Article: A new terebratulid brachiopod species from the Siegenian of the Dra Valley, Morocco, and its stratigraphic, palaeogeographic and phylogenetic significance

A new terebratulid brachiopod species, Rhenorensselaeria jansenii, has been identified in the Merza-Akhsai Formation of the Dra Valley, Morocco, and the Grauwacke de Montguyon of the Amorican Massif, France. It is compared with the other known species of Rhenorensselaeria from Europe, Rh. strigiceps and Rh. demerathia, as well as with Rh. macgerriglei from North America, from which it differs in being larger and having coarser costae. Its possible life habit in clusters and its fossil community are compared with those of Rh. strigiceps from the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge ('Rhenish Slate Mountains'), Germany, which it most resembles. A new phylogeny of the subfamily Rhenorensselaerinae is constructed. The close phylogenetic relationship between Rh. jansenii and Rh. strigiceps confirms close palaeobiogeographical relationships between North Africa, France and the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge as well as a wider relationship between Central Europe and Gaspe, eastern Canada, during the Early Devonian. Taxa of Rhenorensselaeria are mainly restricted to the Middle and Upper Siegenian, although rare individuals have been found in the Lower Emsian of Central Europe and North America. Because of their abundance in the Dra Valley and Rheinisches Schiefergebirge and their short life span, rhenorensselaerid taxa can be regarded as important stratigraphical markers of Middle–Late Siegenian and Early Emsian sediments in North Africa and Central Europe. KEYWORDS Rhenorensselaeria • Brachiopoda • phylogeny • palaeobiogeography • Siegenian • Emsian • Early Devonian • Morocco