In this study, the first trimerellide brachiopods from Estonia are described. They occur in the uppermost Katian (Upper Ordovician) shallow shelf environments and represent some of the largest Ordovician brachiopods. The trimerellides described are assigned to the genus Gasconsia Northrop, 1939, which disappears before the Hirnantian and reappears in the lowermost Wenlock after a long interregnum. In the Baltic Basin, the new data from Estonia expand the distribution area of Gasconsia from the Scandinavian facies belt in the west to the Estonian shallow shelf in the east. Despite poor preservation, the specimens studied revealed some structures in shell morphology important for species level identification. The stratigraphic position of Gasconsia is analyzed relative to the Katian-Hirnantian (Pirgu-Porkuni regional stages) boundary and the occurrence of the late Katian brachiopod Holorhynchus in Estonia. The improved data on the distribution of Gasconsia in time and space and a short discussion on brachiopod gigantism are presented.
Boucot, A. J. 1975. Evolution and Extinction Rate Controls. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Brenchley, P. J. and Cocks, L. R. M. 1982. Ecological associations in a regressive sequence: the latest Ordovician of the Oslo-Asker district, Norway. Palaeontology, 25(4), 783–815.
Brenchley, P. J, Marshall, J. D., Hints, L. and Nõlvak, J. 1997. New isotopic data solving an old biostratigraphic problem: the age of the upper Ordovician brachiopod Holorhynchus giganteus. Journal of the Geological Society, 154, 335–342.
https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.154.2.0335
Brenchley, P. J., Carden, G. A., Hints, L., Kaljo, D., Marshall, J. D., Martma, T. et al. 2003. High-resolution stable isotope stratigraphy of Upper Ordovician sequences: constraints on the timing of bioevents and environmental changes associated with mass extinction and glaciation. GSA Bulletin, 115(1), 89–104.
https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115<0089:HRSISO>2.0.CO;2
Brezinski, D. K. and Kollar, A. D. 2012. Paleoclimatically induced size increase in the early Carboniferous brachiopod clade Gigantoproductus. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 44(7), 83.
Budd, G. E., Meidla, T. and Willman S. 2011. Fossils & Rocks – Geoturism in the Central Baltic. NGO GEOGuide Baltoscandia, Tallinn.
Chen, D., Huang, B. and Candela, Y. 2023. Evolutionary trends in trimerellid brachiopods. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 617, 111472.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111472
Cocks, L. R. M. 1978. A Review of British Lower Palaeozoic Brachiopods, Including a Synoptic Revision of Davidson’s Monograph. Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society, London.
https://doi.org/10.1080/25761900.2022.12131735
Davidson, T. 1853. A Monograph of the British Fossil Brachiopoda, Vol. 1. Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society, London.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02693445.1853.12113204
Davidson, T. and King, W. 1872. Remarks on the genera Trimerella, Dinobolus, and Monomerella. Geological Magazine, 9(100), 442–445.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756800465404
Davidson, T. and King, W. 1874. On the Trimerellidae, a Palaeozoic family of the palliobranchs or Brachiopoda. The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 30(1), 124–172.
https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1874.030.01-04.30
Ebbestad, J. O. R., Frýda, J., Wagner, P. J., Horný, R. J., Isakar, M., Stewart, S. et al. 2013. Biogeography of Ordovician and Silurian gastropods, monoplacophorans and mimospirids. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 38(1), 199–220.
https://doi.org/10.1144/M38.15
Eriksson, M. E., Parry, L. A. and Rudkin, D. M. 2017. Earth’s oldest “Bobbit worm” – gigantism in a Devonian eunicidan polychaete. Scientific Reports, 7, 43061.
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43061
Estonian geocollections database. https://geocollections.info (accessed 2024-09-02).
Finnegan, S., Bergmann, K., Eiler, J. M., Jones, D. S, Fike, D. A., Eisenman, I. et al. 2011. The magnitude and duration of Late Ordovician–Early Silurian glaciation. Science, 331(6019), 903–906.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1200803
Gorjansky, V. Y. and Popov, L. E. 1986. On the origin and systematic position of the calcareous-shelled inarticulate brachiopods. Lethaia, 19, 233–240.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.1986.tb00737.x
Hanken, N.-M. and Harper, D. A. T. 1985. The taxonomy, shell structure, and palaeoecology of the trimerellid brachiopod Gasconsia Northrop. Palaeontology, 28(2), 243–254.
Harris, M. T., Scheehan, P. M., Ainsaar, L., Hints, L., Männik, P., Nõlvak, J. and Rubel, M. 2004. Upper Ordovician sequences of western Estonia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 210(2–4), 135–148.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.02.045
Hints, L. 1993. Holorhynchus (Pentamerida, Brachiopoda) in the Upper Ordovician of Estonia. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Geology, 42(3), 118–123.
https://doi.org/10.3176/geol.1993.3.03
Hints, L., Oraspõld, A. and Nõlvak, J. 2005. The Pirgu Regional Stage (Upper Ordovician) in the East Baltic: lithostratigraphy, biozonation, and correlation. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Geology, 54(4), 225–259.
https://doi.org/10.3176/geol.2005.4.02
Holmer, L. E., Popov, L. and Bassett, M. G. 2014. Ordovician–Silurian Chileida – first post-Cambrian records of an enigmatic group of Brachiopoda. Journal of Paleontology, 88(3), 488–496.
https://doi.org/10.1666/13-104
Isakar, M. 1997. Gastropodes. In Geology and Mineral Resources of Estonia (Raukas, A. and Teedumäe, A., eds). Estonian Academy Publishers, Tallinn, 232–233.
Jaanusson, V. 1966. Fossil brachiopods with probable aragonitic shell. Geologiska Föreningen i Stockholm Förhandlingar, 88(2), 279–281.
https://doi.org/10.1080/11035896609448352
Kaljo, D. and Martma, T. 2006. Application of carbon isotope stratigraphy to dating the Baltic Silurian rocks. GFF, 128(2), 123–129.
https://doi.org/10.1080/11035890601282123
Kaljo, D., Klaamann, H. and Nestor, H. 1963. Features in common in the Ashgillian coral and stromatoporoid fauna of Estonia and Norway. ENSV Teaduste Akadeemia Geoloogia Instituudi Uurimused, XIII, 75–81.
Kaljo, D., Hints, L., Männik, P. and Nõlvak, J. 2008. The succession of Hirnantian events based on data from Baltica: brachiopods, chitinozoans, conodonts, and carbon isotopes. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 57(4), 197–218.
https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2008.4.01
Kaljo, D., Hints, L., Martma, T. and Nõlvak, J. 2017. A multiproxy study of the Puhmu core section (Estonia, Upper Ordovician): consequences for stratigraphy and environmental interpretation. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 66(2), 77–92.
https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2017.08
Li, L. Z. and Han, N. R. 1980. Discovery of Ordovician Trimerellide (Brachiopoda) from western Zhejing and its significance. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 19, 8–22.
Liang, K., Lee, D.-J., Elias, R. J., Pärnaste, H. and Mõtus, M.-A. 2013. Growth characteristics of Protoheliolites norvegicus (Tabulata; Upper Ordovician; Estonia). Palaeontology, 56(4), 867–891.
https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12022
Männil, R. 1990. The Ordovician of Estonia. In Field Meeting Estonia 1990. An Excursion Guidebook (Kaljo, D. and Nestor, H., eds). Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, 11–20.
Meidla, T. 1996. Late Ordovician Ostracodes of Estonia. Tartu University Press, Tartu.
Meidla, T., Ainsaar, L. and Hints, O. 2014. The Ordovician system in Estonia. In 4th Annual Meeting of IGCP 591. The Early to Middle Paleozoic Revolution, Estonia, 10–19 June 2014. Abstracts & Field Guide (Bauert, H., Hints, O., Meidla, T. and Männik, P., eds). University of Tartu, Tartu, 116–122.
Meidla, T., Ainsaar, L. and Hints, O. 2023. About the Ordovician System in Estonia. In ISOS-14 Field Guide: The Ordovician of Estonia (Hints, O. and Toom, U., eds). TalTech, Tallinn, 9–14.
Mergl, M. 1989. Trimerellid brachiopods in the Silurian (Wenlock/Ludlow) in the Prague Basin (Central Bohemia). Véstnik Ústředního ùstavu geologického, 64(5), 267–276.
Nõlvak, J. 1997. Ordovician. Introduction. In Geology and Mineral Resources of Estonia (Raukas, A. and Teedumäe, A., eds). Estonian Academy Publishers, Tallinn, 52, 54–55.
Nõlvak, J. 2008. Distribution of Ordovician chitinozoans. In Männamaa (F-367) Drill Core (Põldvere, A., ed.). Geological Survey of Estonia, Tallinn, 13–18.
Norford, B. S. 1960. A well-preserved Dinobolus from the Sandpile Group (Middle Silurian) of northern British Columbia. Palaeontology, 3(2), 242–244.
Norford, B. S. and Steele H. M. 1969. The Ordovician trimerellid brachiopod Eodinobolus from south-east Ontario. Palaeontology, 12(1), 161–171.
Northrop, S. A. 1939. Paleontology and stratigraphy of the Silurian rocks of the Port Daniel–Black Cape region, Gaspé. Geological Society of America Special Papers, 21, 302.
https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE21-p1
Owen, A. W., Bruton, D. L., Bockelie, J. F. and Bockelie, T. G. 1990. The Ordovician successions of the Oslo Region. Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse Special Publication, 4, 1–54.
Paškevičius, J. 1997. The Geology of the Baltic Republics. Vilnius University, Geological Survey of Lithuania, Vilnius.
Paškevičius, J. 2000. Brachiopod communities of the Lithuanian facies zone in the Baltic Ordovician Basin. Geologija, 32, 14–35.
Percival, I. G. 1995. Eodinobolus and related trimerellid brachiopods from the Late Ordovician of New South Wales. Memoir of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, 18, 41–60.
Popov, L. E. and Holmer, L. E. 2000. Craniopsida. In Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part H, Brachiopoda (Revised) (Kaesler, R. L., ed.). The Geological Society of America, Inc. and the University of Kansas, Boulder, Colorado, and Lawrence, Kansas, 164–168.
Popov, L. E, Bassett, M. G., Holmer, L. E. and Laurie, J. R. 1993. Phylogenetic analysis of higher taxa of Brachiopoda. Lethaia, 26(1), 1–5.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.1993.tb01502.x
Popov, L. E., Holmer, L. E. and Gorjansky, V. Y. 1997. Late Ordovician and early Silurian trimerellide brachiopods from Kazakhstan. Journal of Paleontology, 71(4), 584–598.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000040075
Rong, J. Y. and Boucot, A. J. 1998. A global review of the Virgianidae (Ashgill–Llandovery, brachiopods, Pentameroidea). Journal of Paleontology, 72(3), 457–465.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000024203
Rong, J. Y. and Harper, D. A. T. 1988. A global synthesis of the latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburg: Earth Sciences, 79, 383–402.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S026359330001436X
Rong, J. Y., Zhan, R. B. and Jin, J. 2004. The late Ordovician and early Silurian Pentameride brachiopod Holorhynchus Kiaer, 1902 from north China. Journal of Paleontology, 78(2), 287–299.
https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0287:TLOAES>2.0.CO;2
Rong, J. Y., Boucot, A. J., Harper, D. A. T., Zhan, R. B. and Neuman, R. B. 2006. Global analyses of brachiopod faunas through the Ordovician and Silurian transition: reducing the role of the Lazarus effect. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 43(1), 23–39.
https://doi.org/10.1139/e05-089
Rong, J. Y., Zhan, R. B., Huang, B., Xu, H., Fu, L. P. and Li, R. Y. 2017. Ordovician brachiopod genera on type species of China. In Phanerozoic Brachiopod Genera of China, Vol. 1 (Rong J. Y., Jin, Y. G., Shen, S. Z. and Zhan, R. B., eds). Science Press, Beijing, 87–243.
Rong, J. Y., Harper, D. A. T., Huang, B., Li, R., Zhang, X. and Chen, D. 2020. The latest Ordovician Hirnantian brachiopod faunas: new global insights. Earth Science Reviews, 208, 103280.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103280
Rõõmusoks, A. 2004. Ordovician strophomenoid brachiopods of northern Estonia. In Fossilia Baltica, 3. University of Tartu, Tartu.
Rubel, M., Musteikis, P. and Popov, L. 1984. Систематический список брахиопод силура Прибалтики (Systematic List of East Baltic Silurian Brachiopods).Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn.
Sheehan, P. M. 2001. The late Ordovician mass extinction. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 29, 331–364.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.29.1.331
Shiino, Y., Suzuki, Y., Harper, D. A. T., Mori, H. and Bergström, J. 2014. Late Ordovician Holorhynchus succession in the Siljan district, Sweden: facies, faunas and a latest Katian event. GFF, 137(1), 25–35.
https://doi.org/10.1080/11035897.2014.945619
Stein, B. 1937. Vohilaiu geoloogiast (On the geology of Vohilaid). Eesti Loodus, 5(5), 198–204.
Strusz, D. L., Percival, I. G., Wright, A. J., Pickett, J. W. and Byrnes, A. 1998. A giant new trimerellide brachiopod from the Wenlock (early Silurian) of New South Wales, Australia. Records of the Australian Museum, 50(2), 171–186.
https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.50.1998.1278
Torsvik, T. H. and Cocks, L. R. M. 2017. Earth History and Palaeogeography. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316225523
Verberk, W. C. E. P. and Atkinson, D. 2013. Why polar gigantism and Palaeozoic gigantism are not equivalent: effects of oxygen and temperature on the body size of ectotherms. Functional Ecology, 27(6), 1275–1285.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12152
Vermeij, G. J. 2016. Gigantism and its implications for the history of life. PLoS ONE, 11(1).
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146092
Watkins, R. 2002. New record of the trimerellid brachiopod, a rare Silurian Lazarus taxon. Journal of Paleontology, 76(1), 185–186.
https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0185:NROTTB>2.0.CO;2
Webby, B. D. and Percival, I. G. 1983. Ordovician trimerellacean brachiopod shell beds. Lethaia, 16(3), 215–232.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.1983.tb00659.x
Williams, A., Carlson, S. J., Brunton, C. H. C., Holmer, L. E. and Popov, L. E. 1996. A supra-ordinal classification of the Brachiopoda. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 351(1344), 1171–1193.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1996.0101
Xu, G. R. and Li, L. Z. 2002. On a new genus, Zhuzhaiia, of trimerelloid brachiopods from Sanqushan Formation (Middle Ashgill of Late Ordovician), Yushan Area, Jiangxi Province, southeast China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 41(3), 419–427.
