Abstract
LOWER Palaeozoic faunal “provinces” in the northern hemisphere were controlled principally by the Appalachian/Caledonian orogen. Tuzo Wilson postulated a proto-Atlantic ocean closing during the Lower Palaeozoic so that the “American” and “European” landmasses collided during the Middle Palaeozoic1. Dewey remarked that faunas were of great potential value for timing this contraction, which in his model finished during the Devonian2. There is a differentiation of invertebrates into two or more markedly distinct faunas in the early Ordovician, which later merged3. This Wilson and Dewey related to closure along the length of the orogen.
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References
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TURNER, S. Timing of the Appalachian/Caledonian Orogen Contraction. Nature 227, 90 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227090a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/227090a0
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