Early Triassic conodont clusters from South China: revision of the architecture of the 15 element apparatuses of the superfamily Gondolelloidea

Abstract

Several fused clusters of conodont elements of the genera Neospathodus and Novispathodus were recovered from limestone beds at the Dienerian–Smithian and Smithian–Spathian boundaries, respectively, from several localities in Guangxi province, South China. Conodont clusters are otherwise extremely rare in the Triassic, and these are first described for the Early Triassic. The exceptional specimens partially preserve the relative three‐dimensional position and orientation of ramiform elements and are therefore extremely important for testing hypotheses on the architecture of apparatuses. These specimens partly confirm the previous reconstruction of the Novispathodus apparatus by Orchard. Within apparatuses of members of superfamily Gondolelloidea, elements previously identified as occupying the S1 and S2 positions instead occupy the S2 and S1 positions. Similarly, within apparatuses of members of the subfamily Novispathodinae, elements previously referred to S3 and S4 positions are reinterpreted to have occupied S4 and S3 positions, respectively.

Comment on "Lethally Hot Temperatures During the Early Triassic Greenhouse"

“…These y coordinates are converted to ages using the following procedure: The conodont zonation is slightly modified from figure 2 to take into account all the 18 zones mentioned in table S4. The continuous interval zones are converted into discrete zones, whose positions are constrained by biochronologic and radio-isotopic data (3)(4)(5). For a given section, sets of data points belonging to a particular zone are displayed such that the lowest and the highest points are placed at the bottom and the top of the respective zone, while respecting relative lithological positions for intermediary points.…”

Reconstruction of the multielement apparatus of <i>Neogondolella</i> ex gr. <i>regalis</i> Mosher, 1970 (Conodonta) from the Anisian (Middle Triassic) in British Columbia, Canada

“…subcarinata Sweet, 1973, and N. n. sp. A sensu Goudemand et al (2012). The multielement apparatus of the type species for the genus of Neogondolella, N. mombergensis (Tatge, 1956), has not been illustrated; however, both types of S0 element were illustrated by Tatge (1956), and they occur together in Anisian collections of N. mombergensis (Orchard, 2005).…”

“…Kozur (1989) and Hirsch (1994) maintained that all Triassic conodonts were multimembrate. The discovery of fused clusters (Ramovs, 1977(Ramovs, , 1978Mietto, 1982;Huang et al, 2010;Goudemand et al, 2012) and natural assemblages (Rieber, 1980;Orchard and Rieber, 1999;Goudemand et al, 2011) has subsequently demonstrated that Triassic conodonts were indeed multimembrate, and both types of elements existed together in the same apparatus. Statistical reconstructions of a number of Triassic apparatuses were attempted by Kozur and Mostler (1971), Ramovs (1977), Bagnoli et al (1985), Zhang and Yang (1991), Hirsch (1994), Koike (1996Koike ( , 1999, Orchard (2005), and Ishida and Hirsch (2011).…”

“…The P1 element is the most variable in the apparatus and is used to define species. The S3 element has a distinctive bifid anterior process, whilst the lateral processes of the S0 element diverge either at the cusp or slightly anterior of it (Orchard, 2005;Goudemand et al, 2012).…”

“…Investigation of fused clusters by Goudemand et al (2012) led to a revision of the Neogondolella apparatus by switching the position of the S1 element with the S2. As currently reconstructed, the Neogondolella apparatus contains seven paired elements (segminiplanate P1, angulate P2, dolobrate S1, breviform digyrate S2, bipennate S3, bipennate S4, and breviform digyrate M) and a single alate S0 element.…”