An outer shelf shelly fauna from Cambrian Series 2 (Stage 4) of North Greenland (Laurentia)

Abstract

An assemblage of 50 species of small shelly fossils is described from Cambrian Series 2 (Stage 4) strata in North Greenland, the present day northernmost part of the paleocontinent of Laurentia. The fossils are derived from the basal member of the Aftenstjernesø Formation at Navarana Fjord, northern Lauge Koch Land, a condensed unit that accumulated in a sediment-starved outer ramp setting in the transarctic Franklinian Basin, on the Innuitian margin of Laurentia. Most other small shelly fossil assemblages of similar age and composition from North America are described from the Iapetan margin of Laurentia, from North-East Greenland south to Pennsylvania. Trilobites are uncommon, but include Serrodiscus. The Australian bradoriid Spinospitella is represented by a complete shield. Obolella crassa is the only common brachiopod. Hyoliths, including Cassitella, Conotheca, Neogloborilus, and Triplicatella, are abundant and diverse, but most are represented just by opercula. Sclerites interpreted as stem-group aculiferans (sachitids) are conspicuous, including Qaleruaqia, the oldest described paleoloricate, Ocruranus?, Inughuitoconus n. gen., and Hippopharangites. Helcionelloid mollusks are diverse, but not common; they are associated with numerous specimens of the bivalve Pojetaia runnegari. The fauna compares best with that of the upper Bastion Formation of North-East Greenland, the Forteau Formation of western Newfoundland, and the Browns Pond Formation of New York, but several taxa have a world-wide distribution. Many specimens are encrusted with crystals of authigenic albite. New species: Anabarella? navaranae, Stenotheca? higginsi, Figurina? polaris, Hippopharangites groenlandicus, Inughuitoconus borealis, and Ocruranus? kangerluk.UUID: http://zoobank.org/160a17b1-3166-4fcf-9849-a3cabd1e04a3

An Eocene conger eel (Teleostei, Anguilliformes) from the Lillebælt Clay Formation, Denmark

“…Discussion. Sermeqiconus polaris (Peel, 2021d) from the basal Aftenstjernesø Formation, northern Navarana Fjord, northern Lauge Koch Land, North Greenland (Fig. 1A; Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) was referred tentatively to Figurina by Peel (2021d).…”

“…Sermeqiconus polaris (Peel, 2021d) from the basal Aftenstjernesø Formation, northern Navarana Fjord, northern Lauge Koch Land, North Greenland (Fig. 1A; Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) was referred tentatively to Figurina by Peel (2021d). The distinctive widely spaced radial ribs located mainly on the dorsal area of the holotype of Sermeqiconus polaris (Peel, 2021d, fig.…”

Ontogeny, morphology and pedicle attachment of stenothecoids from the middle Cambrian of North Greenland (Laurentia)

“…In addition to the type species, Resser (1938) included three new early Cambrian species within the genus: Stenothecoides labradorica from the Forteau Formation of Newfoundland; Stenothecoides troyensis from New York State (a synonym of S. labradorica according to Rasetti 1954); and Stenothecoides poulseni from the Ella Island Formation of North-East Greenland (Poulsen 1932, Skovsted 2006). Resser (1938) interpreted Stenothecoides as an elongate univalved crustacean related to Stenotheca Salter in Hicks, 1872, although the latter is currently interpreted as a helcionelloid mollusc (Bouchet et al 2017, Peel 2021a). However, Poulsen (1932) had interpreted the Greenland specimens subsequently named in his honour by Resser (1938) as Bivalvia, an affinity supported by Ro bison (1964).…”