Platyceratid-Stalked Echinoderm Community, Lower Devonian, Carnic Alps (Devonian of Italy)

Where: Italy (46.5° N, 13.0° E: paleocoordinates 43.5° S, 51.6° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Helderbergian (419.2 - 393.3 Ma)

• Implication seems to be that community spans much of Lower Devonian, rather than that age is poorly constrained.

Environment/lithology: marine; shelly/skeletal wackestone and shelly/skeletal grainstone

• "shallow, inner BA 3"
• "occurs in biolithites, biocalcarenites, and biorudites of the reef front to forereef environment, mainly inside a lithic frame made by the Favosites-Massive Stromatoporoid Community."

Collection methods: Not all platyceratids are listed; Vai refers to Jahveri (1969, PBDB ref. 7262, pp. 151-2), but it is not entirely clear which of Jahveri's species are to be included. For this reason, and because Jahveri gives finer stratigraphic detail, I will enter Jahveri's lists as separate collections.

Primary reference: G. B. Vai. 1999. Wenlockian to Emsian communities of the Carnic Alps (Austria and Italy). in A. J. Boucot and J. D. Lawson, eds. Paleocommunities--a case study from the Silurian and Lower Devonian. Cambridge University Press. 282-304 [M. Foote/M. Foote/M. Foote]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 26206: authorized by Michael Foote, entered by Michael Foote on 08.10.2002

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Crinoidea
 Cyathocrinida - Crotalocrinitidae
Enallocrinus sp. Orbigny 1850 Sea lily
Syndetocrinus sp. Kirk 1933 Sea lily
 Diplobathrida - Rhodocrinitidae
Spyridiocrinus sp. Oehlert 1889 Sea lily
 Monobathrida - Clonocrinidae
Clonocrinus sp. Quenstedt 1876 Sea lily
Gastropoda
 Cyrtoneritida - Orthonychiidae
"Platyceras (Orthonychia) cf. cornuta" = Platyceras (Orthonychia) cornutum
"Platyceras (Orthonychia) cf. cornuta" = Platyceras (Orthonychia) cornutum Tschernischew 1885 snail
 Euomphalina - Platyceratidae
Platyceratidae indet. Hall 1859 snail
"a variety of other species"
Platyceras (Platyceras) sp. Conrad 1840 snail
Strophostylus sp. Hall 1859 snail
Cyclonema (Cyclonema) sp. Hall 1852 snail