A southern Tethyan brachiopod fauna from the Late Triassic of the United Arab Emirates

A Late Triassic (Norian) brachiopod fauna is described from the United Arab Emirates for the first time. It contains brachiopods referred to the athyrid germs Misolia, the spiriferid Spiriferina, and the rhynchonellid Hagabirhynchia. The costate Misolia may have occupied a shallow water ecological niche similar to other costate Mesozoic brachiopods, such as the terebratulids Plectoconcha COOPER in the Triassic and Costithyris MIDDLEMISS in the Cretaceous. The brachiopod fauna is identical with a fauna described from the Late Triassic of Oman by Hudson & Jefferies (1961) of early Norian age and is characteristic of the southern margin of the Tethyan Ocean.