Berabichia Geyer 1990

Genus Berabichia Geyer, 1990

TYPE SPECIES. — Berabichia vertumnia Geyer, 1990, from the Lemdad Formation (Cambrian Series 2, Sectigena Zone) in the Lemdad Syncline, High Atlas, Morocco, OD.

REMARKS

Berabichia was introduced by Geyer (1990) for three species from the Anti-Atlas and High Atlas of Morocco, i.e. B. vertumnia, the type species, B. stenometopa Geyer, 1990 and B. inopinata Geyer, 1990, and six additional morphotypes in open nomenclature. Berabichia inopinata, differing from most of the remaining Moroccan taxa included in Berabichia in a rather homogenous overall convexity of the cephalon (Geyer 1990), was subsequently transferred to the genus Epichalnipsus Geyer, Popp, Weidner & Förster, 2004 (Geyer et al. 2004). A suggestion was made (Jell & Adrain 2003: 348, 436) that Berabichia is a junior subjective synonym of Ptychoparopsis

A

1.1

coefficient

1

allometric

0.9

B C D A1–B B

1.1

coefficient 1

allometric

0.9

0.8

K1 K (J–K1)/2 L

Hupé, 1953. However, as pointed out by Geyer (1990), Ptychoparopsis is an unrecognizable taxon. Thus, Berabichia and Ptychoparopsis cannot be synonymized because no direct equalization has ever been proposed (G. Geyer, pers. comm.).

The Berabichia group includes also Chorbusulina wilkesi Palmer & Gatehouse, 1972 and Chorbusulina subdita Palmer & Gatehouse, 1972 from the Lower Cambrian of the Argentina Range, Antarctica; Proampyx rotundatus (Kiaer, 1917) from the Lower Cambrian of Sweden; and Berabichia erratica Geyer, Popp, Weidner & Förster, 2004 from Pleistocene erratic boulders collected in a gravel pit in northern Germany (Palmer & Gatehouse 1972; Geyer 1990; Palmer & Rowell 1995; Geyer et al. 2004). Geyer (1990: 79)

A B 1.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 -0.5 –0.5 –1 –1 –1.5 -1.5 –1.5 –1 –0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 –1.5 –1 –0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 C D 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 –0.5 -0.5 –1 –1 –1.5 –1 –0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 –1.5 –1 –0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 E 1 0.5 0 –0.5 –1 –1.5 –1 –0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

suggested that Strenuaeva kiaeri Samsonowicz, 1959 (Samsonowicz 1959b: pl. 1, fig. 16a-c; Ellipsocephalus kiaeri of Orłowski 1985: 239, textfig. 7, pl. 7, fig. 2) from the Protolenus-Issafeniella Zone of the HCM can be tentatively assigned to Berabichia; however, the only known speci- men is strongly effaced, has very shallow lateral and axial furrows and might represent a tectonic variant of Issafeniella orlowinensis (Samsonowicz, 1959b) from the same interval (see Żylińska & Masiak 2007 and Żylińska & Szczepanik 2009 for comparison).