Melville Peninsula, King George Island, Shetland Islands (Cambrian to of Antarctica)

Where: South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (62.0° S, 57.6° W: paleocoordinates 20.2° S, 125.5° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Cambrian Erratics Member (Cape Melville Formation), Atdabanian to Atdabanian (520.0 - 513.0 Ma)

• The absence of typical late Atdabanian fossils suggests a lower age limit of the fossil assemblage within the Pararaia tatei trilobite Zone (Bengtson et al. 1990) or Halkieria parva SSF “Zone” (Gravestock et al. 2001); a lower Botomian age is the most plausible because many King George Island fossils are not known from later deposits (Bengtson et al. 1990, Zhuravlev and Gravestock 1994, Wrona and Zhuravlev 1996, Gravestock et al. 2001, Wrona 2004). This assemblage is closely similar to late Atdabanian−early Botomian Australian assemblages, especially that from the Stansbury Basin, Parara Limestone of Yorke Peninsula.

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: conglomeratic limestone and lithified, burrowed, black wackestone

• The Early Cambrian molluscan fauna described in this paper has been recovered from erratic boulders of limestone within the Early Miocene glaciomarine Cape Melville Formation of King George Island.

•(Fossils found in a) dark packstone−wackestone and burrowed mudstone very rich in skeletal fossils (for detail see Wrona and Zhuravlev 1996). Stacked hyoliths, molluscs, bradoriids, lingulate shells (Holmer et al. 1996), echinoderm and trilobite fragments, coeloscleritophoran and palaeoscolecid sclerites, as well as sponge spicules are characteristic (Wrona and Zhuravlev 1996: pl. 1: 5, Wrona 2004). The shells are often filled with phosphatic material, which has produced internal moulds

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: replaced with phosphate

Collection methods: bulk, chemical

• A complementary work concerning the accompanied small skeletal fossil assemblage is presented elsewhere (Wrona 2004).

Primary reference: R. Wrona. 2003. Early Cambrian molluscs from glacial erratics of King George Island, West Antarctica. Polish Polar Research 24(3-4):181-216 [P. Wagner/P. Wagner/P. Wagner]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 49691: authorized by Pete Wagner, entered by Pete Wagner on 23.04.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Coeloscleritophora
 Chancelloriida - Chancelloriidae
Chancelloria racemifundis Bengston et al. 1990
Bengtson in Bengtson et al. 1990
Allonnia ex gr. tripodophora Doré and Reid 1965
 Sachitida -
"Halkieria parva" = Australohalkieria parva
"Halkieria parva" = Australohalkieria parva Bengtson et al. 1990
Helcionelloida
  -
Beshtashella tortilis Missarzhevsky and Mambetov 1981
 Pelagiellida - Pelagiellidae
Pelagiella madianensis Zhou and Xiao 1984
 Helcionellida - Helcionellidae
? Pararaconus cf. staitorum Bengtson et al. 1990
"Anabarella cf. argus" = Anabarella australis Bengtson et al. 1990
 Helcionellida - Yochelcionellidae
Yochelcionella sp. Runnegar and Pojeta 1974
Brachiopoda
 Tommotiida - Lapworthellidae
Lapworthella fasciculata Bengtson et al. 1990
Conway Morris and Bengtson in Bengtson et al. 1990
Hyolitha
 Hyolithida - Nelegerocornidae
Microcornus petilus Bengtson et al. 1990
Bengston in Bengston, Conway Morris, Cooper, Jell & Runnegar 1990
 Hyolithida -
Parkula bounites Bengtson et al. 1990
Bengston in Bengston, Conway Morris, Cooper, Jell & Runnegar 1990
 Hyolithida - Hyolithidae
"Hyolithes" conularioides Tate 1892
Tate 1892
 Hyolithida -
Hyptiotheca karraculum Bengtson et al. 1990
Bengston in Bengston, Conway Morris, Cooper, Jell & Runnegar 1990
 Orthothecida -
Cupitheca holocyclata Bengtson et al. 1990
Bengston in Bengston, Conway Morris, Cooper, Jell & Runnegar 1990
 Orthothecida - Circothecidae
Conotheca australensis
Bengston in Bengston, Conway Morris, Cooper, Jell & Runnegar 1990
 Bradoriida - Hipponicharionidae
Albrunnicola bengtsoni Hinz-Schallreuter 1993
Hinz−Schallreuter, 1993b conspecific with Hipponicharion sp. from the Parara Ls. (Bengston et al.)
 Hyolithelminthida - Hyolithellidae
Hyolithellus filiformis Bengtson et al. 1990
Bengtson in Bengtson et al. 1990
Hyolithellus micans Billings 1871
(Billings, 1871)
 Hyolithelminthida -
 Hyolithelminthida - Torellellidae
Torellella sp. Holm 1893
 Pseudoconodontida -
Mongolitubulus "spines" Missarzhevsky 1977
Dailyatia ajax
  - Kennardiidae
Dailyatia ajax Bischoff 1976
Bischoff 1976
Aetholicopalla adnata
  -
Aetholicopalla adnata Bengston et al. 1990
Conway Morris in Bengtson et al. 1990