The Lower Cambrian brachiopod Kyrshabaktella and associated shelly fossils from the Harkless Formation, southern Nevada

A fauna of brachiopods and small shelly fossils from the Lower Cambrian Harkless Formation of Esmeraldina County in southern Nevada is described. The brachiopod Kyrshabaktella sp. provides the first unequivocal record of lingulids in the Lower Cambrian of the Great Basin. The shells of Kyrshabaktella sp. are fragmentary, but otherwise well preserved and an acrotretid-like columnar shell structure is demonstrated. The phosphatic tubular fossil Hyolithellus insolitus is described from North America for the first time and Sphenothallus sp. provides the oldest record of this problematic genus in Laurentian strata. Other faunal elements include two additional linguliform brachiopods, echinoderm ossicles and sponge spicules.