Taxonomic reassessment of Protovirgularia M'Coy 1850 with new examples from the Paleozoic of New Brunswick, eastern Canada

The ichnogenus Protovirgularia M'Coy 1850 is a simple, relatively narrow chevron‐shaped trace, generally possessing a median line and associated lateral appendages. It has previously been reported from several Paleozoic deep and, less commonly, Devono‐Carboniferous and Mesozoic shallow marine environments. Herein, we describe specimens of Protovirgularia from turbiditic strata of the informally named Silurian Kingsclear group and Devonian Wapske Formation of the Tobique Group from New Brunswick, eastern Canada. The morphological variation exhibited in this material suggests that P. harknessi Lapworth 1870, P. nereitarum (Richter 1871) and P. mongraensis Chiplonkar and Badve 1970 can best be regarded as synonyms of the only other ichnospecies described to date, the type P. dichotoma M'Coy 1850. An updated systematic review of P. dichotoma is provided.