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A trilobite fauna from the highest Shineton Shales in Shropshire, and the correlation of the latest Tremadoc

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

R. A. Fortey  and
R. M. Owens
R. A. Fortey
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.
R. M. Owens
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff CFI 3NP, U.K.
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Abstract

A rich fauna dominated by trilobites and calcified chordates has been collected in Shropshire from the Arenaceous Beds, the highest member of the Tremadoc Shineton Shale Formation, and hitherto regarded as poorly fossiliferous. This fauna shows that shelf conditions persisted longer in Shropshire than has been supposed. It is likely that even younger Tremadoc is cut out at the unconformity below the Caradoc in the Shineton Inlier. The correlation of the later Tremadoc is reviewed, and the nomenclature of British Tremadoc biozones is revised. The trilobites described here are a mixture of previously known and new forms. The name Shumardia (Conophrys) salopiensis Callaway is revived for British material traditionally assigned to the Scandinavian species Shumardia pusilla (Sars), from which it is distinct. The new taxa Litagnostus meniscus sp.nov., Apatokephalus sarculum sp.nov. and Skljarella cracens sp.nov. are described. The type species of Asaphellus, A. homfrayi and Leptoplastides, L. salteri, are redescribed, and Geragnostus callavei, Pseudokainella impar, and Parapilekia sp. are recorded. New information on the ontogeny of S. (C.) salopiensis and A. homfrayi is given. Litagnostus and Skljarella are recorded from the British Isles for the first time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 128 , Issue 5 , September 1991 , pp. 437 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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