Late Cambrian trilobites from the Mariner Group, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

This paper describes the youngest Late Cambrian trilobite assemblage so far discovered in the Mariner Group (Bowers Supergroup) northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. It occurs near the base of the Limestone Unit in the middle of the Eureka Formation, at Eureka Spurs, at the head of Mariner Glacier. The assemblage contains seven determined trilobite taxa: Homagnostus cf. ultraobesus Lermontova, 1940, Pseudagnostus (P.) ex gr. communis (Hall and Whitfield, 1877), Olentella cf. shidertensis Ivshin, 1956, Notoaphelaspis sp. undet., Apheloides? depressa sp. nov" Elviraspis? sp. undet., and Proceratopyge (P.) cf. liaotungensis Kobayashi and Ichikawa, 1955. This fauna is related to material previously described from Kazakhstan or southern Siberia, north China; Australia, and North America. Russian relationships appear to be dominant, but palaeogeographically difficult to explain. The present fauna is younger than that earlier described from the underlying Spurs Formation, which was considered to be late Idamean (late Dresbachian). The Eureka material is likely to be immediately post-Idamean (early Franconian), but its exact biochronological position is not yet finally established.

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Published (Metadata Record) 02/03/2026
Last updated 03/03/2026
Organisation Australian Federal Government
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