Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:03:14.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

New data on the anatomy of Conularia milwaukeensis Cleland, 1911 (Middle Devonian, Iowa and Wisconsin)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Heyo Van Iten
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana 47243,
Juliana de Moraes Leme
Affiliation:
Department of Sedimentary and Environmental Geology, Graduate Program in Sedimentary Geology, University of São Paulo, Brazil, ,
Sabrina Coelho Rodrigues
Affiliation:
Department of Sedimentary and Environmental Geology, Graduate Program in Sedimentary Geology, University of São Paulo, Brazil, ,
Marcello Guimarães Simõtes
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Laboratory of Paleozoology, São Paulo State University, Brazil,

Extract

Reexamination of previously described conulariids has shown that the morphology of steeply pyramidal, generally four-sided conulariid exoskeletons is more complex than was realized by earlier generations of conulariid specialists (e.g., Van Iten, 1992a, 1992b; Jerre, 1994; Van Iten et al., 1996). Much of this complexity is expressed as variation in the anatomy of the corners and midlines (Van Iten, 1992a). In nearly all conulariids, the corners are sulcate, and in some genera (e.g., Archaeoconularia Bouček, 1939 and Pseudoconularia Bouček, 1939) the longitudinal center line, or midline, of the faces also is sulcate or is marked by a straight or zigzagged ridge. In the oldest known conulariid, Baccaconularia Hughes, Gunderson, and Weedon, 2000 (Cambrian: Furongian Series), the midlines are marked by a series of elongate invaginations. Corners and/or midlines of many other conulariids exhibit subtle or pronounced internal thickening (e.g., Van Iten, 1992a; Jerre, 1994). Most such conulariids exhibit one or two sets of longitudinal ridges, or carinae, with a single carina at each corner and/or a single carina or a pair of carinae at each midline. The height of the carinae varies considerably between species, ranging from less than one-fiftieth to over one-half the distance to the center of the exoskeletal cavity. Both corner and midline carinae may be continuous or (less frequently) seriated. Also, the abaxial edge of single midline carinae may have a single crest or (rarely) it may be weakly or strongly bifurcate.

Type
Paleontological Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Babcock, L. E., and Feldmann, R. M. 1986. Devonian and Mississippian conulariids of North America, Pt. A, General description and Conularia . Annals of Carnegie Museum, 55:349410.Google Scholar
Bergström, J. 1995. Conulariid affinities: a discussion. Geologiska Foreningens i Forhandlingar, 117:245.Google Scholar
Bischoff, G. C. O. 1978. Internal structures of conulariid tests and their functional significance, with special reference to Circonulariina n. suborder (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa). Senckenbergiana Lethaia, 59:275327.Google Scholar
Bouček, B. 1939. Conulariida, p. A113A131. In Schindewolf, O. H. (ed.), Handbuch der Paläozoologie, Band 2A. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin.Google Scholar
Cleland, H. F. 1911. The fossils and stratigraphy of the Middle Devonic of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin, 21:1222.Google Scholar
Hall, J. 1847. Paleontology of New-York. Volume I. Containing Descriptions of the Organic Remains of the Lower Division of the New-York System (equivalent to the Lower Silurian rocks of Europe). C. Van Benthuysen, Albany 338 p.Google Scholar
Hall, J. 1876. Illustrations of Devonian Fossils: Gasteropoda, Pteropoda, Cephalopoda, Crustacea and Corals of the Upper Helderberg, Hamilton and Chemung Groups. Albany, 7 p.Google Scholar
Hughes, N. C., Gunderson, G. O., and Weedon, M. J. 2000. Late Cambrian conulariids from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Journal of Paleontology, 74:828838.Google Scholar
Jerre, F. 1994. Anatomy and phylogenetic significance of Eoconularia loculata, a conulariid from the Silurian of Gotland. Lethaia, 27:97109.Google Scholar
Kiderlen, H. 1937. Die Conularien. Über Bau and Leben der ersten Scyphozoa. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Beilige-Band, 77:113169.Google Scholar
Lamouroux, J. V. F. 1809. Mémoires sur les Caulerpes, nouveau genre de la famille des algues marines. Journal Botanique, 2:136146.Google Scholar
Marques, A. C., and Collins, A. G. 2004. Cladistic analysis of Medusozoa and cnidarian evolution. Invertebrate Biology, 123:2342.Google Scholar
Moore, R. C., and Harrington, H. J. 1956. Conulata, p. F54F66. In Moore, R. C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Pt. F. Coelenterata. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Munthe, J. 1980. Catalogue of fossil type and figured specimens in the Milwaukee Public Museum. Milwaukee Public Museum, Contributions in Biology and Geology, No. 39:127.Google Scholar
Simões, M. G., Rodrigues, S. C., Leme, J. M., and Van Iten, H. 2003. Body fossils as taphotaxa: Some middle Paleozoic conulariids (Cnidaria) as possible examples of taphonomic artifacts. Journal of Taphonomy, 1(3):165186.Google Scholar
Sinclair, G. W. 1948. The biology of the Conulariida. Unpublished , , 442 p.Google Scholar
Sinclair, G. W. 1952. A classification of the Conulariida. Fieldiana Geology, 10:135145.Google Scholar
Sowerby, J. 1821. The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain; or Coloured Figures and Descriptions of those Remains of Testaceous Animals or Shells, Which Have Been Preserved at Various Times, and Depths in the Earth. Vol. 3. Pt. 46. W. Harding, London, p. 107118.Google Scholar
Teller, E. E. 1911. A synopsis of type specimens of fossils from the Palaeozoic formations of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Natural History Society Bulletin, 11:170271.Google Scholar
Van Iten, H. 1991. Evolutionary affinities of conulariids, p. 145155. In Simonetta, A. M. and Conway Morris, S. (eds.), The Early Evolution of Metazoa and the Significance of Problematic Taxa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Van Iten, H. 1992a. Morphology and phylogenetic significance of the corners and midlines of the conulariid test. Palaeontology, 35:335358.Google Scholar
Van Iten, H. 1992b. Microstructure and growth of the conulariid test: implications for conulariid affinities. Palaeontology, 35:359372.Google Scholar
Van Iten, H., Fitzke, J. A., and Cox, R. S. 1996. Problematical fossil cnidarians from the Upper Ordovician of the north-central USA. Palaeontology, 39:10371064.Google Scholar
Werner, B. 1966. Stephanoscyphus (Scyphozoa, Coronatae) und seine direkte Abstammung von den fossilen Conulata. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen, 13:317347.Google Scholar
Werner, B. 1967. Stephanoscyphus Allman (Scyphozoa, Coronatae), ein rezenter Vertreter der Conulata? Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 41:137153.Google Scholar
Wiman, C. 1894. Paleontologische Notizen 1–2. University of Upsala, Geological Institution, Bulletin, 2(3):109117.Google Scholar