New brachiopod family Arzonellinidae (Terebratulida) from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of Montenegro, southern Europe, Mediterranean Province

ABSTRACT

The systematic position of the Early Jurassic brachiopod genus Arzonellina (Sulser) based on new material from Montenegro assigned to Arzonellina stachei (Bittner) and the type species Arzonellina exotica (Sulser), known from southern Switzerland, are discussed. Based on the unusual internal characters, hitherto unknown in detail, the new family Arzonellinidae is erected within the order Terebratulida. An emended diagnosis for the genus Arzonellina is given. The external and internal characters of Arzonellina stachei (Bittner) are described; the specimens came from talus blocks of white recrystallised limestone (rudstones) from Smokovac, southern Montenegro. Arzonellina was originally described from Arzo in the Southern Swiss Alps; the Dinaric Carbonate Platform of Montenegro can now be added to its palaeobiogeographic distribution, with both occurrences located on the Apulian microplate. Associated fauna at both Arzo and Smokovac point to a Sinemurian age for Arzonellina.

KEYWORDS:

• Brachiopoda
• Jurassic
• Arzonellina stachei
• new family Arzonellinidae
• Terebratellidina
• Dinaric Carbonate Platform

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Editor-in-Chief Gareth Dyke, reviewer José F. Baeza-Carratalá, University of Alicante, Spain, and reviewer Diego A. García-Ramos, University of Ferrara, Italy, for their helpful and constructive remarks that improved the manuscript. We are very grateful to Attila Vörös, Research Professor Emeritus, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, for providing insightful comments on both the original and revised versions of the manuscript. The authors are very obliged to Rajka Radoičić, Belgrade, for discussion of the geology of the area. Monika Brüggemann-Ledolter and Stjepan Ćorić, Geological Survey, Vienna, Austria, are acknowledged for photographic work and support. We appreciate the kindness of the custodian Ranko Pejović, Natural History Museum of Belgrade, who enabled access to Bešić’s collection. Many thanks to Tatiana Smirnova, Moscow State University, Russia, for comments on the identity of the brachiopods and Jörn Peckmann, Institut für Geologie, Universität Hamburg, Germany, for carbon stable isotope analysis of carbonate cement from the brachiopod coquina. MRS acknowledges support from the donors of the American Chemical Society – Petroleum Research Fund. BVR acknowledges support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.