Paleoecology, Biogeography and Systematic Paleontology of Ordovician Sponges from Eastern Canada and Western United States

西半球的早古生代多孔动物是 最不为人所知的化石无脊椎动物门，尽管它们是 珊瑚礁和礁间动物群的重要组成部分， 尽管北美似乎是一个主要的中心， 海绵演化的最新证据 目标 研究是出版专题和综合论文的主要 下奥陶世和中奥陶世动物群，来自北美，包括 这些来自纽芬兰西部的经典地层剖面 以及魁北克东部的明安群岛。 这些动物群是 来自阿巴拉契亚滨海地区的北方部分， 位于奥陶纪古大陆的东南边缘。 其他需要研究的主要动物群来自下、中、 西部混淆岭（Ibex地区）的奥陶纪岩石 犹他州，以及托奎马山脉-尤里卡-红宝石的等效岩石 位于内华达州中部和中东部的山脉。 这些后者 动物群代表了那些来自西北边缘的动物群， 奥陶纪北美古大陆。 化石海绵 一般从实测地层中收集 已被选定为类型或参考截面的截面， 这是北美广大地区的特征。 化石将是 用标准的薄切片和醋酸盐剥离技术 因为最初的硅质骨骼 被碳酸钙所取代。 从犹他州收集到了一些可能可以蚀刻的海绵 和内华达州，它们将在稀酸中处理。 甚至 这种海绵的碎片已被证明是重要的，因为它们 显示出在石灰质中经常不明显的骨骼细节 保留意见。 分类学、古生态学、地层学和 古地理分布及生物地层潜力 沿着组合演化的分带性将被讨论 在努力提出统一的数据和综合的分散 不平衡的文学。

Early Paleozoic poriferans of the Western Hemisphere are among the least known of fossil invertebrate phyla, even though they are important constituents of reefs and inter-reef faunas, and even though North America seemed to have functioned as a major center of sponge evolution during the early Paleozoic. Objectives of the research are to publish monographic and synthesis papers on major Lower and Middle Ordovician faunas, from North America, including those from classic stratigraphic sections in western Newfoundland and from the Mingan Islands of eastern Quebec. These faunas are from the northern part of the Appalachian-Maritime region, which was on the southeastern margin of the Ordovician paleocontinent. Other major faunas to be studied are from Lower and Middle Ordovician rocks in the Confusion Range (Ibex area) of western Utah, and from equivalent rocks of the Toquima Range-Eureka-Ruby Mountain are of central and east-central Nevada. These latter faunas represent those from the northwestern margin of the Ordovician North American paleocontinent. Fossil sponges to be studied were generally collected from measured stratigraphic sections that have been selected as type or reference sections and that characterize broad regions in North America. Fossils will be studied using standard thin-section and acetate-peel techniques because the originally siliceous skeletons have been largely replaced by calcium carbonate in most fossils in the collection. A few potentially etchable sponges have been collected from Utah and Nevada, and they will be processed in dilute acids. Even fragments of such sponges have proven to be important because they show skeletal details that are often obscure in calcareous preservations. Taxonomy, paleoecology, stratigraphic and paleogeographic distributions and potential for biostratigraphic zonation, along with evolution of the assemblages, will be treated in an effort to present uniform data and synthesis of the scattered and uneven literature.