Kukulkanus, a new genus of buxtoniin brachiopod from the Artinskian–Kungurian (Early Permian) of Mexico

Abstract

Torres-Martínez, M.A., Sour-Tovar, F. & Barragán, R., November 2017. Kukulkanus, a new genus of buxtoniin brachiopod from the Artinskian–Kungurian (Early Permian) of Mexico. Alcheringa 42, 268–276. ISSN 0311–5518.

Kukulkanus is the first genus of the tribe Buxtoniini recorded from rocks of the late Cisuralian (Artinskian–Kungurian). The Early Permian (Cisuralian) outcrops of the Santa Rosa Group, from southeastern Chiapas, are one of the most important marine Palaeozoic successions of Mexico. The Artinskian–Kungurian Paso Hondo Formation is the youngest unit in the succession and is dominated by massive limestone. Different marine invertebrates deposited in massive calcareous rocks characterize this formation. The buxtoniin Kukulkanus spinosus gen. et sp. nov. is reported from a single bed within the unit. The outcrops are located in southeastern Chiapas, very near the Guatemala–Mexico border. The lithological features and the preservation of fossils indicate that the fossil-bearing rocks were deposited in a low-energy open-waters paleoenvironment over the continental platform. Fusulinids, cephalopods and brachiopods previously described for the Paso Hondo Formation have been correlated with faunas of different coeval localities from Texas, New Mexico, Coahuila, Chiapas and Venezuela, regions that form part of the biotic Grandian Palaeo-Province.

Miguel A. Torres-Martínez [[email protected]] Departamento de Paleontología, Instituto de Geología, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Avenida Universidad No. 3000. Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico. Francisco Sour-Tovar [[email protected]] Museo de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Av. Universidad No. 3000, Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico. Ricardo Barragán [[email protected]] Departamento de Paleontología, Instituto de Geología, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Avenida Universidad No. 3000. Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico.

Key words:

• Kukulkanus spinosus
• tribe Buxtoniini
• brachiopod
• Artinskian–Kungurian
• Early Permian
• Grandian Province
• Mexico

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the reviews of this manuscript by Prof. David Haig (University of Western Australia) and Prof. Jun-Ichi Tazawa (Niigata University). The authors thank Dr J.W. Hagadorn (Denver Museum of Nature and Science) for his technical assistance; Erika P. Porras-López for her photographic work; Yeimi Cortés-Mendoza for her stratigraphic work; and Sergio González-Mora for his help with fieldwork. Also, we express our gratitude to the Institute of Geology at UNAM for providing the use of its facilities during this research.