Royal Creek Sec. 1, at 197-202 meters (Devonian of Canada)

Where: Yukon, Canada (64.8° N, 135.2° W: paleocoordinates 0.1° S, 41.7° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Monograptus yukonensis graptolite zone, Road River Formation, Pragian (410.8 - 407.6 Ma)

• Lenz (1977) tentatively assigns this part of the section to the Early Pragian; however, he later (in Frýda, Blodgett & Lenz 2002) calls it Middle Pragian. Brachiopod biozone: Davidsoniatrypa johnsoni; Conodont biozone: Spathognathodus sulcatus; Graptolite biozone: Monograptus yukonensis.

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shallow subtidal; lithified carbonate and lithified shale

• During the Late Silurian and Early Devonian, the Royal Creek area lay at the margin of a deep-water embayment. The transition from shallow to deep water was relatively abrupt, with very thick shallow-water (including intertidal and shallow subtidal), sparsely fossiliferous carbonates accumulating on the large platform immediately to the east, southeast, and south of the study area, and deep-water, graptolite-rich shales and calcareous shales of the Road River Group accumulating in a northwest-facing trough that joined to the Blackstone River and Richardson troughs (Lenz, 1972 ; Norford, 1997 ). In the transitional zone, perhaps no more than one kilometer in width, brachiopods flourished, and trilobites, bryozoans, corals and gastropods were relatively common (Lenz, 1977a, 1977b, 1982 ). Sea-level fluctuations through this time period are evidenced in the area by tongues of the deeper water facies trangressing over the shallower-water carbonates, alternating with tongues of the latter facies prograding over deeper water facies. During times of shallow-water deposits prograding over deeper water facies, coupled with a relatively steep slope margin (still visible in a few localities), benthic organisms found themselves in a very unstable environment and, perhaps triggered by earth tremors, cascaded into deeper waters. As a result, the most richly fossiliferous carbonates are predominantly debris-flow deposits, in which shallower and deeper dwelling benthic faunas within any debris-flow bed are entirely intermixed. (From Blodgett, Frýda & Lenz 2001.)

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: replaced with silica

Reposited in the GSC

• Lenz's 655'-675' is taken to be equivalent, as there is no other subsection in Lenz (1977) that overlaps with this. It likely was remeasured in the subsequent 25 years. This list is a portion of collection 24933 from Lenz 1999, which is an overview of these collections.

Primary reference: A. C. Lenz. 1977. Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian brachiopods of Royal Creek, Yukon Canada. Part 1. Orthoida, Strophomenida, Pentamerida, Rhynchonellida. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 159(1-3):37-109 [M. Foote/M. Foote/M. Foote]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 39394: authorized by Pete Wagner, entered by Kimberly Koverman on 27.05.2004, edited by Pete Wagner

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Augmented by data from Fryda, Blodgett & Lenz (2002: New Early Devonian gastropods from the families Scoliostomatidae (new family) and Crassimarginatidae (new family), Royal Creek Area, Yukon Territory, Canada. Journal of Paleontology 76:246 – 255.)
Gastropoda
 Murchisoniina - Crassimarginatidae
Yukonoconcha pedderi n. gen. n. sp.3
Yukonoconcha pedderi n. gen. n. sp.3 Frýda et al. 2002 snail
Type locality
 Murchisoniina - Scoliostomatidae
Eoscoliostoma norrisi n. gen. n. sp.3 Frýda et al. 2002 snail
Type locality
Pseudomitchellia macqueeni3 Frýda et al. 2002 snail
 Murchisoniina - Gosseletinidae
Stenoloron (Stenoloron) boucoti n. sp.2 Blodgett et al. 2010 snail
 Euomphalina - Tubinidae
Semitubina yukonensis n. sp.1 Blodgett et al. 2001 snail
Type locality
Strophomenata
 Orthotetida - Areostrophiidae
 Strophomenida - Amphistrophiidae
Mesodouvillina stelcki n. sp.
Type locality
aff. Mesodouvillina sp. Williams 1950
New genus aff. Mesoduvillina
 Strophomenida - Rafinesquinidae
 Strophomenida - Leptostrophiidae
 Strophomenida - Douvillinidae
Rhynchonellata
 Rhynchonellida - Trigonirhynchiidae
 Rhynchonellida - Machaerariidae
 Rhynchonellida - Leiorhynchidae
"? Katunia postmodica" = Katuniella, Werneckeella hartensis
"? Katunia postmodica" = Katuniella
 Rhynchonellida - Septalariidae
? Athyrhynchus sp. Johnson 1973
 Orthida - Rhipidomellidae
Dalejina "sp. 1" Havlicek 1953
 Orthida - Dalmanellidae
 Orthida - Schizophoriidae
Schizophoria cf. paraprima Johnson et al. 1973
 Orthida - Draboviidae
 Protorthida - Skenidiidae
 Atrypida - Carinatinidae
"Davidsoniatrypa johnsoni" = Biconostrophia4
"Davidsoniatrypa johnsoni" = Biconostrophia4
 Atrypida - Karpinskiidae
"Totia intermediafera" = Vagrania4
"Totia intermediafera" = Vagrania4
 Atrypida - Glassiidae
"Cryptatrypa "sp. 1"" = Glassia4
"Cryptatrypa "sp. 1"" = Glassia4 Davidson 1881
 Atrypida - Atrypidae
 Pentamerida - Gypidulidae
 Pentamerida - Parastrophinidae
"Grayina magnifica" = Anastrophia (Grayina)
"Grayina magnifica" = Anastrophia (Grayina)
G. magnifica arctica n. subsp.
 Spiriferida - Ambocoeliidae
 Spiriferida - Reticulariidae
 Athyridida - Nucleospiridae
Craniata
 Craniida - Craniidae
? Crania sp. Retzius 1781