Roanella, a new ?Billingselloid brachiopod from the late Cambrian Dolodrook limestones, east-central Victoria

The new brachiopod genus Roanella is described from a large collection of silicified shells collected from Upper Cambrian (Idamean) limestones in the vicinity of Roan Horse Gully in the Dolodrook River watershed. The taxon is very similar to Billingsella, but is distinguished from it by the presence of a deltidium (rather than a pseudodeltidium) and absence of dental plates. The presence of a deltidium in Roanella is unique for the Billingselloidea. The restricted facies distribution, high density clustering, limited lateral and stratigraphic extent and high disarticulation index indicate R. platystrophiodes was an opportunistic species that inhabited a high energy, shallow marine environment.