First occurrences of Hyolitha (Mollusca) in the Pennsylvanian of North America

Univ. Iowa, Dep. Geol., Iowa City, IA, United States
Ohio Univ., United States

Recovery of hyoliths from the Eudora Shale in southeastern Kansas and the Wolf Mountain Shale in north-central Texas constitutes the first occurrences of this group from the Pennsylvanian of North America. All specimens are preserved as pyritized internal molds. Many are sufficiently well preserved to be distinguishable from Hyolithes on the basis of transverse section and internal ornamentation; these are referred to Lirotheca wilsoni n. gen., n. sp. All other specimens lacking ornament and other distinctive features are assigned to Hyolithes? sp. The Kansas hyoliths occur with an abundant and diverse fauna including juvenile ammonoids and other molluscs, many of which are less than 3 mm in length. This suggests that these molluscs including the hyoliths are juvenile. The Texas hyoliths occur with a normal-size marine fauna, but their degree of maturity cannot be determined readily because they are too fragmentary.--Journal abstract.

This record provided courtesy of AGI/GeoRef.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				ORDOVICIAN AND SILURIAN HYOLITHS AND GASTROPODS REASSIGNED FROM THE HYOLITHA FROM THE GIRVAN DISTRICT, SCOTLAND Journal of Paleontology, July 1, 2003; 77(4): 625 - 645.