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Upper Triassic reef fauna from the Quesnel terrane, central British Columbia, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

George D. Stanley Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, The University of Montana, Missoula 59812
Baba Senowbari-Daryan
Affiliation:
Institute of Paleontology, University of Erlangen D-91054, Germany

Abstract

Massive Upper Triassic (Norian) reef limestone at Eaglenest Mountain, Takla Group, British Columbia, contains a wide variety of shallow-water fossils in two different carbonate units. A sponge-coral facies contains the sponges Fanthalamia astoma (Seilacher, 1962), Fanthalamia multicanalis new species, Cinnabaria expansa (Seilacher, 1962), and Cinnabaria? sp. Cinnabaria expansa is a widely distributed North American terrane species which, along with F. astoma, was previously known from the Luning Formation of Nevada. Also included is the “disjectoporoid,” Pamiropora sonorensis Stanley, 1994, and a massive spongiomorph, Spongiomorpha tenuis Smith, 1927, previously endemic to the Eastern Klamath terrane of California. Colonial corals include: Retiophyllia quesneliana new species, Chondrocoenia waltheri (Frech, 1890), Crassistella cf. juvavica (Frech, 1890), Distichomeandra cf. austriaca (Frech, 1890), and Alpinophyllia flexuosa Roniewicz, 1989. A limestone conglomerate overlying these beds is dominated almost exclusively by the planktonic hydrozoan, Heterastridium conglobatum Reuss, 1865. A problematic taxon Lovcenipora cf. chaetetiformis Vinassa de Regny, 1915, is reported for the first time outside Timor and the Tethys. The faunas provide a first glimpse into the reef biota of the Quesnel terrane. They contain taxa previously known from the distant Tethys but also include endemics from other inboard terranes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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