Howard R. Feldman

Brachiopods from the Jurassic (Callovian) of Hamakhtesh Hagadol (Kurnub Anticline), Southern Israel

The Callovian Zohar and Matmor formations in the Negev, southern Israel, consisting of marls, shales and limestones, have yielded 13 brachiopod species (2 rhynchonellids, 11 terebratulids), referred to 12 genera, of which one genus and five species are new: Apatecosia inornata, Bihenithyris mediocostata, Digonella boylani sp. nov., Dissoria bretti sp. nov., Burmirhynchia jirbaensis, Kutchithyris landeri sp. nov., Pleuraloma triangulatum, Polyplectella debriani gen. et sp. nov., Ptyctothyris daghaniensis, Somalirhynchia africana, Striithyris saudiarabica, S. telemi sp. nov., and Zeilleria sp. The brachiopods described herein from Hamakhtesh Hagadol (Kurnub Anticline) comprise a fauna located at the northernmost part of the Indo-African Faunal Realm within the Jurassic Ethiopian Province.

Echinoderms of the Somerset Shale Member, Salem Limestone (Mississippian), in Indiana and Kentucky

The Somerset Shale Member (Mississippian: Valmeyeran) is a discontinuous shale at the base of the Salem Limestone in southern Indiana and central Kentucky. It is the only significant terrigenous unit within a thick sequence of shoaling carbonates deposited on the eastern side of the Illinois Basin over the Borden Delta siltstones. The Somerset Shale contains a diverse echinoderm fauna of blastoids (five species), crinoids (20 species), and echinoids (two species). Most of the species are known only from the Somerset or from carbonate rocks directly above and below the Somerset Shale. There remains a small number of species previously known mostly from terrigenous rocks (the Borden Delta) below the carbonates. This demonstrates that at least some of the faunal differences between the Borden crinoids and those of the overlying carbonates are the result of paleoecologic factors. The Somerset Shale may mark a useful biostratigraphic boundary defined by last occurrences of the genera Barycrinus, Cyathocrinites, and Actinocrinites and the base of the range of Batocrinus. The species Batocrinus somersetensis n. sp., Dizygocrinus calvus n. sp., and Barycrinus punctus n. sp. are described.

Accommodation succession (δA/δS) sequence stratigraphy: observational method, utility and insights into sequence boundary formation

The future of sequence stratigraphy depends on stratigraphers making observations with a common method so that physical frameworks can be clearly separated from interpretations of driving mechanisms. Depositional sequence boundary selection is a well-known controversy that could be resolved with objective recognition criteria. Accommodation succession sequence stratigraphy refines traditional methods, using sedimentary facies, facies associations, vertical stacking, stratal geometries and stratal terminations as the objective record of competing rates of accommodation change and sediment fill through time. Observations are placed in context of lateral (transgression and regression) and vertical (aggradation and degradation) movement of shoreline through time, across multiple timescales in hierarchal stacks. The repeating motif consists of a subaerial unconformity and its correlative subaqueous surface overlain in coastal settings by a basinward shift in coastal onlap and strata with progradational to aggradation stacking, then retrogradation and aggradation–progradation–degradation stacking. These stacking patterns are bounded by key surfaces, recognized by stratal terminations and characteristic vertical successions of facies. This pattern is independent of time duration or position on a sea-level curve, but incorporates data resolution, regional extent and hierarchal stacking. Examples from multiple datasets show the utility and objectivity of the method and provide insights into sequence boundary formation.

Jurassic Rhynchonellide Brachiopods from the Jordan Valley

Jurassic rhynchonellide brachiopods from the Jordan Valley are herein revised and new taxa are added to the faunal list. In this study of Jurassic rhynchonellides from Wadi Zarqa, northwestern Jordan, we recognize the following taxa: Eurysites rotundus, Cymatorhynchia quadriplicata, Daghanirhynchia triangulata, D. angulocostata, Pycnoria magna, Schizoria elongata, and Schizoria cf. intermedia. The following new taxa are described: Daghanirhynchia susanae sp. nov. and Amydroptychus markowitzi sp. nov. The Middle Jurassic Mughanniyya Formation of northwest Jordan is dominated by limestone beds. The sedimentary environment is interpreted as neritic, light, and nutrient-rich resulting in high faunal diversity. The high rhynchonellide endemism of this fauna is yet another confirmation of pronounced Middle Jurassic endemism along the southern Tethyan margin of the Ethiopian Province. Brachiopods of the Jordanian Mughanniyya Formation can be correlated with the fauna of the Aroussiah Formation in Sinai and the Zohar and Matmor formations in Southern Israel.

Taxonomy and Paleobiogeography of Late Bathonian Brachiopods from Gebel Engabashi, Northern Sinai

Abstract A brachiopod fauna of late Bathonian age recovered from the Kehailia Formation from Gebel Engabashi in northern Sinai consists of six species (two rhynchonellids and four terebratulids) referred to six genera, of which one genus and two species are new: Globirhynchia sphaerica (Cooper, 1989) new combination, Daghanirhynchia angulocostata Cooper, 1989, Ectyphoria sinaiensis new species, Cooperithyris circularis new genus and species, and new material: Avonothyris species A, and Ptyctothyris species A. The brachiopods described herein comprise a fauna located at the northern part of the Indo–African Faunal Realm within the Jurassic Ethiopian Province. They extend the geographic distribution of those taxa that show great affinity with the Jurassic brachiopod fauna of Saudi Arabia described by Cooper (1989). Differentiation of the endemic faunas that is so characteristic of many of these Ethiopian Province faunas is becoming more well-defined.

A NEW SPECIES OF COENOTHYRIS (BRACHIOPODA) FROM THE TRIASSIC (UPPER ANISIAN-LADINIAN) OF ISRAEL

Abstract Coenothyris oweni new species is described from the Lower Member (Upper Anisian-Ladinian) of the Triassic Saharonim Formation (Upper Anisian–Lower Carnian) at Har Gevanim, Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel. The Saharonim Formation was deposited under normal, calm, shallow marine conditions as part of the ingression of the Saharonim Sea. The presence of Coenothyris along with characteristic conodonts, ostracodes, foraminiferans, bivalves, cephalopods, gastropods, echinoderms and vertebrate remains is 1) indicative of the Sephardic Province; 2) diagnostic of the Middle Triassic series of Israel; and 3) important in differentiating the Sephardic Province from the Germanic Muschelkalk and Tethyan Realm faunas to the north and correlating the Triassic rocks in the Negev.

A Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) Daghanirhynchia brachiopod fauna from Jordan

A Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) brachiopod fauna from Jordan consists of seven rhynchonellid species all belonging to the genus Daghanirhynchia of which two are new: Daghanirhynchia rawyaensis and D. jordanica. Emended diagnoses are given for Daghanirhynchia daghaniensis and D. macfadyeni. Additional taxa described include Daghanirhynchia angulocostata, D. susanae and D. triangulata. Threedimensional reconstructions illustrate the internal morphology of the articulated shells for the first time in this genus. The material studied herein was collected from Wadi Zarqa in northwestern Jordan, almost due north of the Dead Sea, and to the east of the Rift Valley. Most species seem to be geographically restricted within the Jurassic Ethiopian Province, however specimens from Somalia and Ethiopia are larger in size than in other parts of the Province and shell size increases in stratigraphically younger specimens. The occurrence of Daghanirhynchia in India is the only appearance of the genus outside the Ethiopian Province.

Talexirhynchia , a new rhynchonellid genus from the Jurassic Ethiopian Province of Jordan

A new genus and species of a rhynchonellide brachiopod from the Jurassic of Jordan, Talexirhynchia kadishi gen. et sp. nov., is described. The specimens were collected from the Mughanniyya Formation (Callovian) of Wadi Zarqa from alternating claystones, siltstones, and marly limestones with minor dolomite, dolomitic limestone, and coquinas that represent the upper part of the Jurassic sequence in Jordan. The environment of deposition was neritic; food supply and light were unlikely to have been limiting factors. The specimens are related to Ethiopian-Somali taxa and are consistent with the endemism that characterizes the rhynchonellide brachiopod faunas of the Jurassic Ethiopian Province. Specimens of Talexirhynchia lived with the umbo in an upright position directed toward the seafloor or with the dorsal valve slightly above the ventral valve. Juveniles were attached to the seafloor by the pedicle; carbonate shell material as well as other debris scattered on a limy substrate, such as shells and rocks, could have served as an attachment site for juveniles. With increasing growth, the loss of the pedicle and a semi-infaunal position resulted in an increasingly incurved ventral umbo that concealed the foramen.KurzfassungEine neue rhynchonellide Brachiopoden-Gattung und––Art, Talexirhynchia kadishi gen. et sp. nov., aus dem Jura von Jordan wird beschrieben. Die Exemplare wurden in der Mughanniyya Formation (Callovium) von Wadi Zarqa gesammelt und kommen in abwechselnden Lagen von Tonsteinen, Siltsteinen und mergeligen Kalken mit geringen Anteilen an Dolomiten, dolomitischen Kalken und Coquinas vor, die die jüngsten jurassischen Ablagerungen Jordaniens repräsentieren. Die Schichten wurden in neritischer Fazies abgelagert, die wahrschein reich an Nahrungsangebot und Licht durchflutet war. Die gesammelten Exemplare sind mit äthiopischen-somalischen Taxa verwandt und spiegeln den Endemismus wieder, der die rhynchonellide Brachiopodenfauna der jurassischen Äthiopischen Provininz charakterisiert. Vertreter von Talexirhynchia leben in senkrechter Position mit der Dorsalklappe gering höher als die Ventralklappe und dem Wirbel zum Meeresboden hin gerichtet. Juvenile Exemplare waren mit dem Stiel an Schalenmaterial und anderem Schuttdebris, z.B. Schalen oder Steine, der auf dem Meeresboden verteilt vorlag, festgehaftet. Mit zunehmender Größe änderte sich die Lebensweise in eine semi-infaunale Position, die zu einem Verlust des Stieles und eines ständig weiter gebogenen ventralen Wirbels bis hin zu vollständigen Bedeckung des Stiellochs, führte.

Correlation of the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Formations Across the Dead Sea Rift

We have correlated the highest of the Middle Jurassic units exposed on both sides of the Dead Sea Rift (DSR) in Jordan, Israel, and adjacent Egypt. Because the scarcity of cosmopolitan ammonites renders correlation of these units within the standard biostratigraphic time scale difficult, we compared the brachiopod and molluscan faunas in order to constrain the ages of Jurassic formations in the Levant. The Callovian Mughanniyya Formation in the Zarqa–Arda area of northwest Jordan, east of the DSR, is compared with the Zohar and Matmor formations of the Negev (Israel) and Gebel Minshera (Sinai, Egypt), west of the DSR, as well as with the Arroussiah Formation of Gebel El-Maghara (northern Sinai, Egypt). The Mughanniyya Formation is correlative with the lowermost part of the Zohar Formation in the Negev, which is coeval with the lowermost part of the Arroussiah Formation in Sinai (Egypt).

Harnessing an Effective Geoscience Curriculum for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

There is a growing awareness of the need to help individuals with autism survive the rigors of the classroom. On average, one in 68 students is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) annually (Autism Speaks: “Facts about Autism,” n.d.). ASD is a large spectrum, ranging from nonverbal individuals who respond minimally to intervention to individuals who “lose their diagnosis” (Sarris, 2016). A loss of diagnosis occurs when individuals are nearly indistinguishable from their peers; some individuals even use their savant-like qualities to compensate for their challenges (Winter-Messiers and Herr, 2007; Wisconsin Medical Society, 2016). ASD causes challenges with communication, knowledge of socially appropriate behaviors, and sensory regulation (Autism Speaks: “DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria,” n.d.). Individuals with autism are said to attempt to cope by engaging in selfstimulatory behaviors. These are behaviors that provide sensory input, which include rocking, flapping hands, and rubbing hands. These challenges can be mitigated when building on the strengths of individuals with ASD, which can include science (Education Insider, 2015). One area of difficulty for students with autism is the hidden curriculum—the accepted attitudes and behaviors not part of the formal curriculum but necessary for social interactions (Myles and Simpson, 2001). Teachers can build on areas of strength while utilizing science to teach the hidden curriculum.