Affiliation:
1. Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, Nature Research Center, Akademijos St. 2, 08412 Vilnius, Lithuania
2. Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University, 84 Herkaus Manto St., 92294 Klaipeda, Lithuania
3. Belarusian National Technical University, Nezavisimosti Ave. 65, 220013 Minsk, Belarus
Abstract
In the Baltic States and Belarus, the Middle Devonian period is characterised by an abundant fossil record of invertebrates such as scolecodonts, brachiopods, ostracods, trilobites, bivalves, crinoids, gastropods, and tentaculites. On the other hand, there was limited diversity in the conodont and other vertebrate fauna. In this study, we introduce a newly refined ichthyofaunal assemblage from the Eifelian and Givetian epochs from the present-day regions of Belarus and Lithuania. The isolated scales of Cheirolepis are identified as C. gaugeri, C. cf. gaugeri, C. aleshkai, C. cf. aleshkai, and Cheirolepis sp., while Orvikuina is represented by the isolated scales of O. vardiaensis and Orvikuina sp. The histological analyses for the scales of Orvikuina are provided here. Moreover, Orvikuina and Cheirolepis taxa are now recognised to be widely distributed throughout the Baltic States, especially Lithuania and Belarus, as a result of these findings. Thus, this ichthyofaunal data markedly improved the biostratigraphic correlation within the study region and expanded the paleogeographic distribution of these taxa during the Eifelian and Givetian time in Laurasia.
Reference49 articles.
1. Placoderms (armored fish): Dominant vertebrates of the Devonian period;Young;Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.,2010
2. Paškevičius, J. (1997). The Geology of the Baltic Republics, Vilnius University and Geological Survey of Lithuania.
3. Kratkaya paleogeograficheskaya harakteristika obrazovanij pozdnego emsa, eifelya, zhiveta i frana Belarusi. Vesnik Bresckaga universiteta. Seriya 5. Himiya. Biyalogiya;Plax;Navuki Ab Zyamli. Brest,2013
4. A new species of the actinopterygian fish (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Eifelian deposits of the Vileyka Buried Ridge (Belarus);Plax;Lithosphere,2020
5. Sorokin, V.S. (1981). Devon i karbon Pribaltiki [Devonian and Carboniferous of the Pre-Baltic Region], Zinātne. (In Russian).