Abstract

RODRIGUES, Sabrina C.; LEME, Juliana M.  and  SIMOES, Marcello G.. Paleobiological significance of clusters (clonal/gregarious) of Conularia quichua Ulrich, 1890 (cnidaria), Ponta Grossa Formation, Devonian (Gragian-Emsian), Paraná Basin, Brazil. Ameghiniana [online]. 2006, vol.43, n.2, pp.273-284. ISSN 1851-8044.

The "Conularia beds" of the Ponta Grossa Formation (Devonian) of the Paraná Basin, southern Brazil, yield well-preserved specimens of Conularia quichua Ulrich and Paraconularia africana Sharpe. Many of these are preserved in life orientation. Also, one of the C. quichua specimens has five faces instead of four, providing additional evidence of a cnidarian affinity for conulariids. Conulariids occur in the Jaguariaíva Member (or Sequence B, transgressive system tract) containing several obrution deposits beneath marine flooding surfaces. Taphonomic data obtained from these beds show conclusively that both C. quichua and P. africana were epibenthic, sessile invertebrates originally oriented with their long axis perpendicular to the bottom and with their aperture opening upward. Of the 136 C. quichua specimens examined here, 125 occur isolated. Eleven of the C. quichua specimens collectively occur in five discrete clusters consisting of two or three specimens. All of the clustered specimens are fully inflated (exhibiting a rectangular transverse cross section) or slightly compressed longitudinally. In all of these specimens the apex is missing, and thus the problem of whether the clusters were clonal colonies or formed through preferential larval settlement cannot be resolved conclusively. However, in the single cluster consisting of three specimens, the specimens are oriented perpendicular to bedding, and thus they do not converge adapically. The three specimens are in contact with each other along the upper portion of their median region. These and the lack of any evidence of a sheet of budding stolons, suggest that this cluster was formed by preferential larval settlement.

Keywords : Conularia quichua; Paleoecology; Devonian; Ponta Grossa Formation; Paraná Basin.