Egypt. Jour. Paleontol., Vol. 13, 2013, p. 185-254 ISSN 1687 - 4986 UPPER CRETACEOUS MACROFOSSILS FROM JARDAS AL'ABID AREA, AL JABAL AL AKHADAR NORTHEAST LIBYA: A SYSTEMATIC PALAEONTOLOGY Gamal M. EL QOT 1, 2, Esam O. ABDULSAMAD 2 and Mohamed Fouad ALY 3 1 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University,
[email protected] 2 Earth Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, Benghazi University, P. O. Box: 9480, Benghazi, Libya,
[email protected] 3 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University,
[email protected] ABSTRACT Forty nine macrofossil species and subspecies have been identified, systematically described, and discussed in detail. They have been collected from five Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic sections exposed at Jardas al'Abid area, Al Jabal Al Akadar, NE Libya. The studied fauna are belonging to Mollusca (Bivalvia, Gastropoda, and Cephalopoda) and Echinoidea. Bivalves constitute the main bulk of the taxa, being represented by 30 species and subspecies belonging to 24 genera. The gastropods comprise 11 species belonging to 10 genera, the cephalopods (ammonites) are 4 species belong to 4 genera, and the echinoids are 4 species belong to 3 genera. Among the prementioned fauna 19 species were recorded for the first time from Libya. Key words: Macrofossils,Upper Cretaceous,Al Jabal Al Akhadar, Libya. INTRODUCTION The Upper Cretaceous sequence of the Jardas al'Abid area is fairly rich in marine invertebrates. Bivalves are considered the most abundant macrofossils among the various macrofossil groups, especially the oysters which are very abundant in the Cenomanian Qasr al'Abid Formation. Echinoids and gastropods represent the second abundant faunal elements. The ammonites are of subordinate occurrence and characterize the lower part of Al Baniyah Formation as well as the Al Majahir Formation.