been correlated against graptolite, conodont and chitinozoan frameworks from across the Midland Platform, and alongside details of sedimentology and faunas, have allowed for the establishment of a sequence stratigraphic framework. These integrated data sets reveal that the shallow-water Barr–Buildwas–Woolhope limestones reflect approximately synchronous deposition across the Midland Platform; in that they all contain the ESCIE and five widely traceable depositional cycles. Moreover, biostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic frameworks from across the Midland Platform (Avalonia) confirm that both the ESCIE and the five cycles are synchronous with records from other palaeocontinents (Baltica and Laurentia) and indicate that the early Sheinwoodian graptolite zones as established in the type area are in need of review.

Microfossils across the Llandovery–Wenlock boundary in Ziyang–Langao region, Shaanxi, NW China

A total of 80 samples were collected primarily for chitinozoans from the Wuxiahe Formation (late Llandovery–early Sheinwoodian) in the Ziyang–Langao region, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. Besides chitinozoans, several other microfossil groups have been recovered unexpectedly, including conodonts, melanosclerites, acritarchs, and scolecodonts. Colonized acritarchs and club-shaped melanosclerites appear sporadically. Among the rare recorded chitinozoans, Angochitina longicollis is a Telychian–early Sheinwoodian species occurring throughout the studied interval of the Wuxiahe Formation at the Bajiaokou A section of Ziyang County. Conodonts of the late Telychian Pterospathodus eopennatus, Pterospathodus celloni, Pterospathodus a. amorphognathoides biozones and the early Sheinwoodian Pterospathodus p. procerus Biozone are identified at the Qiaoxi section of Langao County, where they co-occur with graptolites. The occurrences of melanosclerites and turbidite deposits support an open marine environment during late Llandovery to early Wenlock in the study region. Based on the recovered microfossils, the Llandovery–Wenlock boundary seems to be confined within a 0.73m-thick interval at the Qiaoxi section.It is the first time that microfossils, especially conodonts, have been recorded in the Llandovery–Wenlock transitional interval in the Ziyang–Langao region, Northwest China. The discovery of these microfossil groups supplements biostratigraphic information in the Ziyang region, where a possible GSSP candidate for the base of the Wenlock Series is located. The potential input of these microfossil groups in defining the Llandovery–Wenlock boundary is discussed.

A Silurian short-great-appendage arthropod

A new arthropod, Enalikter aphson gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) Herefordshire Lagerstätte of the UK. It belongs to the Megacheira (=short-great-appendage group), which is recognized here, for the first time, in strata younger than mid-Cambrian age. Discovery of this new Silurian taxon allows us to identify a Devonian megacheiran representative, Bundenbachiellus giganteus from the Hunsrück Slate of Germany. The phylogenetic position of megacheirans is controversial: they have been interpreted as stem chelicerates, or stem euarthropods, but when Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus are added to the most comprehensive morphological database available, a stem euarthropod position is supported. Enalikter represents the only fully three-dimensionally preserved stem-group euarthropod, it falls in the sister clade to the crown-group euarthropods, and it provides new insights surrounding the origin and early evolution of the euarthropods. Recognition of Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus as megacheirans indicates that this major arthropod group survived for nearly 100 Myr beyond the mid-Cambrian.

A new high-resolution δ13Ccarb isotope curve through the lower Wenlock Series of Buttington Quarry, Wales

New high-resolution δ13Ccarb isotope data are presented through the lower part of the early Sheinwoodian carbon isotope excursion from a section in Buttington Quarry, Wales. The graptolite biostratigraphy of the section is established, with the base of the measured section within the Cyrtograptus murchisoni Biozone. The first appearance datums of the biozonal indices Monograptus firmus and Monograptus riccartonensis are recorded. The new isotope curve will provide the basis for future studies, particularly on the palynology of the section.

Late Wenlock sequence and bentonite stratigraphy in the Malvern, Suckley and Abberley Hills, England

The Late Wenlock Series (Homerian Stage) of the central Midland Platform occupies an area stretching from Ledbury to the Malvern, Suckley and Abberley Hills. Based upon the establishment of a sequence stratigraphic framework for the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, and the immediately under- and over-lying Coalbrookdale and Lower Elton Formations, comparisons can now be made with key sections across the northern Midland Platform and beyond. These correlations have been strengthened by the determination of apatite rare earth element (REE) geochemical signatures obtained from four volcanic ash layers (bentonites) at Whitman's Hill Quarry (Herefordshire), which allow for comparisons with published coeval sections at Wren's Nest Hill (West Midlands) and Wenlock Edge (Shropshire), as well as with bentonites described from the Island of Gotland (Sweden).Across the study area fifteen parasequences associated with two pronounced regressive episodes, separated by a marked transgression, can be identified. The lithological responses to these relative sea-level changes are the same as those reported from the West Midlands, including the threefold division of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation into Lower Quarried Limestone, Nodular Beds and Upper Quarried Limestone Members. Apatite REE geochemical signatures from Whitman's Hill Quarry identify three bentonites which probably originated from a granodiorite magmatic source, while a fourth bentonite has a distinctively mafic composition, more akin to that of a gabbro or syenite. This distinctively mafic bentonite is preserved on a marked flooding surface within the Nodular Beds Member and appears compositionally and stratigraphically equivalent to a bentonite at Wren's Nest Hill (West Midlands). Furthermore in both sections this bentonite is of notable thickness (120–200mm) allowing for its identification in other sections across the region. Comparisons with Gotland identify three closely spaced bentonites of a similar mafic composition to the bentonite described from the Midland Platform. While similarities in stratigraphic position and composition do not, at present, allow for the identification of a single ash fall event covering both the Midland Platform and Gotland, they are indicative of a shared source region, which may offer the possibility for future bentonite correlation between these regions.

U-Pb (zircon) age constraints on the timing and duration of Wenlock (Silurian) paleocommunity collapse and recovery during the "Big Crisis"

High-precision isotope-dilution U-Pb (zircon) dating was conducted on three volcanic ash fall (bentonite) samples from the Swedish island of Gotland, and on a fourth bentonite from the West Midlands, England. Zircons from the Ireviken, Grotlingbo, Djupvik (Gotland), and Wren's Nest Hill-15 (West Midlands) bentonites yielded weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 ages of 431.83 +/- 0.23/0.67 Ma, 428.45 +/- 035/0.73 Ma, 428.06 +/- 0.2110.66 Ma, and 427.86 +/- 032/0.71 Ma, respectively (analytical/total uncertainties). These biostratigraphically well-controlled age dates effectively bracket the Wenlock Epoch of the Silurian Period and provide control for the duration of one of the major Paleozoic biotic events and associated perturbations to the global carbon cycle (the or lundgreni event- graptolites; the NIulde Event-conodonts; the Mulde excursion-carbon isotopes). These new data suggest an older and shorter duration for the recalibration of the Wenlock Series and demonstrate that the cascade of biological and chemical events that took place during the Big Crisis happened on time scales of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. (Less)

Upper Wenlock bentonites from Wren's Nest Hill, Dudley: comparisons with prominent bentonites along Wenlock Edge, Shropshire, England

AbstractThe upper Wenlock Series (Homerian Stage) of the northern Midland Platform, England, contains numerous volcanic bentonite clay layers. At Wren's Nest Hill, Dudley, 15 bentonites have been investigated and comparisons with the type-Wenlock have been made by means of two key sections along Wenlock Edge, Shropshire. In total 22 bentonites have been investigated and their clay and sand-grade mineralogies determined. Rare earth element (REE) and yttrium concentrations of apatite grains contained within ten of the bentonites have been established allowing geochemical fingerprinting as an indication of provenance of source magmas and identification of geochemical marker beds. Based on the analysis of REE and yttrium concentrations it seems likely that the majority of these bentonites originated from a granodiorite magmatic source. Comparisons with published Llandovery and lower Wenlock age bentonites indicate generally more enrichment in light REEs relative to heavy REEs. In addition, close geochemical similarities between bentonites along Wenlock Edge and at Wren's Nest Hill strongly argue for their presence as precise stratigraphic equivalents within the upper Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. These correlations are further supported by geophysical data from borehole wire-line logs across the West Midlands. Finally, a chemically distinct mid-Homerian episode of volcanism is identified and represents a potentially important marker interval between the study area and other similarly aged bentonites reported from the Island of Gotland, Sweden.

Revised correlation of Silurian Provincial Series of North America with global and regional chronostratigraphic units and δ 13 C carb chemostratigraphy

Cramer, B.D., Brett, C.E., Melchin, M.J., Männik, P., Kleffner, M.A., McLaughlin, P.I., Loydell, D.K., Munnecke, A., Jeppsson, L., Corradini, C., Brunton, F.R. & Saltzman, M.R. 2011: Revised correlation of Silurian Provincial Series of North America with global and regional chronostratigraphic units and δ13Ccarb chemostratigraphy. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 185–202. Recent revisions to the biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic assignment of strata from the type area of the Niagaran Provincial Series (a regional chronostratigraphic unit) have demonstrated the need to revise the chronostratigraphic correlation of the Silurian System of North America. Recently, the working group to restudy the base of the Wenlock Series has developed an extremely high-resolution global chronostratigraphy for the Telychian and Sheinwoodian stages by integrating graptolite and conodont biostratigraphy with carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) chemostratigraphy. This improved global chronostratigraphy has required such significant chronostratigraphic revisions to the North American succession that much of the Silurian System in North America is currently in a state of flux and needs further refinement. This report serves as an update of the progress on recalibrating the global chronostratigraphic correlation of North American Provincial Series and Stage boundaries in their type area. The revised North American classification is correlated with global series and stages as well as regional classifications used in the United Kingdom, the East Baltic, Australia, China, the Barrandian, and Altaj. Twenty-four potential stage slices, based primarily on graptolite and conodont zones and correlated to the global series and stages, are illustrated alongside a new composite δ13Ccarb curve for the Silurian. Conodont, graptolite, isotope, New York, Ontario, series, Silurian, stage.

A soft-bodied lophophorate from the Silurian of England

Soft-bodied taxa comprise an important component of the extant lophophorate fauna, but convincing fossils of soft-bodied lophophorates are extremely rare. A small fossil lophophorate, attached to a brachiopod dorsal valve, is described from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) Herefordshire Lagerstätte of England. This unmineralized organism was bilaterally symmetrical and comprised a subconical body attached basally to the host and partially enclosed by a broad 'hood'; the body bore a small, coiled lophophore. Where the hood attached laterally, there is a series of transverse ridges and furrows. The affinities of this organism probably lie with Brachiopoda; the hood is interpreted as the homologue of a dorsal valve/mantle lobe, and the attachment as the homologue of the ventral valve and/or pedicle. The ridges are arranged in a manner that suggests constructional serial repetition, indicating that they are unlikely to represent mantle canals. Extant brachiopods are not serially structured, but morphological and molecular evidence suggests that their ancestors were. The new organism may belong to the brachiopod stem group, and might also represent a significant element of the Palaeozoic lophophorate fauna.

Palaeocope ostracods from the Silurian Wenlock Series of Arctic Canada

Silurian Wenlock Series deposits of the Cape Phillips Formation on Baillie-Hamilton Island and Cornwallis Island, Arctic Canada, have yielded a silicified ostracod assemblage that spans the late Sheinwoodian and Homerian stages. Sixteen palaeocope ostracod species are recorded, including the new species Beyrichia ( Beyrichia ) marssae , Gabrielsella ? copelandi , and Platybolbina ( Abruptobolbina ) adraini . The ostracod faunas can be linked into local trilobite, microvertebrate, and graptolite zonal schemes, and a few of the ostracod species offer potential for local and perhaps wider biostratigraphical correlation. The ostracods are mostly known only from the Cape Phillips Formation, but also include two taxa found in the Wenlock Series of the Avalanche Lake area, Northwest Territories, Canada. Other ostracod species suggest links with Silurian successions in northern Canada and the Baltic. Low-diversity ostracod faunas characterize the level of a marked positive carbon isotope excursion and coeval mid-Homerian regression at the level of the regional Pristiograptus dubius – Gothograptus nassa graptolite Biozone. Comparison with the pattern of distribution of coeval ostracod faunas elsewhere in Canada suggests that diversity changes in the Cape Phillips Formation ostracod faunas are controlled by local palaeoenvironmental factors perhaps linked to global sea-level change.

Testing the limits of Paleozoic chronostratigraphic correlation via high-resolution (<500 k.y.) integrated conodont, graptolite, and carbon isotope ( 13Ccarb) biochemostratigraphy across the Llandovery-Wenlock (Silurian) boundary: Is a unified Phanerozoic time scale achievable?

The resolution and fidelity of global chronostratigraphic correlation are direct functions of the time period under consideration. By virtue of deep-ocean cores and astrochronology, the Cenozoic and Mesozoic time scales carry error bars of a few thousand years (k.y.) to a few hundred k. y. In contrast, most of the Paleozoic time scale carries error bars of plus or minus a few million years (m. y.), and chronostratigraphic control better than +/- 1 m. y. is considered high resolution. The general lack of Paleozoic abyssal sediments and paucity of orbitally tuned Paleozoic data series combined with the relative incompleteness of the Paleozoic stratigraphic record have proven historically to be such an obstacle to intercontinental chronostratigraphic correlation that resolving the Paleozoic time scale to the level achieved during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic was viewed as impractical, impossible, or both. Here, we utilize integrated graptolite, conodont, and carbonate carbon isotope (delta C-13 carb) data from three paleocontinents (Baltica, Avalonia, and Laurentia) to demonstrate chronostratigraphic control for upper Llandovery through middle Wenlock (TelychianSheinwoodian, similar to 436-426 Ma) strata with a resolution of a few hundred k.y. The interval surrounding the base of the Wenlock Series can now be correlated globally with precision approaching 100 k.y., but some intervals (e. g., uppermost Telychian and upper Shein-woodian) are either yet to be studied in sufficient detail or do not show sufficient biologic speciation and/or extinction or carbon isotopic features to delineate such small time slices. Although producing such resolution during the Paleozoic presents an array of challenges unique to the era, we have begun to demonstrate that erecting a Paleozoic time scale comparable to that of younger eras is achievable. (Less)

Paleobiogeography, high-resolution stratigraphy, and the future of Paleozoic biostratigraphy: Fine-scale diachroneity of the Wenlock (Silurian) conodont Kockelella walliseri

The Wenlock Epoch of the Silurian Period has become one of the chronostratigraphically best-constrained intervals of the Paleozoic. The integration of multiple chronostratigraphic tools, such as conodont and graptolite biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, and δ 13C carb chemostratigraphy, has greatly improved global chronostratigraphic correlation and portions of the Wenlock can now be correlated with precision better than ± 100 kyr. Additionally, such detailed and integrated chronostratigraphy provides an opportunity to evaluate the fidelity of individual chronostratigraphic tools. Here, we use conodont biostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and carbon isotope ( δ 13C carb) chemostratigraphy to demonstrate that the conodont Kockelella walliseri, an important guide fossil for middle and upper Sheinwoodian strata (lower stage of the Wenlock Series), first appears at least one full stratigraphic sequence lower in Laurentia than in Baltica. Rather than serving as a demonstration of the unreliability of conodont biostratigraphy, this example serves to demonstrate the promise of high-resolution Paleozoic stratigraphy. The temporal difference between the two first occurrences was likely less than 1 million years, and although it is conceptually understood that speciation and colonization must have been non-instantaneous events, Paleozoic paleobiogeographic variability on such short timescales (tens to hundreds of kyr) traditionally has been ignored or considered to be of little practical importance. The expansion of high-resolution Paleozoic stratigraphy in the future will require robust biostratigraphic zonations that embrace the integration of multiple chronostratigraphic tools as well as the paleobiogeographic variability in ranges that they will inevitably demonstrate. In addition, a better understanding of the paleobiogeographic migration histories of marine organisms will provide a unique tool for future Paleozoic paleoceanography and paleobiology research.