Early Middle Cambrian (Ordian) brachiopods of the Coonigan Formation, western New South Wales

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Abstract
A rich assemblage of early Middle Cambrian brachiopods from the ‘first discovery limestone’ of the Coonigan Formation, western N.S.W. contains 20 taxa (eight Articulata, 11 Inarticulata and one which cannot be assigned with certainty to either class). New articulate species are Nisusia grandis grandis, N. grandis glabra, Wimanella tricavata, Arctohedra alata, Acareorthis jelli, Cymbricia spinicostata, Austrohedra mimica and Glaphyrorthis fastigata, with the last four mentioned new genera. Inarticulate taxa include species of Trematosia and ?Kutorgina, Hadrotreta primaeva (Walcott), Micromitra nerranubawu Kruse and new species of Kleithriatreta lamellosa, Eothele granulata, Dictyonina australis, Palaeoschmidites horizontalis, Lingulella bynguanoensis, Westonia cymbricensis, and an indeterminate lingulacean; Kleithriatreta is a new genus. The enigmatic new genus and species Bynguanoia perplexa cannot be placed within either the Articulata or Inarticulata. Seven taxa are endemic, six are comparable with taxa from North America, and four with species from the U.S.S.R. The closest correlation, based on three species, is with the Pioche Shale, Nevada, which straddles the Early-Middle Cambrian boundary. The associated trilobite fauna with Redlichia and Pagetia indicates an earliest Middle Cambrian age.