Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco
In the central Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Early Ordovician succession consists of about 1000 m of fossiliferous argillites and siltstones. The Upper Fezouata Formation (Floian) contains a comparatively rich and abundant cephalopod association. A small collection of these cephalopods is described here...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pensoft Publishers
2012-08-01
|
| Series: | Fossil Record |
| Online Access: | http://www.foss-rec.net/15/61/2012/fr-15-61-2012.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827362446277345280 |
|---|---|
| author | B. Kröger B. Lefebvre |
| author_facet | B. Kröger B. Lefebvre |
| author_sort | B. Kröger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the central Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Early Ordovician succession consists of about 1000 m of fossiliferous argillites and siltstones. The Upper Fezouata Formation (Floian) contains a comparatively rich and abundant cephalopod association. A small collection of these cephalopods is described herein for the first time. The cephalopods are interpreted as autochthonous or parautochthonous, representing a fauna, which originally lived nektobenthically in the open water above the sediments or related to the sea bottom. The cephalopod associations of the Upper Fezouata Formation are similar to other contemporaneous assemblages known from higher palaeolatitudes and associated with deeper depositional settings and in siliciclastically dominated deposits. They are composed almost exclusively of slender orthocones, in this case predominantly of <i>Destombesiceras zagorense</i> n. gen., n. sp., which is interpreted as an early discosorid. <i>Bathmoceras australe</i> Teichert, 1939 and <i>Bathmoceras taichoutense</i> n. sp. from the Upper Fezouata Formation are at present the earliest unambiguous occurrences of bathmocerid cephalopods. Epizoans on the shell of a specimen of <i>Rioceras</i> are the earliest evidence of bryozoans growing as potential hitchhikers on cephalopod shells, indicating an early exploitation of a pseudoplanktonic lifestyle in this phylum.
<br><br>
doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.201200004" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.201200004</a> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:27:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-84651357ef9547bb89b4be2a45512069 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2193-0066 2193-0074 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:27:16Z |
| publishDate | 2012-08-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fossil Record |
| spelling | doaj.art-84651357ef9547bb89b4be2a455120692024-02-02T21:26:40ZengPensoft PublishersFossil Record2193-00662193-00742012-08-01152617510.5194/fr-15-61-2012Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, MoroccoB. Kröger0B. Lefebvre1Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, GermanyLaboratoire de Géologie de Lyon “Terre, Planètes et Environnement”, UMR CNRS 5276, Université Lyon 1 & ENS-Lyon, Géode, 2 rue Raphaël Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, FranceIn the central Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Early Ordovician succession consists of about 1000 m of fossiliferous argillites and siltstones. The Upper Fezouata Formation (Floian) contains a comparatively rich and abundant cephalopod association. A small collection of these cephalopods is described herein for the first time. The cephalopods are interpreted as autochthonous or parautochthonous, representing a fauna, which originally lived nektobenthically in the open water above the sediments or related to the sea bottom. The cephalopod associations of the Upper Fezouata Formation are similar to other contemporaneous assemblages known from higher palaeolatitudes and associated with deeper depositional settings and in siliciclastically dominated deposits. They are composed almost exclusively of slender orthocones, in this case predominantly of <i>Destombesiceras zagorense</i> n. gen., n. sp., which is interpreted as an early discosorid. <i>Bathmoceras australe</i> Teichert, 1939 and <i>Bathmoceras taichoutense</i> n. sp. from the Upper Fezouata Formation are at present the earliest unambiguous occurrences of bathmocerid cephalopods. Epizoans on the shell of a specimen of <i>Rioceras</i> are the earliest evidence of bryozoans growing as potential hitchhikers on cephalopod shells, indicating an early exploitation of a pseudoplanktonic lifestyle in this phylum. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.201200004" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.201200004</a>http://www.foss-rec.net/15/61/2012/fr-15-61-2012.pdf |
| spellingShingle | B. Kröger B. Lefebvre Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco Fossil Record |
| title | Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco |
| title_full | Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco |
| title_fullStr | Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco |
| title_full_unstemmed | Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco |
| title_short | Palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early Floian (Early Ordovician) cephalopods from the Upper Fezouata Formation, Anti-Atlas, Morocco |
| title_sort | palaeogeography and palaeoecology of early floian early ordovician cephalopods from the upper fezouata formation anti atlas morocco |
| url | http://www.foss-rec.net/15/61/2012/fr-15-61-2012.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bkroger palaeogeographyandpalaeoecologyofearlyfloianearlyordoviciancephalopodsfromtheupperfezouataformationantiatlasmorocco AT blefebvre palaeogeographyandpalaeoecologyofearlyfloianearlyordoviciancephalopodsfromtheupperfezouataformationantiatlasmorocco |