A New ?lamellipedian arthropod from the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet Fauna of North Greenland

• Published in: Journal of Paleontology
• Main Authors: Lagebro, Linda, Stein, Martin, Peel, John S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2009
• Subjects: Paleontology; Greenland; Burgess; Sirius; Conway; Rigby; North Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/09-011.1; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022336000052707

The Non-Mineralized arthropod described herein is derived from the Sirius Passet fossil conservation deposit of North Greenland (82°47.6,N, 42°13.7ʹW), the oldest locality with exceptional preservation of soft tissues known from the Cambrian of Laurentia (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3; Nevadella Zone). As such, it is broadly contemporaneous with the Chengjiang fauna of China (Hou et al., 2004) and some 10 million years older than the Burgess Shale fauna of British Columbia. The Sirius Passet fauna was first documented by Conway Morris et al. (1987) and its geological setting is discussed by Babcock and Peel (2007). In addition to the nevadiid trilobite Buenellus higginsi Blaker, 1988, the fauna is dominated by non-mineralized arthropods (Budd, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999; Williams et al., 1996; Taylor, 2002). Other finds include sponges (Rigby, 1986), a lobopod (Budd and Peel, 1998), the earliest annelids (Conway Morris and Peel, 2008) and articulated halkieriids (Conway Morris and Peel, 1990, 1995), but most of the assemblage awaits description.