A late ordovician planktic assemblage with exceptionally preserved soft- bodied problematica from the martinsburg formation, Pennsylvania

The file associated with this record is under embargo until 12 months after publication, in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The full text may be available through the publisher links provided above. Here we report a locality containing exceptionally preserved (soft-bodied...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:PALAIOS
Main Authors: Meyer, M. B, Ganis, G. R, Wittmer, J. M, Zalasiewicz, JAN. A, De Baets, K
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Society for Sedimentary Geology 2018
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Geology
Paleontology
BURGESS SHALE-TYPE
BIODIVERSIFICATION EVENT
SHELLY FOSSILS
MACKENZIE MOUNTAINS
NORTHWESTERN CANADA
COMPRESSION FOSSILS
BRITISH-COLUMBIA
EARLY MOLLUSKS
MARINE LIFE
EVOLUTION
Canada
British Columbia
Burgess
Mackenzie mountains
Online Access:https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/palaios/article-lookup?doi=10.2110/palo.2017.036
http://hdl.handle.net/2381/41455
https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2017.036
Description
Summary:The file associated with this record is under embargo until 12 months after publication, in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The full text may be available through the publisher links provided above. Here we report a locality containing exceptionally preserved (soft-bodied) fossils of mid-Late Ordovician age from the geologically complex Martinsburg Formation in central Pennsylvania. The fossils, which resemble specimens from Burgess Shale-type deposits, include enigmatic specimens (problematica) and phyllocarid arthropods (with preserved appendages) which are associated with graptolites. The locality is notable for preservation of a low diversity community of soft-bodied planktic animals, likely captured and rapidly buried by a turbidity current. The problematica lack sufficient anatomical detail for confident systematic placement; however, they can be superficially compared to a number of possible metazoans including: nominally/non- shelled mollusks (including veligers), cnidarians, lophophorates, or possibly aberrant tube-dwelling priapulids or polychaetes. Overall, the problematica may belong to one (or several) extinct clades or some unknown clade of animal life. The complex geologic history of the region has reduced the resolution of the problematica's original exceptional preservation, yet the fossils retain many key features. Hence, this locality has implications for our understanding of exceptional preservation, its alteration over geological history, and the planktic communities of “The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event” (GOBE) in the planktic realm. Peer-reviewed Post-print

Similar Items