Bittnerula Hall and Clarke, and the Evolution of Cementation in the Brachiopoda

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Abstract
A new specimen of the rare spiriferide brachiopod Bittnerula zitteli (Bittner), from the St. Cassian beds (Triassic) of the Italian Alps, has a well-preserved ventral umbo with a small sub-apical pedicle foramen and no cicatrix of attachment. Bittner's interpretation of the genus, as attached by cementation, is therefore rejected. There is now no authenticated case of cementation attachment in any spiriferide brachiopod, or in any articulate brachiopod outside the Strophomenida. The evolutionary history of cementation, and the affinities of the problematical Thecideacea, are discussed briefly in the light of this discovery.

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