Mats Eriksson

Silurian palaeobiogeography of the Ramphoprionidae (Annelida; Polychaeta) is outlined. Members of the family are reported from northern Europe (Estonia, Sweden and England), the Russian Arctic (Severnaya Zemlya), and the Canadian Arctic (Baillie-Hamilton Island), These areas were located fairly close to the palacoequator during the Silurian and a faunal exchange is indicated by the broad, intercontinental distribution of the family. A few taxa may, however, have been endemic, Ramphoprionids had long stratigraphical ranges and were generally fairly rare during the Silurian, infrequently exceeding ten per cent of the jawed polychaete faunas.