A Silurian soft-bodied biota

Donald G. Mikulic; D. E. G. Briggs; Joanne Kluessendorf

doi:10.1126/science.228.4700.715

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A Silurian soft-bodied biota

Donald G. Mikulic·D. E. G. Briggs·Joanne Kluessendorf

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Abstract

A new Silurian (Llandoverian) biota from Wisconsin with a significant soft-bodied and lightly sclerotized component is dominated by arthropods and worms. The fauna includes the earliest well-preserved xiphosure, a possible marine uniramian, three new arthropods of uncertain affinity, and possibly the first Paleozoic leech. This may be only the second locality to yield a conodont animal. Lack of a normal shelly fauna suggests an unusual environment. The discovery adds significantly to the few such exceptionally preserved faunas known from Lower Paleozoic rocks.

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Donald G. Mikulic, D. E. G. Briggs, Joanne Kluessendorf. 1985. A Silurian soft-bodied biota. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.228.4700.715

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