Albian Rudist Fauna from the Karaburun Peninsula, Izmir Region, Western Turkey

Platform carbonates bearing shallow water foraminifera and dasycladale assemblages with an Albian stratigraphic significance, crop out at two localities on the Karaburun Peninsula: Barbaros and Zeytineli. Rudist faunas collected from these localities include Toucasia seunesi Douville, Pseudotoucasia catalaunica Astre, Mathesia darderi (Astre), Petalodontia ? sp., and Eoradiolites sp. aff. murgensis. The overall stratigraphic significance of this fauna is consistent with the Albian age derived from micropalaeontological data. Some taxonomic elements, e. g. Toucasia seunesi, Pseudotoucasia catalaunica and Mathesia darderi possess a broad Mediterranean palaeobiogeographic distribution. By contrast, Eoradiolites sp. aff. murgensis, an advanced form resembling Eoradiolites murgensis, restricted to the Mediterranean South Tethyan margin, has a potential to be a marker for the corresponding biome. These findings fill a gap in our knowledge on Mediterranean Albian faunas considered hitherto virtually absent from Anatolia.