Species of the strophomenoid brachiopodMaoristrophiahave hitherto been described only from Early Devonian strata, although Banks (in Talent & Banks, 1967) listed the genus from the Wenlockian to Ludlovian Austral Siltstone in Tasmania, and Garratt (1978, 1981) has reported Late Silurian occurrences in Victoria. That the genus appeared prior to the Devonian is confirmed by the description ofM. papilion. sp. from rocks of undoubted Wenlockian age in Canberra, Australia.