Ordovician echinoderms from the Tabas and Damghan regions, Iran: palaeobiogeographical implications

Abstract Two echinoderm assemblages are described in the Middle Ordovician of Iran (Darriwilian). The Simeh Kuh section (Damghan area, eastern Alborz range) has yielded a rich and diverse blastozoan fauna consisting of fistuliporite (Echinosphaerites, Heliocrinites) and dichoporite rhombiferans (cheirocrinids indet., hemicosmitids indet.), as well as aristocystitid (Sinocystis) and sphaeronitid diploporites (Glyptosphaerites, Tholocystis). Heliocrinites, cheirocrinids, hemicosmitids, Glyptosphaerites, and Tholocystis are reported for the first time in the Ordovician of Iran. A less diverse assemblage was collected in the Shirgesht section (Tabas area, Derenjal Mountains), and represents the…