Cyrtograptids from the Telychian (upper Llandovery) of Kinnekulle Mountain, southern Sweden

The late Llandovery graptolite fauna of the Retiolites Shales on Kinnekulle Mountain in the province of Västergötland has long been known but never illustrated or studied in detail. New collections of graptolites from an interval at the very top of the exposed succession confirm previous reports of cyrtograptids, which make the shales on Kinnekulle the youngest preserved Palaeozoic rocks in the area. The co-occurrence of Oktavites spiralis and Cyrtograptus lapworthi constrains the strata to the lower lapworthi Biozone of the upper Telychian. The associated graptolite fauna comprises numerous monograptids and Retiolites angustidens as well as Cyrtograptus kinnekullensis n. sp., characterised by its open coiling and the presence of a second-order cladium on the second thecal cladium. This early occurrence of a cyrtograptid species with a second-order cladium on Baltica matches evolutionary patterns observed in Laurentia, suggesting that the ability to grow cladia of both first and higher order evolved approximately, synchronously and at the very beginning of cyrtograptid evolution