Decapod crustaceans from the lower Miocene Qom Formation of the Isfahan area, Central Iran

Crustáceos decápodos de la formación Qom del Mioceno inferior en el área de Isfahan, Irán central

Matúš Hyžný^1,*, Ali Bahrami², Mehdi Yazdi², Hossein Torabi²

¹ Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia.

² Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Isfahan, 81746, Isfahan, Iran.

* Corresponding author: (M. Hyžný) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to cite this article:

Hyžný, M., Bahrami, A., Yazdi, M., Torabi, H., 2021, Decapod crustaceans from the lower Miocene Qom Formation of the Isfahan area, Central Iran: Boletín de la Sociedad Geo-lógica Mexicana, 73 (3), A140521. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2021v73n3a140521

ABSTRACT

From the lower Miocene (Burdigalian) of the Qom Formation, exposed in three sections (Kuh-e-Donbeh, Bagher-Abad, and Vartun) in Central Iran, a deca-pod crustacean assemblage is described. The specimens exhibit two modes of preservation: carapaces (either isolated or with attached appendages) and isolated cheliped elements. All studied specimens are fractured and/or eroded. Based on this moderately preserved material, three brachyuran crab taxa are identified, including Mursia cf. lienharti (Bachmayer, 1962), Palaeocarpilius rugifer Stoliczka, 1871, and Necronectes sp. The occurrence of P. rugifer represents the youngest confirmed occurrence of the species, whereas other two taxa represent the first confirmed Iranian occurrences of respec-tive genera. This report enriches our knowledge on Miocene decapod assemblages of Iran, and thus helping to better understand the decapod migratory patterns along the Tethyan Sea-way.

Keywords: Brachyura, early Miocene, Qom Formation, Isfa-han, Central Iran.