DOCSLIB.ORG

New Collections from Sirius Passet, North Greenland

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
New Collections from Sirius Passet, North Greenland Aseeand glimpse af Early Cambrian life: new calleetians from Sirius Passet, North Greenland John S. Peel, Simon Conway Monis and Jon R. Ineson Thc German mining term lagerstatren, referring to a similar age to thc Chcngjiang f<:luna of YlIllnan Prov­ rock af any composition containing constitucnts af eco­ ince, China (ehen Jun-yuan & Erdtmann, 1991; ehen nomic intcrcst, has becn widdy applied to occurrences Jun-yuan el al., 1991; Hou Xian-guang & Bcrgstrom, af abundant ar unusually well preserved fossils (cf. Sei­ 1991). lacher et al., 1985). The Middle Cambrian Burgcss The most notcworthy rnernbers ol' the Sirius Passet Shale af western Canada is perhaps the most famolls af fauna are articulated halkieriid warms (Fig. l; Comvay all fossil-Jagerst3Ue, with man)' uf the approximately Morris & Peel. 1990; Peel, 1991). but thc arthropod­ 140 known species preserving exquisite details of the dominated fauna 'lisa yiclds spanges, warms and sevcral soft anatomy af members af a community of organisms organisms of problematie affinities.. that was fossilised more than 500 million years ago (Whittington, 19R5: Conway Monis, 1979, 1986; Gould. 1989). Other well known examp1es includc the Upper Cambrian 'Orsteo' ol" southcrn Sweden, the Lowcr Devonian I-!unsriick Slate and the Jurassic Soln­ hofen Limestone uf Germany (Sti.irrner el al.. 1980; Miiller. 19R5; Barthcl el al. 1990; summary in I3riggs & Crowther, 1990, pp. 266-297). The term ean be applied aptly to the Sirius Passet fauna af central North Green­ land. where a \vcalth af exccptiunally preserved fossils (c.g. Fig. 1) from tile Lower Cambrian Buen Forn;ation has been recorded from a small tocality in western Peary Lancl. neal' the south-wesrern end af tlle hroad valley knO\vn as Sirius Passet (Fig. 2). The locality yiclding the Sirius Passet fauna \\'as dis­ covered in 1984, but substantial cullecting was first pos­ siblc in 1989 (Conway Morris rI al.. 1987; Conway Mor­ ris & Peel, 1990; Peel, 1990). At that rime, a cullectiun uf sUlne 1500 slabs of muclstone was secured, yielding a fauna ol' more tllan 30 species. Intere:-;t in the SirilIs Passet fauna reflecrs not only the anatomica] informa­ tion whieh ean be derived from spccimens prescrving details af limbs and saft parts, but alsa tlle great antiqui~ ty of the locality. The assemhlagc is significantly older Ihan the Rurgess Shale lagcrstilttcn ol' Canada, and af Fig. I. Articu!<ncd halkicriid from the Buen FOflllation at Sirius Passet. central Nonh Grccn[and. MGUf-/ [(j.72i:) from GGU col1ection 340103, X 2. Thc worm-like body is covcred by many ilundrcds af Sll1(lll sc!crites. witil prominent shclls locatcd anlcriorly (tumet! to the right il1 this spccimcn) and posteriorly. 49 ~ ~, ': :-:~-~-:: ;'''-' '. ~;=} _J'-'---' J.P." Koch p e a r y L a n d =- ~"I"'!'I! .. -; a ..;r,,'/J ',', /') /r:':' '~~-' ~-~,-:,~~--- , , Wandel Valley Formation (Ordovician) Ordoviclan U Tavsens Iskappe Group 40km M Bronlund Fjord Group .. Buen Formation lee margin L Portfjeld Formation Fig. 2. Outcrops ol' thl;' Buen FormaliolI in central North Grccnbnd showing thc localily for lho:: l.owcr CImbrian lagcrstiittcn al Sirius P,lsscL During July - e(}r!y August IYYI, <I second 4-mall brian record af this group (Ramsk6ld & llol! Xian­ cxpedition vtsited Sirius Pa<:-isct. As in t989, financial guang. 199t; Rellgtsoll. lY9l). suppon for thc ficldwork was provided by a grant from Despite limitations imposcd hl' struc!uraJ cornplexity the Carlsherg Founclation. Copcnhagcn. Transport hoth and intermittant exposure, fieldwark in 1991 rcsu1tcd in to and \vithin North Greenland was co-ordinatcd with an increased understancling af the local stratigraphy and scvcral Dlher grollps from Dnnish SCiCfltific institutions the sedimclltolagical evolution af the iml1lediate al"ca of under a logisIie umbrelln providcd by Dansk Polarcen~ the fossil locality. Thc stccply-dipping fossiliferous t<.:r. Three weeks of cOllecting bcnefittcu from excellent mudstoncs uf the Buen Fonnation occur in dase prox­ wcalher. in contrasl Io the pOOl" conciitiOlls \vhich prc­ imity to horizontally-bcdclcJ platform carhonates of tlle vailed ciuring tlle IYS9 visit. stratigraphically older Portfjeld Fonnation; this contact Collecting during 1991 yiclded marc than 3000 fossi­ has hcen inlerpreted pn.:viously as a slruclural feature, liferous slabs and confirmed the image af the fauna citllcr a down-Io-basill (i.e. llorth) normal fault Ol' a cstahlishcd alrc(ldy in 1989. A number of addiliona\ back-thrllst (A. K. Higgins. personal cOlTlnluni<.:atioll. spccimcllS ol' halkicriids wcre obtained, toget her \Vith 191)1). Dc.tailed mapping and tlie oc<.:urrence. Jocal1)'. of numcrous anhropods witll prescrvecl sort parts. Two carbonate slope LICies at the conlacL however. suggesl spccimcIlS uf a possihlc onychophoran are af particular that lhe houndary defines the original northcrn margin illtcrcst an aceount af currcnt discussions af the Calll- of thc Portfjeld Forrmltion carbonatc platform. This 50 eonc1usion is compatibie with the regional palaeogeo­ Conway Morris, S. 1979: The Burgess ShaJe (Middle Cam­ graphy (Higgins et al., 1991) and implies that the fossil­ brian) fauna. Ann. Rev. Ecol. System. 10,327-349. bearing mudstones of the Buen Formation were depos­ Conway Morris, S. 1986: The community structure of the Mid­ ited basinward of the shelf edge, in a transitional 'slope' dIe Cambrian Phyllopod bed (Burgess Shale). Palaeontology setting. 29,423-467. Thrust repetition was demonstrated within strata of Conway Morris, S. & Peel, J. S. 1990: Articulated halkieriids from the Lower Cambrian of north Greenland. Nature 345, the Buen Formation north of the eontaet with the Portf­ 802-805. jeld Formation. Thus, minor teetonie modification of Conway Morris, S., Peel, J. S., Higgins, A. K., Soper, N. J. the boundary between the Buen Formation and the & Davis, N. C.1987: A Burgess shale-like fauna from the Portfjeld Formation ean not be prec1uded. Preliminary Lower Cambrian of North Greenland. Nature 326, 181-183. eorrelation between the fossil-bearing, mud-dominated Gould, S. J. 1989: Wonderfullife. The Burgess shale and the strata of the Buen Formation north of the shelf edge and nature ofhistory, 347 pp. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. the Buen Formation exposed in outliers on top of the Higgins, A. K., Ineson, J. R., Peel, J. S., Surlyk, F. & Sønder­ Portfjeld Formation, in the area south of the edge, ho1m, M. 1991: Lower PaJaeozoic Franklinian Basin of suggests that the former were deposited folIowing the North Greenland. Bul!. Grønlands geol. Unders. 160, 71­ 139. initial transgression of the karstified Portfjeld platform; Hou Xian-guang & Bergstrom, J. 1991: The arthropods of the this is compatibie with the stratigraphie position of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, with relationships and Sirius Passet fauna suggested previously, namely within evolutionary significance. In Simonetta, A. M. & Conway the lower part of the Buen Formation (Peel, 1990). Morris, S. (ed.) The early evolution of Metazoa and the significance ofproblematic taxa, 179-187. Cambridge: Cam­ Acknowledgements. We thank fellow expedition member bridge Univ. Press. Mona Bjørklund for assistance in the field and S. Hauge An­ Muller, K. J. 1985: Exceptional preservation in calcareous dersson (Dansk Polarcenter) for his organisational expertise. nodules. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B311, 67-73. The programme received financial support from the Carlsberg Peel, J. S. 1990: Studying the early history of life in Greenland. Foundation, and logistic support from the Royal Danish Air Rapp. Grønlands geol. Unders. 148,54-56. Force and the Geological Survey of Greenland. Peel, J. S. 1991: The Classes Tergomya and HelcioneIIoida, and early molluscan evolution. Bul!. Grønlands geol. Un­ ders. 161, 11-65. References Ramskold, L. & Hou Xianguang 1991: Newearly Cambrian animal and onychophoran affinities of enigmatic metazoans. Barthel, K. w., Swinburne, N. H. M. & Conway Morris, S. Nature 351, 225-228. 1990: Solnhofen: a study in Mesozoic palaeontology, 236 pp. SeiIacher, A., Reif, W.-E. & Westphal, F. 1985: Sedimentolog­ Cambridge: Cambridge U. P. icai, ecological and temporal patterns of fossil lagerstatten. Bengtson, S. 1991: OddbaIIs from the Cambrian start to get Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B311, 5-23. even. Nature 351, 184-185. Sturmer, W., Schaarschmidt, F. & Mittmeyer, H.-G. 1980: Briggs, D. E. G. & Crowther, P. R. 1990: Palaeobiology. A Versteinertes Leben im Rontgenlicht, 80 pp. Frankfurt: Ver­ synthesis, 583 pp. Oxford: BlackweII Sci. PubI. lag W. Kramer. Chen Jun-yuan & Erdtmann, 0.-0. 1991: Lower Cambrian Whittington, H. B. 1985: The Burgess Shale, 151 pp. New lagerstiitte from Chengjiang, Yunnan, China: insights for Haven: Yale U.P. reconstructing early metazoan life. In Simonetta, A. M. & Conway Morris, S. (ed.) The early evolution ofMetazoa and the significance of problematic taxa, 57-76. Cambridge: J. S. P., Geological Survey of Greenland, Copenhagen. Cambridge Univ. Press. S. C. M., Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Chen Jun-yuan, Bergstrom, J., Lindstrom, M. & Hou Xian­ Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EQ, u.K. guang 1991: Fossilized soft-bodied fauna. Natl Geographic J. R. I., Geological Survey of Denmark, Thoravej 8, DK-2400 Res. & Explor. 7(1), 8-19. Copenhagen NV, Denmark..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Soft−Part Preservation in Two Species of the Arthropod Isoxys from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada
    Soft−part preservation in two species of the arthropod Isoxys from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada DIEGO C. GARCÍA−BELLIDO, JEAN VANNIER, and DESMOND COLLINS García−Bellido, D.C., Vannier, J., and Collins, D. 2009. Soft−part preservation in two species of the arthropod Isoxys from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54 (4): 699–712. doi:10.4202/app.2009.0024 More than forty specimens from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale reveal the detailed anatomy of Isoxys, a worldwide distributed bivalved arthropod represented here by two species, namely Isoxys acutangulus and Isoxys longissimus. I. acutangulus had a non−mineralized headshield with lateral pleural folds (= “valves” of previous authors) that covered the animal’s body almost entirely, large frontal spherical eyes and a pair of uniramous prehensile appendages bearing stout spiny outgrowths along their anterior margins. The 13 following appendages had a uniform biramous design—i.e., a short endopod and a paddle−like exopod fringed with marginal setae with a probable natatory function. The trunk ended with a flap−like telson that protruded beyond the posterior margin of the headshield. The gut of I. acutangulus was tube−like, running from mouth to telson, and was flanked with numerous 3D−preserved bulbous, paired features inter− preted as digestive glands. The appendage design of I. acutangulus indicates that the animal was a swimmer and a visual predator living off−bottom. The general anatomy of Isoxys longissimus was similar to that of I. acutangulus although less information is available on the exact shape of its appendages and visual organs.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence for Gill Slits and a Pharynx in Cambrian Vetulicolians: Implications for the Early Evolution of Deuterostomes Ou Et Al
    Evidence for gill slits and a pharynx in Cambrian vetulicolians: implications for the early evolution of deuterostomes Ou et al. Ou et al. BMC Biology 2012, 10:81 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/10/81 (2 October 2012) Ou et al. BMC Biology 2012, 10:81 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/10/81 RESEARCHARTICLE Open Access Evidence for gill slits and a pharynx in Cambrian vetulicolians: implications for the early evolution of deuterostomes Qiang Ou1, Simon Conway Morris2*, Jian Han3, Zhifei Zhang3, Jianni Liu3, Ailin Chen4, Xingliang Zhang3 and Degan Shu1,3* Abstract Background: Vetulicolians are a group of Cambrian metazoans whose distinctive bodyplan continues to present a major phylogenetic challenge. Thus, we see vetulicolians assigned to groups as disparate as deuterostomes and ecdysozoans. This divergence of opinions revolves around a strikingly arthropod-like body, but one that also bears complex lateral structures on its anterior section interpreted as pharyngeal openings. Establishing the homology of these structures is central to resolving where vetulicolians sit in metazoan phylogeny. Results: New material from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte helps to resolve this issue. Here, we demonstrate that these controversial structures comprise grooves with a series of openings. The latter are oval in shape and associated with a complex anatomy consistent with control of their opening and closure. Remains of what we interpret to be a musculature, combined with the capacity for the grooves to contract, indicate vetulicolians possessed a pumping mechanism that could process considerable volumes of seawater. Our observations suggest that food captured in the anterior cavity was transported to dorsal and ventral gutters, which then channeled material to the intestine.
    [Show full text]
  • Durham Research Online
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 23 May 2017 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Betts, Marissa J. and Paterson, John R. and Jago, James B. and Jacquet, Sarah M. and Skovsted, Christian B. and Topper, Timothy P. and Brock, Glenn A. (2017) 'Global correlation of the early Cambrian of South Australia : shelly fauna of the Dailyatia odyssei Zone.', Gondwana research., 46 . pp. 240-279. Further information on publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2017.02.007 Publisher's copyright statement: c 2017 This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk Accepted Manuscript Global correlation of the early Cambrian of South Australia: Shelly fauna of the Dailyatia odyssei Zone Marissa J.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Volume
    https://doi.org/10.3301/ABSGI.2019.04 Milano, 2-5 July 2019 ABSTRACT BOOK a cura della Società Geologica Italiana 3rd International Congress on Stratigraphy GENERAL CHAIRS Marco Balini, Università di Milano, Italy Elisabetta Erba, Università di Milano, Italy - past President Società Geologica Italiana 2015-2017 SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Adele Bertini, Peter Brack, William Cavazza, Mauro Coltorti, Piero Di Stefano, Annalisa Ferretti, Stanley C. Finney, Fabio Florindo, Fabrizio Galluzzo, Piero Gianolla, David A.T. Harper, Martin J. Head, Thijs van Kolfschoten, Maria Marino, Simonetta Monechi, Giovanni Monegato, Maria Rose Petrizzo, Claudia Principe, Isabella Raffi, Lorenzo Rook ORGANIZING COMMITTEE The Organizing Committee is composed by members of the Department of Earth Sciences “Ardito Desio” and of the Società Geologica Italiana Lucia Angiolini, Cinzia Bottini, Bernardo Carmina, Domenico Cosentino, Fabrizio Felletti, Daniela Germani, Fabio M. Petti, Alessandro Zuccari FIELD TRIP COMMITTEE Fabrizio Berra, Mattia Marini, Maria Letizia Pampaloni, Marcello Tropeano ABSTRACT BOOK EDITORS Fabio M. Petti, Giulia Innamorati, Bernardo Carmina, Daniela Germani Papers, data, figures, maps and any other material published are covered by the copyright own by the Società Geologica Italiana. DISCLAIMER: The Società Geologica Italiana, the Editors are not responsible for the ideas, opinions, and contents of the papers published; the authors of each paper are responsible for the ideas opinions and con- tents published. La Società Geologica Italiana, i curatori scientifici non sono responsabili delle opinioni espresse e delle affermazioni pubblicate negli articoli: l’autore/i è/sono il/i solo/i responsabile/i. ST3.2 Cambrian stratigraphy, events and geochronology Conveners and Chairpersons Per Ahlberg (Lund University, Sweden) Loren E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Extent of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (Early Cambrian) of North Greenland
    The extent of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (early Cambrian) of North Greenland JOHN S. PEEL & JON R. INESON Ancillary localities for the Sirius Passet biota (early Cambrian; Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) are described from the im- mediate vicinity of the main locality on the southern side of Sirius Passet, north-western Peary Land, central North Greenland, where slope mudstones of the Transitional Buen Formation abut against the margin of the Portfjeld Forma- tion carbonate platform. Whilst this geological relationship may extend over more than 500 km east–west across North Greenland, known exposures of the sediments yielding the lagerstätte are restricted to a 1 km long window at the south-western end of Sirius Passet. • Keywords: Early Cambrian, Greenland, lagerstätte. PEEL, J.S. & INESON, J.R. The extent of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (early Cambrian) of North Greenland. Bulletin of Geosciences 86(3), 535–543 (4 figures). Czech Geological Survey, Prague. ISSN 1214-1119. Manuscript received March 24, 2011; accepted in revised form July 8, 2011; published online July 28, 2011; issued September 30, 2011. John S. Peel, Department of Earth Sciences (Palaeobiology), Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, SE-75 236 Uppsala, Sweden; [email protected] • Jon R. Ineson, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark; [email protected] Almost all of the fossils described from the early Cambrian The first fragmentary fossils from the Sirius Passet Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of northern Peary Land, North Lagerstätte (GGU collection 313035) were collected by Greenland, were collected from a single, west-facing talus A.K.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an Important Window Into Cambrian Biodiversity
    Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 24, 2021 Accepted Manuscript Journal of the Geological Society The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an Important Window into Cambrian Biodiversity Julien Kimmig, Luke C. Strotz, Sara R. Kimmig, Sven O. Egenhoff & Bruce S. Lieberman DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2018-195 Received 31 October 2018 Revised 21 February 2019 Accepted 28 February 2019 © 2019 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by The Geological Society of London. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4423145 To cite this article, please follow the guidance at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/onlinefirst#cit_journal Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 24, 2021 The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an Important Window into Cambrian Biodiversity 1* 1,2 1,3 4 1,2 Julien Kimmig , Luke C. Strotz , Sara R. Kimmig , Sven O. Egenhoff & Bruce S. Lieberman 1Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA 2 Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA 3Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99354, USA 4Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA *Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: The Spence Shale Member of the Langston Formation is a Cambrian (Miaolingian: Wuliuan) Lagerstätte in northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho. It is older than the more well- known Wheeler and Marjum Lagerstätten from western Utah, and the Burgess Shale from Canada.
    [Show full text]
  • Palaeoecology of the Early Cambrian Sinsk Biota from the Siberian Platform
    Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 220 (2005) 69–88 www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Palaeoecology of the Early Cambrian Sinsk biota from the Siberian Platform Andrey Yu. Ivantsova, Andrey Yu. Zhuravlevb,T, Anton V. Legutaa, Valentin A. Krassilova, Lyudmila M. Melnikovaa, Galina T. Ushatinskayaa aPalaeontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow 117997, Russia bA´rea y Museo de Paleontologı´a, faculdad de Ciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, C/ Pedro Cerbuna, 12, E-50009, Zaragoza, Spain Received 1 February 2002; accepted 15 January 2004 Abstract The Sinsk biota (Early Cambrian, Botoman Stage, Siberian Platform) inhabited an open-marine basin within the photic zone, but in oxygen-depleted bottom waters. Its rapid burial in a fine-grained sediment under anoxic conditions led to the formation of one of the earliest Cambrian Lagerst7tte. All the organisms of the biota were adapted to a life under dysaerobic conditions. It seems possible that the adaptations of many Cambrian organisms, which composed the trophic nucleus of the Sinsk Algal Lens palaeocommunity to low oxygen tensions allowed them to diversify in the earliest Palaeozoic, especially during the Cambrian. Nowadays these groups comprise only a negligible part of communities and usually survive in settings with low levels of competition. Nonetheless, the organization of the Algal Lens palaeocommunity was not simple, it consisted of diverse trophic guilds. The tiering among sessile filter-feeders was well developed with the upper tier at the 50 cm level. In terms of individuals, the community was dominated by sessile filter-feeders, vagrant detritophages, and diverse carnivores/scavengers. The same groups, but in slightly different order, comprised the bulk of the biovolume: vagrant epifaunal and nektobenthic carnivores/ scavengers, sessile filter-feeders, and vagrant detritophages.
    [Show full text]
  • Th TRILO the Back to the Past Museum Guide to TRILO BITES
    With regard to human interest in fossils, trilobites may rank second only to dinosaurs. Having studied trilobites most of my life, the English version of The Back to the Past Museum Guide to TRILOBITES by Enrico Bonino and Carlo Kier is a pleasant treat. I am captivated by the abundant color images of more than 600 diverse species of trilobites, mostly from the authors’ own collections. Carlo Kier The Back to the Past Museum Guide to Specimens amply represent famous trilobite localities around the world and typify forms from most of the Enrico Bonino Enrico 250-million-year history of trilobites. Numerous specimens are masterpieces of modern professional preparation. Richard A. Robison Professor Emeritus University of Kansas TRILOBITES Enrico Bonino was born in the Province of Bergamo in 1966 and received his degree in Geology from the Depart- ment of Earth Sciences at the University of Genoa. He currently lives in Belgium where he works as a cartographer specialized in the use of satellite imaging and geographic information systems (GIS). His proficiency in the use of digital-image processing, a healthy dose of artistic talent, and a good knowledge of desktop publishing software have provided him with the skills he needed to create graphics, including dozens of posters and illustrations, for all of the displays at the Back to the Past Museum in Cancún. In addition to his passion for trilobites, Enrico is particularly inter- TRILOBITES ested in the life forms that developed during the Precambrian. Carlo Kier was born in Milan in 1961. He holds a degree in law and is currently the director of the Azul Hotel chain.
    [Show full text]
  • Decoding the Fossil Record of Early Lophophorates
    Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1284 Decoding the fossil record of early lophophorates Systematics and phylogeny of problematic Cambrian Lophotrochozoa AODHÁN D. BUTLER ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS ISSN 1651-6214 ISBN 978-91-554-9327-1 UPPSALA urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-261907 2015 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Hambergsalen, Geocentrum, Villavägen 16, Uppsala, Friday, 23 October 2015 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Maggie Cusack (School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow). Abstract Butler, A. D. 2015. Decoding the fossil record of early lophophorates. Systematics and phylogeny of problematic Cambrian Lophotrochozoa. (De tidigaste fossila lofoforaterna. Problematiska kambriska lofotrochozoers systematik och fylogeni). Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1284. 65 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9327-1. The evolutionary origins of animal phyla are intimately linked with the Cambrian explosion, a period of radical ecological and evolutionary innovation that begins approximately 540 Mya and continues for some 20 million years, during which most major animal groups appear. Lophotrochozoa, a major group of protostome animals that includes molluscs, annelids and brachiopods, represent a significant component of the oldest known fossil records of biomineralised animals, as disclosed by the enigmatic ‘small shelly fossil’ faunas of the early Cambrian. Determining the affinities of these scleritome taxa is highly informative for examining Cambrian evolutionary patterns, since many are supposed stem- group Lophotrochozoa. The main focus of this thesis pertained to the stem-group of the Brachiopoda, a highly diverse and important clade of suspension feeding animals in the Palaeozoic era, which are still extant but with only with a fraction of past diversity.
    [Show full text]
  • Arthropod Origins
    Bulletin of Geosciences, Vol. 78, No. 4, 323–334, 2003 © Czech Geological Survey, ISSN 1214-1119 Arthropod origins Jan Bergström 1 – Hou Xian-Guang 2 1 Swedish Museum of Nature History, Box 50007, S-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Yunnan University, Yunnan Research Center for Chengjiang Biota, Kunming 650091, Peoples’ Republic of China. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Reconsideration of the position of trilobite-like arthropods leads to an idea of the last shared ancestor of known (eu)arthropods. The ancestry and morphological evolution is traced back from this form to a hypothetical ciliated and pseudosegmented slug-like ancestor. Evolution logically passed through a lobopodian stage. Extant onychophorans, Cambrian xenusians, and perhaps anomalocaridids with their kin (the Dinocaridida) may represent probable offshoots on the way. As such, these groups are highly derived and not ancestral to the arthropods. Results of molecular studies indicate a rela- tionship to moulting worms, which at first could seem to be in conflict with what was just said. However, if this is correct, the arthropod and moulting worm lineages must have diverged when some “coelomate” features such as specific vascular and neural systems were still present. The moulting worms would therefore have lost such characters, either only once or several times. Key words: arthropod origins, Anomalocaris, Tardigrada, Cambrian arthropods, Cycloneuralia, trilobitomorphs, eye ridge Introduction immediate ancestors might have looked like, and what they could not have been like. For instance, if the first arthro- Most of our important information on early arthropods co- pods were completely primitive in certain respects, they mes from such deposits as the Lower Cambrian Chengji- cannot be traced back to animals that are highly derived in ang beds, the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale, and the Up- these respects.
    [Show full text]
  • New Palaeoscolecidan Worms from the Lower Cambrian: Sirius Passet, Latham Shale and Kinzers Shale
    New palaeoscolecidan worms from the Lower Cambrian: Sirius Passet, Latham Shale and Kinzers Shale SIMON CONWAY MORRIS and JOHN S. PEEL Conway Morris, S. and Peel, J.S. 2010. New palaeoscolecidan worms from the Lower Cambrian: Sirius Passet, Latham Shale and Kinzers Shale. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (1): 141–156. Palaeoscolecidan worms are an important component of many Lower Palaeozoic marine assemblages, with notable oc− currences in a number of Burgess Shale−type Fossil−Lagerstätten. In addition to material from the lower Cambrian Kinzers Formation and Latham Shale, we also describe two new palaeoscolecidan taxa from the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Fossil−Lagerstätte of North Greenland: Chalazoscolex pharkus gen. et sp. nov and Xystoscolex boreogyrus gen. et sp. nov. These palaeoscolecidans appear to be the oldest known (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) soft−bodied examples, being somewhat older than the diverse assemblages from the Chengjiang Fossil−Lagerstätte of China. In the Sirius Passet taxa the body is composed of a spinose introvert (or proboscis), trunk with ornamentation that includes regions bearing cuticu− lar ridges and sclerites, and a caudal zone with prominent circles of sclerites. The taxa are evidently quite closely related; generic differentiation is based on degree of trunk ornamentation, details of introvert structure and nature of the caudal re− gion. The worms were probably infaunal or semi−epifaunal; gut contents suggest that at least X. boreogyrus may have preyed on the arthropod Isoxys. Comparison with other palaeoscolecidans is relatively straightforward in terms of compa− rable examples in other Burgess Shale−type occurrences, but is much more tenuous with respect to the important record of isolated sclerites.
    [Show full text]
  • Sedimentology and Palaeontology of the Withycombe Farm Borehole, Oxfordshire, UK
    Sedimentology and Palaeontology of the Withycombe Farm Borehole, Oxfordshire, England By © Kendra Morgan Power, B.Sc. (Hons.) A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Earth Sciences Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2020 St. John’s Newfoundland Abstract The pre-trilobitic lower Cambrian of the Withycombe Formation is a 194 m thick siliciclastic succession dominated by interbedded offshore red to purple and green pyritic mudstone with minor sandstone. The mudstone contains a hyolith-dominated small shelly fauna including: orthothecid hyoliths, hyolithid hyoliths, the rostroconch Watsonella crosbyi, early brachiopods, the foraminiferan Platysolenites antiquissimus, the coiled gastropod-like Aldanella attleborensis, halkieriids, gastropods and a low diversity ichnofauna including evidence of predation by a vagile infaunal predator. The assemblage contains a number of important index fossils (Watsonella, Platysolenites, Aldanella and the trace fossil Teichichnus) that enable correlation of strata around the base of Cambrian Stage 2 from Avalonia to Baltica, as well as the assessment of the stratigraphy within the context of the lower Cambrian stratigraphic standards of southeastern Newfoundland. The pyritized nature of the assemblage has enabled the study of some of the biota using micro-CT, augmented with petrographic studies, revealing pyritized microbial filaments of probable giant sulfur bacteria. We aim to produce the first complete description of the core and the abundant small pyritized fossils preserved in it, and develop a taphonomic model for the pyritization of the “small” shelly fossils. i Acknowledgements It is important to acknowledge and thank the many people who supported me and contributed to the successful completion of this thesis.
    [Show full text]