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RESEARCH PRODUCT

First carboniferous conulariids from Niger (west Africa)

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Abstract Two new conulariid species, Paraconularia feldmanni sp. nov. and P. sahara sp. nov., are described from the Lower Carboniferous (Visean) Talak Formation of northern Niger. These are the first example of the genus Paraconularia to be reported from Africa and the first Carboniferous conulariids from that continent to be assigned to species level. Previously reported Carboniferous conulariids from Africa were collected from Morocco, assigned to other genera, and left in open nomenclature. Paraconularia is interpreted to have been cosmopolitan by the Early Carboniferous, and is the dominant genus in most assemblages of Carboniferous conulariids.