Work

Novel evidence for the youngest Naraoia and a reassessment of naraoiid paleobiogeography

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Naraoiids are nektaspidid arthropods that display two exoskeletal shields, typically lack thoracic tergites, and have an exceptional Cambrian diversity. Despite their predominantly Cambrian fossil record, Naraoia species have been documented in deposits as young as the late Silurian (Pridoli). At present, only one specimen of the Silurian taxon— Naraoia bertiensis —has been documented. Here we report the second known Silurian Naraoia specimen assigned to N. cf. bertiensis from the Phelps Member of the Fiddlers Green Formation, extending the fossil record from the Williamsville Member. We use paleo-elevation models to explore naraoiid paleobiogeography, illustrating a striking decrease in naraoiid distribution from the Cambrian into the Ordovician and Silurian. These models allow us to explore the proposal that geologically younger naraoiids migrated to deep water, off shelf environments, inhabiting these refugia-like conditions after the Cambrian.

Source: Fossil record

DOI: 10.3897/fr.28.150343

Authors: Russell D. C. Bicknell, Aaron Goodman, Lukáš Laibl, Lisa Amati

Institutions: American Museum of Natural History, University of New England, City University of New York, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geology, New York State Museum

Language: English

Topic: Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,240

Funder: Akademie Věd České Republiky