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Middle Ordovician (Whiterockian) trilobites from the Sunblood Formation, District of Mackenzie, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

James V. Tremblay
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1
Stephen R. Westrop
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Science, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1

Abstract

In the South Nahanni River area of the District of Mackenzie, the Middle Ordovician Sunblood Formation comprises mainly limestones and dolostones of intertidal and shallow-subtidal origin, as indicated by the presence of desiccation polygons, fenestral fabric, and oncolites. Faunas of well-preserved, silicified trilobites from a low-diversity, nearshore, Bathyurus-dominated biofacies are compositionally distinct from faunas in correlative strata around North America that represent different shelf to upperslope biofacies. A temporal biostratigraphy applicable to nearshore biofacies through much of the Whiterockian Series consists of five zones, in ascending order: Bathyurus mackenziensis, B. sunbloodensis, B. margareti, B. nevadensis, and B. granulosus. Twenty-six species are assigned to 18 genera, of which Ludvigsenella is new. Three new species of Bathyurus are B. mackenziensis, B. sunbloodensis, and B. margareti.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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