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Earltonella fredricksi n. gen n. sp. and Thalassocystis striata (Chlorophyta, Bryopsidales) from the Silurian (Llandoverian) of the Timiskaming outlier, Ontario, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2022

Steven T. LoDuca Open the ORCID record for Steven T. LoDuca [Opens in a new window] ,
Mike Meacher ,
Mark Pepper ,
Kevin Brett  and
Phillip A. Isotalo
Steven T. LoDuca*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 48197, USA
Mike Meacher
Affiliation:
Stormbed Paleontological, PO Box 393, Rodney, Ontario, N0L2C0, Canada
Mark Pepper
Affiliation:
Stormbed Paleontological, PO Box 393, Rodney, Ontario, N0L2C0, Canada
Kevin Brett
Affiliation:
671 4e Rang Est, La Durantaye, Quebec, G0R 1W0, Canada
Phillip A. Isotalo
Affiliation:
93 Napier Street, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4G2, Canada
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Specimens of macroalgae are reported and described herein from newly discovered algal-Lagerstätten within the Llandoverian Earlton Formation at two localities separated by a distance of 45 km in the Timiskaming outlier of Ontario, Canada. Both localities are characterized by abundant specimens of the Codium-like bryopsidalean green alga Thalassocystis striata, the details of which, including within-assemblage morphological variation, compare closely to material from the type locality. Previously, this noncalcified taxon was known only from the Llandoverian Schoolcraft Formation in northern Michigan, ~500 km to the west. These new occurrences provide additional evidence that the alga-bearing intervals within the Earlton Formation at both Timiskaming localities correlate with the Schoolcraft Formation in the Michigan Basin. An associated noncalcified form at one of the Timiskaming localities is described as a new genus and species, Earltonella fredricksi LoDuca, n. gen. n. sp., the thallus architecture of which, with a creeping, runner-like stolon and numerous pinnate fronds, broadly resembles that of the living bryopsidalean alga Caulerpa. In broader terms, these new algal-Lagerstätten indicate that for a brief time during the late Llandoverian, as with other times during the Silurian, unusual conditions conducive to both the proliferation and preservation of expansive ‘seaweed meadows’ were established across regional-scale areas of the Laurentian epeiric sea.

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Journal of Paleontology , Volume 97 , Issue 2 , March 2023 , pp. 516 - 532
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Paleontological Society

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