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A new Middle Cambrian hexactinellid, Ratcliffespongia wheeleri, from western Utah, and skeletal structure of Ratcliffespongia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

J. Keith Rigby  and
Stephen B. Church
J. Keith Rigby
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602
Stephen B. Church
Affiliation:
Coors Energy Company, P.O. Box 467, Golden, Colorado 80402
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Abstract

A single specimen of Ratcliffespongia wheeleri n. sp. from the upper part of the Middle Cambrian Wheeler Shale in the Drum Mountains of western Utah shows two distinct skeletal layers in the limonite-replaced fragment. The probable inner layer has large, circular to elliptical parietal gaps, some of which are aligned horizontally(?); gaps are outlined by long rays of hexactine-based spicules in irregular orientation and spacing. The probable outer layer has several ranks of stauracts in regular reticulation and ranking, all at approximately 45 degrees to the probably horizontal direction. The specimen is part of a probably shallow turbidite-transported assemblage from the margin of the House Range embayment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , May 1990 , pp. 331 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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