Figure 3. Selected palynomorphs from across <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Carb<strong>on</strong>iferous/ Permian boundary at Aidaralash Creek. All photographs are at a magnificati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> approximately 500X. Stage coordinates are from an Olympus Vanox microscope, BSU# <str<strong>on</strong>g>31</str<strong>on</strong>g>597. Stratigraphic coordinates are given as K meters above boundary (MAB) <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>od<strong>on</strong>t boundary, Bed 19.2 (Figure 1). A. Protohaploxypinus perfectus (Naumova ex Kara-Murza 1952) Samoilovich 1953. 13 X 84, -9.1MAB. B. Vittatina vittifera (Lyuber and Val’ts 1941) Samoilovich 1953. 16 X 96.5, -1.1MAB. C. Cordaitina uralensis Lyuber and Val’ts 1941. 17.5 X 85, +26.0MAB. D. Punctatisporites gretensis f. minor Hart 1965. 20.5 X 91, -1.1MAB. E. Knoxisporites sp. Pot<strong>on</strong>ié and Kremp 1954. 17.25 X 82.25, -1.1MAB. A B B C D D E 11
Miscellaneous Permian Taxa <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Western North America: Paleobiogeographic, Paleogeographic, Biostratigraphic and Paleoecologic Implicati<strong>on</strong>s. by Rex Alan Hanger Permian rocks are exposed throughout western North America (Fig 1) in many accreted terranes (Silberling et al., 1987). Fusulinids, c<strong>on</strong>od<strong>on</strong>ts and corals hold biostratigraphic primacy in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se areas, but not all strata c<strong>on</strong>tain <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se groups, nor have all known faunas been described. Analysis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> paleobiogeography and paleogeography <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Permian faunas has led to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> recogniti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a distinct McCloud Province (Stevens et al., 1990; named for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> McCloud Limest<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Eastern Klammath Mountains, Loc. 1), encompassing several accreted terranes. The McCloud Province is comm<strong>on</strong>ly interpreted as existing around an island arc <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> coast (unknown distance) <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> North America during <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Permian (Miller, 1987). During <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> preparati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> large brachiopod collecti<strong>on</strong>s for m<strong>on</strong>ographic treatment, many significant supplementary groups have been recovered in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> acid etched residues. These have proven to have important implicati<strong>on</strong>s for many aspects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> western North American geology and are updated here. 1)The Quinn River Formati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Bilk Creek Mountains, Humboldt County, Nevada (Loc. 2) c<strong>on</strong>tains c<strong>on</strong>od<strong>on</strong>ts and radiolarians that date <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> formati<strong>on</strong> as Guadalupian to Carnian (Blome and Reed, 1995). The lower part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> formati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sists <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> light brown calcareous to cherty dolomite. The rhizomorine demosp<strong>on</strong>ge, Haplisti<strong>on</strong> aeluroglossa (Finks, 1960) and an unidentifiable anthaspidellid orthocladinid demosp<strong>on</strong>ge have been identified from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> dolomite. As with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fossil sp<strong>on</strong>ges recovered from British Columbia (Rigby, 1973), <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Quinn River Formati<strong>on</strong> fossils show affinity to those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Boreal faunas <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Arctic Canada, Spitsbergen and Russia, and suggest no major transport for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Rock Terrane, although <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y are distinct from coeval North American faunas (Rigby and Senowbari-Daryan, 1995). (Research with Dr. J. Keith Rigby, Brigham Young University.) 2) The gastropod genus, Actae<strong>on</strong>ina, is am<strong>on</strong>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> rarest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all Upper Paleozoic molluscs. Knight (1941) counted <strong>on</strong>ly two known specimens, both from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Visean <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Belgium. In <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir survey <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Paleozoic opisthobranch gastropods, Kollmann and Yochels<strong>on</strong> (1976) point out that Actae<strong>on</strong>ina, “...has not yet been found in North America in spite <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> careful searching am<strong>on</strong>g large collecti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pennsylvanian and Permian gastropods.” Acid etching <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> limest<strong>on</strong>e samples from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Lower Permian (Wolfcampian - Le<strong>on</strong>ardian) Coyote Butte Formati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Crook County, Central Oreg<strong>on</strong> (Loc. 4) has produced four specimens <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a new species <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Actae<strong>on</strong>ina. (Fig. 2) The presence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Actae<strong>on</strong>ina in Oreg<strong>on</strong> has important implicati<strong>on</strong>s for western North American terrane paleogeography. The Coyote Butte Formati<strong>on</strong> is part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Upper Paleozoic - Mesozoic Grindst<strong>on</strong>e Terrane <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Central Oreg<strong>on</strong> (Wardlaw et al., 1982), and occurs as chaotically intermixed limest<strong>on</strong>e blocks within cherts and volcaniclastics. The limest<strong>on</strong>e is interpreted as slide and slump blocks that became detached from a carb<strong>on</strong>ate shelf and incorporated into deeper-water basinal clastics in a fore-arc basin (Blome and Nestell, 1991). The exact dimensi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this basin, and specifically <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> l<strong>on</strong>gitudinal separati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> island arc from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> North American c<strong>on</strong>tinent, remain c<strong>on</strong>troversial, and distances <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> greater than 5000 km with sou<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rn hemisphere origins have been suggested (J<strong>on</strong>es, 1990; Miller et al., 1992). Presence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>ly o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r species, A. carb<strong>on</strong>aria, in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> plate-bound basins <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Belgium, suggests general affinity with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Carb<strong>on</strong>iferous-Permian Boreal faunas and a nor<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rn hemisphere positi<strong>on</strong> for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Coyote Butte Formati<strong>on</strong>. (Research with Ellen E. Str<strong>on</strong>g, George Washingt<strong>on</strong> University.) 3) The acid etching program <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Coyote Butte Formati<strong>on</strong> (Loc. 4) has also produced several important arthropod taxa (Hengstenberg et al., 1997). Permian trilobites are limited in diversity and abundance worldwide, and pers<strong>on</strong>al observati<strong>on</strong>s suggest that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y are particularly rare in western terranes. It is notable that over 30 pygidia, and assorted glabella, cheek and thoracic fragments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> trilobite Ditomopyge sp. are present in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> collecti<strong>on</strong>. Ditomopyge is a cosmopolitan genus according to Owen and Hahn (1993), but has primarily a nor<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rn hemisphere distributi<strong>on</strong> in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Early Permian. Two unidentified species <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ostracod Bairdia and a possible new species <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Bairdiacypris are also present. Both genera range throughout <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pennsylvanian and Permian and indicate depositi<strong>on</strong> in three <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fshore envir<strong>on</strong>ments with low terrigenous sedimentati<strong>on</strong> (Melnyk and Maddocks, 1988a, b) (Research with Carey A. Hengstenberg, University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Verm<strong>on</strong>t.) 4) A single specimen <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> shark, Helicopri<strong>on</strong> nevadensis (Wheeler, 1939) was collected in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Antler Peak Limest<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Lander County, Nevada (Loc. 5). The <strong>on</strong>ly o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r specimen <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this species has dubious locati<strong>on</strong> informati<strong>on</strong> at best, and no age c<strong>on</strong>trol (Silberling, 1973). The new spiral toothrow fossil occurs with Wolfcampian fusulinids (Verville et al., 1986) in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> pale grayish-orange to pale brown siliceous facies <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> for- Figure 1. Locati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reported Permian faunas, with most comm<strong>on</strong> formati<strong>on</strong> and terrane names. 12