A draboviid brachiopod association from the Upper Ordovician of Portugal: palaeoecological and palaeogeographical significance

Abstract

The study of a brachiopod collection from the Queixopêrra Member of the Cabeço do Peão Formation (Upper Ordovician), in Portugal, has provided a low-diversity association composed exclusively of draboviids. The commonest components in this association are Drabovia cf. redux and Hirnantia kinnelloides, both only known until now from the Letná Formation (Sa2), Bohemia (Czech Republic). The occurrence of H. kinnelloides in the Queixopêrra Member (Ka1) constitutes the youngest known occurrence of this taxon, which extends its stratigraphical range and strengthens the palaeogeographical relationship between Portugal and the Bohemian region during the early Late Ordovician.

Keywords::

• Brachiopoda
• draboviid
• palaeoecology
• palaeogeography
• Upper Ordovician
• Mediterranean Province

Acknowledgements

The authors greatly appreciate the comments and corrections of the referees Yves Candela and Enrique Villas that have improved the paper. The authors are also grateful to Sofia Pereira (University of Lisbon) and Yago Alonso for their help during the fieldwork. The authors thank the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture “Ciência Viva” and the Prehistoric Art Museum of Mação for supporting the fieldwork. This paper is a contribution to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation project CGL 2009-09583 and to the Department of Science, Technology and University of the Aragón Government project E-17 “Patrimonio y Museo Paleontológico”, with help from the European Social Fund.