Salterella

{{Short description|Extinct genus of shelled animals}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Geological range|Early Cambrian}} | image = Salterella pulchella.png | image_caption = ''S. pulchella''<ref name="Walcott1886"/> | image2 = Salterella_life_restoration.png | image2_caption = Life restoration of ''Salterella'' as a cnidarian | taxon = Salterella | authority = Billings, 1861<ref name="Billings1861"/> | type_species = †''Salterella rugosa'' (= ''Serpulites maccullochi'' Murchison, 1859) | type_species_authority = Billings, 1861 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = {{Bold species list | †S. conulata | Clark, 1924 | †S. maccullochi | (Murchison, 1859) }} }}

'''''Salterella''''' is an enigmatic Cambrian genus with a small, conical, calcareous shell that appears to be septate,<ref name="LippsSylvester1968"/> but is rather filled with stratified laminar deposits.<ref name="YochelsonFlowerWebers1973"/> The shell contains grains of sediment, which are obtained selectively (with a preference for denser grains) by a manner also observed in foraminifera.<ref name="Peel2016"/> The genus was established by Elkanah Billings in 1861, and was named after the English palaeontologist John William Salter.<ref name="Billings1861"/>

The genus is known from multiple locations worldwide, such as Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec in Canada,<ref name="Yochelson1970"/><ref name="Skovsted2003"/> Svalbard,<ref name="LauritzenYochelson1982"/> the Scottish Highlands<ref name="Yochelson1983"/> and Argentina.<ref name="Astini2004"/>

The related fossil genus ''Volborthella'' was formerly placed in synonymy with ''Salterella'' by Ellis L. Yochelson in 1983, due to the similarities between the two genera (though ''Volborthella'' notably lacks an outer calcareous shell).<ref name="Yochelson1983"/> However, ''Volborthella'' was later accepted as a separate genus again by Yochelson & Kisselev in 2003.<ref name="YochelsonKisselev2003"/> Both genera are currently placed in the Salterellidae family in the phylum Agmata.

A 2025 study suggested that agmatans including ''Salterella'' represent a group of cnidarians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vayda |first=Prescott J. |last2=Xiao |first2=Shuhai |last3=Keller |first3=Noah D. |last4=Hagen |first4=Amy P. I. |last5=Strauss |first5=Justin V. |last6=Hagadorn |first6=James W. |last7=Lonsdale |first7=Mary C. |last8=Selly |first8=Tara |last9=Schiffbauer |first9=James D. |date=2025-10-13 |title=A Cnidarian affinity for Salterella and Volborthella: implications for the evolution of shells |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022336025101649/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2025.10164 |issn=0022-3360|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Species== At least two species of ''Salterella'' are known: * †'''''Salterella conulata''''' Clark, 1924:<ref>{{cite journal|last=Clark|first=Thomas H.|year=1924|title=The Paleontology of the Beekmantown series at Levis, Quebec|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32508952|journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology|volume=10|issue=41|pages=1–136}}</ref> A species that is widespread in eastern North America.<ref name="Yochelson1970"/> * †'''''Salterella maccullochi''''' (Murchison, 1859) (Synonyms: ''S. mexicana'' Lochman, 1952; ''S. expansa'' Poulsen, 1927; ''S. rugosa'' Billings, 1861, ''Serpulites maccullochi'' Murchison, 1859)<ref name="Yochelson1983"/><ref name="Astini2004"/>

The following species placed in the genus are poorly known:<ref>{{cite report|last=Yochelson|first=Ellis L.|year=1981|chapter=A Survey of ''Salterella'' (Phylum Agmata)|editor-last=Taylor|editor-first=Michael E.|title=Short papers for the Second International Symposium on the Cambrian System, 1981|chapter-url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1981/0743/report.pdf|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|pages=244–248|doi=10.3133/ofr81743|hdl=2027/uc1.31822008867749|hdl-access=free}}</ref> * †''Salterella pulchella'' Billings, 1861<ref name="Billings1861"/> * †''Salterella acervulosa'' Resser & Howell, 1938: A species that is abundant in the Kinzers Formation in Pennsylvania, but specimens of it are not well preserved. * †''Salterella curvata'' Shaler & Foerste, 1888: A species known only from the Hoppin Formation in Massachusetts. It was described from a single specimen, which has been lost.

The following species are doubtfully placed in the genus: * ''Salterella'' (?) ''orientalis'' Kobayashi, 1935:<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kobayashi|first=T.|year=1935|title=The Cambro-Ordovician formations and fauna of South Chosen. Palaeontology. Part III. Cambrian faunas of South Chosen with a special study on the Cambrian trilobite genera and families|url=http://umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DKoseibu/pdf/Ref_0089_.pdf|journal=Journal of the Faculty of Science (Imperial University of Tokyo), Section II|volume=4|pages=49–344}}</ref> A species described from a single specimen found in South Korea. Associated with ''Obolella'' cf. ''asiatica'' and a fragment of a trilobite (possibly ''Redlichia'').

Other: * ''Salterella howitti'' Chapman, 1923: Found in Phosphate Hill Formation, Victoria, Australia

===Former species=== The following species were formerly placed in ''Salterella'', and have since been moved to other genera: * †''"Salterella" obtusa'' Billings, 1861:<ref name="Billings1861"/> This Middle Cambrian species was moved to the genus ''Hyolithes'' d'Eichwald, 1840, and renamed ''Hyolithes billingsi'' Walcott, 1886.<ref name="Walcott1886"/> It was later moved again to ''Linevitus'' Syssoiev, 1958. * †''"Salterella" billingsi'' Safford, 1869: A Middle Ordovician species of ''Salterella'' from the Murfreesboro Limestone formation in Tennessee described by James M. Safford in 1869. However, T. H. Clark considered it distinct from other ''Salterella'' fossils, creating the genus ''Polylopia'' Clark, 1925 to encompass it.<ref name="Yochelson1968"/> * †''"Salterella" hardmani'' Etheridge ''in'' Foord, 1890:<ref>{{cite journal|last=Foord|first=A. H.|year=1890|title=Description of Fossils from the Kimberley District, Western Australia|journal=Geological Magazine|volume=7|issue=3|pages=98–106|doi=10.1017/S0016756800189939|bibcode=1890GeoM....7...98F}}</ref> This Middle Cambrian species was described from the Ord Basin of Northern Territory, Australia. It was moved to the genus ''Biconulites'' Teilhard, 1931.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Spath|first=L. F.|year=1936|title=So-called ''Salterella'' from the Cambrian of Australia|journal=Geological Magazine|volume=73|issue=10|pages=433–440|doi=10.1017/S0016756800095273|bibcode=1936GeoM...73..433S}}</ref> Much later, the genus ''Guduguwan'' Kruse, 1990 was created to contain it.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kruse|first=P. D.|year=1996|title=Hyolith guts in the Cambrian of northern Australia – turning hyolithomorphs upside down|journal=Lethaia|volume=29|issue=3|pages=213–217|doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.1996.tb01651.x}}</ref> * †''"Salterella" planoconvexa'' Tate, 1892: A species described from South Australia. It belongs in Hyolitha.

==Thin sections== Thin sections (plain transmitted light) of ''Salterella'' from "The Early Cambrian Fossil ''Salterella conulata'' Clark in Eastern North America", collected from the Vintage Dolomite of Pennsylvania.<ref name="Yochelson1970"/> See image pages for detailed captions. <gallery heights="240px" mode="packed"> File:Thin sections of Salterella conulata Clark Yel00004.jpg File:Thin sections of Salterella conulata Clark Yel00005.jpg </gallery>

==See also== * Volborthella

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Walcott1886">{{Cambrian contribution 2}}</ref>

<ref name="Billings1861">{{cite book|last=Billings|first=E.H.|year=1861|chapter=On some new or little known species of lower Silurian fossils from the Potsdam Group (Primordial zone)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwsKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17 |title=Palaeozoic Fossils, containing descriptions and figures of new or little known species of organic remains from the Silurian rocks, 1861–1865|volume=1|pages=1–18|place=Montreal, London, New York & Paris|publisher=Dawson Brothers & Ballière}}</ref>

<ref name="LippsSylvester1968">{{Cite journal|last1=Lipps|first1=J. H.|last2=Sylvester|first2=A. G.|year=1968|title=The Enigmatic Cambrian Fossil ''Volborthella'' and Its Occurrence in California|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=42|issue=2|pages=329–336|jstor=1302218}}</ref>

<ref name="YochelsonFlowerWebers1973">{{cite journal | last1 = Yochelson | first1 = E. L. | last2 = Flower | first2 = R. H. | last3 = Webers | first3 = G. F. | title = The bearing of the new Late Cambrian monoplacophoran genus ''Knightoconus'' upon the origin of the Cephalopoda | journal = Lethaia | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 275–309 | year = 1973 | doi = 10.1111/j.1502-3931.1973.tb01199.x }}</ref>

<ref name="Peel2016">{{cite journal|last=Peel|first=John S.|title=Anatase and ''Hadimopanella'' selection by ''Salterella'' from the Kap Troedsson formation (Cambrian Series 2) of North Greenland|journal=GFF|volume=139|issue=1|pages=70–74|year=2016|doi=10.1080/11035897.2016.1227365|s2cid=132731070}}</ref>

<ref name="Yochelson1970">{{cite journal|first=Ellis L.|last=Yochelson|year=1970|title=The Early Cambrian Fossil ''Salterella conulata'' Clark in Eastern North America|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0683b/report.pdf|journal=United States Geological Survey Professional Paper|volume=683-B|pages=1–10}}</ref>

<ref name="Skovsted2003">{{cite journal|last=Skovsted|first=Christian B.|year=2003|title=Unusually preserved ''Salterella'' from the Lower Cambrian Forteau Formation of Newfoundland|journal=GFF|volume=125|issue=1|pages=17–22|doi=10.1080/11035890301251017|s2cid=129203738}}</ref>

<ref name="LauritzenYochelson1982">{{cite journal|last1=Lauritzen|first1=Ørnulf|last2=Yochelson|first2=Ellis L.|year=1982|title=''Salterella rugosa'' (Early Cambrian: Agmata) on Nordaustlandet and Spitsbergen, Svalbard|journal=Polar Research|volume=1982|issue=1|pages=5–16|doi=10.3402/polar.v1982i1.6996|doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name="Yochelson1983">{{cite journal|last=Yochelson|first=E.L.|year=1983|title=''Salterella'' (Early Cambrian: Agmata) from the Scottish Highlands|url=https://www.palass.org/sites/default/files/media/publications/palaeontology/volume_26/vol26_part2_pp253-260.pdf|journal=Palaeontology|volume=26|pages=253–260}}</ref>

<ref name="Astini2004">{{cite journal|first1=Ricardo A.|last1=Astini|first2=William A.|last2=Thomas|first3=Ellis L.|last3=Yochelson|year=2004|title=''Salterella'' in the Argentine Precordillera: an Early Cambrian palaeobiogeographic indicator of Laurentian affinity|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume=213|issue=1–2|pages=125–132|doi=10.1016/s0031-0182(04)00369-4|bibcode=2004PPP...213..125A}}</ref>

<ref name="YochelsonKisselev2003">{{cite journal|last1=Yochelson|first1=Ellis L.|last2=Kisselev|first2=Gennadii N.|year=2003|title=Early Cambrian ''Salterella'' and ''Volborthella'' (Phylum Agmata) re‐evaluated|journal=Lethaia|volume=36|issue=1|pages=8–20|doi=10.1080/00241160310001254}}</ref>

<ref name="Yochelson1968">{{cite journal|first=Ellis L.|last=Yochelson|year=1968|title=On the nature of ''Polylopia''|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0593f/report.pdf|journal=United States Geological Survey Professional Paper|volume=593-F|pages=1–7}}</ref> }}

Category:Prehistoric animal genera Category:Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera Category:Paleozoic life of Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Paleozoic life of Quebec Category:Taxa named by Elkanah Billings Category:Fossil taxa described in 1861