Systematic descriptions, paleoecology and correlations of the late paleozoic subfamily spiriferellinae (brachiopoda) from the Yukon Territory and the canadian arctic archipelago

Abstract

Sixteen species of the brachiopod subfamily Spiriferellinae Waterhouse are described from the Upper Carboniferous and Early to Middle Permian beds of the Yukon Territory and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. New taxa are Spiriferella primaeva n. sp., S. yukonensis n. sp., S. leviplica n. sp., Eridmatus petita n. sp., Elivina cordiformis n. sp., Plicatospiriferella canadensis n. gen., n. sp., and Alispiriferella ordinaria (Einor) n. gen. The remaining species are all shared with the Soviet Union and/or Arctic islands such as Greenland and Spitzbergen, apart from the poorly known species S. arctica (Haughton). Spirifere lla tibetana of Chernyshev not Diener in the Urals is renamed Elivina tschemyschewi, and Spiriferella saranae Chernyshev not de Verneuil is renamed S. barkhatovae n. sp. It is shown that pustules formed on the shell surface at roughly weekly intervals and that mature shells lived for up to four years. Some species tolerated a wide range of lithofacies, whereas others were restricted to a muddy or silty seafloor. A few spiriferellin species commonly were sympatric: Alispiriferella ordinaria (Einor) with S. saranae (de Verneuil), and Timaniella harkeri Waterhouse with Spiriferella loveni (Diener) or S. keilhavii (von Buch). The common species were relatively long lived through three to four brachiopod zones and moderately widespread over the globe. They also tolerated some range in temperature, but they avoided glaciated regions near the South Pole in east Australia, the highly saline Zechstein Sea, and paleotropical realms such as Armenia and China, though appearing at some paleotropical horizons in Laos, Fergana and Texas. A summary of world distribution and interrelationships shows several major lineages in Spiriferella. The predominant one included the widespread Spiriferella saranae (de Verneuil), which may have evolved later into two other widespread species, S. keilhavii (von Buch) and S. rajah (Salter). Another, less dominant, lineage with short incurved umbo included Spiriferella pseudodraschei Einor and other forms restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. Yet another suite of species with round-crested fold (S. wimani) ranged into both hemispheres. Eridmatus Branson was chiefly a Middle and Late Carboniferous genus of limited distribution, closely allied to Spiriferella. Elivina Frederiks was of modest significance but ranged widely, whereas the short-lived Middle Permian genus Timaniella Barkhatova was restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. Alispiriferella also was limited to the Northern Hemisphere, as was Plicatospiriferella.

Discovery of ventrally directed spiralia in a Permian spiriferellid brachiopod and implications for its feeding system

“…Previous studies have shown that spiriferellid taxa generally have posterolaterally tapering spiralia similar to those in all other spiriferide brachiopods (Fig. ; see also Nelson & Johnson ; Cooper & Grant ; Waterhouse & Waddington ; Lee et al . ).…”

Allochthonous Permian micro- and macrofauna, Kamloops area, British Columbia

“…Spirif~r~lla orditzuricr in the northern Yukon extends rrom the middle of the Jungle Creek Formation to the middle of the Tahkandit Formation, an interval probably repre~enting Leonardian. Waterhouse and Waddington (1982). however.…”

“…Yr~kovlevia transversrr appears to he confined ro the Jungle Creek Fwrmation of that area, the so-called "Middle Recesqiv~ unit" of Nelson (1961'1 and Nelson and Johnson (19hXI. This unit was dated by these writers to be Wolfcampian and early'? Leoaardian, the same time span later assigned to it by Bamber and Waterhouse, There is considerable disagreement between Nelson and Johnson (196%) and Waterhouse and Waddington (1982) about the stratigraphic positions o f the various species of Spiriferell~. The first authors conside~d most of them to he long ranging, the latter short ranging.…”

Middle Permian brachiopods from the Tumenling Formation in the Wuchang area, southern Heilongjiang, NE China, and their palaeobiogeographical implications

“…Genus Alispiriferella Waterhouse and Waddington, 1982 Alispiriferella neimongolensis Wang and Zhang, 2003 Fig. 6: 3 2003 Alispiriferella neimongolensis Wang and Zhang,p.…”