Upper Ordovician conodonts from the Kalkbank of Thuringia (Germany)

The Kalkbank limestone of Thuringia, Germany, occurs within a condensed clastic-oolitic sequence lying below deposits associated with the Hirnantian (Ashgill) glaciation. Conodonts were first reported from this unit by Knüpfer in 1967 but described only as morphospecies. On the basis of a new collection of over 25000 specimens, 13 species belonging to 11 genera are described. The discovery of M elements of Amorphognathus ordovicicus and A. ventilatus sp. nov. indicates an early Ashgill age for this limestone. Sagittodontina robusta, Scabbardella altipes and Istorinus erectus are the most abundant species; Hamarodus europaeus is also well represented. Taxonomic revisions are made for the first two species. The conodont fauna has a Mediterranean Province affinity and shows close relations with those from the Ashgill of Spain, France and Libya and, to a lesser extent, of the Carnic Alps and Sardinia.