Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the late Famennian conodont genus Mashkovia

Abstract. Mashkovia is one of the provincial conodonts which developed during late Famennian time in the cratonic regions of Russia. In this study, the taxonomy of this genus is revised, based on diagnostic characters of the Pa elements, such as the morphology of the anterior part of the platform, the ornamentation and the shape of the secondary keels. As a consequence, four species, including M. silesiensis n. sp. now discovered in Upper Silesia of southern Poland, are distinguished. The apparent absence of Mashkovia from North America, Variscan Europe, Australia and Africa cannot be simply explained by using temperature or other global climatic factors as a reason for the provincialism. Currents and/or local palaeoecologic factors were probably more important in controlling the distribution of these conodonts.