Rudists (Bivalvia) from a Cretaceous Platform in Northern Egypt: Taxonomy and Paleobiogeography

Abstract

AbstractNew well‐preserved rudist materials come from the Barremian–Turonian marine formations in the Yelleg, Minsherah, Maaza, and Raghawi sections in North Sinai, northern Egypt. There, 17 discovered rudist species belonging to 13 genera and seven taxonomic families are described in detail as follows: Eoradiolites plicatus (Conrad), Eoradiolites liratus (Conrad), Praeradiolites ponsianus (d'Archiac), Archaeoradiolites sp., Bournonia africana Douvillé, Bournonia fourtaui Douvillé, Biradiolites lombricalis (d'Orbigny), Biradiolites zumoffeni Douvillé, Radiolites lewyi lewyi Parnes, Radiolites sauvagesi (d'Hombres‐Firmas), Durania arnaudi (Choffat), Toucasia carinata (Matheron), Toucasia sp., Neocaprina raghawiensis Steuber and Bachmann, Sellaea sp., Ichthyosarcolites sp. and Horoiopleura sp.. The Cenomanian deposits in the northern Eastern desert of Egypt only contain E. liratus. The domination of the Cenomanian rudist species in North Sinai, however, is attributed to changes in the platform, which passes mainly from carbonate in the north to siliciclastics in the south. The presence of Horiopleura sp. in the late Barremian–early Aptian deposits is documented for the first time, which suggests the expansion of taxa of the genus Horiopleura Douvillé to North Sinai during this interval. The age of the rudist species is documented from the late Barremian–Turonian formations, with their geographic distribution in the Mediterranean region considered.