Late Famennian rhynchonellides (Brachiopoda) of northeast Iran

ABSTRACT

The late Famennian Sarcheshmeh Member of the Khoshyeilagh Formation contains a sizeable rhynchonellide component comprised of eight genera and ten species, including Golestanirhynchus golestanicus sp. nov. Petasmaria sartenaeri sp. nov. Tilabadirhynchus azadshahrensis gen. et sp. nov. Tilabadirhynchus qeshlaqensis gen. et sp. nov. and Megalopterorhynchus chanakchiensis giganteus subsp. nov. The characters of brachiopod biostratigraphical distribution in the Sarcheshmeh Member and correlation with conodont biozonation suggest that Megalopterorhynchus chanakchiensis giganteus does not cross the lower boundary of the Bispathodus ultimus Zone, while Araratella anatolica is probably confined to it. The pugnacoidean genus Petasmaria is reported for the first time outside of North America. The broad paleobiogeographic affinities of the late Fammenian rhynchonellide assemblages from the Sarcheshmeh Member of the Alborz Region with the contemporaneous brachiopod faunas of Central Iran, Afghanistan and Transcaucasia corroborate the well-established pattern of increasing cosmopolitanism of the brachiopod faunas towards the end of the Devonian Period.

KEYWORDS:

• Brachiopoda
• Rhynchonellida
• Devonian
• Famennian
• Iran
• Alborz

Acknowledgments

The research was carried out under the state order of the Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (DPMGI SB RAS), project FUFG-2024-0005. The authors are deeply grateful to Ya. Baranova for help in preparing the graphics and Dr. Li Qiao for help in a search for the literature.

We are grateful to the referees … for their helpful comments and suggestions, which greatly improved the manuscript.

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