Reich et al.—First Ordovician cyclocystoid (Echinodermata) from Gondwana Specimen #1, UCBL-FSL 712001, top and bottom
counterpart molds on slabs (Fig. 3.1, 3.2), region of Taichoute, central Anti-Atlas, Morocco—‘First Bani Group,’ Darriwilian; coll. Patrick Catto (collected in the mid-2000s; donated November 2013); specimen #2, UCBL-FSL 712000, top and bottom counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.3, 3.4), region of Taichoute, central Anti-Atlas, Morocco—‘First Bani Group,’ Darriwilian; coll. Patrick Catto (collected in the mid-2000s, donated November 2013; specimen #3, NPL 62451, top and bottom counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.8, 3.9), same trilobite trench locality as mentioned in NHMUK specimens, listed as Oumjrane, NE of Zagora, SE Morocco (30.639525°N, 005.104275°W)—Darriwilian; purchased by James Sprinkle from Moussa Minerals & Fossils at Tucson Fossil Show (February 14, 2014); specimen #4, NPL 74385, top and bottom folded counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.5, 3.6), same trilobite trench locality as mentioned in NHMUK specimens, listed as 4.8km SE of road N12 at Battou, SE Morocco (30.55223°N, 005.15240°W)—Darriwilian; donated by Kraig Derstler (April 9, 2016), who purchased it online in January 2014; specimen #5, NPL 74386, top and bottom folded counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.12, 3.13), same trilobite trench locality as mentioned in NHMUK specimens, listed as 4.8km SE of road N12 at Battou, SE Morocco (30.55223°N, 005.15240°W)—Darriwilian; donated by Kraig Derstler (April 9, 2016), who purchased it online in July 2014; specimen #6, NHMUK-EE 15409, top and bottom counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.14–3.15), trench at foot of small hill about 5 km SSE of the village of Bantu, 23km SW of Alnif, SE Morocco (30.92025°N, 005.25339°W)—Darriwilian; coll. S. Zamora, (September 2013). specimen #7, NHMUK-EE 15413, top and bottom counterpart molds in concretion (Fig. 3.10, 3.11), trench at foot of small hill about 5 km SSE of the village of Bantu, 23km SW of Alnif, SE Morocco (30.92025°N, 005.25339°W)—Darriwilian; coll. T. Ewin, A.B. Smith, and S. Zamora, (March 2012); specimen #8, NHMUK-EE 16220, mold on surface of unopened concretion (Fig. 3.7), trench at foot of small hill about 5 km SSE of the village of Bantu, 23km SW of Alnif, SE Morocco (30.92025°N, 005.25339°W)—Darriwilian; coll. S. Zamora (September 2014). Additional specimens are in private collections or have
been shown online (12 total that we know about): specimen in concretion posted on FossilForum website in 2010 by Moroccan collector and noted by Kyle Hartshorn (information sent to J. Sprinkle, June 2015); specimen in concretion purchased at Tucson Fossil Show, February 2013, by private collector after being photographed by Jeremy Savill (information and photo sent to J. Sprinkle, April 2014); two nearly complete and three partial specimens personally owned by Jeremy Savill and purchased between 2010 and 2015 (photos sent to J. Sprinkle, June 2015); partial specimen in concretion shown at the Munich Mineral Show by Moroccan collector (M. Reich, October
741
2015); two nearly complete and two partial specimens personally owned by Kraig Derstler and purchased between 2012 and 2015 (information given to J. Sprinkle, April 2016). More than six years ago, an early Moroccan cyclocystoid
was found (and shown to MR) deposited in a French private collection (Laurent Lacombe, later transferred to the collection of Patrick Catto); it represents the largest cyclocystoid specimen ever found (UCBL-FSL 712001). This early specimen remained in a private collection for several years until it was made available for scientific investigation and then acquired by the University of Lyon (UCBL-FSL). In the meantime, additional specimens were excavated by a London expedition team (Tim Ewin, Andrew B. Smith, Samuel Zamora; NHMUK) or offered for sale by commercial Moroccan fossil dealers (e.g., NPL). All specimens are preserved as external molds either
on slabs of fine-grained siliciclastic matrix (holotype) or in siderite-encrusted siliciclastic concretions (paratypes and other material). The cyclocystoids described here come from the Middle Ordovician Taddrist Formation of the First Bani Group (Darriwilian); the previously mentioned first specimen found (UCBL-FSL 712001) was erroneously reported as Upper Ordovician (Sandbian) in age (Lefebvre et al., 2008, 2010, 2013).
Photography, casting, and X-ray computed tomography.— Specimens were digitally photographed both dry and whitened with ammonium chloride (Fig. 3.1–3.15). One specimen (holotype) was considered robust enough by its collector for latex and silicon casting of matched-counterpart molds, the standard technique, but this degraded the detail shown by the central disk and the radial ducts through the marginal ossicles. Other concretionary cyclocystoid molds appeared to be too
fragile for this type of casting. Therefore, the best-preserved specimens were investigated and additionally documented by high-resolution X-ray computed tomography at the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT) or at the Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB) in Munich (Figs. 4.1–4.10, 5.1, 5.2). Scanning at these facilities attempted to differentiate the
internal air-filled mold of the cyclocystoid from the enclosing siliciclastic matrix in its reassembled concretion encrusted by siderite. This nondestructive technique has recently been used to scan molds of arthropods and a few echinoderms in a variety of sedimentary rocks and concretions (e.g., Garwood et al., 2009; Legg et al., 2012; Rahman et al., 2012). Specimen 3 was scanned in March 2014 at UTCT with a Zeiss (formerly Xradia, Pleasanton, CA) MicroXCT 400 at 110kV and 0.09mAusing a 1.0mmCaF2 filter for a total of 881 slices at 49.0 µmvoxel size; specimens 4 and 5 were scanned in April 2016 at UTCT with an NSI scanner (North Star Imaging, Inc., Rogers, MN) at 150kV and 0.1 mA with no filter for a total of 977 and 986 slices with 62.6 and 95.6 µm voxel size, respectively. Specimens 1 and 2 were scanned at the Bavarian Natural History Collections
Figure 3. General morphology and preservation of Moroccodiscus smithi n. gen. n. sp. from the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) of Morocco. (1, 2) Holotype UCBL-FSL 712001, top and bottom counterpart molds. (3, 4) Paratype UCBL-FSL 712000, top and bottom counterpart molds. (5, 6) Paratype NPL 74385, top and bottom counterpart molds. (7) Paratype NHMUK-EE 16220, exposed top mold on nearly unbroken concretion. (8, 9) Paratype NPL 62451, top and bottom counterpart molds. (10, 11) Paratype NHMUK-EE 15413, top and bottom counterpart molds. (12, 13) Paratype NPL 74386, top and bottom counterpart molds. (14, 15) Paratype NHMUK-EE 15409, top and bottom counterpart molds. All images are photographs of moldic specimens whitened with ammonium chloride sublimate. Scale bar = 10mm.
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