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Lower-middle Darriwilian index conodonts from the Precordillera: new taxonomical approaches

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Abstract

A taxonomic review study on the apparatuses of the lower-middle Darriwilian index conodonts, based on the collections from the Precordillera and those described and illustrated in worldwide literature, had led to a new interpretation of the Lenodus apparatus composition. This apparatus is composed of pectiniform elements without mirror symmetry (Pa and Pb elements) with pastiniscaphate morphology and sometimes showing a micropattern structure (honeycomb) on the platform surface. The transitional series of S elements present the elements alate Sa, tertiopedate Sb, bipennate Sc, and quadriramate Sd with wartlike extensions on the tip of the cusps, and the M elements have a modified “geniculate” morphology. The analysis of the apparatuses of the Darriwilian index conodonts allows us to interpret that the genus Lenodus includes the following species: Lenodus variabilis, Lenodus crassus, Lenodus pseudoplanus, and Lenodus suecicus. This proposal is supported by the apparatus architecture, the transitional morphological features of the P elements, and the micropattern structure on the P and S elements present in all these species.

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Acknowledgements

This contribution was supported by CONICET trough the grant PIP 319. Special thanks to our technician M. González for her work in lab. We also wish to thank Lic. Tatiana Soria and Geol. Cintia Kaufmann for their assistance in the field and Romina Atencio for her help to improve the English. Duncan Murdock and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for their careful and constructive reviews. The authors are grateful to the MEByM (CONICET-CCT Mendoza).

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  1. CONICET-CIGEOBIO-Lab. de Micropaleontología-IIM-Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Av. Libertador General, 1109, San Martin, Argentina

    Ana Mestre & Susana Heredia

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Mestre, A., Heredia, S. Lower-middle Darriwilian index conodonts from the Precordillera: new taxonomical approaches. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 100, 737–756 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-019-00386-3

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