A new Lagerstätte from the Middle Ordovician St. Peter Formation in northeast Iowa, USA
- Huaibao P. Liu*1,
- Robert M. McKay1,
- Jean N. Young2,
- Brian J. Witzke3,
- Kathlyn J. McVey4 and
- Xiuying Liu5
- 1Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
- 2Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101, USA
- 3Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
- 4Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101, USA
- 53216C Medical Education and Research Facility, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Abstract
A new fossil fauna has been discovered from a recently recognized shale unit within the middle Ordovician St. Peter Formation in northeast Iowa. It contains a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates, including soft body tissues, impressions, and 3-dimensionalpreservations. The exceptional preservation reveals a new Konservat-Lagerstätte, the Winneshiek Lagerstätte, and opens a unique window into the community that inhabited the margins of the Laurentian cratonic seaway during Middle Ordovician transgression. Among the fossils, several conodont assemblages, including the apparatus of enigmatic coleodontids, are preserved. Some conodont assemblages associated with soft body tissues are particularly noteworthy.
Footnotes
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↵*pliu{at}igsb.uiowa.edu
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- Accepted 12 June 2006.
- Received 17 April 2006.
- Revision received 7 June 2006.
- The Geological Society of America, Inc.
