Exceptionally preserved fossils from Bickershaw, Lancashire UK (Upper Carboniferous, Westphalian A (Langsettian))

Anderson, Lyall I.; Dunlop, Jason A.; Horrocks, Carl A.; Winkelmann, Heather M.; Eagar, R. M. C.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1034(199709)32:3<197::aid-gj739>3.0.co;2-6

Cited by 33 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Euthycarcinoids from the Carboniferous Konservat-Lagersta Ètten of Montceau-les-Mines are undoubtedly freshwater from the evidence of associated fauna and the tectonic setting of this inland drainage basin (Racheboeuf et al 2002). Occurrences at other Carboniferous sites such as Mazon Creek (Illinois) and Bickershaw (northwest England) (Anderson et al 1997;Wilson and Almond 2001) are associated with brackish-water faunas in a deltaic setting, typi®ed by the non-marine bivalve Curvirimula. Euthycarcinus kessleri from the Lower Triassic of the Gre Ás a Á Voltzia of France (Gall and Grauvogel-Stamm 1999) shows an association with horseshoe crabs (Limulitella bronni), a notostracan (Triops cancriformis), and a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic arthropods in a semi-arid deltaic setting.…”

Section: A N D E R S O N a N D T R E W I N : D E V O N I A N A R T H supporting

confidence: 78%

“…Subsequently, Trewin and McNamara (1995) argued for a late Silurian age for Kalbarria on the basis of associated trace fossils, but subsequent authors (Gorter et al 1994;Iasky and Mory 1999) have suggested that the Tumblagooda Sandstone may be Ordovician in age. Euthycarcinoids have been infrequently described from rocks of Late Carboniferous age from localities bearing soft-bodied or unmineralised arthropods (Konservat-Lagersta Ètten) in Europe (Montceau-les-Mines; Secretan 1980), the UK (Anderson et al 1997(Anderson et al , 1999Wilson and Almond 2001) and Mazon Creek, USA (Schram and Rolfe 1982). The youngest euthycarcinoid is Synaustrus from the Middle Triassic of Australia (Edgecombe and Morgan 1999).…”

Section: Experimental Observationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

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An Early Devonian arthropod fauna from the Windyfield cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

2003

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ABSTRACT. New terrestrial and freshwater arthropods are described from the Windy®eld cherts, a suite of silici®ed sinters deposited 700 m north-east of the Rhynie cherts and part of the same Early Devonian hot-spring complex. The diverse assemblage consists of Heterocrania rhyniensis (Hirst and Maulik, 1926a), here recognized as a euthycarcinoid; scutigeromorph centipede material assigned to Crussolum sp.; the crustacean Lepidocaris; trigonotarbid arachnids; a new arthropod of myriapod af®nities named Leverhulmia mariae gen. et sp. nov.; and the distinctively ornamented arthropod cuticle of Rhynimonstrum dunlopi gen. et sp. nov. The Leverhulmia animal preserves gut content identifying it as an early terrestrial detritivore. Abundant coprolites of similar composition and morphology to the gut contents of the euthycarcinoid crowd the matrix. Chert texture, faunal associations, and study of modern analogues strongly suggest that the terrestrial arthropods were ubiquitous Early Devonian forms with no particular special adaptation to localized conditions around the terrestrial hot-spring vents. The aquatic arthropods represent biota from ephemeral cool-water pools in the vicinity of the hot-spring vents.KEY WORDS: Rhynie, arthropod, hot-springs, chert, Devonian, euthycarcinoid.T H E Early Devonian Rhynie chert Konservat-Lagersta Ètte continues to yield important information on an early terrestrial ecosystem preserved almost in its entirety. Intensive drilling, core recovery and trenching carried out in the Rhynie SSSI (Site of Special Scienti®c Interest) has established that the cherts originated through the deposition of siliceous sinter in the subaerial zone of a hydrothermal hot-spring complex (Rice et al. 2002). During the same phase of exploration, new chert was collected from the nearby Windy®eld hot-spring complex ®rst noted by Trewin and Rice (1992) . Prospecting the Windy®eld cherts for arthropods has led to the discovery of a varied fauna of both terrestrial and aquatic arthropods. We report the initial ®nds and compare them with those of the Rhynie cherts.The Windy®eld cherts exhibit the same general ®eld relations and sedimentological setting as the Rhynie cherts: impersistent pods of chert, bounded by ®ne-grained carbonaceous sandstones and variable thicknesses of hydrothermally altered sticky blue clays (Text-®g. 2). However, the Windy®eld¯oat blocks differ markedly in texture, colour, and biotic content from those previously recorded from the Rhynie chert site (Powell et al. 2000a). To date, trigonotarbid arachnids, crustaceans, mites, and a collembolan have been described from the Rhynie cherts (Kevan et al. 1975). Trewin (1994) provided a review of the arthropod fauna, but omitted two problematical forms, Heterocrania Hirst and Maulik, 1926b and Rhyniognatha Tillyard, 1926. We now assign Heterocrania to the euthycarcinoids, but can shed no further light on Rhyniognatha. Documentation of the new arthropods in the Windy®eld cherts substantially increases our knowledge of the biota, and of the plant-a...

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Section: A N D E R S O N a N D T R E W I N : D E V O N I A N A R T H supporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Experimental Observationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

An Early Devonian arthropod fauna from the Windyfield cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

2003

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“…These minerals are formed during sediment diagenesis and are often found in close association with organic matter (Anderson et al, 1997;Grimes et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 80%

Reactivity of organic matter in aquifer sediments: geological and geochemical controls 1 1Associate editor: P. A. Maurice

Hartog

Bergen

Leeuw

et al. 2004

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

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“…Based on the associated¯ora and bivalves, material from this spoil heap has been dated as mid±late Westphalian A (Anderson et al 1997) (Text-®g. 1).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…1). Anderson et al (1997) suggested the depositional environment to have been¯uvio-deltaic in fresh to brackish water. Other arthropods from this locality include arachnids, arthropleurids, insects and xiphosurans.…”

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confidence: 99%

New Euthycarcinoids and an Enigmatic Arthropod from the British Coal Measures

Wilson

Almond²

2001

Palaeontology

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ABSTRACT. Two new species of euthycarcinoids (Arthropoda), Kottixerxes anglicus sp. nov. and Smithixerxes pustulosus sp. nov., are described from the Coal Measures of Westhoughton, Lancashire and Coseley, West Midlands (Westphalian A and B respectively). Both genera are previously known from Mazon Creek, USA (Westphalian D). An additional, enigmatic arthropod with possible euthycarcinoid af®nities, Arthrogyrinus platyurus gen. et sp. nov., is described from Coseley. Hypotheses concerning the phylogenetic position of euthycarcinoids are critically reviewed.KEY WORDS: Arthropoda, Carboniferous, Coal Measures, Euthycarcinida, Kottixerxidae, phylogeny.TH E Euthycarcinida are arthropods of uncertain af®nities that are extremely rare in the fossil record. Interpretation of euthycarnoid morphology has been varied, however their basic body plan can be de®ned as consisting of three tagmata: head, preabdomen and postabdomen. The morphology of the head has been subject to the most varied interpretation. In the descriptions of the ®rst known euthycarcinoids, the head was interpreted as consisting of a semicircular dorsal shield, posteriorly as wide as the preabdomen and covering the cephalic appendages (Handlirsch 1914;Gall and Grauvogel 1964). More recently the head has been interpreted as bipartite: divided into a small, anterior procephalon and large, semicircular gnathocephalon (Bergstro Èm 1980;Schram and Rolfe 1982;McNamara and Trewin 1993). The number and identity of the cephalic appendages is still unresolved. The preabdomen contains a variable number of leg-bearing somites, expressed ventrally as free sternites, and is characterized by the presence of broad, dorsal triplo-and/or diplotergites. Two distinct groups of euthycarcinoids can be distinguished based on characters of the preabdomen. The sottyxerxids, comprising the taxa Pieckoxerxes pieckoae (Schram and Rolfe, 1982) and Sottyxerxes multiplex Schram and Rolfe, 1982, have a long preabdomen composed of 13±14 short diplotergites. The euthycarcinids, which comprise all other known genera, have a relatively shorter preabdomen composed of 5±6 diplo-and triplotergites. The postabdomen of all euthycarinoids is narrower than the preabdomen and composed of 5±6 cylindrical segments and a styliform telson.Euthycarcinoids were ®rst described from the Triassic Voltzia Sandstone of the Vosges, France (Handlirsch 1914;Gall and Grauvogel 1964), and have since been described from the Upper Silurian of Western Australia (McNamara and Trewin 1993), the Upper Carboniferous of Ibbenbu Èren, Germany (Schultka 1991), Mazon Creek, USA and Montceau-les-Mines, France (Schram 1971;Schram and Rolfe 1982, 1997), the Permian of Germany (Schneider 1983) and the Middle Triassic of Australia (Riek 1964(Riek , 1968. Most localities have yielded only isolated specimens, but they are locally more abundant at Montceau-les-Mines and in the Voltzia sandstone.Two new euthycarcinid species are described herein, the ®rst known specimens from England. They extend the geographical range of the group t...

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Exceptionally preserved fossils from Bickershaw, Lancashire UK (Upper Carboniferous, Westphalian A (Langsettian))

Cited by 33 publications

References 19 publications

An Early Devonian arthropod fauna from the Windyfield cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

An Early Devonian arthropod fauna from the Windyfield cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Reactivity of organic matter in aquifer sediments: geological and geochemical controls 1 1Associate editor: P. A. Maurice

New Euthycarcinoids and an Enigmatic Arthropod from the British Coal Measures

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