A microfauna associated with Early Cambrian trilobites of the Callavia Zone, norther Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia

Abstract

Trilobites of the Callavia Zone s.1. occurring together with phosphatic fossils in the Little Hollow Formation are the first known Early Cambrian faunas from mainland Nova Scotia. The tectono-stratigraphic affinity of the northern Antigonish Highlands with less intensely deformed portions of the Avalonian Platform is indicated by: (1) the Avalonian character of the trilobites and Early Ordovician brachiopods, (2) the nature of the lithologic sequence of the Iron Brook Group, and (3) local evidence for a Hadrynian orogeny.Rhombocorniculum cancellatum (Cobbold) is here informally designated a "pseudoconodont" based on its unique histology and is regarded as a conodontophorid-like organism. Eccentrotheca kanesia n. gen., n. sp. is a multiplated organism with apparent affinities to groups regarded as mitrosagophorans. Sunnaginia imbricata Missarzhevsky and possibly Turcutheca are demonstrated to occur in strata younger than Tommotian (lowest Lower Cambrian).

Beyond the Burgess Shale: Cambrian microfossils track the rise and fall of hallucigeniid lobopodians

“…By contrast, the Burgess Shale specimens of H. sparsa contain only weak traces of phosphate, and the SCFs were at most lightly mineralized: they lack a phosphatic component (although this may have been removed during diagenesis and/or laboratory processing) and, as with the Burgess Shale macrofossils, are flattened with no evidence of brittle deformation. These observations are consistent with a proposed link to Rhombocorniculum, whose seemingly high organic content [23] perhaps allowed some original pliability [29]. Overall, hallucigeniid spines seem to have had a rigid yet flexible construction, with a degree of phosphatic mineralization that may have varied between taxa.…”

Small shelly fossils from the Montezuman–Delamaran of the Great Basin in Nevada and California

“…According to Steiner et al (2007), the P. subangulata range Zone of the Qiongzhusian of South China appears to correlate with the P. lorenzi Zone of the middle-late Atdabanian of the Siberian Platform. Furthermore, the occurrence of P. subangulata, R. cancellatum, and M. effusum indicates a correlation with the Camenella baltica Zone of Avalonia and Newfoundland (Landing et al, 1980;Hinz, 1987;Landing, 1988). The occurrence of Pelagiella aff.…”

A bradoriid and brachiopod dominated shelly fauna from the Furongian (Cambrian) of Västergötland, Sweden

“…It has already been reported that Rhombocorniculum sclerites grew continuously by basal-internal accretion (Landing et al 1980;Landing 1995) and contain canals oriented oblique to the wall surface . Co-occurrence of dextral and sinistral sclerites of R. cancellatum suggests a bilaterally symmetrical animal, whereas the slender and broad elements probably represented distinct sclerite types within a scleritome.…”

“…In the material from the Malaya and Bol'shaya Kuonamka rivers, R. cancellatum occurs within the Judomia Zone of the Atdabanian Stage. R. cancellatum occur in Series 2 of Kazakhstan (Missarzhevsky and Mambetov 1981), South and North China Steiner et al 2007), Australia (Gravestock et al 2001), Avalonia (Landing et al 1980;Hinz 1987), and the Mediterranean region (Elicki 2005(Elicki , 2007. Missarzhevsky and Mambetov, 1981 Figs.…”