First record of serpulids from the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Türkiye

Abstract

The first serpulid has been found in the Cretaceous of Türkiye and identified as Parsimonia antiquata. This is the first record of Parsimonia from the Cretaceous of the Middle East. The discovered specimen is not located on the exterior of ammonite shell, but in the interior, suggesting a post mortem nature of this serpulid-ammonite association. The tropical Tethys was rich in various shelly invertebrates and presumably had favorable conditions for serpulid worms. The lack of previous records of serpulids from the Cretaceous of Türkiye can be explained by a collecting bias. The find of Parsimonia in the Maastrichtian Beyobası Formation in the Haymana-Polatlı basin, central Türkiye, represents the warmest water record of the genus in the Cretaceous, and demonstrates that the genus had a wider geographic and climatic distribution than previously known.