Salterella

Salterella
Temporal range: Early Cambrian
S. pulchella[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: †Agmata (?)
Family: †Salterellidae
Genus: †Salterella
Billings, 1861[1]
Type species
†Salterella rugosa
(= Serpulites maccullochi Murchison, 1859)
Billings, 1861
Species

Salterella is an enigmatic Cambrian genus with a small, conical, calcareous shell that appears to be septate,[3] but is rather filled with stratified laminar deposits.[4] The shell contains grains of sediment, which are obtained selectively (with a preference for denser grains) by a manner also observed in foramanifera.[5] The genus was established by Elkanah Billings in 1861, and was named after the English palaeontologist John William Salter.[1]

The genus is known from multiple locations worldwide, such as Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec in Canada,[6][7] Svalbard,[8] the Scottish Highlands[9] and Argentina.[10]

The related fossil genus Volborthella was formerly placed in synonymy with Salterella by Ellis L. Yochelson in 1983, due to the similarities between the two genera (though Volborthella notably lacks an outer calcareous shell).[9] However, Volborthella was later accepted as a separate genus again by Yochelson & Kisselev in 2003.[11] Both genera are currently placed in the Salterellidae family in the phylum Agmata.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Billings1861 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walcott1886 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LippsSylvester1968 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference YochelsonFlowerWebers1973 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peel2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Yochelson1970 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Skovsted2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference LauritzenYochelson1982 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Yochelson1983 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Astini2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference YochelsonKisselev2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).