Return to search

Evolution and taxonomy of Cambrian arthropods from Greenland and Sweden

<p>Arthropods have a rich fossil record spanning the Phanerozoic. Biomineralized forms such as the extinct trilobites are particularly common and are proven index fossils for biostratigraphy. Forms with an unmineralized cuticle are more rare, preserved only in so called <i>konservat lagerstätten</i>. Cambrian strata of Greenland have yielded rich trilobite faunas with potential for intercontinental correlation of Cambrian strata, but also an exceptionally preserved fauna, the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte. The first part of this thesis is concerned with trilobite biotratigraphy of the provisional Cambrian Series 2 in Greenland. The second part is concerned with exceptionally preserved arthropods from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, but also from 'Orsten' deposits from the Cambrian of Sweden.</p><p><i>Perissopyge phenax occurs</i> in the Henson Gletscher and Paralleldal formations spanning the Series 2 and 3 boundary interval in North Greenland. It also occurs in the Sekwi Formation of Yukon Territory, demonstrating that the species may hold potential for correlation within Laurentia. An indeterminate species of <i>Perissopyge</i> is shown to occur in the Ella Island Formation of North-East Greenland together with <i>Olenellus</i> cf. <i>hanseni</i>, which is similar to <i>Olenellus</i> cf. <i>truemani</i> described from the Henson Gletscher Formation. If this correlation is further corroborated it would offer a first tie-point for the An t'Sron Formation of North-West Scotland which yields <i>Fritzolenellus</i> <i>lapworthi</i>, herein reported for the first time from the Bastion Formation which underlies the Ella Island Formation.</p><p><i>Oelandocaris</i> <i>oelandica</i> from ‘Orsten’ deposits in the Cambrian series 3 and 4 boundary interval in Sweden is an early representative of the Crustacean stem lineage. <i>Kiisortoqia</i> <i>avannaarsuensis</i> is a new arthropod from the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte with robust antennulae strikingly similar to the 'raptorial' limb of the problematic anomalocaridids. The ventral morphology of the 'bivalved' <i>Isoxys</i> <i>volucris</i> is described for the first time and compared with other species assigned to <i>Isoxys</i> from Cambrian lagerstätten around the world. Finally, <i>Siriocaris</i> <i>trolla</i>, is a new arthropod that similarities with trilobites and certain ‘trilobitomorphs’ but seems to lack important synapomorphies of these taxa, though this may be due to preservational limitations in the material at hand.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:uu-9301
Date January 2008
CreatorsStein, Martin
PublisherUppsala University, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral thesis, comprehensive summary, text
RelationDigital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1651-6214 ; 558

Page generated in 0.002 seconds