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A new obolellid brachiopod from the Lower Cambrian of Morocco

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Gerd Geyer*
Affiliation:
Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Würzburg, Pleicherwall 1, 97070 Würzburg, Germany

Abstract

A new genus and species of obolellid brachiopod, Brevipelta chouberti, is described from the Early Cambrian of Morocco. It is a useful index fossil for the upper Choubertella Zone and the Daguinaspis Zone in Morocco. Additionally discussed are taphonomic aspects that lead to the question whether the shell may have been weakly calcified compared to other obolellid brachiopods and the calcareous part may have been composed of aragonite crystallites, or whether the preservation of Brevipelta is due to facile solubility of a calcitic shell substance. Brevipelta chouberti represents not only the oldest described Early Cambrian brachiopod from Africa, but one of the oldest obolellid brachiopods known worldwide.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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