Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:13:29.427Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Viola Group (Ordovician, Oklahoma) cryptolithinid trilobites: biogeography and taxonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Frederick C. Shaw*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geography, Lehman College, The City University of New York, Bronx 10468

Abstract

Cryptolithinid trilobites have been repeatedly described from North America for over 150 years. Earlier work on these forms is here integrated with new information from Oklahoma to form a strong case for the following conclusions: 1) the genus Cryptolithus migrated to (present-day) eastern North America from Europe at a single time in the early Caradoc; 2) it gave rise rapidly to a western North American relative, Cryptolithoides; 3) both genera were restricted to relatively cool-water shelf environments roughly 30 m deep and remained, in general, geographically isolated for several million years. The Viola Group, geographically between these eastern and western occurrences and representing much of Middle and Upper Ordovician time, chronicles the interplay between these two genera over some six million years.

In the biogeographic boundary region formed by Oklahoma, the two supposedly distinct genera showed suprising convergence of fringe pit and other character traits as marine transgression reduced provinciality through Ordovician time. This suprising convergence of genera is interpreted as hybridization of mere subspecies after several million years of incomplete geographic separation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adrian, J. M., and Chatterton, B. D. E. 1990. Odontopleura (Trilobita, Silurian), and a method of constrained congruency analysis. Journal of Paleontology, 64:600614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alberstadt, L. P. 1973. Articulate brachiopods of the Viola Formation (Ordovician) in the Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin, 117:190.Google Scholar
Amsden, T. W. 1979. Welling Formation, new name for Upper Ordovician unit in eastern Oklahoma (formerly called Fernvale?). American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 63:11351138.Google Scholar
Amsden, T. W., and Sweet, W. C. 1983. Upper Bromide Formation and Viola Group (Middle and Upper Ordovician) in eastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin, 132:176.Google Scholar
Angelin, N. P. 1854. Palaeontologica Scandinavica. Academiae Regiae Scientarium Suecanae, Pars II:2192.Google Scholar
Arens, N. C., and Cuffey, R. J. 1989. Shallow and stormy: late Middle Ordovician paleoenvironments and bryozoan taphonomy in central Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, 21(2):2.Google Scholar
Bambach, R. K., Scotese, C. R., and Ziegler, A. M. 1980. Before Pangea; the geographies of the Paleozoic World. American Scientist, 68:2638.Google Scholar
Bancroft, B. B. 1929. Some new species of Cryptolithus (s.l.) from the Upper Ordovician. Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 73:6798.Google Scholar
Barnes, C. R., Norford, B. S., and Skevington, D. 1981. The Ordovician System in Canada. International Union of Geological Sciences, Publication 8:127.Google Scholar
Beecher, C. E. 1895. Structure and appendages of Trinucleus. American Journal of Science, Series 3, 49:307311.Google Scholar
Bertrand, R., and Lespérance, P. 1971. Biometrie de deux “especes” de Cryptolithus (Trilobita) (caradocien du Quebec et du Vermont), p. 2741. In Bureau de recherches geologiques et minieres, 73, Colloque ordovicien-silurien.Google Scholar
Campbell, K. S. W. 1975. The functional morphology of Cryptolithus. Fossils and Strata, 4:6586.Google Scholar
Chatterton, B. D. E. 1980. Ontogenetic studies of Middle Ordovician trilobites from Esbataottine Formation, Mackenzie Mountains, Canada. Palaeontographica, Abteilung A, 171:174.Google Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M., and Fortey, R. A. 1982. Faunal evidence for oceanic separations in the Palaeozoic of Britain. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 139:465478.Google Scholar
Cocks, L. R. M., and Fortey, R. A. 1990. Biogeography of Ordovician and Silurian faunas, p. 97104. In McKerrow, W. S. and Scotese, C. R. (eds.), Palaeozoic Palaeogeography and Biogeography. Geological Society of London, Memoir 12.Google Scholar
Cressman, E. R. 1973. Lithostratigraphy and depositional environments of the Lexington Limestone (Ordovician) of central Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 768:161.Google Scholar
Delson, E. 1977. Catarrhine phylogeny and classification: principles, methods and comments. Journal of Human Evolution, 6:433459.Google Scholar
Dott, R. H. Jr., and Batten, R. L. 1988. Evolution of the Earth, 4th ed.McGraw-Hill Company, New York, 643 p.Google Scholar
Finney, S. C. 1986. Graptolite biofacies and correlation of eustatic, subsidence, and tectonic events in the Middle to Upper Ordovician of North America. Palaios, 1:435461.Google Scholar
Finney, S. C. 1988. Middle Ordovician strata of the Arbuckle and Ouachita Mountains, Oklahoma; contrasting lithofacies and biofacies deposited in southern Oklahoma Aulacogen and Ouachita Geosyncline. Geological Society of America Field Guide, South-Central Section, 1988:171176.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1984. Global earlier Ordovician transgressions and regressions and their biological implications, p. 3750. In Bruton, D. L., (ed.), Aspects of the Ordovician System. Palaeontological Contributions, University of Oslo, 295.Google Scholar
Fortey, R. A. 1990. Ontogeny, hypostome attachment and trilobite classification. Palaeontology, 33:529576.Google Scholar
Frey, R. C. 1987. The occurrence of pelecypods in early Paleozoic epeiric-sea environments, Lake Ordovician of the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Palaios, 2:323.Google Scholar
Green, J. 1832. A Monograph of the Trilobites of North America. J. Brano, Philadelphia, p. 193.Google Scholar
Hallam, A. 1987. Radiations and extinctions in relation to environmental change in the marine Lower Jurassic of northwest Europe. Paleobiology, 13:152168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ham, W. E. 1969. Regional geology of the Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey Guide Book, 17:152.Google Scholar
Hawle, I., and Corda, A. J. C. 1847. Prodrom einer Monographie der bohmischen Trilobiten. Prague, 176 p.Google Scholar
Hughes, C. P. 1970. Statistical analysis and presentation of trinucleid (Trilobita) fringe data. Palaeontology, 13:19.Google Scholar
Hughes, C. P., Ingham, J. K., and Addison, R. 1975. The morphology, classification and evolution of the Trinucleidae (Trilobita). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, Series B, 272:537607.Google Scholar
Ingham, J. K. 1970. The Upper Ordovician trilobites from the Cautley and Dent districts of Westmorland and Yorkshire, Pt. 1, Palaeontographical Society Monographs, London, Volume 124, Number 526, 58 p.Google Scholar
Keith, B. D. 1989. Regional facies of Upper Ordovician Series of eastern North America, p. 116. In Keith, B. D. (ed.), Trenton Group (Upper Ordovician Series) of Eastern North America. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Studies in Geology, 29.Google Scholar
Lehman, D., and Pope, J. K. 1989. Upper Ordovician tempestites from Swatara Gap, Pennsylvania: depositional processes affecting the sediments and paleoecology of the fossil faunas. Palaios, 4:553564.Google Scholar
Lespérance, P. J., and Bertrand, R. 1976. Population systematics of the Middle and Upper Ordovician trilobite Cryptolithus from the St. Lawrence lowlands and adjacent areas of Quebec. Journal of Paleontology, 50:598613.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1975. Ordovician formations and faunas, southern Mackenzie Mountains. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 12:663697.Google Scholar
Ludvigsen, R. 1978. Middle Ordovician trilobite biofacies, southern Mackenzie Mountains. Geological Association Canada, Special Paper 18:137.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. 1970. Population, Species, and Evolution. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 453 p.Google Scholar
Owen, A. W. 1980a. A new species of Cryptolithus (Trilobita) from the Late Ordovician of Norway. Journal of Paleontology, 54:144149.Google Scholar
Owen, A. W. 1980b. The trilobite Tretaspis from the Upper Ordovician of the Oslo region, Norway. Palaeontology, 23:715747.Google Scholar
Owen, A. W. 1987. The Scandinavian Middle Ordovician trinucleid trilobites. Palaeontology, 30:75103.Google Scholar
Owen, A. W., and Ingham, J. K. 1988. The stratigraphical distribution and taxonomy of the trilobite Onnia in the type Onnian Stage of the uppermost Caradoc. Palaeontology, 31:829855.Google Scholar
Raup, D. M., and Stanley, S. M. 1978. Principles of Paleontology, 2nd ed.W. H. Freeman Company, San Francisco, 481 p.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. G., (ed.) 1981. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Field Trip Guidebooks, Cincinnati. American Geological Institute, Falls Church, Virginia, 1:3186.Google Scholar
Ross, R. J., and Shaw, F. C. 1972. Distribution of the Middle Ordovician Copenhagen Formation and its trilobites in Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 749:133.Google Scholar
Ruedemann, R. 1925. The Utica and Lorraine Formations of New York. New York State Museum, Bulletin 258, 175 p.Google Scholar
Salter, J. W. 1864. A monograph of British trilobites. Palaeontographical Society Monograph, London, 16:180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schindel, D. E. 1982. Resolution analysis: a new approach to the gaps in the fossil record. Paleobiology, 8:340353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scotese, C. R., Bambach, R. K., Barton, C., Van Der Voo, R., and Ziegler, A. M. 1979. Paleozoic base maps. Journal of Geology, 87:217268.Google Scholar
Shaw, F. C. 1974. Simpson Group (Middle Ordovician) trilobites of Oklahoma. Journal of Paleontology, 48:154.Google Scholar
Shaw, F. C., and Fortey, R. A. 1977. Middle Ordovician facies and trilobite faunas in North America. Geological Magazine, 114:409430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. G., Hurley, A. M., and Briden, J. C. 1981. Phanerozoic Paleocontinental World Maps. Cambridge University Press, 102 p.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C. 1984. Graphic correlation of upper Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks, North American Midcontinent Province, U.S.A., p. 2325. In Bruton, D. (ed.), Aspects of the Ordovician System. Paleontological Contributions, University of Oslo, 295.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C. 1986. Mohawkian and Cincinnatian chronostratigraphy, p. 157171. In Preprint, Canadian Paleontology and Biostratigraphy Seminar. Albany, New York.Google Scholar
Sweet, W. C. 1988. Mohawkian and Cincinnatian chronostratigraphy. New York State Museum, Bulletin 462:8490.Google Scholar
Temple, J. T. 1980. A numerical taxonomic study of species of Trinucleidae (Trilobita) from the British Isles. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences, 71:213233.Google Scholar
Titus, R. 1986. Fossil communities of the upper Trenton Group (Ordovician) of New York State. Journal of Paleontology, 60:805824.Google Scholar
Tripp, R., Zhou, P. Z., and Pan, Z. 1989. Trilobites from the Upper Ordovician Tangtou Formation, Jiangsu Province, China. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences, 80:2568.Google Scholar
Walters, M., Lespérance, P. J., and Hubert, C. 1982. The biostratigraphy of the Nicolet River Formation in Quebec and intra-North American correlations in Middle and Upper Ordovician strata. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 19:571588.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1941. The Trinucleidae–with special reference to North American genera and species. Journal of Paleontology, 15:2141.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1959. Silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 121:371496.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1966. Phylogeny and distribution of Ordovician trilobites. Journal of Paleontology, 40:696737.Google Scholar
Whittington, H. B. 1968. Cryptolithus (Trilobita): specific characters and occurrence in Ordovician of eastern North America. Journal of Paleontology, 2:702714.Google Scholar
Wilde, P., and Berry, W. B. N. 1988. Oceanography in the Ordovician, p. 115. In Preprint, 1988 Conference on the Ordovician. St. John's, Newfoundland.Google Scholar