Silurian (Wenlock) calymenid trilobites from the Cape Phillips Formation, Central Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Calymenid trilobites are common components of diverse Silurian silicified faunas recovered from the Cape Phillips Formation of the Cape Phillips Basin, central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Calymenids are represented in the Wenlock of the northern Laurentian region by only two genera, Diacalymene Kegel, 1927, and Arcticalymene new genus (type species A. viciousi new species). Calymenid diversity in any given fauna is never higher than two species, although these species may be numerically abundant. Arcticalymene became extinct during the Homerian, at which point calymenids disappeared forever from the northern Laurentian record.Other new taxa are Arcticalymene cooki new species, A. jonesi new species, A. matlocki new species, and A. rotteni new species. Material representing at least two more species of the new genus is reported in open nomenclature. Diacalymene gabrielsi Siveter and Chatterton, 1996, is recorded from the Cape Phillips Basin.