Protocyptendoceras from the Floian (Lower Ordovician) (original) (raw)

Early orthoceratoid cephalopods from the Argentine Precordillera (Lower-Middle Ordovician)

Journal of Paleontology, 2007

The Early and Middle Ordovician Orthocerida and Lituitida of Precordilleran Argentina are described, and their systematics and paleogeographic significance are revised. These cephalopods show a strong affinity to coeval faunas of North China, suggesting a location of the Precordillera at middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere east of the North China block and relatively close to the Gondwanan margin during the early Middle Ordovician. The descriptive terminology of characters of the septal necks, the position and shape of the siphuncule, and the shape of the connecting ring is improved. The distribution of these characters support an emendation of the Baltoceratidae, Sactorthoceratidae, and Proteoceratidae.Brauliocerasn. gen. (Sactorthoceratidae) andPalorthocerasn. gen. (Orthoceratidae) are erected. The new speciesBraulioceras sanjuanense, Eosomichelinoceras baldisii, Gangshanoceras villicumense, and Rhynchorthoceras minorare proposed.Palorthocerasn. gen. from the Lower Ordovic...

Ascocerid cephalopods from the Hirnantian?-Llandovery stages of the southern Paraná Basin (Paraguay, South America): first record from high paleolatitudes

Journal of Paleontology, 2018

Ascocerid cephalopods are described for the first time from high paleolatitudes of Gondwana. Studied material was collected from the Hirnantian?-Llandovery strata of the Eusebio Ayala and Vargas Peña formations, Paraná Basin, southeastern Paraguay. The specimens are poorly preserved and were questionably assigned to the sub-family Probillingsitinae Flower, 1941, being undetermined at genus and species rank because diagnostic characters are not visible. A particular feature seen in our material is the presence of both parts of the ascocerid conch (the juvenile or cyrtocone and the mature or brevicone) joined together, which is a very rare condition in the known paleonto-logical record. The specimens are interpreted as at a subadult stage of development because fully grown ascocerids would have lost the juvenile shell. A planktonic vertical migrant mode of life with a subvertical attitude is proposed for the juvenile, and a horizontal demersal nektonic mode for the adult form, as has been previously suggested. A subvertical orientation near the bottom is proposed for the subadult stage. We suggest that the immigration of asco-cerids to southwestern Gondwana was possible through ocean currents that would carry the planktonic juveniles from low to high latitudes during the end-Ordovician postglacial transgression that flooded the intracratonic basins of the region.

The strophomenide brachiopod Ahtiella Öpik in the Ordovician of Gondwana and the early history of the plectambonitoids

Journal of Paleontology, 2018

The Precordilleran species Ahtiella argentina Benedetto and Herrera, 1986 is redescribed and illustrated and Monorthis coloradoensis Benedetto, 1998b from northwestern Argentina is reassigned to the genus Ahtiella Öpik, 1932. Ahtiella famatiniana new species from volcaniclastic rocks of the Famatina range (western Argentina) and Ahtiella tunaensis new species from the Precordillera basin (Cuyania terrane) are proposed. Paleogeographic and stratigraphic evidence strongly suggests that Ahtiella originated in the Andean region of Gondwana to further migrate to Avalonia, Baltica, and Cuyania. Contrary to previous assumptions, the fossil record from the Famatina volcaniclastic succession suggests that the plectambonitoid Ahtiella famatiniana n. sp. evolved from the hesperonomiid orthoid Monorthis transversa Benedetto, 2003 that always occurs in the underlying strata. Phylogenetic analysis of Ahtiella species shows that A. famatiniana n. sp. and the Peruvian A. zarelae Villas in Gutiérrez...

The nautiloid Family Eothinoceratidae from the Floian of the Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina and South Bolivia

A single confidently dated species of cephalopod is so far known in the Tremadocian of the southern Central Andean Basin (NW Argentina and southern Bolivia). This species belongs to the Eothinoceratidae and has a strong affinity mainly with Avalonia. During the Floian, a notable increase in diversity took place, with the appearance of a variety of families represented by several genera, in particular, within the Family Eothinoceratidae. In addition to the previously described species from southern Bolivia, we evaluate the other records of that family from the Central Andean Basin, and propose the following new taxa: Saloceras sikus sp. nov., Saloceras quena sp. nov., Mutveiceras gen. nov., and Mutveiceras cienagaensis sp. nov. We also describe Margaritoceras diploide, Margaritoceras sp., and Mutveiceras sp. From a palaeogeographic perspective, the cephalopod fauna shows affinities mainly with those of England, Wales, and the Montagne Noire (cold water Gondwana and peri-Gondwana). As with other cephalopod faunas of mid to high palaeolatitudes, eothinoceratids occur along with other cephalopods forming assemblages of low morphological diversity. We interpret the forms described here as demersal with a subvertical poise, but capable of making rapid buoyancy changes, living in a wide spectrum of shallow offshore to shoreface settings.

Lamellorthoceratid cephalopods in the cold waters of southwestern Gondwana: evidences from the Lower Devonian of Argentina

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 2020

Based on three specimens assigned to Arthrophyllum sp., the family Lamellorthoceratidae is reported from the Lower Devonian Talacasto Formation in the Precordillera Basin, central western Argentina. These Devonian cephalopods have been known only from low to mid palaeolatitudes and its presence in the cold water settings of southwestern Gondwana is notable. A nektonic mode of life, not strictly demersal but eventually pelagic, with a horizontal orientation of the conch is proposed for adults lamellorthoceratids, whereas a planktonic habit is suggested for juvenile individuals. These features would had allow their arrival to this southern basin, explaining their unusual presence in the Malvinokaffric Realm, and reinforcing the need of re-evaluate the distribution pattern of several groups of cephalopods.

Austrocalyx jejenensis Vega and Archangelsky, gen. et sp. nov., a cupulate rhacopteroid pteridosperm from the Carboniferous of Argentina

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 1996

The first Gondwanic record of Nothorhacopteris fronds bearing apical cupules is presented. The specimens were found in the San Juan province, in the Jejenes Formation that is regarded to be basal Upper(?) Carboniferous in age. Austrocalyx Vega and Archangelsky, gen. nov. is proposed for the sterile part of the frond that is similar to Nothorhacopteris argentinica (Kurtz) Archangelsky, but bearing a terminal cupule-like structure on the frond. The cupule is asymmetric, divided twice into units that are basally fused and have distal elongate finger-like lobes. It is suggested that the cupule-like structure was produced by a pteridosperm. The relationship of the fertile and sterile parts of the frond is discussed. Comparisons with Gondwana and Laurasia Paleozoic pteridosperms suggest that Austrocalyx resembles some Northern Hemisphere cupule-bearing taxa. The probable migration of Northern Hemisphere plants into Western Gondwana, and the timing of this floristic event is also discussed.

Cranial and postcranial remains of a new species of Prochelidella (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from ‘La Buitrera’ (Cenomanian of Patagonia, Argentina), with comments on the monophyly of this extinct chelid genus from southern Gondwana

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 2020

The genus Prochelidella is the oldest known panchelid taxon. It is widely distributed in several Cretaceous basins throughout Patagonia, Argentina. It was previously known from three named species. A fourth species presented herein, Prochelidella buitreraensis sp. nov., preserves both cranial and postcranial material from the Candeleros Formation (La Buitrera Area) of R ıo Negro Province, Argentina. Features observed in the nuchal bone (i.e. wide, trapezoidal cervical vertebrae, shallow nuchal notch) allow us to assign this specimen to the genus Prochelidella. Several specific traits (i.e. a large open retropterygoideum foramen, and a strongly developed muscle attachment site on the basisphenoid) suggest that the form from the Candeleros Formation is a new species of the genus Prochelidella. A phylogenetic analysis that includes the three best-preserved species of Prochelidella recovers this taxon as monophyletic. The Cenomanian age of this new taxon allows us to compare the panchelid turtles from the Patagonian (Neuquen) and Australian (Surat) basins.