Nuevos ejemplares de Protaldonaia morenica Sdzuy, 1961 (Trilobita) en el yacimiento cámbrico de El Pozuelo, sierra de Huelva

Resumo

Protaldonaia morenica is an endemic species from the Lower Cambrian of the Ossa-Morena Zone, southwestern Iberian Peninsula; being described in several localities in the provinces of Huelva and Badajoz. Initially, Sdzuy (1971) includes it within the upper fauna of the Marianian stage, together with Protolenidae, Ellipsocephalidae, and Redlichidae. Afterwards, Liñán (1984) and subsequent works pointed out Protaldonaia as an index of the middle Marianian. Finally, Liñán et al. (1993) indicate that it is a genus that can be present in both middle and upper Marianian. New specimens of P. morenica are described from El Pozuelo fossil site, in the municipality of Arroyomolinos de León, in the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park. This site is located within Herrerías Cubeta; in levels assigned to Herrerías shales. The joint presence of P. morenica with myomeric trilobites of the gena Serrodiscus and Calodiscus at El Pozuelo fossil site gives these materials an upper Marianian age. On the other hand, as this species is cited in other Cambrian sites into Ossa-Morena Zone, it allows regional correlations between different Cambrian cubetas. This work is a contribution to IGCP Project 652 “Reading geolo- gic time in Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks”.