Diversity and Evolution of Silurian Radiolarians

Abstract: The three approaches followed herein aim to improve our understanding of the paleobiodiversity andevolution of Silurian radiolarians. The first approach provides an exhaustive taxonomic description ofan entirely new radiolarian fauna recovered from two sections of the Cape Phillips Formation in theCanadian Arctic which accumulated in two different paleoenvironmental settings. The samples are datedby graptolites of the Gorstian Lobograptus progenitor Zone. The obtained radiolarian fauna includes 28species, of which 3 are new, and exhibits some of the best preserved Silurian radiolarians known so far.The stratigraphic range of several species was also extended. Then, in a second approach, a CT-Scan3D reconstruction of a specimen of Gyrosphaera cavea was conducted in order to resolve significantinternal structure taxonomic issues. Higher level radiolarian classification is based on internal structures,and classical methods of observing these features repeatedly failed to uncover them. The 3D imagingrevealed a «double» coiling of the specimen that has proved useful in understanding how it grew.Eventually, the third approach is a completion of published taxonomic works in the Silurian with theaim of providing diversity trends through analyses of these radiolarian occurrences. A biotic crisis canbe observed in the Homerian, exhibiting both high extinction and low origination rates, and may belinked with enhanced marine productivity.