First late Silurian (Ludfordian–Pridoli?) brachiopods from Iran

Ludlow to Pridoli? rhynchonellate brachiopods, previously unknown in Iran, are described from the upper Dahaneh-Kalut Formation, outcropping in the Derenjal Mountains on the northern margin of the East-Central Iranian platform. The brachiopod faunas comprise eight species assigned to eight genera including Ancillotoechia bicostata n. sp., Isorthis (Ovalella) equimulticostellata n. sp., Protathyris golshanensis n. sp., and Macropleura kuhestanensis n. sp. The Ludfordian age of these taxa is supported by the occurrences of the conodonts Ozarkodina crispa (Walliser) and Ozarkodina sp. cf. O. snajdri (Walliser). Three low richness and high abundance brachiopod communities are recognised, all of which inhabited a shallow-water carbonate shelf within the Benthic Assemblages 2 and 3. Despite the prevalence of cosmopolitan genera, the Iranian Ludfordian–Pridoli? brachiopod faunas show little interaction with geographically closest contemporaneous faunas of the Australian sector of Gondwana and South China plate.