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Seven genera and eight species of lingulate brachiopods were recovered from the House Limestone and lower Fillmore Formation, Ibex area, Utah, USA. These strata are assigned to the upper Skullrockian Stage and lower Stairsian Stage of the Ibexian Series (Iapetognathus Conodont Zone to Low Diversity Interval) and are correlated with the Tremadocian Series of the Acado--Baltic Faunal Province. The fauna includes two new linguloid species, Spinilingula prisca and Wahwahlingula sevierensis, one new siphonotretoid species, Schizambon obtusus, and two new acrotretoid species, Eurytreta fillmorensis and Ottenbyella ibexiana. The last species is the first record of the genus in North America and suggests a correlation of the basal Fillmore Formation with the Ceratopyge Limestone in Sweden. A Siphonobolus? covered by long hollow spines may be one of the oldest siphonotretides with such ornament. This fauna and those described previously from older Utah strata document the biodiversification of the Cambrian--Ordovician lingulate brachiopods and demonstrate their potential for regional and intercontinental correlation.

The two major structural elements of the Iberian Chains, the Datos and Jarque thrust faults, have been described as occurring in proximity in the area around the village of Codos. The purported Jarque fault corresponds to the axial plane of an anticline known as the Codos anticline, which exposes the oldest stratigraphic unit in this area, i.e. the Codos Bed, a limestone bed bearing skeletal fossils of putative Ediacaran or earliest Cambrian age. Details of the geology of the area and the age of the known fossils are poorly understood or not universally agreed upon. New investigations in the anticline revealed the presence of a normal fault, introduced as the Codos fault, which cross-cuts the course of the alleged Jarque fault. The vertical displacement along the axial plane of the anticline appears to be insignificant, challenging the traditional interpretation of the plane as an equivalent of the Jarque thrust fault. Reinvestigation of the Codos Bed revealed previously unknown skeletal fossils of early Cambrian age, confirming notions that the bed is younger than traditionally assumed. In particular, two helcionelloid molluscs, Anabarella cf. plana and Igorella? sp., allow correlations with Terreneuvian strata of central Spain (Pusa and Fuentepizzara formations) and support previously suggested connections with the Heraultia Limestone of southern France. Former identification of the terminal Ediacaran index-fossil Cloudina in the bed is erroneous. Consequently, the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary in the Iberian Chains, which has been placed at the top of the formation overlying the Codos Bed, is stratigraphically distinctly lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exceptionally preserved specimens of the Cambrian stem-group brachiopod Mickwitzia occidens Walcott, 1908 are described in detail from the Indian Springs Lagerstätte in Nevada, USA. Shell structure and preserved mantle setae from these specimens reveal a variable diagenetic (taphonomic) history and provide insight into the phylogenetic position of mickwitziids. Morphologic and morphometric comparison to M. monilifera (Linnarsson, 1869) from Sweden and M. muralensis Walcott, 1913 from British Columbia, Canada reveals clear species-level distinctions. Scanning electron microscopic analysis allows revision of the generic diagnosis. The Mickwitzia shell is characterized by the presence of inwardly pointing phosphatic cones and tangential setae-bearing tubes. The inwardly pointing cone structures are not consistent with setal bearing structures as previously thought, but rather represent endopunctae-like structures. Acrotretid-like shell structures and shell-penetrating setae in M. occidens strengthen the previously proposed close relationship between stem-group brachiopods and tommotiids, a group of small shelly fossils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

nnThe Pacific Slope of North America's paleontologic record of Paosia, a nearshore-marine, pseudomelaniid gastropod primarily associated with the Old World Cretaceous Tethyan realm, is established for the first time. Former workers have almost universally referred to this genus by its junior synonym name Trajanella Popovici-Hatzeg, 1899. Six species, including Paosia pentzensis new species, are recognized, and all are from siliciclastic facies. Their documentable geologic range is late early Albian to early Campanian. Four of the five previously named species were misallocated to genus Acteonina and one was placed in genus "Trajanella." Paosia originated in western Europe and in the Caucasus Mountains region during the latest Jurassic (Tithonian). It arrived in the study area, possibly in the Aptian, but certainly by the late early Albian and, most likely, by way of Japan and the north Pacific gyre. Worldwide, the genus had its peak diversity during the Albian and Cenomanian. The only other Western Hemisphere records of Paosia are a species from the Campanian of Jamaica and a possible species from the Coniacian of Texas. Paosia had a preference for tropical waters, but its presence in the study area indicates that it could live in temperate-tropical transition areas. Most of the Pacific Slope of North America species are represented by a few specimens, but when plentiful, they display variability in overall shape between juvenile and adults, with the last whorl of the adults becoming more cylindrical with growth. Paosia kollmannii new name is proposed for the homonym Trajanella acuminata Kollmann, 1979.The phylogenetic significance of archeopyles in calcareous dinoflagellates cysts has been evaluated, and a classification model is developed that focuses on the archeopyle categories and types established for organic-walled dinoflagellates by Avid (1967, 1985). Several of Avid's archeopyle categories are presently recognized within the calcareous dinoflagellate cysts: apical, intercalary, and combination archeopyles, which are here subdivided into eight archeopyle types and several variations. Archeopyles that cannot be assigned to a distinct type, and those with outlines that do not allow an accurate interpretation, are together placed in a separate category: miscellaneous archeopyles. The stratigraphic distribution of the different archeopyle types reveals a phylogenetic trend characterized by an increase of the number of plates involved in archeopyle formation. The first calcareous dinoflagellate cysts to appear in the late Triassic have a monoplacoid apical archeopyle. The first taxa that show an archeopyle involving more than one plate are from the Early Cretaceous, with the first triplacoid apical archeopyle appearing at the Berriasian/Valanginian boundary. This is followed by the first combination archeopyle, which includes six plates, in the middle Aptian. Epitractal archeopyles originated no earlier than the early Oligocene. At the beginning of the Paleogene, species with a combination archeopyle increased in abundance, progressively replacing species possessing an apical archeopyle that dominated during the Mesozoic. Newly described species are: Calciodinellum clamosum, accommodating the two subspecies Calciodinellum clamosum subsp. clamosum Antonym, and Calciodinellum clamosum subsp. latum; Calciodinellum kerguelense; Fuettererella belliata; and Pernambugia? patata. New combinations are: Cervisiella operculata (Bramlette and Martini, 1964); Praecalcigonellum sulcatum (Keupp, 1979a); and Praecalcigonellum dolium (Keupp, 1979b). Because of the new interpretation of their archeopyles we emend the following genera: Cervisiella Hildebrand-Habel, Willems, and Versteegh, 1999; Echinodinella Keupp, 1980; Fuettererella Kohring, 1993a; and Pernambugia Janofske and Karwath in Karwath (2000). The species Orthopithonella? minuta and Pirumella johnstonei, which have been previously synonymized with Fuettererella deflandrei, are retained as independent taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven genera and eight species of lingulate brachiopods were recovered from the House Limestone and lower Fillmore Formation, Ibex area, Utah, USA. These strata are assigned to the upper Skullrockian Stage and lower Stairsian Stage of the Ibexian Series (lapetognathus Conodont Zone to Low Diversity Interval) and are correlated with the Tremadocian Series of the Acado-Baltic Faunal Province. The fauna includes two new linguloid species, Spinilingula prisca and Wahwahlingula sevierensis, one new siphonotretoid species, Schizambon obtusus, and two new acrotretoid species, Eurytreta fillmorensis and Ottenbyella ibexiana. The last species is the first record of the genus in North America and suggests a correlation of the basal Fillmore Formation with the Ceratopyge Limestone in Sweden. A Siphonobolus? covered by long hollow spines may be one of the oldest siphonotretides with such ornament. This fauna and those described previously from older Utah strata document the biodiversification of the Cambrian-Ordovician lingulate brachiopods and demonstrate their potential for regional and intercontinental correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]