Annelids from the Cambrian (Wuliuan Stage, Miaolingian) Spence Shale Lagerstätte of northern Utah, USA

ABSTRACT

The Spence Shale Member of the Langston Formation in northern Utah and southern Idaho preserves generally non-biomineralized fossil assemblages referred to as the Spence Shale Lagerstätte. The biota of this Lagerstätte is dominated by panarthropods, both biomineralized and soft-bodied examples, but also preserves diverse infaunal organisms, including species of scalidophorans, echinoderms, lobopodians, stalked filter feeders, and various problematic taxa. To date, however, only a single annelid fossil, originally assigned to Canadia sp., has been described from the Spence Shale. This lone specimen and another recently collected specimen were analysed in this study using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The previous occurrence was reassigned to Burgessochaeta cf. B. setigera. The new fossil, however, has been identified as a novel polychaete taxon, Shaihuludia shurikeni gen. et sp. nov., characterised by the presence of fused, bladed chaetae and a wide body. The occurrence of Burgessochaeta is the first outside the Burgess Shale and its vicinity, whereas Shaihuludia shurikeni gen. et sp. nov. adds to the diversity of annelids in the middle Cambrian and highlights the diversity of the Spence Shale Lagerstätte.

KEYWORDS:

• Exceptional preservation
• worms
• Burgess Shale-type preservation
• Great Basin
• Laurentia

Acknowledgments

We thank Lloyd Gunther for donating specimen UU 1021 to the Department of Geology & Geophysics of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA, and we thank Quintin Sahratian (UU) for facilitating the loan of the specimen. We thank Natalia Lopez Carranza (KUMIP) for accessioning specimen KUMIP 585569. We thank Paul G. Jamison for assistance in the field. We thank Xianfeng Yang (Yunnan), James W. Hagadorn (Denver), and Graham Young (Manitoba) for comments on the High Creek annelid. Julien Kimmig thanks the USDA Forest Service for research and collecting permits. Paul Jamison (Utah State University) is thanked for showing us the locality. John Christian, Herwig Pelckmans, and David Von Bargen provided helpful feedback about mineralogy. We especially thank Luke A. Parry (University College London) for discussion of the manuscript and helpful feedback on the affinities of Shaihuludia shurikeni. We thank Jean Vannier, Bruce S. Lieberman, and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments. Gareth Dyke is thanked for handling the manuscript.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine

Data curation: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer

Formal analysis: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer, Sven O. Egenhoff

Funding acquisition: Rhiannon J. LaVine, Julien Kimmig

Investigation: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer, Sven O. Egenhoff

Methodology: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer, Sven O. Egenhoff

Project administration: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine

Visualization: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer, Sven O. Egenhoff, Kevin L. Shelton, Wade W. Leibach

Writing – original draft: Julien Kimmig, Rhiannon J. LaVine, James D. Schiffbauer, Sven O. Egenhoff, Kevin L. Shelton, Wade W. Leibach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data archiving statement

This published work and the nomenclatural acts it contains have been registered with Zoobank:

urn:lsid:zoobank.org: pub:2C4E7ECF-2088-4810-B307-36B7FAA0B090, act:A09C9E95-83F0-49EA-B3DA-02D5920EDA64 and act:3159C205-C013-4B9F-AA42-A7D493980EB5

Additional information

Funding

Rhiannon J. LaVine was supported by a National Institutes of Health Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award K12GM063651. Julien Kimmig was supported by a Western Interior Paleontological Society Karl Hirsch Memorial Grant. James D. Schiffbauer is supported by NSF CAREER 1652351, and the University of Missouri X-ray Microanalysis Laboratory by NSF IF 1636643.