Paraspirifer

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Paraspirifer
Temporal range: Emsian-Givetian
Paraspirifer bownockeri brachial valve CRF.jpeg
Paraspirifer bownockeri, 42mm
Paraspirifer bownockeri hinge CRF.jpeg
Scientific classification
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Paraspirifer

Wedekind, 1926
species
  • P. cultrijugatus(Roemer, 1844) (type species) = Spirifer cultrijugatus
  • P. acuminatus(Conrad, 1839)
  • P. auriculatus(Sandberger, 1856)
  • P. bownockeriStewart, 1927
  • p. bucculentusSolle, 1971
  • P. chillonensis(Quintero & Revilla, 1966) = Histerolites chillonensis [1]
  • P. curvatissimusSolle, 1971
  • P. eosSolle, 1971
  • P. globosaSolle, 1971
  • P. sandbergeriSolle, 1971

Paraspirifer is a genus of large brachiopods (up to about 7.5 centimetres or 3.0 inches) that lived during the late Lower and Middle Devonian in what now are Germany, Spain, Morocco and the United States (New York State and Ohio).

Contents

Taxonomy

Paraspirifer developed from Brachyspirifer during the early upper Emsian (cancellata-elegans/Dalehe Event). [2]

Distribution

Paraspirifer originated in the lower upper Emsian and became extinct in Europe and Northern Africa at the end of the lower Eifelian. It survived into the Givetian in North America though. [3]

Ecology

Natural cluster of Paraspirifer bownockeri from the Lower Silica Formation Paraspirifer bownockeri, pyritized brachiopods, Middle Devonian, Silica Shale, Lucas County, Ohio, USA - Houston Museum of Natural Science - DSC01732.JPG
Natural cluster of Paraspirifer bownockeri from the Lower Silica Formation

From the type of deposits that contain Paraspirifer bownockeri it can be deduced that this species inhabited soft clay mudflats. Shells of this species hosted a wide range of epibionts, such as bryozoans, corals, echinoderms, annelid worms and other brachiopods. These epibionts are more numerous on the brachial valve than on the pedunculate valve, because this big brachiopod lay on its pedunculate valve after the degeneration of the stalk. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

The Givetian is one of two faunal stages in the Middle Devonian Period. It lasted from 387.7 million years ago to 382.7 million years ago. It was preceded by the Eifelian Stage and followed by the Frasnian Stage. It is named after the town of Givet in France. The oldest forests occurred during the late Givetian. The lower GSSP is located at Jebel Mech Irdane, Tafilalt, Morocco.

The Eifelian is the first of two faunal stages in the Middle Devonian Epoch. It lasted from 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago to 387.7 ± 0.8 million years ago. It was preceded by the Emsian Stage and followed by the Givetian Stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emsian</span> Third stage of the Devonian

The Emsian is one of three faunal stages in the Early Devonian Epoch. It lasted from 407.6 ± 2.6 million years ago to 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago. It was preceded by the Pragian Stage and followed by the Eifelian Stage. It is named after the Ems river in Germany. The GSSP is located in the Zinzil'ban Gorge in the Kitab State Geological Reserve of Uzbekistan, 35 centimetres (14 in) above the contact with the Madmon Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craniidae</span> Family of shelled animals

The Craniidae are a family of brachiopods, the only surviving members of the subphylum Craniiformea. They are the only members of the order Craniida, the monotypic suborder Craniidina, and the superfamily Cranioidea; consequently, the latter two taxa are at present redundant and rarely used.There are three living genera within Craniidae: Neoancistrocrania, Novocrania, and Valdiviathyris. As adults, craniids either live freely on the ocean floor or, more commonly, cement themselves onto a hard object with all or part of the ventral valve.

The Kačák Event, also known as the Kačák-otomari Event, is a widely recognised bioevent or series of events that occurred close to the end of the Eifelian Age of the Middle Devonian Epoch. It involved a global eustatic rise in sea level and ecological turnover. It was named for the Kačák Member of the Srbsko Formation in Bohemia, where it is represented by a black shale interval within a sequence of limestone. In marine environments, this appears as an anoxic event, often forming potential hydrocarbon source rocks such as the Marcellus Shale. Within the Old Red Sandstone continent, it is represented by the Achanarras lake, the deepest and most widespread lake that developed within the Orcadian Basin. The event is associated with significant extinctions, particularly amongst the Ammonoidea.

<i>Terebratula</i>

Terebratula is a modern genus of brachiopods with a fossil record dating back to the Late Devonian. These brachiopods are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders and have a worldwide distribution.

<i>Atrypa</i> Genus of brachiopod

Atrypa is a genus of brachiopod with round to short egg-shaped shells covered with many fine radial ridges. Growth lines form perpendicular to the costae and are spaced approximately 2 to 3 times further apart than the costae.. The pedunculate valve is slightly convex, but oftentimes levels out or becomes slightly concave toward the anterior margin. The brachial valve is highly convex. Neither valve contains an interarea. Atrypa had a large geographic range and occurred from the late Lower Silurian (Telychian) to the early Upper Devonian (Frasnian). Other sources expand the range from the Late Ordovician to Carboniferous, approximately from 449 to 336 Ma. A proposed new species, A. harrisi, was found in the trilobite-rich Floresta Formation in Boyacá, Colombia.

Coronura is a trilobite in the order Phacopida, that existed during the Middle Devonian in what is now New York, U.S.A. It was described by Hall and Clarke in 1888, and the type species is Coronura aspectans, which was originally described under the genus Asaphus by Conrad in 1841. The species was described from the Onondaga Formation. Fossils of Coronura have also been found in Indiana, and in the Emsian to Givetian Floresta Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia.

<i>Dipleura</i> Genus of trilobites

Dipleura is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida. It was described by Green in 1832, and the type species is Dipleura dekayi. The type locality was in the Hamilton Group in New York.

<i>Favosites</i> Fossil genus of corals recognised on the densely packed, polygon cells.

Favosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites. The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites, like many corals, thrived in warm sunlit seas, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles and often forming part of reef complexes. The genus had a worldwide distribution from the Late Ordovician to Late Permian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhynchonelliformea</span> Subphylum of brachiopods

Rhynchonelliformea is a major subphylum and clade of brachiopods. It is roughly equivalent to the former class Articulata, which was used previously in brachiopod taxonomy up until the 1990s. These so-called articulated brachiopods have many anatomical differences relative to "inarticulate" brachiopods of the subphyla Linguliformea and Craniformea. Articulates have hard calcium carbonate shells with tongue-and-groove hinge articulations and separate sets of simple opening and closing muscles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffersonville Limestone</span> Bedrock unit in Indiana and Kentucky, United States

The Devonian Jeffersonville Limestone is a mapped bedrock unit in Indiana and Kentucky. It is highly fossiliferous. The Vernon Fork Member contains Volcanic ash associated with the Tioga Bentonites.

<i>Cyrtospirifer</i>

Cyrtospirifer is an extinct genus of brachiopods. The fossils are present in the Middle and Upper Devonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Formation</span>

The Milwaukee Formation is a fossil-bearing geological formation of Middle Devonian age in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It stands out for the exceptional diversity of its fossil biota. Included are many kinds of marine protists, invertebrates, and fishes, as well as early trees and giant fungi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bokkeveld Group</span> Devonian sedimentary rocks in South Africa

The Bokkeveld Group is the second of the three main subdivisions of the Cape Supergroup in South Africa. It overlies the Table Mountain Group and underlies the Witteberg Group. The Bokkeveld Group rocks are considered to range between Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) to Middle Devonian (Givetian) in age.

Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2019.

Schizophoria is an extinct genus of brachiopod belonging to the superfamily Enteletoidea. Specimens have been found in Devonian through Permian beds in North America, Australia, central and southeast Asia, and eastern Europe.

Leiorhynchus is an extinct genus of brachiopod belonging to the order Rhynchonellida and family Leiorhynchidae. Specimens have been found in South America, North America, and Russia in beds of middle Devonian to Mississippian age. The genus may have been adapted to dysaerobic environments, colonizing areas of reduced oxygen concentrations rich in organic matter. The genus has been used as an index fossil in North America.

Pugnoides is an extinct genus of brachiopod belonging to the order Rhynchonellida and family Petasmariidae. Specimens have been found in Devonian to Permian beds in North America, Asia, Europe, western Australia, New Zealand,and New Zealand. The genus was particularly widespread in the Visean.

<i>Mucrospirifer mucronatus</i> Species of Brachiopod

Mucrospirifer mucronatus is a species of articulate brachiopod from the middle Devonian. The species serves as an index fossil for the middle Devonian.

References

  1. Pardo Alonso, M.V. (2002). "Revisión de Paraspirifer chillonensis (Quintero y Revilla, 1966), del Devónico inferior de Almadén (España)" [A revision of Paraspirifer chillonensis (Quintero y Revilla, 1966), from the Lower Devonian of Almadén (Spain)](PDF). Boletín Geológico y Minero. 113 (1): 71–84. ISSN   0366-0176.
  2. May, Andreas; Avlar, Hüseyin (1995). "Evolution of Rhenisch faunal communities during the Late Emsian and Early Eifelian: three reviews on sedimentation, brachiopods and bioevents". Geolines. 3: 50–.
  3. May, Andreas (2007). "Reply to the critical Review by Francesco de Soto on the paper of A. May "Radeastraea (Anthozoa, Rugosa) from the Emsian and Eifelian (Devonian) of Aviados, Northern Spain" (PDF). Bulletin of Geosciences. 82 (3): 293–296. doi: 10.3140/bull.geosci.2007.03.293 .
  4. Detlev. "Paraspirifer cultrijugatus". Brachiopoda - Forum Français sur les brachiopodes fossiles et actuels. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  5. Bartholomew, A.E .; Brett, C. E. (2007). "Correlation of Middle Devonian Hamilton Group-equivalent strata in east-central North America: implications of eustacy, tectonics and faunal provinciality". Devonian Events and Correlations. Geological Society special publication. 278 (278): 105. Bibcode:2007GSLSP.278..105B. doi:10.1144/SP278.5. ISBN   978-1-86239-222-9.
  6. Kesling, Robert V.; Hoare, Richard D.; Sparks, Diane K. (1980). "Epizoans of the Middle Devonian brachiopod Paraspirifer bownockeri: their relationship to one another and their host". Journal of Paleontology. 54 (6): 1141–1154. JSTOR   1304240.
  7. Hoare, Richard D.; Walden, R. L. (June 1983). "Vermiforichnus (Polychaeta) Borings in Paraspirifer bownockeri (Brachiopoda: Devonian)" (PDF). Ohio Journal of Science. 83 (3): 114–119. hdl:1811/22930.