Salterella

<i>Salterella</i>

Salterella

Extinct genus of shelled animals

Salterella is an enigmatic Cambrian genus with a small, conical, calcareous shell that appears to be septate,[3] but is rather filled with stratified laminar deposits.[4] The shell contains grains of sediment, which are obtained selectively (with a preference for denser grains) by a manner also observed in foramanifera.[5] The genus was established by Elkanah Billings in 1861, and was named after the English palaeontologist John William Salter.[2]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

The genus is known from multiple locations worldwide, such as Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec in Canada,[6][7] Svalbard,[8] the Scottish Highlands[9] and Argentina.[10]

The related fossil genus Volborthella was formerly placed in synonymy with Salterella by Ellis L. Yochelson in 1983, due to the similarities between the two genera (though Volborthella notably lacks an outer calcareous shell).[9] However, Volborthella was later accepted as a separate genus again by Yochelson & Kisselev in 2003.[11] Both genera are currently placed in the Salterellidae family in the phylum Agmata.

Species

At least two species of Salterella are known:

  • †Salterella conulata Clark, 1924:[12] A species that is widespread in eastern North America.[6]
  • †Salterella maccullochi (Murchison, 1859) (Synonyms: S. mexicana Lochman, 1952; S. expansa Poulsen, 1927; S. rugosa Billings, 1861, Serpulites maccullochi Murchison, 1859)[9][10]

The following species placed in the genus are poorly known:[13]

The following species are doubtfully placed in the genus:

  • Salterella (?) orientalis Kobayashi, 1935:[14] A species described from a single specimen found in South Korea. Associated with Obolella cf. asiatica and a fragment of a trilobite (possibly Redlichia).

Other:

Former species

The following species were formerly placed in Salterella, and have since been moved to other genera:

Thin sections

Thin sections (plain transmitted light) of Salterella from "The Early Cambrian Fossil Salterella conulata Clark in Eastern North America", collected from the Vintage Dolomite of Pennsylvania.[19] See image pages for detailed captions.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Charles Doolittle Walcott (1886). Second contribution to the studies on the Cambrian faunas of North America. Vol. 30 of Geological Survey bulletin. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 1–369.
  2. [2]
    Billings, E.H. (1861). "On some new or little known species of lower Silurian fossils from the Potsdam Group (Primordial zone)". Palaeozoic Fossils. 1 (1): 1–18.
  3. [3]
    Lipps, J. H.; Sylvester, A. G. (1968). "The Enigmatic Cambrian Fossil Volborthella and Its Occurrence in California". Journal of Paleontology. 42 (2): 329–336. JSTOR 1302218.
  4. [4]
    Yochelson, E. L.; Flower, R. H.; Webers, G. F. (1973). "The bearing of the new Late Cambrian monoplacophoran genus Knightoconus upon the origin of the Cephalopoda". Lethaia. 6 (3): 275–309. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1973.tb01199.x.
  5. [5]
    Peel, John S. (2016). "Anatase and Hadimopanella selection by Salterella from the Kap Troedsson formation (Cambrian Series 2) of North Greenland". GFF. 139 (1): 70–74. doi:10.1080/11035897.2016.1227365. S2CID 132731070.
  6. [6]
    Yochelson, Ellis L. (1970). "On The Early Cambrian Fossil Salterella conulata Clark in Eastern North America" (PDF). United States Geological Survey Professional Paper. 683-B: 1–10.
  7. [7]
    Skovsted, Christian B. (2003). "Unusually preserved Salterella from the Lower Cambrian Forteau Formation of Newfoundland". GFF. 125 (1): 17–22. doi:10.1080/11035890301251017. S2CID 129203738.
  8. [8]
    Lauritzen, Ørnulf; Yochelson, Ellis L. (1982). "Salterella rugosa (Early Cambrian: Agmata) on Nordaustlandet and Spitsbergen, Svalbard". Polar Research. 1982 (1): 5–16. doi:10.3402/polar.v1982i1.6996.
  9. [9]
    Yochelson, E.L. (1983). "Salterella (Early Cambrian: Agmata) from the Scottish Highlands" (PDF). Palaeontology. 26: 253–260.
  10. [10]
    Astini, Ricardo A.; Thomas, William A.; Yochelson, Ellis L. (2004). "Salterella in the Argentine Precordillera: an Early Cambrian palaeobiogeographic indicator of Laurentian affinity". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 213 (1–2): 125–132. Bibcode:2004PPP...213..125A. doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(04)00369-4.
  11. [11]
    Yochelson, Ellis L.; Kisselev, Gennadii N. (2003). "Early Cambrian Salterella and Volborthella (Phylum Agmata) re‐evaluated". Lethaia. 36 (1): 8–20. doi:10.1080/00241160310001254.
  12. [12]
    Clark, Thomas H. (1924). "The Paleontology of the Beekmantown series at Levis, Quebec". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 10 (41): 1–136.
  13. [13]
    Yochelson, Ellis L. (1981). "A Survey of Salterella (Phylum Agmata)" (PDF). In Taylor, Michael E. (ed.). Short papers for the Second International Symposium on the Cambrian System, 1981 (Report). U.S. Geological Survey. pp. 244–248. doi:10.3133/ofr81743. hdl:2027/uc1.31822008867749.
  14. [14]
    Kobayashi, T. (1935). "The Cambro-Ordovician formations and fauna of South Chosen. Palaeontology. Part III. Cambrian faunas of South Chosen with a special study on the Cambrian trilobite genera and families" (PDF). Journal of the Faculty of Science (Imperial University of Tokyo), Section II. 4: 49–344.
  15. [15]
    Yochelson, Ellis L. (1968). "On the nature of Polylopia" (PDF). United States Geological Survey Professional Paper. 593-F: 1–7.
  16. [16]
    Foord, A. H. (1890). "Description of Fossils from the Kimberley District, Western Australia". Geological Magazine. 7 (3): 98–106. Bibcode:1890GeoM....7...98F. doi:10.1017/S0016756800189939.
  17. [17]
    Spath, L. F. (1936). "So-called Salterella from the Cambrian of Australia". Geological Magazine. 73 (10): 433–440. Bibcode:1936GeoM...73..433S. doi:10.1017/S0016756800095273.
  18. [18]
    Kruse, P. D. (1996). "Hyolith guts in the Cambrian of northern Australia – turning hyolithomorphs upside down". Lethaia. 29 (3): 213–217. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1996.tb01651.x.
  19. [19]
    Ellis L. Yochelson, 1970. The Early Cambrian Fossil Salterella conulata Clark in Eastern North America. Contributions to Paleontology, Geological Survey Professional Paper 683-B.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Salterella, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.