Carl
Brett
Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Paleozoic Pelmatozoan Echinoderms
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Brett continues studies of the systematics and paleoecology of fossil
crinoids, blastozoans from the Ordovician and Silurian of eastern North
America. Recent excavations of exceptionally well-preserved crinoid and
rhombiferan material from the Silurian Rochester Shale have provided the
basis for studies of taphonomy and paleoecology of echinoderm assemblages
by Brett and former graduate student Wendy Taylor (now collections manager
at Paleontological Research Institution; Taylor and Brett, 1996; Brett
and Taylor, 1997). Another detailed case study of pelmatozoan Lagerstätten,
from the Middle Ordovician Trenton Group, is presently underway with local
amateur paleontologist Thomas Whiteley. Whiteley has rediscovered, re-excavated
and documented the microstratigraphy of Charles Walcott's Rust farm quarry
site at Trenton Falls, NY. The details of biostratinomy and paleoecologyof
these thin carbonate tempestites is being completed by Whiteley and Brett.
A synthesis of the community paleoecology and distribution of pelmatozoan
echinoderms from eastern North America (Frest, Brett, and Witzke, in press)
is forthcoming. Brett and Taylor are also collaborating with Hans Hess
(Biningen, Switzerland), William Ausich (Ohio State University), and Michael
Sims (British Museum) in compiling a book that illustrates and describes
classic crinoid Lagerstätten.
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References
Brett, C. E. and Taylor, W. L. 1997. The Homocrinis beds: Silurian
crinoid Lagerstätten of western New York and southern Ontario. In
Brett, C. E. and Baird, G. C., eds., Paleontological Events: Stratigraphic,
Ecological, and Evolutionary Implications, Columbia University Press,
p.181-223.
Frest, T. J., Brett, C. E., and Witzke, B. J. in press. Middle Ordovician
to Lower Devonian (Caradocian to Gedinnian) pelmatozoan associations of
central and eastern North America. In Boucot, A. J. and Lawson, J., eds.,
Paleoecology of Silurian to Early Devonian Marine Communities: Final Report
of Project Ecostratigraphy. Cambridge University Press.
O'Brien, N. R., Brett, C. E., and Taylor, W. L. 1994. Microfabric and
taphonomic analysis in determining sedimentary processes in marine mudstones:
example from the Silurian of New York. Journal of Sedimentary Research
A64: 181-201.
Taylor, W. L. and Brett, C. E., 1996. Taphonomy and paleoecology of echinoderm
Lagerstätten from the Silurian (Wenlockian) Rochester Shale. Palaios,
v. 11, p. 118-140.
Taylor, W. L. 1996. Guild structure and tiering of Ordovician and Silurian
pelmatozoan assemblages from North America. Unpublished PhD Dissertation,
University of Rochester, 367 p.
Whiteley, T., Brett, C. E., and Lehmann, D. F. 1993. The Walcott-Rust
quarry: A unique Ordovician trilobite and crinoid Lagerstätte. Geological
Society of America Abstracts with Programs 26 (4), p. 89.
Eckert, J.D. and Brett, C.E. 2001. Bulletins of American Paleontology.
Frest, T.J.. Brett, C.E., and Witzke, B.J., 1999. Caradocian to Gedinnian
echinoderm associations of central and eastern North America. In Boucot,
A.J. and Lawson, J.D., eds., Paleocommunities: A Case Study from the Silurian
and Lower Devonian. Cambridge University Press, p. 638-783.
Hess, H., Ausich, W.I., Brett, C.E., and Simms, M.J., 1999, Fossil Crinoids.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 275 p.
Sumrall, C.D., Brett. C.E., Work, P.T., and Meyer, D.L., 1999, Taphonomy
and paleoecology of an edrioasteroid encrusted hardground in the lower
Bellevue Formation at Maysville, Kentucky. In Algeo, T.J. and Brett, C.E.,
eds., Sequence, Cycle and Event Stratigraphy of Upper Ordovician &
Silurian Strata of the Cincinnati Arch Region, Guidebook, 1999 Field Conference,
Great Lakes Section SEPM-SSG (Society for Sedimentary Geologists), p.123-131.
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