Early Devonian stylonurine eurypterids from Arctic Canada

Two new stylonurine eurypterids are described from the Peel Sound Formation (Early Devonian, Lochkovian) of the northern coast of Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut, Arctic Canada. Associations including pteraspids and ostracodes indicate a fluvial depositional environment. An almost complete stylonuri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Authors: Lamsdell, James C., Braddy, Simon J., Loeffler, Elizabeth J., Dineley, David L.
Other Authors: Jin, Jisuo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2010
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e10-053
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/E10-053
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/E10-053
Description
Summary:Two new stylonurine eurypterids are described from the Peel Sound Formation (Early Devonian, Lochkovian) of the northern coast of Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut, Arctic Canada. Associations including pteraspids and ostracodes indicate a fluvial depositional environment. An almost complete stylonurid, Pagea plotnicki sp. nov., is recognized by its large size and lack of vaulting on the carapace, and it provides evidence that Stylonurus and Pagea are sister-taxa. Also, a smaller incomplete rhenopterid assigned to Leiopterella tetliei gen. et sp. nov., is characterized by its broad turbinate carapace and lack of cuticular sculpture. This assemblage provides the first Canadian record of Pagea, and the youngest occurrence of a rhenopterid outside the Rheno-Hercynian Terrane, indicating that these taxa were more geographically widespread than previously supposed.