A new Early Cretaceous articulate brachiopod from the Northwest Territories, Canada, and its paleobiogeographic significance

A new terebratellid brachiopod species,Modestella jeletzkyin. sp., is described from the Early Cretaceous of Prince Patrick Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. The occurrence extends the paleobiogeographic range ofModestellafrom northwest Europe into the northern high-latitudes of the North American continent. This new record ofModestellasuggests brachiopod dispersal between northwest Europe and North America via the East Greenland Seaway, probably during the Albian. The occurrences of two other Cretaceous terebratellid genera,AdveninaandPsilothyris, are updated. They are both homeomorphic withModestella. Advenina, from the Tethyan and Jura regions of Europe, is now recorded from the Early Cretaceous of Sardinia. The occurrence ofPsilothyrisin North America and Europe is best explained by dispersal through the opening central Atlantic Ocean, indicating the continuation of Hispanic Corridor-type faunal links established during the Jurassic.