Gnathostome Microremains from the Lower Devonian Jawf Formation, Saudi Arabia.

• Main Authors: Burrow, C., Lelièvre, H., Janjou, D.
• Other Authors: University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00162872; https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[537:GMFTLD]2.0.CO;2

Calcareous horizons in the Qasr and Hammamiyat members (Lower Devonian, ?Pragian and lower Emsian) of the Jawf Formation, northwestern Saudi Arabia, yielded a rich assemblage of microremains from acanthodian, placoderm, chondrichthyan, and sarcopterygian vertebrates. The most abundant elements are scales from acanthodians Nostolepis spp., Milesacanthus ancestralis n. sp., Canadalepis? sp., and Gomphonchus? fromensis, scales and dermal bone fragments from acanthothoracid and ?rhenanid placoderms, and teeth from onychodontids. Rarer occurrences include ?chondrichthyan scales of several different morphotypes, and petalichthid and ?ptyctodontid placoderm elements. The Qasr Member assemblage shows a close resemblance to slightly older faunas from the Lochkovian of Brittany and Spain. The Hammamiyat Member microvertebrate fauna shows closest affinity with that of the stratigraphically lower Qasr Member, with similarities also to coeval faunas from southeastern Australia, late Emsian/Eifelian faunas from west-central Europe, and the Givetian Aztec Siltstone fauna from Antarctica.