Condorodus n. gen., a new Ordovician conodont genus from Argentina: origin, evolution and dispersal through the western margin of Gondwana

Abstract

Ordovician conodont collections from several Argentinian basins including the Eastern Cordillera, Famatina and Precordillera allow recognition of a group of conodonts that comprise a new genus here named Condorodus n. gen. Species of this genus have an apparatus composed of six elements recovered so far: Pa, Pb, Sb1, Sb2, Sc and Sd. The differences mainly between the P elements support recognizing three species, from the older to younger: C. diablensis n. gen., n. sp., C. gracielae n. gen., n. sp. and C. chilcaensis n. gen., n. sp., that appeared in the upper Floian (Lower Ordovician) and vanished in middle Darriwilian time (Middle Ordovician). The Eastern Cordillera is here assumed as the place of origin of the Condorodus n. gen. lineage during the late Floian, and then this genus dispersed through the western margin of Gondwana, reaching the Precordillera in the early Darriwilian, from there it could have dispersed to different regions of Gondwana, Perigondwana and Laurentia during the late Darriwilian, and probably give rise to conodont apparatuses of similar morphology in the Late Ordovician.