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Retiolitid graptolites from the collection of Hermann Jaeger II: Cometograptus, Spinograptus and Plectograptus

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Abstract

Graptolites from the Jaeger collection at the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin, Germany) provide important information on structural details of Silurian (Wenlock–Ludlow) retiolitids as well as for the biostratigraphic and biogeographic distribution of these magnificent graptolites. Species of the genera Cometograptus, Spinograptus and Plectograptus are described from isolated glacial boulder material, collected in northern Germany and from shale specimens found in the Lower Graptolite Shale of Thuringia. The biostratigraphic placement of material derived from glacial erratic boulders, however, is far from being precise. The fauna associated with the neotype of Plectograptus macilentus in the ‘Unterer Graptolithenschiefer’ of Thuringia is discussed and illustrated. Cometograptus alfeisenacki from the Cyrtograptus lundgreni Biozone is recognized as a new species. The genus is discovered for the first time in North German glacial erratic boulders.

Kurzfassung

Die umfangreiche Graptolithensammlung von Hermann Jaeger im Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin, Deutschland) liefert immer wieder wichtige Informationen zur strukturellen Interpretation von retiolitiden Graptolithen des Silurs (Wenlock–Ludlow). Arten der Gattungen Cometograptus, Spinograptus und Plectograptus werden nach isoliertem Material der Jaeger’schen Sammlung beschrieben. Auch wenn das isolierte Graptolithenmaterial aus Glazialgeschieben stammt und die biostratigraphische Eingliederung unsicher ist, kann es wichtige Informationen zur Strukturanalyse und Rhabdosomaufbau der Retiolitiden liefern. Das Neotypenmaterial von Plectograptus macilentus aus dem Unteren Graptolithenschiefer Thüringens und die assoziierte Fauna wird diskutiert. Die Art Cometograptus alfeisenacki aus der Cyrtograptus lundgreni Biozone wird als neu beschrieben. Sie stellt den ersten Fund einer Art dieser Gattung aus Glazialgeschieben dar.

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Acknowledgments

Erika Pietrzeniuk and Christian Neumann (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) are thanked for providing access to the Jaeger collection of isolated graptolites. Kent Larsson, Per Ahlberg (Lund University, Sweden), Arndt Lehmann, Birgit Gaitzsch (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany), Ronald Winkler, Ulf Linnemann (Staatliches Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie zu Dresden, Germany) made additional material from their collections available for this work. Special thanks are due to Alf Lenz for providing illustrations and notes from his correspondence with Hermann Jaeger. St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia has provided the chance to write this paper during my time as the W. F. James Professor of Pure and Applied Sciences, for which special thanks also goes to Michael J. Melchin.

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  1. Jörg Maletz

    Present address: Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1482, USA

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, St. Francis Xavier University, P. O. Box 5000, Antigonish, NS, B2G 2W5, Canada

    Jörg Maletz

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Maletz, J. Retiolitid graptolites from the collection of Hermann Jaeger II: Cometograptus, Spinograptus and Plectograptus . Paläontol Z 84, 501–522 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-010-0065-x

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