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Biometry, systematics and biogeography of the late Cambrian trilobite Maladioidella abdita

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

Adrian W. A. Rushton
Affiliation:
A. W. A. Rushton, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, U.K.
Nigel C. Hughes
Affiliation:
N. C. Hughes, Geier Collections and Research Center, Cincinnati Museum Center, 1720 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45202-1401, U.S.A.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The restoration of deformed specimens of the trilobite Conocoryphe abdita Salter from the late Cambrian of Wales allows a re-evaluation of their systematics, synonymy with other species described from Siberia and Iran, and assignment to the idahoiid genus Maladioidella. Maladioidella abdita is from the Parabolina spinulosa Biozone, and most species similar to it occur in equivalent strata near the lower part of the Iverian Stage. Widespread homeomorphy in primitive libristomates is documented and presents difficulties for assessing relationships within Maladioidella and among related taxa. Both the genus as a whole and the species M. abdita show a widespread peri-Gondwanan distribution that crosses a range of latitudes and lithofacies and, to a limited extent, oceanic basins. No morphological features were discerned that might account for its unusual dispersal ability.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1995

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