ABSTRACT. The gastropod fauna of the Upper Devonian Baggy and Pilton formations in south-west England is revised and includes some 30 taxa. The topmost part of the Upper Famennian succession in Devon is represented by clastic near-shore and shallow shelf sediments, indicating a short-term transgressive phase (`Strunian Transgression'). The sequence yields a highly diverse fauna dominated by brachiopods and ostracodes, locally supplemented by crinoids, bryozoans, trilobites and molluscs. The taxa`Patellostium' britannicum sp. nov., Angyomphalus (Angyomphalus) junius sp. nov. and Dictyotomaria eurocapillaria sp. nov. are erected; a junior homonym is replaced by Macrochilina? piltonensis nom. nov. The gastropod fauna displays an independent character, where latest Devonian faunal elements overlap with Late Palaeozoic taxa expressing a transition similar to that of the bivalves, brachiopods, echinoderms and corals, without a sharp faunal break at the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary. Apart from the Caenogastropoda, all subclasses of gastropods are represented. Members of the bellerophontoids, pleurotomarioids and loxonematoids are most abundant, followed by murchisonioids, naticimorphs, euomphalomorphs and platyceratoids. The various gastropod groups represent different ecological demands and trophic categories, and together with the accompanying fauna indicate that nearly all habitats and niches were occupied in the shallow South Laurussian Shelf. A M O N G fossil associations from the middle and upper Palaeozoic, latest Devonian (Late Famennian) faunas worldwide have not attracted special attention as they are mainly scarce, badly preserved and not well understood, although most of them have been known for over 100 years. Only those localities important for establishing the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary have been intensively sampled and studied in detail.Some ten years ago, an interdisciplinary research project was initiated by one of us (MRWA) dealing with the study of biofacies evolution and palaeobiodiversity in siliciclastic shelf regions before and after evolutionary turning-points. The selected study area was the southern margin of Laurussia during the Devonian and early Carboniferous because sedimentary rocks of that age and facies are widely distributed geographically and palaeogeographically from eastern North America across the British Isles and Belgium as far as the Russian Platform. The idea for this study arose from the inadequate knowledge about the palaeontology of siliciclastic and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate shelf areas, although they display good preservation potential.The multidisciplinary studies of invertebrate faunas are now leading to a more detailed picture of the bio-and lithofacies evolution, palaeoecology, biogeography, palaeoclimatology and small-scale palaeogeography of the South Laurussian Shelf. Within the scope of the project we selected several topics for analysis, one of which being the study of the fauna, stratigraphy and biofacies of the Pilton-Condroz Shelf (from south-west ...

No abstract

Diverse and well‐preserved Late Viséan (Early Carboniferous) gastropod faunas from the eastern Anti‐Atlas of Morocco are described herein. The new genus Itimaspira n. gen. is described as well as the six new species Ananias weyeri n. sp., Itimaspira klugi n. sp., Nodospira krawczynskii n. sp., Baylea cordulae n. sp., Cinclidonema marocensis n. sp., and Schizostoma africanum n. sp., together with specimens of the genera Baylea, Orthonema, ?Knightella sp. and Macrochilina in open nomenclature. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

ESenckenbergianalethaea I 84 I (1/2) 1125-139 ] 4text-fig, 2pls Dedicated to Professor Kurt Ruchholz on the occasion of his 80th birthdm,. 125 Frankfurt am Main, 30.12.2004 I Famennian brachiopod and gastropod occurrences on top of Devonian seamounts, Elbingerode and Iberg Reefs, Harz Mts., Germany EBERHARD GISCHLER, ANDRZEJ BALINSKI, ARNOLD FUCHS 8 91 DORIS HEIDELBERGER With 4 Text-figures and 2 Plates A b stract Famennian brachiopods and gastropods occur locally on top of the Elbingerode and Iberg Reefs (Harz Mts.). The Elbingerode occurrence is found in a small depression of the former reef surface and belongs to the Palmatolepis triangularis conodont-zone. It is a brachiopod-gastropod packstone, which also contains limited numbers of crinoids, solitary corals, and trilobites. The Iberg occurrence is a crinoid grainstone, which contains few brachiopods and solitary corals. The grainstone is found in two neptunian dikes cutting the reef, and belongs to the Palmatolepis marginifera conodont-zone. Five brachiopod and five gastropod taxa are described, with the new species Holopea ruchholzi. Stable isotopes (?~3C, 91 of cement and matrix of Famennian limestones suggest no relation to a methane seep, as described for the different, late Visean brachiopod limestone on top of the Iberg Reef. K e y w o r d s : Devonian, Famennian, brachiopod, gastropod, limestone, reef, Harz Kurzfasssung Brachiopoden und Gastropoden des Famenne treten lokal begrenzt auf dem Elbinger6der und Iberger Riff (Harz) auf. Das Elbinger6der Vorkommen liegt in einer Vertiefung der ehemaligen Riffoberfl~iche und geh6rt stratigraphisch in die Palmatolepis triangularis Conodonten-Zone. Es handelt sich um Brachiopoden-Gastropoden-Packstones, in denen untergeordnet auch Crinoiden, so[it~ire Korallen und Trilobiten vorkommen. Das Iberger Vorkommen ist ein Crinoiden-Grainstone, in dem untergeordnet auch Brachiopoden und Korallen vorliegen. Der Kalk tritt in zwei neptunischen Spalten im Riff auf und ist stratigraphisch in die Palmatolepis marginifera Conodonten-Zone einzustufen. Insgesamt werden f'ª Brachiopoden-und f'ª Gastropoden-Taxa beschrieben, darunter die neue Art Holopea ruchholzi.

No abstract