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

Page, A.; Wilby, Phil; Williams, Mark; Vannier, J.M.C.; Davies, Jeremy; Waters, Richard; Zalasiewicz, J.A.. 2010 Soft-part preservation in a bivalved arthropod from the Late Ordovician of Wales. Geological Magazine, 147 (2). 242-252. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756809990045

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Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756809990045
Programmes:	BGS Programmes 2010 > Geology and Landscape (Wales)
ISSN:	0016-7568
Date made live:	20 Apr 2010 15:55 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/9614

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