Hadimopanella oezgueli Gedik, 1977: a palaeoscolecidan sclerite useless for taxonomic purposes

T Barragán, J Esteve, D García-Bellido, S Zamora, J Alvaro
2014 Palaeontologia Electronica  
A new assemblage of Hadimopanella oezgueli Gedik, 1977 is described from the middle Caesaraugustan (middle Cambrian) part of the Genestosa Member (Oville Formation) in the Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. Sclerites occur disarticulated and display distinct diagenetic processes, with authigenic chlorites occluding primary porosity and secondary fissures. Sclerite distribution was controlled by patchy development of epibenthic multispecies clumps on shell (both carbonate and clayey)
more » ... s. A joint biometric and statistical analysis in both dorsal and lateral views of disarticulated sclerites allows characterization of two distinct morphotypes. These are compared with other occurrences of H. oezgueli sclerites from other margins of Gondwana and the Siberian Platform, as a result of which, another morphotype is identified. Two main inferences can be drawn: (i) different ventral trunk-sided sclerites of a same scleritome comprise different sclerite morphotypes and (ii) one distinct sclerite morphotype occurs in different genera and species. These results emphasize the idea that the diagnostic features that characterize the parataxon H. oezgueli should not be used for (bio) taxonomic classification of palaeoscolecidan scleritomes. Tania Barragán. Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC/INTA), Ctra. de Torrejón a Ajalvir km 4,
doi:10.26879/495 fatcat:hzpdduwhf5efnftjklaitp22um