Fossil crinoids from the basal West Point Formation (Silurian), southeast Gaspé Peninsula, Québec, eastern Canada

Authors

  • Stephen K. Donovan Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
  • David G. Keighley University of New Brunswick, Fredericton

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4138/atlgeol.2016.010

Keywords:

Paleontology, Crinoids, Systematics, Stratigraphy, Correlation

Abstract

Silurian strata of Atlantic Canada and southern Québec locally preserve common fossil crinoids, albeit mostly as disarticulated remains. New crinoids from the Chaleurs Group, West Point Formation (Ludlow to Pridoli?; Upper Silurian) of the Gaspé Peninsula include Iocrinus? maennili (Yeltysheva) (otherwise known from the Katian of Estonia), Bystrowicrinus (col.) depressus sp. nov. and Cyclocyclicus (col.) sp. aἀ. C. (col.) echinus Donovan. On the basis of both its gross morphology and stratigraphic position, Iocrinus? maennili is unlikely to be an iocrinid disparid, a family that became extinct at the end of the Ordovician. The trivial name has hitherto been erroneously spelled as männili, mannili and mjannili. Most specimens of the common Bystrowicrinus (col.) depressus appear cyclocyclic because the pentastellate lumen occurs in a deeply sunken claustrum that is commonly occluded by sediment; clean specimens are highly distinctive. Cyclocyclicus (col.) sp. aἀ. C. (col.) echinus is similar to a species known from the Katian of North Wales. Taken together, this assemblage is more reminiscent of Katian strata (Upper Ordovician). Ḁis is problematic given the current mapping of the outcrop as West Point Formation (Upper Silurian), suggesting further stratigraphic studies in the area are required.

Author Biographies

Stephen K. Donovan, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

Researcher with 36 years experience of Lower Paleozoic crinoids

David G. Keighley, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton

Earth Sciences, Professor

Downloads

Published

2016-11-10

How to Cite

Donovan, S. K., & Keighley, D. G. (2016). Fossil crinoids from the basal West Point Formation (Silurian), southeast Gaspé Peninsula, Québec, eastern Canada. Atlantic Geoscience, 52, 211–222. https://doi.org/10.4138/atlgeol.2016.010

Issue

Vol. 52 (2016)

Section

Articles

License

As of January 1, 2025, Atlantic Geoscience is adopting Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  This license requires that re-users give credit to the creator. It allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes.

Copyright to material published in Atlantic Geoscience is normally retained by the author.  Alternate arrangements can be made on request for government employees.

Permission to use a single graphic for which the author owns copyright is considered “fair dealing” under the Canadian Copyright Act and “fair use” by the journal, and no other permission need be granted, subject to the image being appropriately cited in all reproductions. The same fair dealing/fair use policy applies to sections of text up to 100 words in length.