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Soft-part preservation in a bivalved arthropod from the Late Ordovician of Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2009

ALEX PAGE ,
PHILIP R. WILBY ,
MARK WILLIAMS ,
JEAN VANNIER ,
JEREMY R. DAVIES ,
RICHARD A. WATERS  and
JAN A. ZALASIEWICZ
ALEX PAGE*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
PHILIP R. WILBY
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
MARK WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
JEAN VANNIER
Affiliation:
UMR 5125 PEPS, CNRS, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, UMR 5125 PEPS ‘Paléoenvironnements et Paléobiosphère’, Campus de la Doua, Bâtiment Géode, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
JEREMY R. DAVIES
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Columbus House, Greenmeadow Springs, Tongwynlais, Cardiff CF15 7NE, UK
RICHARD A. WATERS
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, UK
JAN A. ZALASIEWICZ
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
*
*Author for correspondence: aap30@esc.cam.ac.uk
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Abstract

A new component of the Early Palaeozoic arthropod fauna is described from a monospecific accumulate of carapaces in a Late Ordovician (Katian) hemipelagic mudstone from the Cardigan district of southwest Wales (UK). Its non-biomineralized carapace is preserved as a carbonaceous residue, as is more labile anatomy (soft-parts) including the inner lamella and sub-ovate structures near its antero-dorsal margin, which we interpret to be putative eyes. The depositional context and associated fauna indicate that the arthropods inhabited an area of deep water and high primary productivity above a pronounced submarine topography. The preserved density of carapaces suggests the arthropods may have congregated into shoals or been transported post-mortem into depressions which acted as detritus traps. The accumulate provides a rare example of soft-part preservation in hemipelagic mudstones and highlights the role of organic material as a locus for authigenic mineralization during metamorphism.

Keywords

taphonomyorganic preservationinner lamellaeyeszooplanktonarthropod
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 147 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 242 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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