A pelagic myodocopid ostracod from the Silurian of Arctic Russia

The Silurian myodocope ostracod Richteria migrans is reported from Arctic Russia, from Kotel'ny Island (New Siberian Islands) and the Taimyr Peninsula in strata of Ludfordian (late Ludlow, Late Silurian) age. These occurrences extend the biogeographical range of R. migrans from tropical to mid latitudes of the Early Palaeozoic Rheic Ocean in the palaeo-Southern Hemisphere, into subtropical regions of the palaeo-Northern Hemisphere on, or adjacent to, the Siberia Palaeocontinent. The new records reinforce the idea that R. migrans had wide dispersal capacity and probably possessed a pelagic lifestyle. It also endorses the use of R. migrans as a biostratigraphical marker fossil for the Ludfordian Stage, Ludlow Series, Upper Silurian.