Late Ordovician Articulate Brachiopods from the Red River and Stony Mountain Formations, Southern Manitoba

Part of a comparative study of the biodiversity changes of the Late Ordovician - Early Silurian brachiopods in continental-margin basins and inland seas of Canada, this study of the brachiopod faunas helps to understand many aspects of the climatic changes and their effects on marine environments far from the site of the glaciation.

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This monograph is part of an ongoing comparative study of the biodiversity changes of the Late Ordovician - Early Silurian brachiopods (the most abundant and diverse group of shelly benthos at that time) in continental-margin basins and inland seas of Canada. Study of the brachiopod faunas helps to understand many aspects (duration, extent, intensity, and timing) of the climatic changes and their effects on marine environments far from the site of the glaciation. The Late Ordovician carbonate deposits now preserved in the Williston Basin contain a rich and diverse benthic shelly fauna that lived in the ancient equatorial epicontinental seas just before the Late Ordovician mass extinction event, and this work deals with the taxonomy, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and paleobiogeography of the brachiopod fauna. The authors described a total of 16 genera and 22 species and discussed their ancient living environments and faunal provincialism.