Hickory Corners (Silurian of the United States)

Where: Niagara County, New York (43.2° N, 78.8° W: paleocoordinates 23.4° S, 48.6° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Hickory Corners Member (Reynales Formation), Aeronian (440.8 - 438.5 Ma)

• Most material was obtained from loose slabs that can only be from the Hickory Corners Member; these are mainly from above the basal Budd Road phosphatic beds, but the exact horizon could not be determined.

•

•The Reynales Formation has long been known to be of mid-Llandovery and probably Aeronian age (Berry and Boucot, 1970). Recently, Waid and Over (2015) discovered conodonts in the lower Reynales Formation (basal Budd Road phosphate bed of LoDuca and Brett, 1994) from Budd Road about 2.5 km west of Hickory Corners, representing the Pranognathus tenuis Zone (lower to middle Aeronian).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: deep subtidal ramp; lithified, lenticular, graded, shelly/skeletal packstone and lithified, gray, green shale

• A majority of the brachiopods are disarticulated whole valves without much fragmentation, and the bryozoans are partially intact, branched colonies. This evidence suggests a predominantly low-energy setting with frequent storm agitation and an overall low rate of sediment accumulation. However, layers about 30–50 cm above the base of the Hickory Corners yield evidence of rapid redeposition; these include rare obrution beds that enclose complete crinoids buried in thin mud layers (Eckert and Brett, 2001). The diverse fauna and primarily matrix-supported limestones indicate that the Reynales Formation in this locality represents the shallow (30–60 m depth) outer shelf environment of Benthic Assemblage 4 of Brett et al. (1993).
• The Hickory Corners Member comprises a thin interval of interbedded, sparsely fossiliferous greenish gray shale and fossiliferous wackestones and packstones with minor crinoidal grainstones near the top. Beds are thin and commonly lenticular; some show evidence of grading suggestive of storm processing of skeletal material and silty carbonate muds.

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the SMF

Collection methods: surface (float), peel or thin section

Primary reference: A. Ernst, C. E. Brett, and M. A. Wilson. 2019. Bryozoan fauna from the Reynales Formation (lower Silurian, Aeronian) of New York, USA. Journal of Paleontology 93:628-657 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 202121: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 25.06.2019

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Stenolaemata
 Cryptostomata - Ptilodictyidae
Phaenopora multifida, Ptilodictya sulcata
Ptilodictya sulcata Billings 1866
 Cryptostomata - Rhinidictyidae
Trigonodictya sp., Metadictya sp.
 Cryptostomata - Arthrostylidae
Moyerella parva n. sp.
Moyerella parva n. sp. Ernst et al. 2019
 Cryptostomata - Fenestellidae
Fenestella jupiterensis
 Cystoporata - Fistuliporidae
Cheilotrypa aff. variolata
 Cystoporata - Xenotrypidae
Hennigopora apta
Hennigopora apta Perry et al. 1960
 Trepostomida - Monticuliporidae
Homotrypa niagarensis n. sp.
Homotrypa niagarensis n. sp. Ernst et al. 2019
 Cyclostomata - Diploclemidae
Diploclema argutum
Diploclema argutum Bassler 1906
 Trepostomata - Halloporidae
"Hallopora aff. elegantula" = Hallopora elegantula, "Leioclema adsuetum n. sp." = Hallopora elegantula
"Hallopora aff. elegantula" = Hallopora elegantula Hall 1851
"Leioclema adsuetum n. sp." = Hallopora elegantula Hall 1851
  - Phylloporinidae
Chasmatopora foerstei
Chasmatopora foerstei McKinney and Wyse Jackson 2010