Spiriferoidea (Brachiopoda) from the Early Permian Del Salto Formation of Argentina

Abstract

Cisterna, G.A. & Archbold, N.W., March 2007. Spiriferoidea (Brachiopoda) from the Early Permian Del Salto Formation of Argentina. Alcheringa 31, 3-16. ISSN 0311-5518.

Spiriferidae from the Del Salto Formation, Calingasta-Uspallata Basin (Precordillera, Argentina) are described. The new genera Saltospirifer Cisterna & Archbold (with type species Saltospirifer guevarii Cisterna & Archbold sp. nov.) and Pericospira Archbold & Cisterna [with type species Spirifer (Spirifer) pericoensis Leanza 1945 are proposed. Punctothyris sanjuanensis (Lech & Aceñolaza 1990) is re-described and assigned to Pericospira. An Early Permian (Asselian) age is suggested for the two Argentinian species, agreeing with the age proposed previously.

Gabriela A. Cisterna [[email protected]] Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Museo de Geología y Paleontología, Buenos Aires 1400, Neuquén 8300, Argentina; Neil W. Archbold ^†, School of Ecology and Environment, Melbourne Campus, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, 3125, Australia; received 14.4.2004, revised 2.11.2005. [ ^† Deceased 28.11.2005, Mendoza, Argentina].

Key words:

• Spiriferoidea
• New genera
• Brachiopoda
• Early Permian
• Argentina

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) and the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 07-04018) from Argentina and the Australian Research Council and Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia). Many thanks also to Dr Mauricio Martínez (Bariloche, Argentina) and Dr Andrea Sterren (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina) for working with G.A.C. in the field. We are grateful to the reviewers Dr Lucia Angiolini and Dr Shuzhong Shen, and to Mr Roger Pierson for reading the manuscript.