The Silurian and Devonian Proetid and Aulacopleurid Trilobites of Japan and Their Palaeogeographical Significance
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The Silurian and Devonian proetid and aulacopleurid trilobites of Japan and their palaeogeographical significance CHRISTOPHER P. STOCKER, DEREK J. SIVETER, PHILIP D. LANE, MARK WILLIAMS, TATSUO OJI, GENGO TANAKA, TOSHIFUMI KOMATSU, SIMON WALLIS, DAVID J. SIVETER AND THIJS R. A. VANDENBROUCKE Stocker, C.P., Siveter, D.J., Lane, P.D., Williams, M., Oji, T., Tanaka, G., Komatsu, T., Wallis, S., Siveter, D.J. & Vandenbroucke, T.R.A. 2019: The Silurian and Devonian proetid and aulacopleurid trilobites of Japan and their palaeogeographical significance. Fossils and Strata, No. 64, pp. 205–232. Trilobites referable to the orders Proetida and Aulacopleurida are geographically wide- spread in the Silurian and Devonian strata of Japan. They are known from the South Kitakami, Hida-Gaien and Kurosegawa terranes. Revision of other Japanese trilobite groups, most notably the Illaenidae, Scutelluidae and Phacopidae, has extended the palaeobiogeographical ranges of several Japanese trilobite taxa, but has not signalled conclusive evidence of a consistent palaeogeographical affinity. In part, this may relate to the temporally and spatially fragmented Palaeozoic record in Japan, and perhaps also to the different ecological ranges of the trilobites. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of all previously described proetid and aulacopleurid trilobites from Japan, along with descriptions of new material, which comprises thirteen species (one new: Interproetus mizobuchii n. sp.) within nine genera, with three species described under open nomenclature. These trilobites show an endemic signal at species level, not just between Japan and other East Asian terranes, but also between individual Japanese ter- ranes. This endemicity may be explicable in terms of facies and ecology, rather than simply being a function of geographical isolation. □ Aulacopleurida, Devonian, Japan, palaeogeography, Proetida, Silurian. Christopher P. Stocker [[email protected]], Mark Williams [[email protected]], David J. Siveter [[email protected]], School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leices- ter, University Road Leicester LE1 7RH, UK; Derek J. Siveter [[email protected] c.uk], Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK; Philip D. Lane [[email protected]], School of Earth Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK; Tatsuo Oji [[email protected]], Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku Nagoya 464-8601, Japan; Gengo Tanaka [[email protected]], Institute of Liberal Arts and Science, Kana- zawa University, Kakuma-machi Kanazawa City, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan; Toshifumi Komatsu [[email protected]], Faculty of advanced Science and Technol- ogy, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1, Kurokami Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan; Simon Wallis [[email protected]], Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke [[email protected]], Depart- ment of Geology (WE13), Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; manuscript received on 15/05/2018; manuscript accepted on 4/06/2018. widely represented and diverse group of trilobites in Introduction Japanese Silurian and Devonian rocks. Previous stud- ies have described trilobites referable to twelve spe- Silurian and Devonian marine successions in Japan cies within eight genera and three in open comprise those of the South Kitakami Terrane of nomenclature (Okubo 1951; Kobayashi 1957, 1985, north-eastern Honshu, the Hida-Gaien Terrane of 1988a,b; Kobayashi & Hamada 1974, 1977, 1985a,b, central Honshu and the Kurosegawa Terrane, which 1986, 1987; Okazaki 1974; Kaneko 2007). In addi- extends from the Kii Peninsula in southwest Honshu tion, one new species is described herein and is the to the islands of Shikoku and Kyushu (Fig. 1). Strata first record of its genus from Japan (and indeed east- in each of these terranes contain locally abundant ern Asia). These trilobites have, in general, been con- fossil faunas including brachiopods, cephalopods, sidered endemic at the species level, even between radiolarians, ostracods and trilobites (see Williams separate Japanese terranes. The recent revision of the et al. 2014 for an overview). Illaenidae and Scutelluidae of Japan (Holloway & The trilobite Order Proetida, combined with its Lane 1998, 2012, 2016) has nevertheless extended the sister group Aulacopleurida, constitutes the most palaeobiogeographical ranges of several genera and DOI 10.1002/9781119564232 © 2019 Lethaia Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 206 Stocker et al. FOSSILS AND STRATA Fig. 1. Geographical location of the three Japanese Palaeozoic terranes investigated for trilobites. The dark grey lines on the main map of Japan (A) denote the approximate position of the South Kitakami (B), Hida-Gaien (C) and Kurosegawa terranes (D, E), and detailed maps of the outcrops of each are presented in B–E. species. This study revises the record and taxonomy (Fig. 1B). These rocks contain invertebrate fossils of Proetida and Aulacopleurida from Japan. As well including brachiopods, corals, crinoids, bryozoans as describing one new species, we re-examine all pre- and trilobites, as well as plant fossils and radiolarians. viously described species, thereby enabling a compre- Silurian trilobites are known from the Wenlock and hensive palaeobiogeographical analysis of Japanese Ludlow age Kawauchi Formation and the Llandovery proetid trilobites compared with those of other East to Wenlock age Okuhinotsuchi Formation. Although Asian and eastern peri-Gondwanan terranes. no proetids or aulacopleurids have previously been described from these strata, a single proetid cephalothorax from the Kawauchi Formation is Geological background reported herein, but it has not been formally identi- fied. In the Devonian, the Nakazato Formation con- Silurian and Devonian fossiliferous sedimentary tains a diverse trilobite fauna that includes one rocks of the South Kitakami Terrane occur in the proetid species and additional proetid material noted Hikoroichi and Arisu districts of the Iwate Prefecture in open nomenclature (Kaneko 2007). FOSSILS AND STRATA Silurian and Devonian proetid trilobites of Japan 207 Fossiliferous Silurian and Devonian rocks of the with a radiometric age from detrital zircons suggests Hida-Gaien Terrane are found in the Fukuji-Hitoe- a Givetian (Middle Devonian) age for at least part gane area in the Gifu Prefecture and the Kuzuryu of the Lower Member (Fig. 2). Lake-Upper Ise River area in the Fukui Prefecture (Fig. 1C). These strata contain conodonts, corals, radiolarians and trilobites. Strata in the Fukuji- Material and methods Hitoegane area have previously yielded one Silurian proetid species and material that is herein referred to The bulk of the material analysed here is from collec- Coniproteus in open nomenclature, in some instances tions in Japanese museums: Tokyo University tentatively. Most of the Devonian trilobite record of Museum (PA); Kyoto University Museum (KT); Japan is from the Hida-Gaien Terrane, including at Kochi Prefectural Fossil Museum (KPFM); Yokoku- least two proetid species and one aulacopleurid rayama Natural Forest Museum, Ochi area, Kochi described from the Fukuji Formation and its lateral Prefecture (YFM); Sakawa Geology Museum, Kochi equivalent in the Kuzuryu Lake-Upper Ise River Prefecture (SGM, KA); Ofunato City Museum, Iwate areas, the Kamianama Formation. Prefecture (OCM.G); and Nagoya University In the Kurosegawa Terrane of Shikoku, the Museum (NUM). The numbering system of Kobaya- Yokokura Limestone of the Yokokurayama Group, shi & Hamada (1977) is complex, and it is not possi- Yokokurayama, Ochi area, Kochi Prefecture ble to assign an original number for the specimens (Fig. 1D) contains a diverse fossil fauna including from the Kyoto University Museum collection. This trilobites. The majority of Silurian proetids that collection is on loan to the Tokyo University have been described from Japan, with seven spe- Museum, and here, we utilize replacement Tokyo cies, are from the Yokokurayama Group, Fukata University Museum repository numbers with the and Gomi formations of the Kochi Prefecture code ‘KT’ for these specimens. Silicone moulds and (Kobayashi & Hamada 1974, 1985a,b, 1986). One epoxy replicas of all specimens figured and cited species was described by Kobayashi & Hamada herein, as well as one other specimen collected dur- (1974) from the Okanaru Group (Hirayama et al. ing this study, have been deposited in the Oxford 1956) of Higashikawa County, Ehime Prefecture University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH). (Fig. 1D), which corresponds to the Joryu Forma- The majority of the trilobites were reported by tion of the Yokokurayama Group (equivalent to Okubo (1951), Kobayashi (1957, 1988b), Okazaki the lowermost ‘G4 member’ of Hamada (1959)). (1974), Kobayashi & Hamada (1974, 1977, 1985b, Trilobites have not been recorded from the overly- 1986, 1987) and Kaneko (2007). The specimens of ing Devonian Nakahata and Ochi formations in Kaneko are well localized, with accurate stratigraphi- that terrane. cal logs of at least one of the localities and detailed In Kyushu, the Kurosegawa Terrane is represented locality maps for the others. Because the specimens by the Silurian to Lower Devonian Gionyama For- described by Kobayashi (1957, 1988b) and Kobayashi mation of Gionyama in the Kuraoka area, Miyazaki & Hamada (1974, 1977, 1985b, 1986, 1987) were Prefecture