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New paleontological and biostratigraphic data were obtained for a series of Middle Ordovician sections in the Charysh-Inya and Uimen'-Lebed' structural-facial zones (SFZ) of the Gorny Altai. Regional stratigraphic stages, namely, the Kuibyshevo and Kostinsky horizons, are discussed in detail. By graptolites, the complete stratigraphic volume of the Kuibyshevo regional unit is defined as following zonal succession: (1) sinodentatus/Cardiograptus/Oncograptus, sinodentatus, (2) austrodentatus, (3) dentatus; and the Kostinsky regional unit within the lentus/balhaschensis/kirgisicus Zone. Beds with conodonts Eoplacognathus pseudoplanus were distinguished in the Batun Section of the Kostinsky Horizon; the same-age beds with conodonts Semiacontiodus asymmetricus–Parapanderodus striatus were distinguished in the Baraniy-1 Section. For the first time in the Voskresenka Formation, in the stratotype of the Kuibyshevo Horizon (Maralikha Section), a brachiopod assemblage was found and identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brachiopods are a group of animals that are known since the Early Cambrian, and thrived in the Paleozoic. After the Permian–Triassic extinction, there was a significant reduction in the taxonomic diversity of brachiopods. According to one hypothesis, in the Mesozoic, brachiopods with a blind gut could not restore their former numbers due to the predominance of shelled plankton. We assume that the terebratulids, the most widespread group of recent brachiopods, were able to adapt to the changed diet due to the more efficient filtration mechanism of the plectolophous lophophore. Extant rhynchonellids have a blind–ending bulbous end of the digestive tract, which is probably used for crushing and digesting hard-shelled plankton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new rhynchonellide brachiopod genus and species, Skadarirhynchia semicostata gen. et sp. nov., is described from the late Pliensbachian of Livari, Rumija Mountain, southeastern Montenegro. It occurs in shallow-water brachiopod-crinoid packstone beds (bioclastic limestones) of the periplatform facies of the Dinaric Carbonate Platform. Stratigraphy is constrained by means of 87Sr/86Sr dating indicating a late Pliensbachian age, and by the fact that the brachiopod beds lie immediately below the Toarcian marly limestones, which is consistent with the regional stratigraphical position. The new species has a circular to roundly pentagonal outline and semicostate shells with 10‒12 strong angular ribs. Internally, it shows reduced dental plates, narrow and thin hinge plates inclined dorsally with small crural bases, crescent-like and laterally convex, and hamiform crura. The shell microstructure of the new taxon is characterised by a homogeneous secondary layer (a single layer with no sublayers) built of rhombic fibres that are typically of coarse-fibrous type (eurinoid pattern) 35‒50 μm wide and 20‒30 μm thick. Other co-occurring rhynchonellide species such as Prionorhynchia fraasi and Cuneirhynchia dalmasi are also described. Shell microstructures for the genus Cuneirhynchia are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sr chemostratigraphic characteristics of marine sediments of the Lower Permian in the Omolon massif of Northeast Asia have been obtained for the first time based on a study of well-preserved brachiopod shells. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio in brachiopods from the Lower Permian regional horizons (regional stages) is within the following ranges: 0.70786–0.70794, Orochian; 0.70744–0.70786, Ogonerian; 0.70745–0.70748, Koargychanian; and 0.70742–0.70735, Khalalian. The obtained Sr-isotope data demonstrate good agreement with the standard variation curve of the 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the Permian Ocean. New Sr-isotope data can be used to correlate the units of the Regional Stratigraphic Scale of Northeast Russia directly with the stages of the International Permian Stratigraphic Scale. Based on recent data, the Asselian age of the Orochian regional stage of the lower part of the Permian section in the Omolon massif has been proved, and the regional correlation of the Upper Sakmarian interval established previously from biostratigraphic data has been refined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A representative complex of the Turonian-Santonian carbonate-producing invertebrates has been revealed. It comprised benthic foraminifers, diverse echinoderms, brachiopods, calcareous and siliceous sponges.

Brachiopod-rich accumulations of the well-known 'VilserKalk' calcareous units from the Middle Jurassic of Zehrer (Allgäuer Alps) have been recognised and analysed from a taphonomic standpoint. These brachiopod concentrations are frequent in the Jurassic deposits of various Alpine-Mediterranean localities, usually related to resedimentation processes generated by high-hydrodynamic episodes. In the four brachiopod-bearing accumulations recorded, high concentrations of mainly articulate shells are preserved in pocket-like deposits made up of brachiopod communities with quite different structure, size-frequency distribution, diversity and taxonomic composition. The analysed taphocharacters indicate different hydrodynamic regimes of diverse intensity for each accumulation, resulting in a gradation of the resedimentation processes. The inferred transport of the shells from the source area is minimal, the bioclastic levels constituting para-autochthonous assemblages without significant spatial averaging. The four defined taphofacies include different assemblages that chronostratigraphycally span the latest Toarcian-early Bajocian interval. These taphofacies are interpreted in terms of depth-related variations concurring with environmental disturbance events in several phases of the evolutionary history of the basin, progressively ranging from shallower proximal accumulations to shell-beds originated in more distal depositional environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brachiopods are sessile invertebrates with an unusual blood system, which consists of a long‐branched dorsal vessel. It is still unknown how blood circulates in this system. In the present study, for the first time we propose the circulation of blood in brachiopod Hemithiris psittacea based on morphological and experimental data. The main heart is located on the dorsal side of the stomach and divides the dorsal vessel into anterior and posterior parts. The anterior part enters the lophophore, where it gives off blind branches to each tentacle. The posterior part passes by the funnels of the nephridia and forms a blindly closed network in the gonads. We suggest that the circulation of blood includes three successive stages. During the first phase of systole of the main heart, blood flows through the anterior dorsal vessel. During the second phase of systole, blood flows through the posterior dorsal vessel. During diastole, blood flows from the anterior and posterior vessels and fills the main heart. The origin of a peculiar blood system in brachiopods can be explained by reduction of the ventral vessel, which is probably correlates with the reduction of the ventral side of the brachiopod ancestor's body. Another peculiarity of brachiopod blood system is the presence of an ampullar heart, which functions as a blood depot and allows blood to move in the vessels in two directions in an oscillatory mode. The brachiopod blood system contains vessels lacking true endothelium and can be classified as an "incompletely closed" type. Research Highlights: The blood system of brachiopods contains a dorsal vessel divided into anterior and posterior parts. Circulation includes three stages: during the first phase of systole, blood flows in the anterior vessel, during the second phase of systole, blood flows in the posterior vessel, and during diastole, blood flows from the anterior and posterior vessels and fills the main heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species Orbirhynchia mantilliana is newly documented in Algeria, identified within the Upper Campanian marly limestone of the Akhdar Member in the Abiod Formation at Djabel Gueroun, Batna Province, Aurès Basin. It is associated with Upper Campanian faunal markers such as the ammonite species Nostoceras (Bostrychoceras) polyplocum, found within the planktic foraminifera Globotruncana calcarata Zone. The O. mantilliana displays a restricted geographic distribution and biogeographic range, confined to Algeria, the United Kingdom, and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of brachiopod symbiosis is closely tied to the evolution of brachiopod faunas and their partner groups during the early Palaeozoic. Brachiopod groups with a larger number of taxa had more symbiotic associations, and there was no specific group that was more prone to symbiosis during this time interval. The first symbiotic associations appeared soon after the emergence of certain brachiopod groups, with Cambrian brachiopods partnering with typical representatives of the Cambrian fauna. Bryozoans and tentaculitoid tubeworms, which became important partners during the Ordovician and Silurian, first diversified in the Ordovician. The gradual decrease in the number of brachiopod partner groups from the Cambrian to the Silurian was likely due to specialisation. However, the number of symbiotic associations did not increase faster than the number of brachiopod taxa. The GOBE-induced diversification of brachiopod taxa did not lead to an escalation in symbiotic relationships. Symbiotic associations involving brachiopods continued after the end-Ordovician mass extinction. Although early Palaeozoic brachiopods were vulnerable to kleptoparasites, the harm caused by these parasites was not enough to drive their associated brachiopods to extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a description of the Olenekian–Anisian sections in South Primorye, Far East Russia, containing reptile remains. The paper describes important ammonoid Flexoptychites cf. rifunus (Yabe et Shimizu), as well as Flexoptychites cf. compressus (Yabe et Shimizu), which are stratigraphically significant. New Anisian reptile remains were discovered from four stratigraphic levels in South Primorye: (1) the upper part of the middle Anisian Acrochordiceraskiparisovae Zone (Ichthyopterigia indet. A), (2) the middle part of the upper Anisian Flexoptychites cf. rifunus Beds (Reptilia indet. cf. Ichthyopterygia A), (3) the upper part of the upper Anisian Flexoptychites cf. rifunus Beds (Ichthyoterygia indet. B), and (4) the uppermost part of the upper Anisian Flexoptychites cf. rifunus Beds (Reptilia indet. cf. Ichthyopterygia B). The Anisian stage is marked by an abundance of medium- to large-sized ichthyopterygians and a comparatively limited number of gigantic forms, particularly in the eastern Panthalassic and western Tethyan provinces. Our recent discovery has unveiled the presence of medium- to large-sized reptiles, seemingly ichthyopterygians, in the western Panthalassic province during the late Anisian (Flexoptychites cf. rifunus Chrone). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plethora of names has been applied to upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician lithostratigraphic units distributed from western Utah to southeastern and central Nevada. We report comprehensive stratigraphic analysis utilizing lithologic, conodont, brachiopod, sequence stratigraphic, and carbon isotope data from several ranges in southeastern Nevada. Those data demonstrate that upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician strata in that area belong to a variety of depositional systems that can be integrated into a comprehensive and functional depositional model that span carbonate tidal flat to shallow marine carbonate ramp to shelf to deep marine settings. Most of these strata should be placed within a single lithostratigraphic nomenclature based on the well-known Notch Peak Formation and House Limestone of western Utah. Strata of the Whipple Cave Formation in the South Egan Range, Nevada are reassigned to the three members of the Notch Peak Formation. Strata assigned to the Nopah Formation and Pogonip Group by geologic mappers who worked in the Delamar Mountains, Meadow Valley Mountains, Sheep Range, and Arrow Canyon Range in Nevada are reassigned to the Notch Peak Formation and overlying House Limestone. Coeval strata farther west record a deeper marine depositional setting and are appropriately assigned to the Windfall Formation and Goodwin Limestone. Conodonts and sequence stratigraphic packages identified from slope deposits of the Hales Limestone at Tybo Canyon in the Hot Creek Range allow correlation to the Notch Peak Formation and House Limestone in western Utah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An upper Pliensbachian–Aalenian brachiopod succession is reported from Ponor Mountain, Western Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria. This includes nine species (6 rhynchonellides and 3 terebratulides) from eight genera. A new genus Bulgariarhynchia and two new species, Bulgariarhynchia ponorensis and Capillirhynchia brezenensis, are formally described. A single species Homoeorhynchia ? aff. prona was found in the upper Pliensbachian. Most of the brachiopods derived from the Toarcian–Aalenian interval, and comprise: Pseudogibbirhynchia jurensis, Rhynchonelloidea angulata, Globirhynchia subobsoleta, Sphaeroidothyris uretae, Lobothyris? hispanica, and Telothyris jauberti. The brachiopod assemblages were dated using coeval ammonite biostratigraphy. Both ammonites and brachiopods display clear northwest European affinities. The new brachiopod taxa are considered autochthonous for the Balkan Mountains. Three biofacies (BF2, BF3 and BF5) were recognised and implied alternating suboxic to anoxic bottom water conditions. A few geochemical proxies are indicative of the early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) in the stratigraphic column. The main T-OAE pulse was fixed at the coeval positive δ13C and negative δ18O excursions, as well as increases in Hg/TOC ratios and redox-sensitive elements. The late Pliensbachian–earliest Toarcian time span was found to be the most hostile for the brachiopods. Above it, brachiopods lived in less stagnant environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asymmetry observed in rhynchonellid brachiopod shells has been discussed for decades and continues to attract attention. This noteworthy modification of the anterior margin morphology during the ontogeny has evolved several times in rhynchonellids, and seems to reflect a genetic basis. First, we try to clarify the terminology regarding asymmetrical, dissymmetrical and symmetrical shells that has existed since the beginning of the 20th century. The Cretaceous populations observed clearly exhibit antisymmetry (also called random asymmetry). During the Cretaceous, some populations of Cyclothyris McKoy, 1844 include a mixture of truly asymmetrical specimens and others that exhibit an intermediate degree of asymmetry, herein called atypical morphologies. Shapes of specimens coming from two different locations in France were captured using geometric morphometrics. We used the range of different morphologies: 1) to test alternative hypotheses about the ontogeny of asymmetry; 2) to test for the possibility of several morphogroups; and 3) to discuss the determinism of the asymmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brachiopods from the upper part of the Khalpirkian Regional Stage of the Tiryakh–Kobyume section of the Kobyume structural–facies zone in Southern Verkhoyanie have been studied. The collection is dominated by Strophalosia? vollossovitschi (Fredericks) and Cancrinella? sp. Single spiriferids are assigned to Crassispirifer monumentalis Abramov et Grigorjeva and Cr. aff. monumentalis Abramov et Grigorjeva, and, thus, host deposits are referred to the Crassispirifer monumentalis Beds. We found these beds earlier only in the lower part of the Khalpirkian Regional Stage. Reliable findings of the terminal brachiopod assemblage confined to the Khalpirkian of the Upper Permian have been reviewed. The assemblage is dominated by strophalosiids represented by Wyndhamia gijigensis (Zavodowsky), Marginalosia? magna Abramov et Grigorjeva, Subtaeniothaerus lungersgauzeni Solomina, and Strophalosia? aff. vollossovitschi (Fredericks). "Magadania" sp. and Cancrinella? sp. have been identified from linoproductids. Crassispirifer monumentalis spiriferids are an important element of the terminal assemblage. Athyridids of the Khalpirkian Regional Stage, known only in its lower part, are represented by Cleiothyridina nikolaevi Grunt, Cleiothyridina sp., and Bajtugania sp. The studied regional stage also contains findings of terebratulids attributed to Marinurnula? aff. mantuanensis (Campbell) and M.? aff. chivatschense (Zavodowsky). No brachiopods are known at the top of the Khalpirkian Regional Stage, while rhynchonellids Piarorhynchia sp. appear at the base of the Nekuchan Regional Stage. At the beginning of the Khalpirkian, the brachiopod community had an extended natural habitat in the shelf zone of the Verkhoyan Sea along the Angaraland coastline. Subsequently, this area was reduced and initially divided into two independent subareas confined to the East Kharaulakh and South Verkhoyan sectors. In the Late Khalpirkian, the brachiopod community was concentrated only in the Kobyume zone, where it ended up under the end-Permian mass extinction. Some taxa of the identified brachiopod assemblage have been traced in the Okhotsk region, the Ayan—Yuryakh anticlinorium, and the Omolon massif. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biologically-controlled mineralization producing organic-inorganic composites (hard skeletons) by metazoan biomineralizers has been an evolutionary innovation since the earliest Cambrian. Among them, linguliform brachiopods are one of the key invertebrates that secrete calcium phosphate minerals to build their shells. One of the most distinct shell structures is the organo-phosphatic cylindrical column exclusive to phosphatic-shelled brachiopods, including both crown and stem groups. However, the complexity, diversity, and biomineralization processes of these microscopic columns are far from clear in brachiopod ancestors. Here, exquisitely well-preserved columnar shell ultrastructures are reported for the first time in the earliest eoobolids Latusobolus xiaoyangbaensis gen. et sp. nov. and Eoobolus acutulus sp. nov. from the Cambrian Series 2 Shuijingtuo Formation of South China. The hierarchical shell architectures, epithelial cell moulds, and the shape and size of cylindrical columns are scrutinised in these new species. Their calcium phosphate-based biomineralized shells are mainly composed of stacked sandwich columnar units. The secretion and construction of the stacked sandwich model of columnar architecture, which played a significant role in the evolution of linguliforms, is highly biologically controlled and organic-matrix mediated. Furthermore, a continuous transformation of anatomic features resulting from the growth of diverse columnar shells is revealed between Eoobolidae, Lingulellotretidae, and Acrotretida, shedding new light on the evolutionary growth and adaptive innovation of biomineralized columnar architecture among early phosphatic-shelled brachiopods during the Cambrian explosion.

Changes in predator–prey interactions are often implicated as drivers of major evolutionary change. A prominent example is the dramatic changes in shallow marine assemblages during the Mesozoic Marine Revolution (MMR) when major clades, including rhynchonelliform brachiopods, became restricted and less diverse. Currently, shallow-water temperate and polar brachiopods can be large, but in the tropics, they are small. By contrast, we demonstrate that throughout the Jurassic large brachiopods occurred in shallow sites, from polar to tropical latitudes, but are absent in later periods from tropical areas. These changes occurred in parallel in both major orders (Rhynchonellida and Terebratulida) and also independently within the two sub-ordinal lineages within the Terebratulida (terebratulinids and terebratellinids). Increases in both grazing and predation pressures associated with the MMR might account for this pattern. However, we note that many current environments support both large brachiopods and high densities of grazing species and suggest that the pattern fits more closely to the intensification of durophagous predation in shallow tropical waters.

The Dapingian (Arenig) siltstones and sandstones of the Tagoat Group, County Wexford, SE Ireland, contain a well-preserved and diverse brachiopod fauna including a new genus of alimbellid, Palaeotagoatia (type species: Orthis Bailyana Davidson) together with the plectorthid Ffynnonia costata (Bates) hibernica nov. subsp. Of the 13 forms documented, at least six are conspecific with brachiopods from the upper Arenig (Dapingian-lowest Darriwilian) Treiorwerth Formation on Anglesey and a further two are identified with species occurring in the older Dapingian Carmel Formation. The faunal province affinities of the fauna are with those assemblages assigned to the peri-insular and marginal Celtic province and which occupied positions within the Middle Ordovician Iapetus Ocean between the Laurentian and Baltic platform provinces. More precise correlation of Middle Ordovician units suggests a significant species richness during the Dapingian-earliest Darriwilian and signalling also an early development of the Celtic province. But the shallow-water siliciclastic facies associated with these islands may also have influenced the distribution of some elements of the Celtic brachiopods and promoted the prevalence of coarse-ribbed orthides, such as Paralenorthis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Early Carboniferous Erdbach limestones I, II, and III, deposited in crevasses (karst, tectonics) developed within Devonian carbonate reefs and submarine rises of volcanogenic origin in the eponymous area (Hesse, Germany), yielded a poorly diverse brachiopod fauna that was first studied by E. Holzapfel at the end of the nineteenth century. Re-investigation of the brachiopods based on recently collected material has led to the recognition of at least eleven species within the Tournaisian (Ivorian) Erdbach Limestone II (Scaliognathus anchoralis Zone), thus about twice as many as previously reported in the literature. The brachiopods, including both linguliforms and rhynchonelliforms, are very small (generally ≤ 10 mm in width) and thin-shelled; smooth spiriferides include homeomorphic species. Productidines, rhynchonellides and spire-bearers (athyridides, spiriferides) are specifically predominant among the Rhynchonelliformea. Former reports of Roemerithyris macrogaster (Roemer, 1852) from the Bromberg Formation (Goniatites crenistria Horizon; Asbian) at Elsoff in North Rhine–Westphalia are discussed. Four species from the historical type area of the Tournaisian Stage (Tournai, Belgium) are also discussed and/or illustrated, namely Orbiculoidea davreuxiana (De Koninck, 1843 in 1842–1844), O. portlockiana Demanet, 1934, O. tornacensis Demanet, 1934 (Linguliformea), and Acanthocrania psammophora (de Ryckholt, 1851) (Craniiformea), whose lectotype is selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paired symmetrical inclusions in the shell of the Famennian brachiopod Porostictiabadura (Nalivkin) are revealed by X-ray microtomography. They are interpreted as the mineral-replaced median pedicle muscle. According to their position, it is possible to reconstruct the location of the base of the pedicle, which in this species partially rests on the hinge plates. A new term "Microlagerstätte" is proposed for a local space that has conditions for the preservation of soft tissues of fossil organisms, including due to their replacement with minerals. Brachiopod shells can be such a microlagerstätte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brachiopod taxa Schizophoria (Paraschizophoria) protonevadensis Smith, 1980, Plicogypakayseri alaskensis subsp. nov., subfamily Rzhonsnitskayaellinae subfam. nov., Rzhonsnitskayaella gen. nov., Rzhonsnitskayaella lata sp. nov., Protathyris amsdeni sp. nov., and Nucleospira hecetensis Kirk and Amsden, 1952, are described and illustrated from the Soda Creek Limestone (Early Pragian) of west-central Alaska. These provide a significant increase of Pragian brachiopod taxa described to date from Alaska. The brachiopods described here are the same species or similar to species found in the basal Heceta Limestone of southeast Alaska (Plicogypakayseri Peetz and Nucleospira hecetensis Kirk and Amsden) and in the Canadian Arctic Islands Schizophoria (Paraschizophoria) protonevadansis Smith, 1980). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the middle Sandbian and lower Katian (Upper Ordovician) rocks of the Barrandian area, the fossil remains of conulariids are relatively abundant. Their thecae were sometimes used as solid surfaces for the attachment of epizoans, mostly craniid brachiopods of the genus Petrocrania, more rarely also echinoderms Hemicystites and Agelacrinites, and bryozoans Ceramopora and Spatiopora. The orientation of shells of Petrocrania suggests that conulariids (mostly belonging to the genus Archaeconularia) were dead at the time of the brachiopod attachment, their thecae were partly fragmentary and secondarily replaced. A find of Pseudoconularia grandissima attached to the theca of the cystoid Codiacystis is also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle Jurassic terebratulide brachiopods from the Jordan Valley are herein described and a new taxon is added to the previous faunal list. The Callovian rocks (Mughanniyya Formation) of the Tel el Dhahab section have yielded the following terebratulide taxa: Sphriganaria capax, S. costata, S. costellata, S. curtirostra, S. expansa, S. irregularis, S. subcircularis, S. nasuta, S. sp. 1, and S.? sp. 2. A new species Sphriganaria anyamiae sp. nov. is formally described herein. Internal characters of Sphriganaria costata, S. expansa, and S. nosuta have been studied. On the basis of shell microstructure, crural bases, outer and inner hinge plates were differentiated and defined for the first time in the genus Sphriganaria. The secondary layer is homogeneous built of very fine fibres, predominantly anisometric-like in cross-section, 25‒40 μm wide and 8‒15 μm thick. The Callovian Mughanniyya Formation of northwest Jordan is dominated by highly fossiliferous limestones intercalated with marlstone beds with very diverse brachiopod fauna, deposited in shallow, low-energy waters very near the equator. A paleobiogeographic interpretation of the brachiopod faunas in the Ethiopian Province suggests that brachiopods migrated from the north in the Early Jurassic and later became isolated for the remainder of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stable oxygen and clumped isotope composition of brachiopod calcite are important proxies for the reconstruction of Phanerozoic seawater temperatures and δ18O values. The utility of brachiopods as a temperature archive is nonetheless challenged by indications that their shells precipitate out of isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater, though the origin of disequilibrium effects has remained elusive. Here, we apply the recently developed dual clumped isotope thermometer (i.e., the simultaneous measurement of Δ 47 and Δ 48 values in CO 2 derived from the acid digestion of carbonates) to modern and fossil brachiopods to investigate disequilibrium signatures recorded in brachiopod calcite. We present evidence that disequilibrium signatures are derived from the combination of two rate-limiting processes: the hydration/hydroxylation of CO 2 , and, potentially, the diffusion of HCO 3 −/CO 3 2− in water. An empirical correction for clumped isotope disequilibrium is presented, based on correlation between measured disequilibrium offsets in the Δ 47 and Δ 48 values of modern brachiopods (Δ 47 disequilibrium = –0.88 × Δ 48 disequilibrium + 0.02). Dual clumped isotope thermometry of Eocene age brachiopods from Seymour Island (∼65 °S) yields temperatures in agreement with previously reported Δ 47 derived temperatures from coeval bivalves. In contrast, uncorrected Δ 47 derived temperatures from the same brachiopods are 6–11 °C colder. Measurement of dual clumped isotope composition alongside δ18O values of brachiopod carbonate should also enable more accurate reconstruction of seawater-δ18O. In comparison with group-specific Δ 47 -temperature calibrations, which correct for an average kinetic bias in Δ 47 , dual clumped isotope thermometry accounts for the magnitude of disequilibrium inherent to an individual sample, facilitating more reliable paleotemperature and seawater-δ18O reconstructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FurongianâTremadocian phosphorites of Estonia are sandstone rich in biogenic apatite, represented by brachiopod detritus. The study focuses on the mineralogical and micro-analytical characterisation of phosphorites from the Aseri, Toolse, and Kabala deposits based on FE-SEM and EPMA analyses. The shell fragments are composed of alternating compact and porous laminae, but with considerably poor preservation of pristine textures, superseded by the formation of authigenic CAF-apatite during the early diagenesis. In all settings, the shells showed preferential uptake of Sr into the porous cryptocrystalline laminae. The altered areas are composed of massive apatite crystallites with Mn-enriched layers. They are frequently covered with pyrite, indicating progressive recrystallisation under the influence of interstitial fluids and fluctuations in redox gradients in coastal environments.

A new type of shell damage has been described in Ordovician brachiopods in Porambonites (Porambonites) laticaudata. There is a pair of small pits with somewhat different outline in the shell surface at the anterior commissure of the brachiopod. These pits are oriented in lateral direction, about 40o from the direction of the sulcus on the anterior commissure. Previously known shell damage has resulted from failed predatory attacks by durophagous predators and differ from the shell damage in P. (P.) laticaudata. The pits in the shell margin are most likely the result of shell malformation caused by the presence of symbionts. It is plausible that the symbionts of the P. (P.) laticaudata benefitted from inhalant currents and were cleptoparasites. The symbionts caused damage to the host brachiopod, which also suggests a parasitic relationship.

The latest Sandbian brachiopods and chitinozoans were studied in the Kõrgessaare and Haapsalu drill cores of Estonia. The brachiopod fauna shows a gradual renewal through the Keila Regional Stage (RS), differently from the rather persistent association of chitinozoans. An exception is the uppermost part of the stage, which differs in two sections in the taxonomic composition of chitinozoans and the occurrence of two species-level taxa of the Dalmanella kegelensis brachiopod group. D. kegelensis sensu lato has been considered an index taxon of the biozone in the Keila RS. It links the brachiopod faunas of North Estonia to those in NW Russia. In the latter region, the dolomitic and siliciclastic lagoonal and peritidal deposits overlying the strata with brachiopods of the D. kegelensis group are considered the youngest part of the Keila RS.

The western Iberian Chain of NE Spain represents a lateral prolongation of the West Asturian-Leonese Zone. As other proximal sectors fringing NW Gondwana, the chain comprises a con­formable and continuous FurongianâTremadocian transition, comprising a thick (3600â4500 m) Lower Ordovician sedimentary succession, exclusively composed of siliciclastic strata and deposited in mid-latitude (temperate) waters. Although the shelly fossil record is not abundant, some key trilobites and brachiopods allow the identification of distinct biogeographic links with the Argentinian margin of West Gondwana, Oaxaca (Mexico), and the neighbouring Montagne Noire (France), with which a common biostratigraphic biozonation can be enviaged. Two phosphoritic interbeds rich in linguliformean brachiopods punctuate the Valconchán and Borrachón formations, and represent event beds related to condensation processes and sedimentation of explosive ignimbritic tuffs, respectively.

We reviewed our departmentâs collections dealing with the Ordovician System, stored at the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NMNH NAS). The first investigation of the Ordovician palaeontology of Ukraine was published by the Romanian researcher T. VascâuÅ£sanu before the Second World War. The study of the Ordovician sections during the 1960s was related to geological prospecting. Most outcrops along the Dniester River in the middle of the valley were available for study before the construction of the dam of the Novodniestrovski Hydropower Station, which raised the level of the reservoir near the dam to 60 m. The reservoir is 198 km long and has covered outcrops ranging from the Ediacaran to the Pridoli. Ordovician fossils are represented by diverse remains of brachiopods, molluscs, corals, bryozoans, graptolites, echinoderms, conodonts, and others.

An extensive collection of fossil brachiopods, all assigned to the Wuchiapingian Stage, was recovered from the lower part of the Imtachan Formation along the Ustupnyi Creek (right tributary of the Setorym River) in the Southern Verkhoyanie. It comprises strophalosiids (Strophalosia? aff. vollossovitschi (Fredericks), Strophalosia? sp., Subtaeniothaerus lungersgauzeni Solomina, Marginalosia? magna Abramov et Grigorjeva), spiriferids (Crassispirifer monumentalis Abramov et Grigorjeva, Crassispirifer cf. monumentalis Abramov et Grigorjeva, Crassispirifer sp.), athyridids (Cleiothyridina nikolaevi Grunt, Cleiothyridina sp. 1, Bajtugania sp.), and terebratulids (Marinurnula? aff. mantuanensis (Campbell), Marinurnula? sp.). The identified assemblage is associated with brachiopods from the lower part of the Khalpirki Formation of the Western Verkhoyanie, the appearance of which marks the boundary between the Dulgalakhian and Khalpirkian Regional Stages and also substantiates the lower boundary of the Crassispirifer monumentalis Zone. Single finds of Crassispirifer cf. monumentalis in the lower part of the Middle Imtachan Subformation indicate that the entire lower subformation and the lower part of the middle subformation belong to the C. monumentalis Zone. There are no reliable finds of brachiopods at higher levels of the Imtachan Formation.

Brachiopods are a group of ancient marine invertebrates that are still found today, so they are known as "livingfossil". The purpose of this study was to determine reproductive biology through sex ratio approach, gonad maturity stages, body mass weight and growth pattern of L. anatina through size distribution approach, length-weight relationship, and condition factors. This research was conducted from April to December 2021, at the Aceh northern shore. The method used in this research is purposive sampling. The results showed that based on the morphological characteristics, only one species of brachiopods from the class Lingulata was found, namely Lingula anatina Lamarck, 1801. This species has an unequal sex ratio. Analysis of Body Mass Weight (BMW) and Gonado Somatic Index (GSI) shows an inverse relationship where the BMW value is lower than the GSI value. The condition factor of L. anatina also fluctuates every month, this is presumably due to availability of food in habitat. Gonad maturity stages of L. anatina at the locations of Syiah Kuala and Alue Naga were in spawning conditions (stages IV), especially for female L. anatina. These results indicate that the reproductive quality of L. anatina at the Aceh northern shore was maintained due to minimal exploitation from the surrounding community. Furthermore, the biometric (length – weight relationship) of L. anatina in the Aceh northern shore showing an isometric and negative allometric pattern. Basically, allometric growth is temporary, for example due to changes related to gonadal maturity, while isometric growth is a continuous change that is proportional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vertical sequence of brachiopods was revealed at the base of the Verkhoyanian terrigenous complex of the Tit-Ary section in the northern part of the Tuora-Sis uplift of the lower reaches of the Lena River. As a result of the study of these brachiopods, it was established that in the indicated section, the Upper Cambrian dolomites are overlain by Gzhelian and Asselian deposits, characterized by brachiopods of the Jakutoproductus protoverkhoyanicus and Jakutoproductus verkhoyanicus biostratigraphic zones. This is the first proven fact of the presence of Upper Carboniferous deposits in the area. It is concluded that within the Tuora-Sis uplift from south to north, the upper age limit of the unconformity between the Cambrian and the Upper Paleozoic is growing older, while the base of the Verkhoyanian terrigenous complex is built up by the Permian basal beds and the Gzhelian deposits of the Upper Pennsylvanian. The Tit-Ary section is the first of those established in the lower reaches of the Lena River, with exposed boundary Carboniferous–Permian beds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes the results of our study of the Early Permian brachiopods collected 5.9–6.3 km northwest of the village of Chekurovka that were used to develop the first biostratigraphic zonation of the Asselian–Sakmarian deposits on the left bank of the lower reaches of the Lena River. At the base of the Permian section, the Jakutoproductus lenensis Beds were identified. They are overlain by the Jakutoproductus insignis Zone with numerous shells of the index species. The Jakutoproductus terechovi and Jakutoproductus rugosus Zones, which are characterized by index species, occur even higher in the section. The boundary between the Khorokytian and Echian Regional Stages is defined by the first occurrence of J. insignis at the base of the Insignis Zone. The identified zonal sequence is identical to the previously studied Kubalakh section on the right bank of the lower reaches of the Lena River. However, the thickness of the biostratigraphic zones on the left bank is reduced by half, and a significant lower part of the Khorokytian Regional Stage (below the Lenensis Beds) is missing because it falls on the stratigraphic break between the Cambrian and Permian deposits. The zonation performed shows that there is a direct correlation between the Chekurovka section and the Asselian–Sakmarian deposits of Western Verkhoyanie and the Omolon Massif due to common index species of the biostratigraphic units.

Copyright of Acta Sedimentologica Sinica is the property of Acta Sedimentologica Sinica Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As a potential anti‐predatory defensive structure, the shell ornamentation of marine calcifiers is usually used to understand the macro coevolution of the interactions between predators and preys. Marine calcifiers' shell ornamentation complexity is generally believed to vary negatively with latitude and water depth. In this paper, we explored the association between shell ornamentation and latitude/bathymetry using the latest global database of living brachiopods. We found that (1) ~59% of living brachiopods species are characterized by smooth shells and that (2) there is no statistically significant linear trend, either positive or negative, between the ornamentation index and latitudes nor with water depths. Both findings are puzzling for living brachiopods as they are sharply contrasted to the patterns of fossil brachiopods whereby the latter, especially Paleozoic brachiopods, are known to exhibit (1) a much greater ornamentation diversity and (2) (at least for the geological periods that have been studied) a linear latitudinal gradient of ornamentation complexity existed. The reasons why living brachiopods have such a high proportion of smooth or weakly ornamented shells and fail to demonstrate an unequivocal linear latitudinal ornamentation gradient were explored and are linked to a multitude of potential factors rather than uniquely only to the predation pressure. Among these, the most plausible factor seems to be the cryptic (refuge‐type) habitats (e.g., deep waters, cold polar regions, and submarine rock caves) that living brachiopods have been adapted to due to their low metabolism, where predation pressure is low, allowing brachiopods to enact the predator avoidance strategy rather than having to manufacture robust shell ornamentation to survive in an otherwise highly engaged predator–prey global marine ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since oil shales in northern Qiangtang were found, the determination of the age of the Bailongbinghe Formation bearing the oil shales becomes particularly important economically. In general, the Jurassic rocks and fossils of northern Qiangtang demonstrate a vast shallow marine environment. Three sedimentary facies have been recognized, they are subtidal–lagoonal facies in the eastern area (e.g., the Yanshiping area), represented by siliciclastic depositional sequences, intercalated by two sets of calcareous deposition. The Jurassic rocks and fossils in the Bailongbinghe area demonstrate the shallow-water carbonate platform facies, in which ammonites, bivalves, brachiopods, corals and calcareous sponges, and patch reefs of oyster, are widely distributed, thus an open marine environment is implied. The oil shales, outcropping in a depression band near the northern margin of the middle rising ridge in the Bandaohu area, are considered as the restrict lagoonal facies. The Bailongbinghe Formation is subdivided into the Lower and Upper parts, the Lower Bailongbinghe Formation is capped by the oil shales of Bathonian to lower Oxfordian age, confirmed by brachiopods and bivalves. The Upper Bailongbinghe Formation has been regarded as upper Jurassic to lower Cretaceous age, consisting of evaporitic rocks with a considerable thickness. Two Jurassic marine–faunal dispersals are, respectively, recorded in lower Bathonian and lower Oxfordian strata. Occurrences of western Tethyan components such as Planisphinctes planilobus, Lobosphinctes intersertus, Procerites subprocerus, and P. cf. aurigera indicate a Bathonian eastward-dispersal. In the meanwhile, various species of Burmirhynchia attain a wide distribution over the northern Qiangtang region. The early Oxfordian transgressive in scale is considered smaller than the Bathonian one, represented only by bivalves, such as Radulopecten scarburgensis, R. variants, and Capillimya striata. Early Bathonian sea-level rise plays a significant role in the development of oil shales in the Bandaohu area. A depositional model of irregular-bottom topography is applicable to interpretation of the oil shales formation. The Himalayan Spiti shale fauna, utilized for age-evidence of the Bailongbinghe Formation, are mistaken and misunderstood. Cretaceous age of the Bailongbinghe Formation, derived from palynofossils and Re–Os dating is challenged by the present biostratigraphical succession in the light of facilitate accurate identification of Bailongbinghe fossils. Furthermore, so-called Barremian–Aptian negative excursions of carbon isotopes in the Bailongbinghe Formation is thereby questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes a late Permian marine faunal assemblage dominated by brachiopods from Arunachal Pradesh, NE India and analyses its importance for the global Permian palaeobiogeography. Previous studies suggested that Tethyan sediments are absent from Arunachal Pradesh east of the Siang river and therefore late Permian marine fossils in Arunachal Pradesh remained ambiguous and at best poorly known. In the Dalbuing area, a fossiliferous, brown-coloured shale unit of the Yamne Formation is found to host late Permian brachiopods and bivalves. It is overlain by Eocene nummulitic limestone of the Dalbuing Formation of the Yinkiong Group. This late Permian brachiopod fauna from Dalbuing is dominated by chonetids and includes typical Permian Himalayan taxa like Spiriferella and Neochonetes and Tethyan genera like Tethychonetes. Their preservation is relatively poor because of multiple episodes of deformation, but an overall similarity with typical late Permian fossil assemblages can be observed. The late Permian brachiopod assemblages from Tibet and south China are also characterised by the dominance of rugosochonetids. All twenty-two brachiopod and bivalve genera collected from the Yamne Formation were subjected to a palaeobiogeographic study by analysing whether these taxa were also present in twelve locations representing the seven Permian biogeographic provinces using a cluster analysis and NMDS. The results reveal the highest similarity of Arunachal taxa with faunas in China and the Himalayan Province, comprising of Tibet, Nepal, Pamir, Pakistan, Sikkim and North India. This suggest mixing of the taxa in peri-Gondwanan areas with Cathaysian elements in the late Permian due to climatic amelioration and the northward drift of Gondwanaland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of shell damage has been described in Ordovician brachiopods in Porambonites (Porambonites) laticaudata. There is a pair of small pits with somewhat different outline in the shell surface at the anterior commissure of the brachiopod. These pits are oriented in lateral direction, about 40° from the direction of the sulcus on the anterior commissure. Previously known shell damage has resulted from failed predatory attacks by durophagous predators and differ from the shell damage in P. (P.) laticaudata. The pits in the shell margin are most likely the result of shell malformation caused by the presence of symbionts. It is plausible that the symbionts of the P. (P.) laticaudata benefitted from inhalant currents and were cleptoparasites. The symbionts caused damage to the host brachiopod, which also suggests a parasitic relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest Sandbian brachiopods and chitinozoans were studied in the Kõrgessaare and Haapsalu drill cores of Estonia. The brachiopod fauna shows a gradual renewal through the Keila Regional Stage (RS), differently from the rather persistent association of chitinozoans. An exception is the uppermost part of the stage, which differs in two sections in the taxonomic composition of chitinozoans and the occurrence of two species-level taxa of the Dalmanella kegelensis brachiopod group. D. kegelensis sensu lato has been considered an index taxon of the biozone in the Keila RS. It links the brachiopod faunas of North Estonia to those in NW Russia. In the latter region, the dolomitic and siliciclastic lagoonal and peritidal deposits overlying the strata with brachiopods of the D. kegelensis group are considered the youngest part of the Keila RS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Furongian–Tremadocian phosphorites of Estonia are sandstone rich in biogenic apatite, represented by brachiopod detritus. The study focuses on the mineralogical and micro-analytical characterisation of phosphorites from the Aseri, Toolse, and Kabala deposits based on FE-SEM and EPMA analyses. The shell fragments are composed of alternating compact and porous laminae, but with considerably poor preservation of pristine textures, superseded by the formation of authigenic CAF-apatite during the early diagenesis. In all settings, the shells showed preferential uptake of Sr into the porous cryptocrystalline laminae. The altered areas are composed of massive apatite crystallites with Mn-enriched layers. They are frequently covered with pyrite, indicating progressive recrystallisation under the influence of interstitial fluids and fluctuations in redox gradients in coastal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reviewed our department’s collections dealing with the Ordovician System, stored at the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NMNH NAS). The first investigation of the Ordovician palaeontology of Ukraine was published by the Romanian researcher T. Vascâuţsanu before the Second World War. The study of the Ordovician sections during the 1960s was related to geological prospecting. Most outcrops along the Dniester River in the middle of the valley were available for study before the construction of the dam of the Novodniestrovski Hydropower Station, which raised the level of the reservoir near the dam to 60 m. The reservoir is 198 km long and has covered outcrops ranging from the Ediacaran to the Pridoli. Ordovician fossils are represented by diverse remains of brachiopods, molluscs, corals, bryozoans, graptolites, echinoderms, conodonts, and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The western Iberian Chain of NE Spain represents a lateral prolongation of the West Asturian-Leonese Zone. As other proximal sectors fringing NW Gondwana, the chain comprises a con­formable and continuous Furongian‒Tremadocian transition, comprising a thick (3600‒4500 m) Lower Ordovician sedimentary succession, exclusively composed of siliciclastic strata and deposited in mid-latitude (temperate) waters. Although the shelly fossil record is not abundant, some key trilobites and brachiopods allow the identification of distinct biogeographic links with the Argentinian margin of West Gondwana, Oaxaca (Mexico), and the neighbouring Montagne Noire (France), with which a common biostratigraphic biozonation can be enviaged. Two phosphoritic interbeds rich in linguliformean brachiopods punctuate the Valconchán and Borrachón formations, and represent event beds related to condensation processes and sedimentation of explosive ignimbritic tuffs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract From latest Hauterivian to latest Barremian, the Urgonian facies of the Swiss and French Jura Mountains are subdivided into three formations and five members: new Saars Formation (= former “Gorges de l’Orbe Formation” sensu Strasser et al., 2016; Pictet, 2021) with a new Falaises Member below the Montcherand and Bôle members of Pictet (2021), Rocher des Hirondelles Formation with Fort de l’Ecluse and Rivière members (Pictet, 2021, revised), and Vallorbe Formation (revised from Strasser et al., 2016 and the “Vallorbe Member” of Pictet, 2021). The latest Hauterivian-early Late Barremien Saars Formation includes three members 1) to 3): 1) Latest Hauterivian-Early Barremian Falaises Member with new Early Barremian nannoflora from the Corcelles Marls (much younger than the late Early Hauterivian nannoflora from the Uttins Marls of the type locality at Mont de Chamblon), primitive orbitolinids Praedictyorbitolina claveli Schroeder, 1994; and fossils/microfossils usually considered as Hauterivian markers: echinids Pseudholaster intermedius (Münster in Goldfuss, 1826), brachiopods Glosseudesia semistriata (Defrance, 1828), Lamellaerynchia hauteriviensis Burri, 1953 and Plicarostrum aubersonense Burri, 1956, and ostracods of the Assemblage 1 [Protocythere triplicata (Roemer, 1841), Rehacythereis bernardi (Grosdidier, 1964), Schuleridea clunicularis (Triebel, 1938), Schuleridea gr. thoerenensis (Triebel, 1938)]. 2) Early Barremian Montcherand Member with brachiopods Glosseudesia inexpectata Mojon, n. sp. and Glosseudesia ebrodunensis (de Loriol, 1864), and ostracods of the Assemblage 2 [Strigosocythere strigosa (Grosdidier, 1964), P. triplicata, and juvenile immature species markers of the next ostracod Assemblage 3]. 3) Early to early Late Barremian Bôle Member with adult ostracod markers of the Assemblage 3 [Rehacythereis geometrica (Damotte and Grosdidier, 1963), Bairdoppilata barremiana Mojon, n. sp., Bairdoppilata luminosa Kuznetsova, 1961; Neocythere (Centrocythere) gottisi Damotte and Grosdidier, 1963; Schuleridea derooi Damotte and Grosdidier, 1963; Schuleridea alata Kaye, 1965; Dolocytheridea intermedia Oertli, 1958]. 4) The Early to Late Barremian Fort de l’Ecluse Member/Rocher des Hirondelles Formation and Late Barremian Rivière Member/Vallorbe Formation are characterized by markers such as echinids Heteraster couloni (L. Agassiz, 1839), orbitolinids [Praedictyorbitolina carthusiana Schoeder et al., 1990; Eopalorbitolina charollaisi Schroeder and Conrad, 1967; Valserina broennimanni Schroeder and Conrad, 1967; Paleodictyoconus actinostoma Arnaud-Vanneau and Schroeder, 1976; Paracoskinolina maynci (Chevalier, 1961)], and typical ostracods of the Assemblage 4 [Strigosocythere chalilovi (Kuznetsova, 1961), Rehacythereis buechlerae (Oertli, 1958) only in the southern Jura and replaced by R. geometrica in the central Jura, Platycythereis rostrata Sauvagnat, 1999] extended in the latest Barremian-Early Aptian Fulie Member of the basal Perte-du-Rhône Formation defined by Pictet et al. (2016). ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9CDFC0BE-DAD2-47E8-A213-7AE74A923350

The species Sinochonetes wangi Rasheboeuf, 1987 is described from the Lower Devonian of the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago. This is the first record of chonetoids within the Russian Arctic. An assumption on the biogeographical connections of the Severnaya Zemlya basin of the Arctic region in the early Devonian is made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interesting case of close external similarity (homoeomorphy) is revealed by the study of an Early Jurassic rhynchonellide brachiopod from Livari, Rumija Mountain, southern Montenegro. Shell microstructure was used as the primary diagnostic tool, applied before serial sectioning to study internal characters. Sepkoskirhynchia sphaerica gen. et sp. nov. is erected based on the presence of coarse fibrous shell microstructure and hamiform crura. Because of these primary diagnostic characters, the new genus is placed in the rhynchonellide family Basiliolidae. The shell microstructure of the new taxon is characterised by a differentiated secondary layer of coarse fibrous type. The fibres are rhombic or subquadrate in cross-section, in the external sublayer they are 55–60 μm wide and 40–50 μm thick, internally other sublayers are thinner with fibres 35–40 μm wide and 20–25 μm thick. The main character that distinguishes the new genus is that the secondary layer is differentiated into several sublayers, while in externally homoeomorphic Soaresirhynchia it is built of a single layer. The new taxon was found in the brachiopod and crinoidal limestones from the periplatform facies of the Dinaric Carbonate Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Spanish Journal of Palaeontology is the property of Socieadad Espanola de Paleontologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The earliest known Cyrtina in the Prague Basin has been discovered in the Kotýs Limestone of the Lochkov Formation (Lochkovian) among a rich brachiopod-coral fauna at Branžovy ridge near Bubovice (Beroun District, Czechia). Rare and imperfectly preserved silicified shells are assigned to Cyrtina praecedens Kozłovski, 1929, a species originally described from Podolia, Ukraine. The species is known also in north-eastern Russia (Tajmyr and Sette-Daban Mts) and likely also in New South Wales, Australia. Its distribution provides evidence of the rapid spread of Cyrtina across the shallow shelves of Laurussia, Siberia and Gondwana in the Early Devonian. The Devonian and Carboniferous distribution of Cyrtina is restricted to the agitated, shallow-water carbonate environment in tropical and temperate climatic belts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New taxa of the superfamily Ambocoelioidea George, 1931 are described from the Eifelian of west-central Alaska: Micopisticospirifer gen. nov. with the type species M. simplex sp. nov. and Cheeneetnukispirifer gen. nov. with the type species Ch. rarus sp. nov. (family Ambocoeliidae) and Alaskomicospirifer gen. nov. with the type species A. boreus sp. nov (family Rhynchospiriferidae). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New brachiopod species Eoanastrophia tozodoviensis sp. nov. is described from the Tozodov Body, Upper Ordovician of the Teletskoe Lakeside facies zone, Altai Mountains. Amendments are suggested to the diagnosis of Eoanastrophia Nikiforova et Sapelnikov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permian brachiopods from Oman are well-known as valuable tools for correlation and palaeobio-geographical and palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Here, we describe a new brachiopod fauna from the Qarari Unit of the allochthonous Batain Group in northeast Oman. Brachiopods were collected from four localities: Wadi Khawr al Jaramah (WKJ), Jebel Qarari (JQ1), Jebel X (JX3) and Shiya (SH11). The age of the fossiliferous localities is well-constrained to the late Kungurian-early Roadian by conodonts and fusulines, in agreement with the age suggested by the brachiopod ranges. The brachiopod fauna consists of 339 specimens belonging to 68 species of 8 orders, among which five species are here identified as new Based on the taphonomic attributes and the analysis of the brachiopod life-styles, the assemblages from the Qarari Unit are interpreted as life assemblages thriving on varied substrates, with limited post-mortem exposure on the sea floor and rapid burial at depths around the storm wave base. Based on the generally high biodiversity indices (Shannon-Wiener and Margalef indices), the Qarari brachiopod fauna can be considered a biodiversity hotspot, only comparable, in term of biodiversity, to the coeval faunas from West Texas and South China. However, palaeobiogeographical affinities of the Qarari brachiopods with these faunas are scanty, as well as the affinities with coeval faunas from the northern Gondwana margin and the Cimmerian and Cathaysian blocks, except for some similarities with the upper Kungurian brachiopods of Myanmar. This may be explained by the fact that the Qarari succession was deposited in the Madagascan arm of Neo-Tethys, and thus rather isolated from the main Gondwanan margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]