Abstract
From the eastern part of the Tafilalt (Anti-Atlas, Morocco), rich assemblages of ammonoids of the Gattendorfia-Eocanites Genozone are described. The detailed investigation of an outcrop near Mfis in the south-eastern Tafilalt yielded a diverse fauna with 24 species, of which 13 are new. The genus Weyerella n. gen. is newly erected with Weyerella protecta n. sp. as type species. Furthermore, the following new species are described: Paragattendorfia aboussalamae n. sp., Acutimitoceras hollardi n. sp., Acutimitoceras posterum n. sp., Acutimitoceras mfisense n. sp., Acutimitoceras occidentale n. sp., Imitoceras oxydentale n. sp., Kazakhstania nitida n. sp., Zadelsdorfia debouaaensis n. sp., Weyerella minor n. sp., Eocanites simplex n. sp., Eocanites rtbeckeri n. sp., and Eocanites dkorni n. sp. The state of preservation of the ammonoids as limonitic steinkern specimens permits a detailed study of sutures and conch ontogeny.
Highlights
During the transition from the Devonian into the Carboniferous a dramatic turnover of pelagic faunas took place
The species differs from Mimimitoceras varicosum (Schindewolf, 1923) in the wider adventive lobe, which is very narrow in that species and in the slightly slender conch shape
Acutimitoceras sensu stricto was limited to species with acute venter and evolute inner whorls, which were regarded as ancestors of Voehringerites Manger, 1971
Summary
During the transition from the Devonian into the Carboniferous a dramatic turnover of pelagic faunas took place. In her dissertation, Conrad (1984) investigated the stratigraphy, sedimentology and structural evolution of the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks of the Central Sahara She listed a number of Tournaisian ammonoids from Algerian localities, among these a fauna with Gattendorfia from Timimoun. Intensive field work and rich new collections yielded new data on Tournaisian ammonoids of North Africa These faunas come from (1) the Amessoui Syncline at El Atrous (Tafilalt, AntiAtlas, Morocco) where a Middle Tournaisian fauna with Goniocyclus and Protocanites was found (Korn et al 2002), (2) from Bouhamed, in the Amessoui Syncline, where a rather diverse early Late Tournaisian assemblage with Pericyclus, Progoniatites and others was collected (Korn et al 2003), and (3) from Meyendorff’s locality near the Gara el Kahla (Timimoun, Algeria), from which the fauna with Gattendorfia and Acutimitoceras originated (Ebbighausen et al 2004). Retispira sp., Euphemites sp., Loxonematidae indet., Pleurotomariidae indet., two genera trilobite fragments crinoid columnalia chonetid brachiopod fragments Ufimia sp., small solitary coral ostracods of Thuringian ecotype, Entomozoidae trace fossils Bed 10.
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