West Berwyns Hirnantian fauna (Ordovician of the United Kingdom)

Where: Wales, United Kingdom (52.8° N, 3.5° W: paleocoordinates 45.9° S, 17.4° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Rawtheyan (448.8 - 445.2 Ma)

• Rawtheyan

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: deep subtidal shelf; lithified, silty, sandy mudstone

• "Deep shelf mixed brachiopod-trilobite faunas"; "outer part of the midshelf"
• Mudstone with minor amounts of silt and fine-grained sand

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collection methods: Faunal counts given as %, but total # individuals listed

Primary reference: P. J. Brenchley and B. Cullen. 1984. The environmental distribution of associations belonging to the Hirnantia fauna: Evidence from North Wales and Norway. Aspects of the Ordovician System. Palaeontological Contributions from the University of Oslo 29:113-125 [P. Novack-Gottshall/P. Novack-Gottshall]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 81276: authorized by Phil Novack-Gottshall, entered by Phil Novack-Gottshall on 16.06.2008

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Brachiopods are "generally small and thin-shelled" and fauna bears "almost total lack of any fauna other than brachiopds and trilobites"
Show authors, comments, and common names
 Animalia -
Animalia indet.
Animalia indet.
Reference table includes data for 19 taxa (totalling 99.7%), but mentions 20 species, so assuming other animals total .3% of sample.
Scyphozoa
 Conulariida -
Conulariida indet.
Conulariida indet. Miller and Gurley 1896 jellyfish
Crinoidea
  -
Crinoidea indet.
Crinoidea indet. Miller 1821 Sea lily
Columnals; "Abundant"
Cystoidea
  -
Cystoidea indet.
Cystoidea indet. von Buch 1846
Bryozoa
  -
Bryozoa indet.
Bryozoa indet. Ehrenberg 1831
"Stick bryozoans"
Stenolaemata
 Trepostomata -
Trepostomata indet.
Trepostomata indet. Ulrich 1882
Brachiopoda
  -
Brachiopoda indet.
Brachiopoda indet. Cuvier 1805
"other brachiopods"
Rhynchonellata
 Orthida - Saukrodictyidae
Saukrodictya sp.
Saukrodictya sp. Wright 1964
 Orthida - Dalmanellidae
Dalmanella sp.
Dalmanella sp. Hall and Clarke 1892
 Orthida - Orthidae
Orthambonites sp.
Orthambonites sp. Pander 1830
 Orthida - Glyptorthidae
Glyptorthis sp.
Glyptorthis sp. Foerste 1914
 Protorthida - Skenidiidae
Skenidioides sp.
Skenidioides sp. Schuchert and Cooper 1931
Strophomenata
 Strophomenida - Sowerbyellidae
Anisopleurella sp., Sowerbyella sp.
Anisopleurella sp. Cooper 1956
Sowerbyella sp. Jones 1928
Lingulata
 Lingulida - Discinidae
Orbiculoidea sp.
Orbiculoidea sp. d'Orbigny 1847
Gastropoda
  -
Gastropoda indet.
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795 snail
Trilobita
 Trinucleida - Trinucleidae
Tretaspis sp.
Tretaspis sp. M'Coy 1849 trilobite
 Asaphida - Remopleurididae
Remopleurides sp.
Remopleurides sp. Portlock 1843 trilobite
 Corynexochida - Illaenidae
Octillaenus sp.
Octillaenus sp. Salter 1867 trilobite
 Phacopida - Calymenidae
Gravicalymene sp.
Gravicalymene sp. Shirley 1936 trilobite