Ecologically distinct myodocope ostracod faunas from a single horizon in the late Silurian of Spain

Abstract

Silurian myodocopes have been demonstrated to be the pioneer pelagic ostracods. Their ecological shift into the water column, during the middle Silurian (Wenlock-Ludlow), is now well documented from sites around the world, but the evolution of this fauna during the late Silurian (Pridoli) remains little studied. We recognise, for the first time, two ecologically distinct myodocope ostracod faunas from the same late Pridoli horizon (possibly ?Wolynograptus bouceki - Skalograptus transgrediens biozones) of southern Spain (Alcaracejos, province of Córdoba). One fauna, associated with black shales, comprises five species belonging to three myodocope families (bolbozoids, entomozoids and cypridinids). The other fauna, recovered from large dark-reddish calcareous nodules and associated with the planktonic crinoid Scyphocrinites elegans, comprises seven myodocope species belonging to the same three families and includes one new species, Calocaria callundosa sp. nov. Although the shale and nodule faunas have two species in common, they are clearly different in terms of diversity, abundance and size of the specimens. The discrepancies between these two assemblages could either be explained by sampling or taphonomic bias, or because they represent faunas with different ecologies. In the latter hypothesis, the myodocope association in the shales could represent the “background” planktonic fauna, while the fauna in the nodules could have lived in the water column in the vicinity of the Scyphocrinites “floating islands”, or scavenge around the dead crinoids on the sea floor. These two diverse assemblages also allow discussions on the temporal and palaeogeographical distributions of these late Silurian myodocope ostracods.