Ordian (Cambrian) Crustacea Bradoriida of Australia

The fauna of the 'Redlichia-bearing beds' of Northern Australia, except for the occurrence of the trilobite Redlichia and the shells of Biconulites, is largely undescribed; a part of the hitherto neglected components of that fauna is the Crustacea Bradoriida, which are now described here. For the sake of a taxonomic description the need arose forEleven species of Bradoriida are described, with open nomenclature applied to two forms; the family Bradoriidae is represented by four new species of Bradoria, the Indianidae by lndota otica gen. nov., sp. nov., and Tropidiana cirrata gen. nov., sp. nov., and the new family Comptalutidae by Comptaluta gen. novo and Ophiosema gen. novo The Comptalutidae contain also some of the species described in the literature under the name of A luta. The names lndianites and Indianitidae are regarded as nomina nuda. and Aluta and Alutidae as having no recognizable material base. The Hipponicharionidae are regarded as a subjective synonym of the Beyrichonidae. The new family Svealutidae is established for forms which cannot be accommodated in any of the already established families; these forms are Svealuta, Carnarvonia, and A lutella, and not part of the taxa described here. The described species come from the Yelvertoft Beds of Queensland; their age is Ordian, the Cambrian Stage below the Templetonian and above the Lower Cambrian (Georgian), and an equivalent of the 'Protolenus zone' of authors and the Hanfordian of Matthew. Corrections are also suggested to the obsolete data of the stratigraphic distribution of Bradoriida that are prevalent in the current literature. The neozoological and palaeozoological affinities are discussed, and classifications of Crustacea pertaining to the order Bradoriida reviewed. The Bradoriida are not acceptable as an order of Ostracoda, but the structure of their carapace suggests an affinity with the contemporaneous Canadaspis.n.