First record of Anisian deposits in the Betic External Zone of southern Spain and its paleogeographical implications

In the External Zones of the Betic Cordillera (S Spain), upper Muschelkalk (Ladinian) facies have been known for decades; however, so far there is no stratigraphic record of Anisian deposits. In the present study, new biostratigraphic data from a carbonate succession in the easternmost Subbetic domain reveal a Pelsonian-Illyrian (Anisian) age. The nautiloids Germanonautilus salinarius and Germanonautilus saharonicus are documented for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula, and together with the brachiopod Tetractinella trigonella and the bivalves Neoschizodus orbicularis and Myophoria vulgaris they represent marker fossils of Anisian deposits previously described from many other basins, b…