Abstract The distribution of all known Cambrian echinoderm taxa, encompassing both articulated specimens and taxonomically diagnostic isolated ossicles, is documented for the first time. The database described by 2011 comprises 188 species recorded from 65 formations from around the world. Formations that have yielded articulated echinoderms are unequally distributed in space and time. Only Laurentia and West Gondwana provide reasonably complete records at the resolution of Stage. The review of the biogeographical distributions of the eight major echinoderm clades shows that faunas from Laurentia and Northeast Gondwana (China and Korea) are distinct from those of West Gondwana and Southeast Gondwana (Australia); other regions are too poorly sampled to make firm palaeobiogeographical statements. Analysis of alpha diversity (species per formation) shows that diversity rose initially to Cambrian Stage 5, declined into Guzhangian and Paibian before returning to Stage 5 levels by the end of the Cambrian. This pattern is replicated in Laurentia and West Gondwana. We show that taxonomically diagnostic ossicles found in isolation typically occur significantly earlier than the first articulated specimens of the same taxa and provide important information on the first occurrence and palaeobiogeographical distribution of key taxa, and of the phylum as a whole. Supplementary material: Articulated Cambrian echinoderms and Isolated plates of Cambrian echinoderms are provided at: http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18668

Abstract The Cambrian (c. 545-488 Ma) is probably the most poorly studied and least documented of all Phanerozoic systems in Central Europe. Cambrian deposits in Central Europe are generally of limited extent, often largely covered by vegetation and slightly to strongly metamorphosed so that data on depositional environments and palaeogeographic history are very limited. Regional differences in the tectonic and resulting sedimentary history as well as faunal characteristics indicate a melange of plates and terranes in a configuration that differs extremely from their original spatial distribution. Despite considerable interest in the Cambrian on a global scale following recognition of the ‘Cambrian Explosion’, and various areas with peculiar regional and faunal aspects (e.g. Burgess Shale, Chengjiang, Kaili), there has been a lack of detailed and general research on the Cambrian of Central Europe during the last two decades. Relevant studies have concentrated on a few areas such as Lusatia, the Holy Cross Mountains, or the Barrandian area in Bohemia. The most relevant surface exposures are found in Bohemia, the Franconian Forest area in Bavaria, in western Thuringia, in the Lusatia area in Saxony, the Holy Cross Mountains of southern Poland, and in the Brabant Massif of Belgium (Fig. 4.1 ). These outcrops are of relatively limited extent, but some yield important fossil assemblages. In addition, Cambrian strata are known from a number of drillholes such as in the Delitzsch-Torgau-Doberlug Syncline of NW Saxony, Upper Silesia, and a large area in north and east Poland, which is part of the East European Platform. Our

Fossiliferous Early Cambrian strata from central Europe are known from two fragmentary preserved units situated in eastern Germany: the Görlitz syncline and the Torgau-Doberlug syncline. The fossil assemblages from both regions and their geological framework are presented. The taxonomic content, the internal structure, and the biostratigraphic positions of the containing assemblages are quite different. Trilobites and other shelly fossils (from Görlitz syncline) and archaeocyathans (from Torgau-Doberlug syncline) show strong relationships to equivalent faunas in Morocco, Spain, and France. Further, there are some indications for relationships to the Far East. The German faunas indicate very active faunal exchange within the peri-Gondwanan realm and probably over longer distances along the Gondwana margin, too. Together with the nearly shelf-wide consistent sedimentary facies patterns, consequently, they contradict the model of local and isolated basins for the areas of deposition. The current patchy geographical distribution of Cambrian sediments in central and southern Europe is interpreted as a phenomenon of (1) regionally different sedimentation rates on the Gondwanan shelf (probably by local origination of open intra-shelf basins caused by a general rifting process), and of (2) Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician different-scaled uplift and denudation of parts of the shelf. The content, the coinciding evolutionary patterns, and the paleogeographical relationships of the Cambrian faunas suggest that separation and evolution of terranes in central Perigondwana had not started before the end of the Cambrian or the beginning of the Early Ordovician. For Early and Middle Cambrian times at least, a slightly differentiated shelf-configuration of Perigondwana without isolated areas (terranes) fits best with the paleontological and sedimentological data.