Revision of the Ordovician and Silurian ramphoprionid polychaetes from Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic

In this paper the Ordovician and Silurian ramphoprionids from Severnaya Zemlya (collection of Minnil & Zaslavskaya, 1985, Trudy Instituta geologii i geofiziki SO AN SSSR, 615) are revised. The confusion regarding the holotype of Pararamphoprion? nordicus Minnil & Zaslavskaya, 1985 is corrected by designation of the appropriate lectotype. Two new species are described, one of which (Pararamphoprion? sp. A) was previously included in P.? nordicus. Р.? matusevichi sp. nov. predominates over other jawed polychaetes in the Ashgillian samples, whereas in the Silurian samples ramphoprionids are found only rarely. This suggests that the role of ramphoprionids decreased after the Ordovician in Severnaya Zemlya, like it seems to have occurred in Baltoscandia. Affinities and exact generic position of the three ramphoprionids in question remain uncertain for the time being.