Castle Bank Lagerstätte (Ordovician of the United Kingdom)

Also known as Builth–Llandrindod Inlier

Where: Wales, United Kingdom (52.2° N, 3.4° W)

• Paleocoordinates: 46.6° S, 88.1° W (Wright 2013)

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Didymograptus murchisoni graptolite zone, Gilwern Volcanic Formation (Builth Volcanic Group), Darriwilian (467.3 - 458.4 Ma)

• "upper part of the Gilwern Volcanic Formation and is unambiguously dated by means of abundant graptolites, including Didymograptus murchisoni (Fig. 1c) and Diplograptus foliaceus to the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) Didymograptus murchisoni Biozone and lithostratigraphically to the upper part of that biozone (about 462 million years ago)"

•(Ma); ref. 22)"

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fine channel fill; micaceous, volcaniclastic siltstone and tuffaceous ash

• "volcanic island complex within the Welsh Basin"
• "The upper part of the Gilwern Volcanic Formation is composed largely of graptolitic siltstone, interbedded with volcanic ash laminae and thicker tuff beds. At the Castle Bank site, a 10 m sequence is composed largely of siltstone with substantial volcanic deposits, including isolated ash laminae, and is capped by a complex tuffaceous interval at least 2 m thick"

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: adpression, soft parts, original carbon, replaced with pyrite

Collected by J. Botting and L. Muir in 2013-2020

Collection methods: bulk, quarrying,

• "Figured material has been deposited in Amgueddfa Cymru—Museum Wales, Cardiff, UK (prefix NMW) and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Nanjing, China (prefix NIGP), with SCF microfossils deposited in the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala, Sweden (prefix PMU)." "Sampling consists of field collection performed by splitting rocks by hand (using standard geological hammers), with only the most abundant taxa not collected." Acid dissolution for SCFs.

Primary reference: J.P. Botting, L.A. Muir, S. Pates, L.M.E. McCobb, E. Wallet, S. Willman, Y. Zhang and J. Ma. 2023. A Middle Ordovician Burgess Shale-type fauna from Castle Bank, Wales (UK). Nature Ecology & Evolution 7:666-674 [P. Novack-Gottshall/P. Novack-Gottshall]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taphonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 230215: authorized by Phil Novack-Gottshall, entered by Phil Novack-Gottshall on 24.05.2023

Creative Commons license: CC0 (CC0)

Taxonomic list

Conodonta
  -
Conodonta "NMW.2021.3 G.95" Pander 1856 conodont
Soluta
 Dendrocystitida - Dendrocystitidae
? Dendrocystites sp. Barrande 1887
"Dendrocystites-like"
unclassified
  -
Asterozoa indet.
"at least two species of asterozoan"
Pterobranchia
 Graptolithina -
Graptolithina "NMW.2021.3 G.43" Bronn 1849 graptolite
multi-branched benthic graptolite"
 Graptoloidea - Diplograptidae
 Graptoloidea - Dichograptidae
Didymograptus murchisoni Beck 1839 graptolite
 Dendroidea - Acanthograptidae
Dictyonema sp. Hall 1851 graptolite
 Bilateria -
aff. Herpetogaster "NMW.2021.3 G.44" Caron et al. 2010
"resembling ... Herpetogaster"
unclassified
  -
Sipuncula "(NMW.2021.3 G.84"
"Probable sipunculan worm"
Sachitida
 Sachitida -
Sachitida "PMU 39350/1"
"striped cuticular fragment possibly sourced from a wiwaxiid sclerite"
Bryozoa
 Fenestellida -
Fenestellida indet.
"attached to poorly preserved orthocone nautiloid"
Lingulata
 Lingulida - Trematidae
 Lingulida - Obolidae
 Lingulida - Elkaniidae
 Acrotretida -
Polychaeta
  -
Polychaeta "PMU 39390/1" Grube 1850
"scolecodont"
Sphenothallus sp. Hall 1847
"multiple species"
unclassified
  -
Priapulida "NMW.2021.3 G.97" Théel 1906
"probable priapulid"
Palaeoscolecida
  -
Palaeoscolecida "NMW.2021.3 G.89" Conway-Morris and Robison 1986
Archaeopriapulida
 Archaeopriapulida -
 Kinorhyncha -
Kinorhyncha "NMW.2021.3 G.69"
"assigned to kinorhunchs"
unclassified
  -
Arthropoda indet. Latreille 1829
"bivalved arthropod with robust frontal appendages, tail fan and posteriorly spined carapace"
Trilobita
 Asaphida - Asaphidae
Megacheira
  -
aff. Megacheira "NMW.2021.3 G.83" Hou and Bergström 1997
"possible megacheiran with similarities to Yohoia"
Xiphosura
  -
Xiphosura indet. Latreille 1802
"stem-group xiphosuran"
Thecostraca
 Cirripedia -
Cirripedia indet. Rafinesque 1816 barnacle
"stalked barnacles"
Hexapoda
 Hexapoda -
Hexapoda indet. Latreille 1825
"hexapod-like"
Deuteropoda
  -
Cephalocarida indet. Sanders 1955
"cephalocarid-like"
 Bilateria - Opabiniidae
aff. Opabinia sp. Walcott 1912
"Opabiniid-like"
Scyphozoa
 Conulariida -
Conulariida indet. Miller and Gurley 1896 jellyfish
"Conulariid-like"
 Conulariida - Conulariidae
Demospongiae
 Chaetetida -
Chaetetida indet. Okulitch 1936 chaetetid sponge
"probable chaetetid"
Hexactinellida
  -
Hexactinellida "NMW.2021.3 G.35" Schmidt 1870 glass sponge
"Euplectellid-like"
Hexactinellida "NMW.2021.3 G.36" Schmidt 1870 glass sponge
"complex conico-cylindrical hexactinellid"
Hexactinellida "NMW.2021.3 G.40" Schmidt 1870 glass sponge
"complex hexactinellid"
 Reticulosa - Teganiidae
Teganiella sp. Rigby 1986 glass sponge
 Reticulosa - Hintzespongiidae
Cyathophycus sp. Walcott 1879 glass sponge
 Amphidiscosa - Pelicaspongiidae
aff. Ascospongiella "NMW.2021.3 G.37" Garcia-Bellido and Rigby 2004 glass sponge
"stalked ascosponge (new genus)"
aff. Ascospongiella "NMW.2021.3 G.39i" Garcia-Bellido and Rigby 2004 glass sponge
"small conical ascosponge"
 Lyssacinosa - Rossellidae
Rossellidae "NIGP175889" Gray 1872 glass sponge
"tall cylindrical hexactinellid with hypodermal pentactins and rossellid-like architecture"
Rossellidae "NMW.2021.3 G.39ii" Gray 1872 glass sponge
"relatively large rossellid-like sponge with abundant prostalia"
 Life -
Leiosphaeridia sp. Eisenack 1958
Ulvophyceae
 Bryopsidales -
? Inocladus sp. LoDuca et al. 2021
"Inocladus-like frondose alga"
 Life -
Filisphaeridium sp. Staplin et al. 1965 acritarchs
Chitinozoa
 Chitinozoa -