The first Silurian chitinozoans from Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic

Abstract

The chitinozoan Conochitina aff. emmastensis Nestor, 1982 has been identified from the Silurian Telychian Stage, Llandovery Series, of Severnaya Zemlya, the Russian Arctic. Its presence suggests an early to late Telychian age for the strata, which is in accordance with previous biostratigraphic dating based on graptolites and conodonts.

Keywords:

• Silurian
• Telychian
• Arctic Russia
• Severnaya Zemlya
• chitinozoans

Acknowledgements

Fieldwork on the October Revolution Island 1999 was funded by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. The consortium of oil and gas industry subscribers is thanked for its financial support to the CASP Severnaya Zemlya Project. Valuable comments of two anonymous reviewers and the editor are greatly appreciated.