New early Triassic Lingulidae (Brachiopoda) genera and species from South China

Two new genera, Sinolingularia gen. nov. and Sinoglottidia gen. nov., together with three new species, Sinolingularia huananensis gen. et sp. nov., Sinolingularia yini gen. et sp. nov. and Sinoglottidia archboldi gen. et sp. nov., are described on the basis of a large collection of well-preserved specimens from several sections straddling the Permian - Triassic boundary in South China. <br /

BRACHIOPODS FROM THE BYRD GROUP (CAMBRIAN SERIES 2, STAGE 4) CENTRAL TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS, EAST ANTARCTICA: BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, PHYLOGENY AND SYSTEMATICS

Brachiopods from Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4 carbonate strata of the Byrd Group in the Central Transantarctic Mountains, East Antarctica, are described for the first time. These include six lingulate, one paterinate, and one rhynchonelliform taxa, including the new lingulate brachiopod Plicarmus wildi gen. et sp. nov. The biostratigraphy correlates closely to the brachiopods recently reported from the Xinji Formation (Shuiyu section) in North China, as well as brachiopods recovered from the Dailyatia odyssei Zone across the Arrowie Basin of South Australia. These findings also support the previously identified close palaeobiogeography of these regions. The first unambiguous example of the acrotretid brachiopod Eohadrotreta zhenbaensis Li and Holmer outside South China is also identified in the context of its ontogenetic stages. Well preserved specimens of the acrotheloid Schizopholis yorkensis (Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al.) facilitates a new reconstruction of its musculature and visceral region. This data is synthesised into a new cladistic analysis that resolves Acrotheloidea as a well-supported monophyletic clade and supports previous hypotheses of a morphocline in acrotheloid evolution

Divaricate patterns in Cambro-Ordovician obolid brachiopods from Gondwana

A new brachiopod species, Westonia mardini, from the Furongian of Turkey and a new occurrence of Westonia urbiona from the Cambrian Series 3 of Iberian Peninsula are reported. These new finds of 'westoniids' collected in Gondwana allow the discussion of the functional morphology of their terrace ridges. This structure enabled an effective and rapid reburrowing and allowed the occupation of the shallow marine unstable sands and silts in the shoreface environments. This burrowing mechanism, with their pedicle directed downwards, was unknown before the Cambrian Series 2 and was abandoned chiefly in the Early Ordovician. Here we also review the distribution of 'westoniids' in space and time to analyse the diversification, decline and replacement of this important group of brachiopods. They became a significant part of the semi-infaunal marine associations beginning with the Cambrian Series 2 and proliferated in shallow arenaceous shelves during the Cambrian Series 3 and during the Furongian in most palaeocontinents. The acme of 'Westoniid' obolids associations was in the Furongian, but locally relict associations were present in high-latitude Gondwana until the Tremadocian. Decline of westoniid associations began during the Tremadocian, being replaced by very diverse smooth-shelled obolid associations with a novel burrowing mechanism and deeper lifestyle

Himalayan Cambrian brachiopods

A synoptic analysis of previously published material and new finds reveals that Himalayan Cambrian brachiopods can be referred to 18 genera, of which 17 are considered herein. These contain 20 taxa assigned to species, of which five are new: Eohadrotreta haydeni, Aphelotreta khemangarensis, Hadrotreta timchristiorum, Prototreta? sumnaensis and Amictocracens? brocki. Well-preserved topotype material from the classic Parahio Valley section is described for three species that have not previously been illustrated photographically. A biostratigraphical scheme based on Cambrian brachiopod occurrence is integrated with that recently proposed for trilobites. Regional correlations based on shared taxa within and across Himalayan lithotectonic belts demonstrate that erosion of Cambrian rocks in the Kurgiakh orogeny in the Parahio Valley removed little of the Parahio Formation and that all of the fossil-bearing lithotectonic zones share similar late early Cambrian brachiopods, suggesting regional faunal continuity at the time. Palaeobiogeographical analysis of the Cambrian brachiopod faunas from the Himalaya shows that they occupied a marginal position of the Australasian segment of Gondwana