Early Cretaceous Toxasterid Echinoid Heteraster from the high Zagros basin, south of Iran

Abstract

© 2016, Carnets de Geologie. All rights reserved. Two species of spatangoid echinoid belonging to Heteraster ORBIGNY, 1853, are described from Lower Cretaceous deposits (Gadvan and Dariyan formations) at the Kuh-e Gadvan and Banesh sections situated in Zagros Mountains, south of Iran. Heteraster couloni (AGASSIZ, 1839) is confirmed in the Barremian and Heteraster delgadoi (LORIOL, 1884) in the late Aptian-Albian of Iran. The occurrences of Heteraster and other spatangoid echinoids in Iran show a clear distinction between assemblages from the southern and northern margins of the Tethys during the Early Cretaceous.