Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-01T18:00:29.065Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reptamsassia n. gen. (Amsassiaceae n. fam.; calcareous algae) from the Lower Ordovician (Floian) of western Newfoundland, and the earliest symbiotic intergrowth of modular species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2022

Dong-Jin Lee Open the ORCID record for Dong-Jin Lee [Opens in a new window] ,
Robert J. Elias  and
Brian R. Pratt Open the ORCID record for Brian R. Pratt [Opens in a new window]
Dong-Jin Lee*
Affiliation:
College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, 130061, China
Robert J. Elias
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
Brian R. Pratt
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada
*
*Corresponding author
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Modular coral-like fossils occur in thrombolitic reefal beds at two stratigraphic levels within the Lower Ordovician (Floian) Barbace Cove Member of the Boat Harbour Formation, in the St. George Group of western Newfoundland. They are here assigned to Reptamsassia n. gen.; R. divergens n. gen. n. sp. is present at both levels, whereas a comparatively small-module species, R. minuta n. gen. n. sp., is confined to the upper level. Reptamsassia n. gen. resembles the Ordovician genus Amsassia in its phacelocerioid structure, back-to-back walls of adjoining modules, module increase by longitudinal fission involving infoldings of the wall, tabula-like structures that are continuous with the vertical module wall, and calices with concave-up bottoms. The new genus is differentiated by its encrusting habit, modules with highly variable growth directions and shapes throughout skeletal growth, and modules that may separate slightly or diverge from one another following fission. Together, Amsassia and Reptamsassia n. gen. are considered to represent a distinct group of calcareous algae, the Amsassiaceae n. fam., which possibly belongs to the green algae. The Early Ordovician origination of Amsassia followed by Reptamsassia n. gen. contributed to the beginning of the rise in diversity on a global scale and in reefal settings during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Reptamsassia minuta n. gen. n. sp. was an obligate symbiont that colonized living areas on its host, R. divergens n. gen. n. sp., with isolated modules of R. divergens n. gen. n. sp. able to persist in the resulting intergrowth with R. minuta n. gen. n. sp. This is the earliest known symbiotic intergrowth of macroscopic modular species, exemplifying the development of ecologic specialization and ecosystem complexity in Early Ordovician reefs.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 96 , Issue 3 , May 2022 , pp. 715 - 728
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of 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

Airoldi, L., 2000, Effects of disturbance, life histories, and overgrowth on coexistence of algal crusts and turfs: Ecology, v. 81, p. 798–814.Google Scholar
Boyce, W.D., and Stouge, S., 1997, Trilobite and conodont biostratigraphy of the St. George Group at Eddies Cove West, western Newfoundland: Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Mines and Energy, Current Research, Geological Survey Report 97-1, p. 183–200.Google Scholar
Boyce, W.D., McCobb, L.M.E., and Knight, I., 2013, Continuing stratigraphic and trilobite studies of the Watts Bight Formation (St. George Group), Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland: Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources, Current Research, Geological Survey Report 13-1, p. 205–222.Google Scholar
Chuvashov, B., and Riding, R., 1984, Principal floras of Palaeozoic marine calcareous algae: Palaeontology, v. 27, p. 487–500.Google Scholar
Copper, P., and Morrison, R., 1978, Morphology and paleoecology of Ordovician tetradiid corals from the Manitoulin District, northern Ontario: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 15, p. 2006–2020.Google Scholar
Dana, J.D., 1846, Structure and classification of zoophytes, in U.S. Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 Under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N.: Philadelphia, Lea and Blanchard, v. 7, p. 3–132.Google Scholar
Elias, R.J., Lee, D.-J., and Woo, S.-K., 2008, Corallite increase and mural pores in Lichenaria (Tabulata, Ordovician): Journal of Paleontology, v. 82, p. 377–390.Google Scholar
Elias, R.J., Lee, D.-J., and Pratt, B.R., 2021, The “earliest tabulate corals” are not tabulates: Geology, v. 49, p. 304–308.Google Scholar
Fan, J.-X., Shen, S.-Z., Erwin, D.H., Sadler, P.M., MacLeod, N., et al. , 2020, A high-resolution summary of Cambrian to Early Triassic marine invertebrate biodiversity: Science, v. 367, p. 272–277.Google ScholarPubMed
Fortey, R.A., 1979, Lower Ordovician trilobites from the Catoche Formation (St. George Group), western Newfoundland, in Contributions to Canadian Paleontology: Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 321, p. 61–114.Google Scholar
Fuller, M.K., and Jenkins, R.J.F., 1994, Moorowipora chamberensis, a coral from the early Cambrian Moorowie Formation, Flinders Ranges, South Australia: Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, v. 118, p. 227–235.Google Scholar
Fuller, M.K., and Jenkins, R.J.F., 1995, Arrowipora fromensis, a new genus and species of tabulate-like coral from the early Cambrian Moorowie Formation, Flinders Ranges, South Australia: Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, v. 119, p. 75–82.Google Scholar
Fuller, M., and Jenkins, R., 2007, Reef corals from the lower Cambrian of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia: Palaeontology, v. 50, p. 961–980.Google Scholar
Hall, J., 1847, Palaeontology of New York, Volume I, Containing Descriptions of the Organic Remains of the Lower Division of the New York System (Equivalent of the Lower Silurian Rocks of Europe): Albany, C. van Benthuysen, 338 p.Google Scholar
Harper, D.A.T., Cascales-Miñana, B., and Servais, T., 2020, Early Palaeozoic diversifications and extinctions in the marine biosphere: a continuum of change: Geological Magazine, v. 157, p. 5–21.Google Scholar
Hicks, M., 2006, A new genus of early Cambrian coral in Esmeralda County, southwestern Nevada: Journal of Paleontology, v. 80, p. 609–615.Google Scholar
Hill, D., 1981, Part F, Coelenterata, Supplement 1, Rugosa and Tabulata, Volume 2, in Teichert, C., ed., Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology: Boulder, Colorado and Lawrence, Kansas, Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, p. F379–F762.Google Scholar
Ji, Z., and Barnes, C.R., 1994, Lower Ordovician conodonts of the St. George Group, Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland, Canada: Palaeontographica Canadiana No. 11, 149 p.Google Scholar
Knight, I., and James, N.P., 1987, The stratigraphy of the Lower Ordovician St. George Group, western Newfoundland: the interaction between eustasy and tectonics : Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 24, p. 1927–1951.Google Scholar
Knight, I., and James, N.P., 1988, Stratigraphy of the Lower to lower Middle Ordovician St. George Group, western Newfoundland: Newfoundland Geological Survey Report 88-4, 47 p.Google Scholar
Knight, I., Azmy, K., Boyce, W.D., and Lavoie, D., 2008, Tremadocian carbonate rocks of the lower St. George Group, Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland: lithostratigraphic setting of diagenetic, isotopic and geochemistry studies: Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources, Current Research, Geological Survey Report 08-1, p. 115–149.Google Scholar
Korde, K.B., 1958, O neskol'kikh vidakh iskopaemykh sinezelenykh vodorosley: Materialy k osnovam paleontologii, v. 2, p. 113–118. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Kützing, F.T., 1843, Phycologia generalis oder Anatomie, Physiologie und Systemkunde der Tange: Leipzig, F.A. Brockhaus, 458 p.Google Scholar
Lafuste, J., Debrenne, F., Gandin, A., and Gravestock, D., 1991, The oldest tabulate coral and the associated Archaeocyatha, lower Cambrian, Flinders Ranges, South Australia: Geobios, v. 24, p. 697–718.Google Scholar
Laub, R.S., 1984, Lichenaria Winchell & Schuchert, 1895, Lamottia Raymond, 1924 and the early history of the tabulate corals, in Oliver, W.A. Jr., Sando, W.J., Cairns, S.D., Coates, A.G., Macintyre, I.G., Bayer, F.M., and Sorauf, J.E., eds., Recent Advances in the Paleobiology and Geology of the Cnidaria; Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria (and Archaeocyathids and Stromatoporoids) held in Washington, DC, U.S.A., August, 1983: Palaeontographica Americana, v. 54, p. 159–163.Google Scholar
Lee, M., Park, H., Tien, N.V., Choh, S.-J., Elias, R.J., and Lee, D.-J., 2016, A new species of Amsassia from the Ordovician of Korea and South China: paleobiological and paleogeographical significance: Acta Geologica Sinica [English Edition], v. 90, p. 796–806.Google Scholar
Lee, M., Elias, R.J., Choh, S.-J., and Lee, D.-J., 2018, Palaeobiological features of the coralomorph Amsassia from the Late Ordovician of South China: Alcheringa, v. 43, p. 18–32.Google Scholar
Lee, D.-J., Elias, R.J., and Pratt, B.R., 2021, Amsassia (calcareous alga) from the Lower Ordovician (Tremadocian) of western Newfoundland, and the biologic affinity and geologic history of the genus: Journal of Paleontology, https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2021.89.Google Scholar
Leliaert, F., and Coppejans, E., 2003, The marine species of Cladophora (Chlorophyta) from the South African East Coast: Nova Hedwigia, v. 76, p. 45–82.Google Scholar
Lin, B., Tchi, Y., Jin, C., Li, Y., and Yan, Y., 1988, Monograph of Palaeozoic Corals; Tabulatomorphic Corals, Vol. 1: Beijing, Geological Publishing House, 467 p. [in Chinese]Google Scholar
LoDuca, S.T., Bykova, N., Wu, M., Xiao, S., and Zhao, Y., 2017, Seaweed morphology and ecology during the great animal diversification events of the early Paleozoic: a tale of two floras: Geobiology, v. 15, p. 588–616.Google ScholarPubMed
Maslov, V.P., 1954, O nizhnem silure Vostochnoy Sibiri, in Voprosy geologii Azii I: Akademii Nauk SSSR, p. 495–531. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Milne-Edwards, H., and Haime, J., 1850, A Monograph of the British Fossil Corals; Introduction: London, Palaeontographical Society, v. 3, p. i–lxxxv.Google Scholar
Modzalevskaya, E.A., 1953, Trepostomaty ordovika Pribaltiki i ikh stratigraficheskoe znachenie: Trudy Vsesoyznogo Neftyanogo Nauchno-Issledovatelskogo Geologo-Razvedochnogo Instituta (VNIGRI), v. 78, p. 91–167. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.A., 1873, Contributions to the study of the errant annelides of the older Palaeozoic rocks: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, v. 21, p. 288–290.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.A., 1879, On the structure and affinities of the “tabulate corals” of the Palaeozoic period: Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood and Sons, 342 p.Google Scholar
Nickles, J.M., 1905, The Upper Ordovician rocks of Kentucky and their Bryozoa: Kentucky Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 5, 64 p.Google Scholar
Okulitch, V.J., 1935, Tetradiidae—a revision of the genus Tetradium: Royal Society of Canada Transactions, ser. 3, sec. 4, v. 29, p. 49–74.Google Scholar
Okulitch, V.J., 1936, On the genera Heliolites, Tetradium, and Chaetetes: American Journal of Science, v. 32, p. 361–379.Google Scholar
Palmer, T.J., and Wilson, M.A., 1988, Parasitism of Ordovician bryozoans and the origin of pseudoborings: Palaeontology, v. 31, p. 939–949.Google Scholar
Pratt, B.R., 1979, The St. George Group (Lower Ordovician), Western Newfoundland: Sedimentology, Diagenesis and Cryptalgal Structures [M.Sc. thesis]: St. John's, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 254 p.Google Scholar
Pratt, B.R., and James, N.P., 1982, Cryptalgal-metazoan bioherms of Early Ordovician age in the St George Group, western Newfoundland: Sedimentology, v. 29, p. 543–569.Google Scholar
Pratt, B.R., and James, N.P., 1986, The St George Group (Lower Ordovician) of western Newfoundland: tidal flat island model for carbonate sedimentation in epeiric seas: Sedimentology, v. 33, p. 313–343.Google Scholar
Pratt, B.R., and James, N.P., 1989a, Coral-Renalcis-thrombolite reef complex of Early Ordovician age, St. George Group, western Newfoundland, in Geldsetzer, H.H.J., James, N.P., and Tebbutt, G.E., eds., Reefs, Canada and Adjacent Areas: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 13, p. 224–230.Google Scholar
Pratt, B.R., and James, N.P., 1989b, Early Ordovician thrombolite reefs, St. George Group, western Newfoundland, in Geldsetzer, H.H.J., James, N.P., and Tebbutt, G.E., eds., Reefs, Canada and Adjacent Areas: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 13, p. 231–240.Google Scholar
Reichenbach, H.G.L., 1828, Conspectus Regni Vegetabilis per Gradus Naturales Evoluti: Leipzig, Carolum Cnobloch, 294 p.Google Scholar
Savarese, M., Mount, J.F., Sorauf, J.E., and Bucklin, L., 1993, Paleobiologic and paleoenvironmental context of coral-bearing early Cambrian reefs: implications for Phanerozoic reef development: Geology, v. 21, p. 917–920.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C.T., 1981, The measurement of corallite size in corals: Journal of Paleontology, v. 55, p. 687–688.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C.T., 1984, Origin and early evolution of tabulate corals, in Oliver, W.A. Jr., Sando, W.J., Cairns, S.D., Coates, A.G., Macintyre, I.G., Bayer, F.M., and Sorauf, J.E., eds., Recent Advances in the Paleobiology and Geology of the Cnidaria; Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Fossil Cnidaria (and Archaeocyathids and Stromatoporoids) held in Washington, DC, U.S.A., August, 1983: Palaeontographica Americana, v. 54, p. 110–118.Google Scholar
Scrutton, C.T., 1997, The Palaeozoic corals, I: origins and relationships: Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, v. 51, p. 177–208.Google Scholar
Sokolov, B.S., 1950, Sistematika i istoriya razvitiya paleozoyskikh korallov Anthozoa Tabulata: Voprosy Paleontologii, v. 1, p. 134–210. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Sokolov, B.S., 1955, Tabulyaty paleozoya evropeyskoy chasti SSSR, Vvedenie; Obshchie voprosy sistematiki i istorii razvitiya tabulyat: Vsesoyuznogo Neftyanogo Nauchno-Issledovatelskogo Geologo-Razvedochnogo Instituta (VNIGRI), Trudy, Novaya Seriya, v. 85, 527 p. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Sokolov, B.S., 1962, Podklass Tabulata, in Sokolov, B.S., ed., Volume 2, Gubki, arkheotsiaty, kishechnopolostnye, chervil, in Orlov, Yu.A., ed., Osnovy Paleontologii: Moscow, Akademii Nauk SSSR, p. 192–265. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Sokolov, B.S., and Mironova, N.V., 1959, O novom rode ordovikskikh korallov Zapadnoy Sibiri i Severnogo Kazakhstana: Akademii Nauk SSSR, Doklady 129, p. 1150–1153. [in Russian]Google Scholar
Steele-Petrovich, H.M., 2009a, The biological reconstruction of Tetradium Dana, 1846: Lethaia, v. 42, p. 297–311.Google Scholar
Steele-Petrovich, H.M., 2009b, Biological affinity, phenotypic variation and palaeoecology of Tetradium Dana, 1846: Lethaia, v. 42, p. 383–392.Google Scholar
Steele-Petrovich, H.M., 2011, Replacement name for Tetradium Dana, 1846: Journal of Paleontology, v. 85, p. 802–803.Google Scholar
Stigall, A.L., Edwards, C.T., Freeman, R.L, and Rasmussen, C.M.Ø., 2019, Coordinated biotic and abiotic change during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: Darriwilian assembly of early Paleozoic building blocks : Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 530, p. 249–270.Google Scholar
Sun, N., Elias, R.J., and Lee, D.-J., 2014, The biological affinity of Amsassia: new evidence from the Ordovician of North China: Palaeontology, v. 57, p. 1067–1089.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., 2017, Early symbiotic interactions in the Cambrian: Palaios, v. 32, p. 231–237.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., and Wilson, M.A., 2015, Symbiotic interactions in the Ordovician of Baltica: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 436, p. 58–63.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., Wilson, M.A., Mõtus, M.-A., and Toom, U., 2014, The earliest bryozoan parasite: Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) of Osmussaar Island, Estonia: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 414, p. 129–132.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., Ernst, A., and Toom, U., 2018a, Bioclaustrations in Upper Ordovician bryozoans from northern Estonia: Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, v. 289, p. 113–121.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., Ernst, A., and Toom, U., 2018b, Symbiosis of cornulitids and bryozoans in the Late Ordovician of Estonia (Baltica): Palaios, v. 33, p. 290–295.Google Scholar
Vinn, O., Ernst, A., Wilson, M.A., and Toom, U., 2019, Symbiosis of conulariids with trepostome bryozoans in the Upper Ordovician of Estonia (Baltica): Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 518, p. 89–96.Google Scholar
West, R.R., 2011a, Part E, Revised, Volume 4, Chapter 2A: Introduction to the fossil hypercalcified chaetetid-type Porifera (Demospongiae): Treatise Online, no. 20, 79 p. https://doi.org/10.17161/to.v0i0.4137.Google Scholar
West, R.R., 2011b, Part E, Revised, Volume 4, Chapter 2C: Classification of the fossil and living hypercalcified chaetetid-type Porifera (Demospongiae): Treatise Online, no. 22, 24 p. https://doi.org/10.17161/to.v0i0.4139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winchell, N.H., and Schuchert, C., 1895, Sponges, graptolites and corals from the Lower Silurian of Minnesota, in Lesquereux, L., Woodward, A., Thomas, B.W., Schuchert, C., Ulrich, E.O., and Winchell, N.H., The Geology of Minnesota, Vol. III, Pt. I of the Final Report, Paleontology: Minneapolis, Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey, p. 55–95.Google Scholar
Yu, C.M., and Zhang, Z.C., 1963, Subclass Tabulata, in Yu, C.M., Wu, W.S., Zhao, J.M., and Zhang, Z.C., eds., Fossil Corals in China: Beijing, Science Press, p. 214–288. [in Chinese]Google Scholar