Callovian (Middle Jurassic) terebratulide brachiopods from the Jordan Valley (northwestern Jordan)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Middle Jurassic terebratulide brachiopods from the Jordan Valley are herein revised and new taxa are added to the previous faunal list. The Callovian rocks (Mughanniyya Formation) of the Tel el Dhahab section has allowed recognising two new terebratulide taxa: Kutchithyris simoni sp. nov. and Trigonithyris wilsoni sp. nov, which are formally described herein. Additionally, three terebratulide species: Bihenithyris barringtoni, Ptyctothyris daghaniensis, and Sphriganaria cardioides are reported for the first time from Jordan, all of them recorded together Bihenithyris weiri, a more widespread taxa in the Ethiopian Province. The Callovian Mughanniyya Formation of northwest Jordan is dominated by highly fossiliferous limestone beds intercalated with marlstones deposited on a low angle carbonate ramp in a shallow protected, inner shelf setting. Brachiopods of the Jordanian Mughanniyya Formation can be correlated with the Callovian brachiopod faunas of the Aroussiah Formation in Sinai and the Zohar and Matmor formations in southern Israel. The high degree of endemism of the terebratulide brachiopods under study here is yet another confirmation of the pronounced Middle Jurassic endemism along the southern Tethyan margin of the Ethiopian Province.