Morphology, Function, Growth, and Unusual Preservation

morphologies, but a single model may not accurately describe graptoloid

ontogeny. Monograptid graptoloids present some of the most complex thecal
morphologies and apertural elaborations in the evolutionary history of the
graptoloids. These thecal shapes are not necessarily static within a colony and
can change considerably with growth. If there is an integrated process driving
thecal morphogenesis, those complex morphologies seen in Monograptids may
be a result of simple modifications to that system. Alternatively, the restriction
of these diverse modifications to within Monograptids suggest that there may
have been an increase in modularity of the system, leading to an opportunity for
increased morphological diversification. In order to understand these features
relative to other aspects of theca formation, we focused on the Aeronian stage of
the Silurian (439 to 436 MYA), an interval when many of the complex
Monograptid forms first appeared. We used morphometric techniques to
quantify the change during colonial development. Using a preliminary
phylogeny, we compared these morphological gradients in closely related species
and examined the evidence for morphological integration in Monograptid
thecae. This study lays a framework for asking further questions related to
morphogenesis and developing general principles of graptoloid development.

9: 9:15 AM-9:30 AM
Presenter: Valent, Martin

Fillings of Hyolithid Guts from the Middle Ordovician of the

Prague Basin (Czech Republic)
Valent, Martin, Palaeontological Department, National Museum, Vaclavske nam. 68, Prague,
11579, Czech Republic, martin_valent@nm.cz; Kraft, Petr, Institute of Geology and
Palaeontology, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Albertov 6, Prague, Czech
Republic, 12843

Exceptional hyoliths are found with parts of the digestive system preserved. Only
ten instances have been recorded all around the world. Among the hyolithids there
is a case of a simple U-shaped gut being phosphatized, but orthothecids with a
very complicated intestinal course predominate. Nephrotheca sarkaensis (Novak,
1891), from the Prague Basin (Barrandian area, Czech Republic), belongs to the
latter group. This orthothecid species is an uncommon element of the very rich
hyolith assemblage in the Sarka Formation (Darriwilian, Ordovician). Fourteen
specimens have been found with their guts almost completely infilled. New
available material enables a precise reconstruction of the gut. The initial intestinal
tract ran near the ventral side from apertural to apical region of the conch. It was
densely and sinuously folded across the whole width of conch. The infill of this
gut portion is narrow. The last fold is apically oriented and the gut infill becomes

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slightly wider. Thereafter the gut ran axially to the apex where it turned sharply
back and formed the beginning of the reverse tract. This segment having run from
the apex towards the aperture lay close to the dorsal side of the folded tract. It was
axially oriented and slightly bent. Its terminal part rose up sharply at the apertural
region and reached up to the dorsal side of body. The infill of the reverse tract is
wide for its entire length. As Nephrotheca sarkaensis has provided evidence of a gut
filled with sediment it is clear that it was substrate feeder and its benthic mode of
life is indubitable. Acknowledgement: The research was funded by projects of the
Czech Science Foundation No. 205/09/1521, the Ministry of Education, Youth
and Sports of the Czech Rep. No. MSM0021620855 and the Ministry of Culture
of the Czech Rep. No. DE06P04OMG009.

9: 9:30 AM-9:45 AM
Presenter: Loduca, Steve T.

A New Macroalgal-Dominated Konservat-Lagerstätte from the

Silurian (Ludlovian) of Arctic Canada
Loduca, Steve T., Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, 205 Strong Hall,
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197, United States, sloduca@emich.edu;
Melchin, Michael, Department of Earth Sciences, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish,
Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada; Verbruggen, Heroen, Phycology Research Group and Center
for Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S8,
9000 Ghent, Belgium

Intervals of thin-bedded argillaceous micrite within the Cape Phillips

Formation on Cornwallis Island, Arctic Canada, contain numerous specimens
of noncalcified macroalgae preserved as carbonaceous compressions. Associated
fossils include dendroid and graptoloid graptolites (Saetograptus linearis); the
latter indicate a Ludlovian (Gorstian) age for the material. This occurrence
represents a further example of a distinctive and predictably recurrent type of
Konservat-Lagerstätte in lower Paleozoic strata in which noncalcified
macroalgae comprise the principal constituents and shelly taxa are rare or
absent. Thalli of two of the algal forms consist of an erect cylindrical main axis
surrounded in radial fashion by cylindrical appendages. The appendages
branch, but are otherwise simple. In this and other key aspects of external
thallus morphology these forms resemble early Paleozoic taxa assigned to the
extant green algal order Dasycladales, including Archaeobatophora,
Primicorallina and Inopinatella. Also present within the assemblage are thalli
with a dichotomously branched, distinctly serial-segmented form. Segments
range in shape from rectangular near the base to cuneate and trapezoid in upper
regions of the thallus; each comprises a central medullary region and a cortex

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