Early Caradoc Chitinozoa from Östergötland, south central Sweden

With the intention of investigating whether or not chitinozoans were eggs or egg-capsules of a contemporary echinoderm group, forty-two well-preserved cystoids were collected from a limestone ‘raft’ on the east side of Lake Vättern in the province of östergötland, Sweden After cleaning the cystoids. were dissolved, and the number of chitinozoans and composition of their assemblages were compared for each specimen with data from the surrounding rock and from the other cystoids. No positive correlation was found, but two of the nine chitinozoan species present have a higher frequency in the cystoids than in the surrounding rock. The chitinozoan fauna from this investigation is the first known from östergötland, and it indicates an early Caradoc age (lower Diplograptus multidens Zone) for the ‘raft’.