0000000000427264
AUTHOR
Loren E. Babcock
First carboniferous conulariids from Niger (west Africa)
Abstract Two new conulariid species, Paraconularia feldmanni sp. nov. and P. sahara sp. nov., are described from the Lower Carboniferous (Visean) Talak Formation of northern Niger. These are the first example of the genus Paraconularia to be reported from Africa and the first Carboniferous conulariids from that continent to be assigned to species level. Previously reported Carboniferous conulariids from Africa were collected from Morocco, assigned to other genera, and left in open nomenclature. Paraconularia is interpreted to have been cosmopolitan by the Early Carboniferous, and is the dominant genus in most assemblages of Carboniferous conulariids.
Challenges in defining the base of Cambrian Series 2 and Stage 3
Formal subdivision of the Cambrian System into four series and ten stages is in progress. The base of Cambrian Stage 3 (provisional), which is conterminous with the base of Cambrian Series 2 (provisional), is expected to be placed at a horizon close to the first appearance of trilobites, which marks the onset of the largest phase of the Cambrian explosion. Conceptually, an ideal boundary position would be marked by a significant and globally recognizable bioevent that divides the lower part of the Cambrian System into a sub-trilobitic Terreneuvian Series and a trilobite-dominated Series 2. If the level is to be identified principally through biostratigraphic means, its position also needs t…