Trilobites from the Ehmaniella Zone (Cambrian, upper Wuliuan) of Mendoza, western Argentina

Abstract

Miaolingian and Furongian trilobites from the southern Precordillera of Mendoza, western Argentina, collected by Ángel V. Borrello during the 1960s, include two faunules from the upper Wuliuan Ehmaniella Zone (=Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone). These two come from the upper part of the San Isidro Olistolith at the key fossiliferous locality of Quebrada San Isidro, and comprise Pagetia bootes Walcott, Bathyuriscus mendozanus (Rusconi), Zacanthoides sp., Ehmaniella cf. E. burgessensisRasetti, Kootenia sp., Parkaspis sp., Altiocculus aff. A. concavus Sundberg and Elrathina sp. Genera and species recognised are indicative of the upper portion of the Ehmaniella Zone (Ehmaniella Subzone?–Altiocculus Subzone). The North American affinities of the faunules are further evidence for the close relation between the Argentinian Precordillera and Laurentia.