Schellwienella amazonensis (Orthotetida, Brachiopoda): New species of the genus in the Lochkovian of the Amazonas Basin (Manacapuru Formation), northern Brazil

Abstract

The Devonian was a critical period in the global evolution of brachiopods, during which the phylum reached its maximum diversity in the Emsian and experienced a significant decline during the Frasnian–Famennian, second only to the mass extinction of the Late Permian. The brachiopod fauna of the Manacapuru Formation (Lochkovian) was unknown until 2011, when a significant number of Rhynchonelliformea and Linguliformea samples were recovered during paleontological salvage at the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in Vitória do Xingu, Pará, Brazil. This study aims to identify the Orthotetida from this salvage. The taxonomic study of the brachiopods from the Manacapuru Formation (Lochkovian) led to the recognition of a new species, Schellwienella amazonensis n. sp., Family Pulsiidae Cooper and Grante, 1974. Schellwienella amazonensis n. sp. and Schellwienella marcidula Amsden, 1958 originally described to the Bois d’Arc Formation (Lochkovian), USA are the oldest records of the genus. The genus Schellwienella was present throughout all stages of the Devonian, primarily in the Gondwana siliciclastic marine environments, transiting between temperate and polar latitudes, and disappeared in the Viséan (early Carboniferous) under warmer waters and carbonate platform conditions typical of low-latitude regions.