Geological and Statistical Attributes of Two Echinoderm-Bearing Faunas From the Upper Mississippian (Chesterian) Ramey Creek Member, Slade Formation, Eastern Kentucky, U.S.A

Paleoecology and taxonomy ofSchoenaster carterensis, a new encrinasterid ophiuroid species from the Upper Mississippian (Chesterian) Slade Formation of northeastern Kentucky, USA

“…Slab lithologies were identified and placed into the appropriate Ramey Creek Member lithofacies, which were interpreted to represent four different, shallow, open-marine depositional environments based on lithology, fossils, and sedimentary features (Harris, 2018). The ophiuroids and all associated fauna were identified to genus or species level and tallied by lithofacies; slab areas and specimen tallies, which totaled 1,894 specimens, were used to calculate ordinal measures of abundance and community density (Harris, 2018). Important ophiuroid specimens were photographed using standard procedures, University of Kentucky numbers were assigned, and measurements of arm lengths and disk margins were made.…”

“…Inset figures at the top show likely organism communities for each environment. Organism rank and abundance in the inset figures reflect species frequency of Harris (2018). Diagram in lower panel emphasizes organisms at a larger scale than the environments in which they lived.…”

“…The coarse-grained calcarenite lithofacies represents shoal environments; the coarse-grained argillaceous calcarenites represent shoal-margin environments; the fine-grained calcarenites and interbedded calcilutites reflect transition areas into the basins; and the argillaceous calcilutite and shale lithofacies reflect the deeper basinal environments (Fig. 4) (Harris and Ettensohn, 2017; Harris, 2018). Although these lithofacies typically occur in vertical sequence, based on Walther's Law, at any one time and place, these facies represented laterally juxtaposed environments (e.g., Boggs, 2006) as shown in Figure 4.…”

“…The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of species per taxon. abs = absent; C = common, 10% < x ≤ 30%; D = dominant, > 50%; F = frequent, 30% < x ≤ 50%; O = occasional, 5% < x ≤ 10%; R = rare, 1% < x ≤ 5%; S = sporadic, ≤ 1% (abundance descriptors from Harris, 2018); — = not applicable.…”

“…11.1). Total faunal density for the shoal environments was ~ 997 individuals/m 2 (Harris, 2018; Harris et al, 2018). In particular, the articulate brachiopod Anthracospirifer leidyi (Norwood and Pratton, 1855), the demosponge Belemnospongia fascicularis (Ulrich, 1890), and the eucladid crinoid Pentaramicrinus bimagniramus Burdick and Strimple, 1973 were the most abundant individuals on the shoals (Fig.…”