Phacopid trilobites in post-Taghanic Givetian through Frasnian cephalopod limestones, Montagne Noire (France) and related areas (Thuringia, Morocco)

 

Authors: Feist R, Klapper G

Published in: Bulletin of Geosciences, volume 97, issue 1; pages: 1 - 32; Received 4 April 2021; Accepted in revised form 24 September 2021; Online 20 November 2021

Keywords: phacopid trilobites, late Givetian, Frasnian, conodont-based biostratigraphy, eye reduction, systematics,

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Abstract

This paper establishes the ranges of late Givetian and Frasnian phacopid trilobites with reference to the Frasnian conodont zonation. The ranges integrate both hitherto formally known and numerous new taxa that were recovered from outer shelf limestones primarily in the Montagne Noire (southern France) and incidentally in related areas; i.e. Thuringia and SE Morocco. Though considering twice the number of genera and species as previously known, the distribution of phacopids emphasises the generally admitted low diversity in the time interval between the Taghanic and Kellwasser crises. New evidence highlights the fact that diversity rates did not remain constant over the period but increased slightly in mid- and late Frasnian times. The currently proposed lower-middle Frasnian substage boundary at the base of the punctata Zone (FZ 5) is supported by two major innovations at the generic level. The investigated outer shelf phacopids are all characterised by reduced eyes with either a reduced visual surface or with forwardly positioned and diminutive eye lobes. In the systematic part the following taxa are presented: Cronierella gen. nov. with the new species: C. gallica, C. postera, C. expansa, C.? sp. nov. A; Occitanella gen. nov. with the new species: O. postinflexa, O. hexagonalis, and O.? sp. indeterminate; Chlupacops Feist, 2016 with the new species C. angularis, C. narbonnensis, C. clapassousensis, C. migrans, C. rectannulatus; Acutiphacops gen. nov. with the new species: A. tchrafinensis, A. medius; Acuticryphops prorotundus sp. nov.; Girardina gen. nov. with the new species: G. konradbartzschi, G. consimilis, and with G.? liopyga (Richter, 1863).

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