Late Jurassic (Oxfordian‒Kimmeridgian) brachiopods of the El Bayadh Area (Central Saharan Atlas, Algeria): biostratigraphy, stratigraphic revision, Paleobiogeography and paleoecology

ABSTRACT

The Upper Jurassic rocks of the El Bayadh Area (Central Saharan Atlas, Algeria) are composed of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks, which were roughly assigned to a Kimmeridgian-Hauterivian age in previous studies. Based on our studies, the succession can be subdivided into five new formations; from base to top: the Theniet Et-Temar, Ksel, Laguremi, Boualem, and the Sfissifa formations. Brachiopod faunas have been recorded from two levels. The lower one is located in the Theniet Et-Temar Formation, and the upper one in the Sfissifa Formation. Two brachiopod species Lacunosella (Lacunosella) arolica and Moeschia alata from the first level and Xestosina arguta from the second level have been recorded for the first time not only in Algeria but also in Africa. Based on the new findings, the age of the studied section can be restricted to the middle Oxfordian at the base and to the upper Kimmeridgian at the top. The stratigraphic successions between the two levels are nearly barren except for dinosaur footprints, which were tentatively assigned to a Lower Cretaceous age by previous workers. However, this succession can be attributed to an upper Oxfordian-lower Kimmeridgian age now based on its brachiopod faunas.

KEYWORDS:

• Biostratigraphy
• Moeshia alata
• Xestosina arguta
• Lacunosella (Lacunosella) arolica

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the reviewers Michael R. Sandy, Bujtor László, and an anonymous reviewer for their very helpful and constructive remarks. We are also grateful to Diego A. García-Ramos (University of Vienna) for helpful suggestions and for providing literature. We also would like to thank Dr. Roukh Zine el Abidine (Oran 2 university) for help. The research was supported both by the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (Programme National Exceptionnel-PNE 2019-2020) (to CYM) and by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Project No. 176015 (grant to BVR).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.