Pliocene brachiopods from north-western Africa Maria Aleksandra BITNER Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa (Poland) [email protected] Pierre MOISSETTE Université de Lyon I, UFR des Sciences de la Terre and UMR 5125 du CNRS, 27 bd du 11 novembre, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France) [email protected] Bitner M. A. & Moissette P. 2003. — Pliocene brachiopods from north-western Africa. Geodiversitas 25 (3) : 463-479. ABSTRACT Seven species of Pliocene brachiopods belonging to the genera Aphelesia Cooper, 1959, Terebratula Müller, 1776, Gryphus Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1811, Terebratulina d’Orbigny, 1847, Megathiris d’Orbigny, 1847 and Megerlia King, 1850 have been recognised in an old collection from Algeria and Morocco, held in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. This KEY WORDS Brachiopoda, is the first record of Gryphus from North Africa, while Aphelesia and Megerlia Pliocene, are reported for the first time from Morocco. This brachiopod fauna displays Mediterranean province, close affinity with those from the Mediterranean province where assemblages north-western Africa, Algeria, of similar composition are associated with shallow water, high-energy envi- Morocco. ronments. RÉSUMÉ Brachiopodes pliocènes de l’Afrique nord-occidentale. Sept espèces de brachiopodes pliocènes, provenant d’Algérie et du Maroc, ont été déterminées dans les collections du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle de Paris. Elles appartiennent aux genres Aphelesia Cooper, 1959, Terebratula Müller, 1776, Gryphus Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1811, Terebratulina d’Orbigny, 1847, Megathiris d’Orbigny, 1847 et Megerlia King, 1850. MOTS CLÉS Brachiopoda, Gryphus est mentionné ici pour la première fois en Afrique du Nord et Pliocène, Aphelesia et Megerlia au Maroc. Cette faune de brachiopodes présente de province méditerranéenne, grandes affinités avec celles de la province méditerranéenne où des assem- Afrique nord-occidentale, Algérie, blages de composition similaire sont associés à des environnements de faible Maroc. profondeur et haute énergie. GEODIVERSITAS • 2003 • 25 (3) © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. www.geodiversitas.com 463 Bitner M. A. & Moissette P. Algiers Rabat A Algeria Morocco Tetouan unisia T RABAT Essaouira Had Mramer Marrakech Oued Zat 150 km B Aïn Benian Bab El Oued ALGIERS Mustapha Dely-Ibrahim M. Aïssat Hamma Martyrs Berry Bir Mourad Raïs El Achour Draria Baba-Hassen 3 km Douera FIG. 1. — Localities from which the brachiopods were collected, in Morocco (A) and Algeria (B). INTRODUCTION on the Pliocene brachiopods from North Africa, with the exception of a short note by The brachiopod fauna from the Neogene of the Dautzenberg (1909) who described a new species Mediterranean region has drawn the attention of of ribbed rhynchonellid from the Algiers region. many researchers in Italy, France, Spain, and The presence of brachiopods in Algeria and Greece since the last century. Pliocene bra- Morocco was, however, mentioned by authors chiopods, however, are described in detail only working on geology or other faunal groups from Italy (Gaetani & Saccà 1984, 1985a, b; (Welsch 1888; Fischer & Oehlert 1891; Ficheur Saccà 1986; Benigni & Robba 1990; Taddei 1896a-d; Dalloni 1915; Lecointre 1926; Yassini Ruggiero 1994, 1996), and Spain (Pajaud 1976, 1973, 1979; Ben Moussa 1994; Haddadi- 1977; Encinas 1992; Calzada 1997; Bitner & Hamdane 1996). This paper presents the first Martinell 2001). Very little has been published detailed study of Pliocene brachiopods from 464 GEODIVERSITAS • 2003 • 25 (3) Pliocene brachiopods from Algeria and Morocco TABLE 1. — Distribution of the investigated brachiopods in particular outcrops. Abbreviations (in brackets old names as used on the original labels): Dr, Draria; Al, Algiers; Ha, Hamma; Mu, Mustapha; Mi, Mustapha inférieur; Ms, Mustapha supérieur; Ma, boulevard des Martyrs, Algiers (boulevard Bru); Ab, between Mustapha Aïssat (colonne Voirol) and Bir Mourad Raïs (Birmandreis); Mb, bet- ween Mustapha inférieur and Bir Mourad Raïs; Be, rue du Berry, Algiers (Kodja-Berry); Do, Douera; De, Dely-Ibrahim; Ba, Bab El Oued; An, Aïn Benian (Guyotville); Ac, El Achour; Eb, between El Achour and Baba-Hassen; Te, Tetouan; Hd, Had Mramer (Meramer); Za, Oued Zat. Algeria Morocco Species Dr Al Ha Mu Mi Ms Ma Ab Mb Be DO De Ba An Ac Eb Te Hd Za Aphelesia bipartita xx xxx x x x x (Brocchi, 1814) Terebratula terebratula x xxx x xxxxx xxx (Linnaeus, 1758) Terebratula sp. x Gryphus sp. x x Terebratulina retusa xxx (Linnaeus, 1758) Megathiris detruncata x (Gmelin, 1790) Megerlia eusticta xx x x (Philippi, 1836) North Africa. This study extends the geographi- (Fig. 1A). In Algeria, marine Pliocene deposits cal ranges of some genera, and may be of use in occur in two major coastal basins: one in the further investigations on the Mediterranean bio- western part, the Chelif basin (Perrodon 1957; geographical province. The investigated material Belkebir & Anglada 1985) and the other around was collected in the late 19th and early 20th cen- Algiers (Yassini 1973, 1979; Saoudi 1989) turies by various researchers and the collection (Fig. 1B). has been kept since then in the Département The lower Pliocene sediments are mostly deep- Histoire de la Terre, Muséum national d’Histoire sea marls (blue marls) with rich microfaunas, naturelle in Paris, France (LP-MNHN) with only whereas the middle and upper Pliocene are repre- preliminary determinations. The material is sented by shallow water deposits such as sandy moderately preserved with many specimens dam- marls, sands, conglomerates, biocalcarenites, and aged or crushed, and is dominated by the species calcareous sandstones where coralline algae and Terebratula terebratula (Linnaeus, 1758). The macro-invertebrates such as molluscs, brachio- total number of specimens is 151. pods, bryozoans, echinoids are generally abun- dant (Perrodon 1957; Belkebir & Anglada 1985; Saoudi 1989; Ben Moussa 1994; Haddadi- GEOLOGICAL SETTING Hamdane 1996; Hamdane & Moissette 1997). A glauconite-rich layer often occurs near the top Pliocene marine deposits mostly occur along the of the lower Pliocene blue marls, especially in the coasts of Morocco and Algeria. They are well Sahel of Algiers (Yassini 1975; Saoudi 1989). developed in a number of basins on the Atlantic side of Morocco, principally around Marrakech and Rabat (Wernli 1979; Alvinerie et al. 1992; SYSTEMATICS Barbieri & Ori 2000), but also near Tangier (Ben Moussa 1994; Pouyet et al. 1999). Smaller basins A new supra-ordinal classification of the are situated on the Mediterranean coast, for Brachiopoda (Williams et al. 1996) has been used example around Tetouan (Ben Moussa 1994) here, together with a new classification of GEODIVERSITAS • 2003 • 25 (3) 465 Bitner M. A. & Moissette P. TABLE 2. — Measurements (in mm) of Aphelesia bipartita OCCURRENCE. — This species is recorded from the (Brocchi, 1814). Abbreviations: L, length; T, thickness; W, width. Miocene and Pliocene deposits of the Mediterranean region. Specimen number L W T B.38683 24.9 26.8 17.3 REMARKS B.38681 22.1 21.1 11.4 Aphelesia bipartita is one of the commonest bra- B.38645 (figured) 20.7 22.6 14.7 B.38645 (figured) 17.8 17.2 12.0 chiopods and the only rhynchonellid in the B.38648 (figured) 15.4 17.3 8.8 investigated material. This species has been well described and illustrated by previous authors (Cooper 1959; Gaetani & Saccà 1985a, b; Mesozoic and Cenozoic Rhynchonellida, adopt- Bitner & Martinell 2001). It is well known from ed for the forthcoming updated edition of the the Pliocene of Italy (Gaetani & Saccà 1985a, b; Treatise (Manceñido & Owen 1996, 2001). Taddei Ruggiero 1996) and Spain (Brébion et al. Since most investigated species are well known, 1971; Bitner & Martinell 2001). Davidson only some more important and/or recent syn- (1864) and Pedley (1976) also recorded this onymies are given. species from the Miocene deposits of Malta, and Meznerics (1943) from the Miocene of Hungary. Phylum BRACHIOPODA Duméril, 1806 A. bipartita has a subtriangular outline and a Subphylum RHYNCHONELLIFORMEA smooth surface with incipient costation on the Williams, Carlson, Brunton, Holmer & anterior margin. The shell is strongly dorsibi- Popov, 1996 convex with broadly uniplicate anterior commis- Class RHYNCHONELLATA Williams, sure. It was already reported, under the name Carlson, Brunton, Holmer & Popov, 1996 Rhynchonella bipartita, from the Pliocene deposits Order RHYNCHONELLIDA Kuhn, 1949 of Algeria, by Welsch (1888) and Ficheur Superfamily PUGNACOIDEA Rzhonsnitskaya, 1956 (1896a), but this is the first record of this species Family BASILIODAE Cooper, 1959 from Morocco. Subfamily APHELESIINAE Cooper, 1959 The only other rhynchonellid from the Pliocene of the Algiers region was a new species described Genus Aphelesia Cooper, 1959 from only two specimens by Dautzenberg (1909), Rhynchonella lamothei. This coarsely TYPE SPECIES.— Anomia bipartita Brocchi, 1814, by original designation of Cooper (1959: 41). ribbed species is unlike any other Tertiary rhyn- chonellid, and as nothing is known about its inte- rior, it is difficult to evaluate that determination Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi, 1814) (see also Cooper 1959: 66). (Fig. 2; Table 2) Aphelesia bipartita – Cooper 1959: 41, 42, pl. 7, figs 12-22; pl. 8, figs 13-18; pl. 22, figs 18-25. — Order TEREBRATULIDA Waagen, 1883 Gaetani & Saccà 1985b: 363-365, text-figs 2, 3, Suborder TEREBRATULIDINA Waagen, 1883 pl. 17, figs 1-3; pl. 19, figs