First Late Ordovician conodont fauna in the Betic Cordillera (South Spain): a palaeobiogeographical contribution

Abstract

The youngest Ordovician conodont fauna in SW Europe has been found in the Malaguide Complex of the Betic Cordillera, SE Spain. It is also the first Ordovician conodont fauna in the Western Mediterranean Alpine Orogen. The conodont association, attributed to the Hirnantian (upper part of the Amorphognathus ordovicicus Biozone), is characterized by the predominance of Walliserodus amplissimus and Scabbardella altipes and by the absence of Sagittodontina and Istorinus, typical of the Mediterranean Province. This fauna differs markedly from those of the same biozone recorded in the Spanish Variscan Orogen of the Iberian Massif, which are attributed to the Katian. The Malaguide fauna shows, however, striking similarity to faunas of the Carnic Alps and some resemblance to those of the Pyrenees, Northern England and North Wales. These features suggest that Palaeozoic terranes of the Betic Cordillera were located far to the east of their present location and displaced westward during the Alpine Orogeny.