A NEW SPECIES OF THE BRACHIOPOD GENUS SPHAEROIDOTHYRIS FROM THE MIDDLE JURASSIC (BAJOCIAN) OF BUCEGI MOUNTAINS (ROMANIA)

摘要

In previous papers dealing with the Middle Jurassic deposits that outcrop along the western flank of Bucegi Mountains, the species Sphaeroidothyris sphaeroidalis (J. de C. SOWERBY) is was frequently cited in the area of the Vama Strunga Pass. Review of the previous literature and of the personal or other collections from the paleontological collection of the Laboratory of Palaeontology, University of Bucharest, suggests that this species could not be confidently recorded from the Vama Strunga area. During detailed field and laboratory work it became evident that the genus Sphaeroidothyris appears in the Middle Jurassic fossiliferous deposits in only one, previously unknown fossil site. This site occurs in the northern end of the Bucegi Mountains, between the Gaura Valley and the "La Politzie" Pass. The brachipod species diversity of this bed is lower than that of similar beds from Vama Strunga. In the newly discovered site, the genus Sphaeroidothyris is represented by the new species 5. aureliae, that is very abundant and it is associated with rare rhynchonellid brachiopods and individuals belonging to genus Aulacothyris.