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Early and Middle(?) Cambrian metazoan and protistan fossils from West Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Stephen J. Culver
Affiliation:
1Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.
John E. Repetski
Affiliation:
2U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092, U.S.A.
John Pojeta Jr.
Affiliation:
2U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092, U.S.A.
David Hunt
Affiliation:
3Department of Geology, The University, Manchester M139PL, U.K.

Abstract

Supposed Upper Proterozoic strata in the southwest Taoudeni Basin, Guinea and Senegal, and from the Mauritanide fold belt, Mauritania, have yielded mostly poorly preserved small skeletal fossils of metazoan and protistan origin. Problematic, but possible echinoderm material and spicules of the heteractinid sponge Eiffelia dominate the Taoudeni Basin assemblage. The age of the material is not certain but the paleontologic data suggest an Early Cambrian age for the stratigraphically lowest faunas, and a Middle Cambrian age is possible for the stratigraphically highest collections.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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