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The oldest Cambrian skeletal fossils of Spain (Cadenas Ibéricas, Aragón)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2017

JOSÉ ANTONIO GÁMEZ VINTANED ,
ELADIO LIÑÁN ,
DAVID NAVARRO  and
ANDREY YU. ZHURAVLEV
JOSÉ ANTONIO GÁMEZ VINTANED*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Geosciences & Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 32610 Tronoh (Perak), Malaysia
ELADIO LIÑÁN
Affiliation:
Área y Museo de Paleontología-IUCA, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/Pedro Cerbuna, 12, E-50009 Zaragoza, Spain
DAVID NAVARRO
Affiliation:
Iberian Resources S.L., c/Lagasca, 88, E-28001 Madrid, Spain
ANDREY YU. ZHURAVLEV
Affiliation:
Division of Biological Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Leninskie Gory 1, 119234 and Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevskiy per. 7, 119017 Moscow, Russia
*
†Author for correspondence: gamez@unizar.es
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Abstract

Diverse skeletal assemblage has been discovered in the Ediacaran/Cambrian strata of the Codos locality in NE Spain (Aragón, Cadenas Ibéricas). This assemblage includes at least seven genera, only three of which can be ascribed to known taxa. All the fossils are preserved in phosphate but their original microstructures are traceable by both elementary composition and microstructural features that are indicative for primary aragonite and high-magnesium calcite biomineralogies. Already these early skeletal fossils show sophisticated microstructures represented by heterogeneous multilayered composites to satisfy the requirements for better protection against both chemical dissolution and mechanical predator deterioration. The most common and best-preserved fossil, which is tubicolous Codositubulus grioensis gen. et sp. nov., is described here. The composition of the fossil assemblage and its stratigraphic position are indicative for the lowermost Terreneuvian (lower Cambrian) or even pre-Terreneuvian age of this fauna.

Keywords

EdiacaranCambrianCadenas IbéricasSpainskeletal fossilsmicrostructure
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 155 , Issue 7 , October 2018 , pp. 1465 - 1474
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

§

Deceased.

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