Abstract A review of all currently known Ordovician trilobites with soft parts described or figured from West-Gondwana, European peri-Gondwana and Avalonia shows remains of the digestive system in 19 species. In comparison, remains of antennae and/or walking legs are known only in five species. Soft parts are known in Asaphidae, Bathycheilidae, Calymenidae, Cheiruridae, Dalmanitidae, Harpidae, Lichidae, Nileidae, Odontopleuridae and Trinucleidae. Exceptionally preserved trilobites originate from the Late Tremadocian Mílina Formation and Fezouata Shale, Middle Darriwilian Šárka and Llanfallteg formations, early Sandbian Tafilalt and Letná Konservat-Lagerstätten and Katian Bohdalec Formation. Levels containing exceptionally preserved trilobites in these units are characterized by prevailing fine-grained sediments with the exception of the Early Sandbian Lower Tafilalt and Letná Lagerstätten.

Abstract During recent studies of the Basal Choteč Event (BCE) at its type locality (Na Škrábku Quarry at Choteč Village, Prague Basin of the Barrandian area, Czech Republic) and selected sections of time-equivalent strata in the Appalachian Basin (USA), palynomorphs and dacryoconarids have proven responsive to changing environmental conditions. To date, there have been no detailed reports of dacryoconarids from the Appalachian Basin (AB) and none of palynomorphs from Bohemia or elsewhere. Palynomorphs of the Barrandian area comprise a more or less monospecific assemblage of prasinophycean algae interpreted here to represent an ecological epibole. Mazuelloids and scolecodonts are also present, whereas acritarchs, spores and chitinozoans are accessory components. Prasinophytes also predominate in coeval strata of the Appalachian Basin’s northern region, whereas a chitinozoan species and morphotypes possibly assignable to fungi abound in the central region. Scolecodonts and acritarchs are regionally variable throughout the interval. The former are rare in the central region of the basin but are ubiquitous and sometimes abundant in the northern region. Dacryoconarids of the Appalachian Basin are also regionally variable. The dacryoconarid fauna of the northern region, however, descended from a previous Emsian fauna that diversified during the BCE and subsequently functioned as the foundation of the upper Eifelian faunas, while dacryoconarids of the central region represent an incursion epibole of Old World forms that entered the basin at the onset of the event interval and became extinct at its close. Among the dacryoconarids there are key taxa that serve as excellent biostratigraphic markers to identify the BCE in the Appalachian Basin. In both the Prague and Appalachian basins, the BCE occurs near the maximum transgression of the Devonian Ic sequence. Additional faunal changes are found in the Appalachian Basin leading up to the main body of the event.

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 Central Europe consists of a complex mosaic of more or less independent terranes with varying tectonometamorphic histories, usually also of different lithological compositions and protolith, and thus it is reasonable to suppose that the majority of these blocks have experienced somewhat different palaeogeographical evolution. The present terrane juxtaposition has been interpreted in general as a result of the Variscan collision of peri-Gondwanan and peri-Baltic derived terranes, with Gondwana on one side and Baltica and/or Laurentia on the other side. However, reconstruction of the pre-Variscan development and mutual palaeogeographical relationships remains a major challenge of interpretation.

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

Abstract The Ordovician outcrops of central Europe belong to various areas with, in general, a very complex tectonic evolution. In this chapter, we review the localities that were attributed to peri-Gondwanan terranes. We do not therefore include a detailed description of areas attributed to the Baltica palaeocontinent (Denmark, southern Sweden, Baltic States, northeastern Poland). Whereas the northwestern part of Central Europe belonged, during the Ordovician, to the eastern part of the microcontinent of Avalonia (Belgium, western and northern Germany, possibly northwestern Poland), the outcrop areas of the Rhenohercynian, Saxothuringian and Moldanubian zones have mostly been assigned to Gondwana-derived terranes (such as, in palaeogeogra-phical terms, Armorica or the Armorican Terrane Assemblage (ATA) and Perunica) or to sedimentary basins in the vicinity of the Gondwanan supercontinent. Our review includes the Avalo-nian sequences of Belgium in the northwestern part of the investigated area of Central Europe, continues into western, northern and eastern Germany and extends into northwestern and southern Poland. The review of the Ordovician of the Saxothuringian and the Moldanubian zones includes the outcrop areas of southeastern Germany, the Czech Republic and southwestern Poland. The Ordovician from the pre-Variscan parts of the Alpine mountain chains of Switzerland, Austria and northern Italy are also briefly discussed. In terms of stratigraphy, the British Ordovician series and stages were generally used as a standard in most parts of western and central Europe. However, in the last two decades, significant progress has been made in Ordovician series and stage boundary definitions on a global scale. A tripartite division of