Taxonomy and paleobiogeography of the Maastrichtian cephalopods from the Abu Monqar-west Dakhla stretch, Western Desert, Egypt

ABSTRACT

The Maastrichtian sedimentary succession in the Abu Monqar-west Dakhla stretch yields rare cephalopod content. Six cephalopods, including three nautiloids and three ammonoids, are described in detail and identified. Two new species of nautiloids are erected from the study area; these are Angulithes monqarensis nov. sp. and Anglonautilus hewaidyi nov. sp. The ammonoid Sphenodiscus lobatus (Tuomey) is firstly recorded from the Maastrichtian rocks of Egypt. Paleobiogeographically, Pachydiscus (P.) neubergicus has a wide geographic distribution within the Tethyan and Boreal realms. Sphenodiscus lobatus appeared earlier in the late Campanian of North America and then migrated through shallow environments to the Southern Tethys. The Anglonautilus appeared earlier in the Hauterivian age in the Northern Tethys and then migrated into Southern Tethys, Northern America, and Asia. The distribution of Baculites ovatus at the Southern Tethyan Province is chiefly controlled by the prevailed palaeoecological factors.

KEYWORDS:

• Nautiloids
• ammonoids
• taxonomy
• palaeobiogeography
• Maastrichtian
• Egypt

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Marouf Abdelhamid (Ain Shams University) and one anonymous reviewer for their constructive criticisms and valuable comments that helped us improve the manuscript. Our thanks also extend to the Editor, Prof. Gareth Dyke, for his editorial handling. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Cairo University during the field trip. This research is partially funded by the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) under RS program, ID: 34811.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.