Burgess Shale-type preservation of both non-mineralizing and 'shelly' Cambrian organisms from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada
Burgess Shale-type preservation of both non-mineralizing and 'shelly' Cambrian organisms from the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada
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DOI：
10.1017/s0022336000038579
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发表时间：
1996-11-01
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Nicholas, CJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Butterfield, NJ;Nicholas, CJ
Lower to Middle Cambrian shales of the Mount Cap Formation in the Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada, host a variety of Burgess Shale-type macrofossils, including anomalocarid claws, several taxa of bivalved arthropod, articulated hyolithids, and articulated chancelloriids. Hydrofluoric acid processing has also yielded a broad range of organic-walled fossils, most of which are derived from forms more typically known as shelly fossils; e.g., trilobites, inarticulate brachiopods, small shelly fossils (SSF), hyolithids, and chancelloriids. Organic-walled hyolithids include conchs, opercula and helens; the proximal articulation of the helens is erosive, suggesting that they were formed ''instantaneously'' and periodically replaced. Organic-walled chancelloriid sclerites exhibit a polygonal surface texture and an inner ''pith'' of dark granular material with distally oriented conoidal divisions; such a pattern is similar to that seen in the fibers of some modern horny sponges and points to a poriferan relationship for the chancelloriids. The robust nature but minimal relief of most of these fossils suggests that primary biomineralization was minimal.
