Corals from the Carboniferous of the central Sahara (Algeria): the collection “Marie Legrand-Blain”

[摘要] Thecollection“MarieLegrand-Blain”containsadiversefaunaofCarboniferouscoralsfromthemarinestrataoftheAlgerianSahara.Among96specimens,thereare34rugosecoraltaxaandfourtabulatecoraltaxa.Saharaphrentistirechouminoidensen.gen.,n.sp.,?Amplexizaphrentisillizidensisn.sp.andHaplolasmaparaarciferumn.sp.arenew.ThesupposedhighcoraldiversityoftheSaharabasinsisconfirmedbythepresentstudy.Theinterspecificandintraspecificvariabilitiesarehardlyknown,becausethenumberofspecimensislimited;commonlyasingleorfewspecimens.Thuspopulationscouldnotbestudiedandinsomecasesonlyanassignmentatgenericlevelispossible.Twomaincoralassociationscanbedistinguished.Undissepimentedsolitaryrugosecorals(“zaphrentids”)andmichelinidtabulatecoralsdominatetheshalyenvironments.Largerandmorecomplexsolitaryandcolonialrugosecoralsoccurmainlyincarbonateenvironments.TheMid-CarboniferousBoundaryisanimportantfaunalbreak.ItischaracterizedbythedisappearanceoftypicalMississippiansolitaryandcolonialtaxa.“Colonialaulinid”coralshaveonlybeenfoundbelowandabovetheboundarylevel.ThenewBashkiriancoralstockshowspalaeobiogeographicconnectionstothewesternUnitedStatesandtheDonetsBasin.ThestudiedcoralfaunadoesnotsupporttheassignmentofaBashkirianageforstrataintheIliiziBasinandtheAhnetandRegganebasins.TheMarieLegrand-BlaincollectionisagoodexampleoftheutilityofsucholdcollectionsforthestudyofCarboniferouscoralsfromtheoftenremoteandhardlyaccessibleAlgerianbasins.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）

[关键词] Carboniferous;Mississippian;Pennsylvanian;Rugosa;Tabulata;Algeria;Sahara;Mid-Carboniferous Boundary;new genus;new species;Carbonifère;Mississippien;Pennsylvanien;Tétracoralliaires;Tabulés;Algérie;Sahara;Limite médio-Carbonifère;genre nouveau;espèces nouvelles