Preservation and diagenesis of soft-bodied fossils and the occurrence of phosphate-associated rare earth elements in the Cambrian (Wuliuan) Spence Shale Lagerstätte
“…4–6.2019b Dioxycaris argenta ; Kimmig et al, p. 614, fig. 4j.2022 Dioxycaris argenta ; Whitaker et al, p. 6, fig. 2C.Figure 10. Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886 from the Spence Shale Member, Langston Formation (Cambrian: Wuliuan), Idaho and Utah, USA: ( 1 ) KUMIP 314048, Antimony Canyon, collected by the Gunther family; ( 2 ) MCZ IP 164073 (part), Antimony Canyon, collected by Lloyd Gunther; ( 3 ) KUMIP 491904, Miners Hollow, collected by the Gunther family; ( 4 ) KUMIP 558518 (part), Spence Gulch, collected by Julien Kimmig.…”
Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Remarks.-Dioxycaris argenta is the most common bivalved panarthropod in the Spence Shale, however the valves and carapaces seemingly have a tendency to decompose more rapidly than those of other bivalved panarthropods. Although this might have to do with varying taphonomic conditions in different Spence Shale outcrops (Whitaker et al, 2022), it also suggests that the valves might have been thinner than those of other bivalved panarthropods. With the specimens described herein, there are now at least nine specimens known from the Spence Shale, five of them from Antimony Canyon.…”
Section: Branchiocaris Pretiosamentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The Cambrian (Miaolingian, Wuliuan) Spence Shale of northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho occupies a distinctive position among the Lagerstätten of the Great Basin, because it preserves a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf shales. Although this by itself is not unique, the fact that biomineralized and soft-bodied organisms are found in all of these environments, and the biota differs between localities (Kimmig et al, 2019b; Whitaker et al, 2022) makes the Spence Shale a deposit of utmost importance to understanding Cambrian communities and biodiversity. Whereas the depositional environment varies within the Spence Shale, all known exposures are dominated by panarthropods (Kimmig et al, 2019b; Whitaker and Kimmig, 2020).…”
The Cambrian (Miaolingian; Wuliuan) Spence Shale Lagerstätte of northern Utah and southern Idaho is one of the most diverse Burgess Shale-type deposits of Laurentia. It yields a diverse fauna consisting of abundant biomineralized and locally abundant soft-bodied fossils, along a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf dark shales. Panarthropods are the dominant component throughout the deposit, both in time and space, but whereas the trilobites and agnostoids are abundant, most of the soft-bodied taxa are only known from very few specimens. Additionally, the knowledge of soft-bodied panarthropods is currently largely limited to locations in the Wellsville Mountains of northeastern Utah. This contribution describes 21 new soft-bodied panarthropods from six locations, including the first occurrences of soft-bodied panarthropods in the High-Creek, Smithfield Creek, Spence Gulch, and Two-Mile Canyon localities. Additionally, we report the presence of bradoriids— i.e., Branchiocaris pretiosa Resser, 1929, Perspicaris? dilatus Robison and Richards, 1981, Naraoia? sp. indet., Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, and Tuzoia guntheri Robison and Richards, 1981—for the first time from the Spence Shale Lagerstätte; the first reported occurrence outside of the Burgess Shale for Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia; and the first Wuliuan occurrence of Tuzoia guntheri. We also report on a new hurdiid carapace element and additional specimens of Buccaspinea cooperi? Pates et al., 2021, Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886, Hurdia sp. indet., and Tuzoia retifera Walcott, 1912. This new material improves our understanding of the panarthropod fauna of the Spence Shale Lagerstätte and substantially increases our understanding of the distribution of the described taxa in time and space.
“…4–6.2019b Dioxycaris argenta ; Kimmig et al, p. 614, fig. 4j.2022 Dioxycaris argenta ; Whitaker et al, p. 6, fig. 2C.Figure 10. Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886 from the Spence Shale Member, Langston Formation (Cambrian: Wuliuan), Idaho and Utah, USA: ( 1 ) KUMIP 314048, Antimony Canyon, collected by the Gunther family; ( 2 ) MCZ IP 164073 (part), Antimony Canyon, collected by Lloyd Gunther; ( 3 ) KUMIP 491904, Miners Hollow, collected by the Gunther family; ( 4 ) KUMIP 558518 (part), Spence Gulch, collected by Julien Kimmig.…”
Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Remarks.-Dioxycaris argenta is the most common bivalved panarthropod in the Spence Shale, however the valves and carapaces seemingly have a tendency to decompose more rapidly than those of other bivalved panarthropods. Although this might have to do with varying taphonomic conditions in different Spence Shale outcrops (Whitaker et al, 2022), it also suggests that the valves might have been thinner than those of other bivalved panarthropods. With the specimens described herein, there are now at least nine specimens known from the Spence Shale, five of them from Antimony Canyon.…”
Section: Branchiocaris Pretiosamentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The Cambrian (Miaolingian, Wuliuan) Spence Shale of northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho occupies a distinctive position among the Lagerstätten of the Great Basin, because it preserves a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf shales. Although this by itself is not unique, the fact that biomineralized and soft-bodied organisms are found in all of these environments, and the biota differs between localities (Kimmig et al, 2019b; Whitaker et al, 2022) makes the Spence Shale a deposit of utmost importance to understanding Cambrian communities and biodiversity. Whereas the depositional environment varies within the Spence Shale, all known exposures are dominated by panarthropods (Kimmig et al, 2019b; Whitaker and Kimmig, 2020).…”
The Cambrian (Miaolingian; Wuliuan) Spence Shale Lagerstätte of northern Utah and southern Idaho is one of the most diverse Burgess Shale-type deposits of Laurentia. It yields a diverse fauna consisting of abundant biomineralized and locally abundant soft-bodied fossils, along a range of environments from shallow-water carbonates to deep-shelf dark shales. Panarthropods are the dominant component throughout the deposit, both in time and space, but whereas the trilobites and agnostoids are abundant, most of the soft-bodied taxa are only known from very few specimens. Additionally, the knowledge of soft-bodied panarthropods is currently largely limited to locations in the Wellsville Mountains of northeastern Utah. This contribution describes 21 new soft-bodied panarthropods from six locations, including the first occurrences of soft-bodied panarthropods in the High-Creek, Smithfield Creek, Spence Gulch, and Two-Mile Canyon localities. Additionally, we report the presence of bradoriids— i.e., Branchiocaris pretiosa Resser, 1929, Perspicaris? dilatus Robison and Richards, 1981, Naraoia? sp. indet., Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, and Tuzoia guntheri Robison and Richards, 1981—for the first time from the Spence Shale Lagerstätte; the first reported occurrence outside of the Burgess Shale for Thelxiope cf. T. palaeothalassia; and the first Wuliuan occurrence of Tuzoia guntheri. We also report on a new hurdiid carapace element and additional specimens of Buccaspinea cooperi? Pates et al., 2021, Dioxycaris argenta Walcott, 1886, Hurdia sp. indet., and Tuzoia retifera Walcott, 1912. This new material improves our understanding of the panarthropod fauna of the Spence Shale Lagerstätte and substantially increases our understanding of the distribution of the described taxa in time and space.
“…3). As such, it is not possible to exclude a taphonomic filter [51][52][53][54] at play in Taichoute. This filter could result from a prolonged exposure to decay as both biomineralized and heavily sclerotized structures are more resistant to degradation than other tissue-types 51 .…”
The Fezouata Biota (Morocco) is a unique Early Ordovician fossil assemblage. The discovery of this biota revolutionized our understanding of Earth’s early animal diversifications—the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation—by suggesting an evolutionary continuum between both events. Herein, we describe Taichoute, a new fossil locality from the Fezouata Shale. This locality extends the temporal distribution of fossil preservation from this formation into the upper Floian, while also expanding the range of depositional environments to more distal parts of the shelf. In Taichoute, most animals were transported by density flows, unlike the in-situ preservation of animals recovered in previously investigated Fezouata sites. Taichoute is dominated by three-dimensionally preserved, and heavily sclerotized fragments of large euarthropods—possibly representing nektobenthic/nektic bivalved taxa and/or hurdiid radiodonts. Resolving whether this dominance reflects a legitimate aspect of the original ecosystem or a preservational bias requires an in-depth assessment of the environmental conditions at this site. Nevertheless, Taichoute provides novel preservational and palaeontological insights during a key evolutionary transition in the history of life on Earth.
“…To build upon and bolster the previous work investigating collections bias 12,15,16 , we selected the Marjum, Wheeler, Weeks, and Spence Shale lagerstätten of Utah and Idaho as targets of study. These middle Cambrian deposits have been extensively studied, both in terms of their paleontology and geology since the early 1900's, and hold diverse faunas of trilobites, sponges, brachiopods, graptolites cnidarians, echinoderms, problematica, and priapulids 12,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] . In addition, these deposits are regionally proximal and preservationally comparable, capturing a window into the changing environments of the Cambrian within the Great Basin.…”
Paleontology views deep time ecosystems through a taphonomic lens, biased and restricted by the controls enacted on each fossil deposit by various environmental factors, and including chemical and biological variables. Human-induced bias has recently been acknowledged as an additional layer of complexity, contributing further inconsistencies of our understanding of metazoan diversity in deep time. The Cambrian Haiyan Lagerstatte of Yunnan, China, examined in Chapter 2, preserves an exceptionally diverse biota, with many of its soft-bodied and biomineralized organisms being preserved via pervasive pyritization with associated carbon films. The exceptional pyritization of many soft-bodied organisms--which otherwise may not have been preserved--shows that this ecosystem is an exceptional repository of Cambrian biodiversity, but there remains uncertainty in the regional application of this mode of preservation. On the other hand, the biotas of the Marjum, Wheeler, Weeks formations and Spence Shale Lagerstatte of the western U.S. show significant discrepancies in the diversity of each deposit when the published taxonomic record of these Lagerstatten is compared to the taxonomic record of those formations deposited in publicly available collections. As detailed in Chapter 1, this shows that, while the diversity of deep time ecosystems may be conserved and well-represented in some cases, the published representation of those ecosystems is inherently flawed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
