Annales de Paléontologie 101 (2015) 161–166 Disponible en ligne sur ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Original article Late Ovetian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) archaeocyathan biostratigraphy of Spain Biostratigraphie des archéocyathes de l’Ovétien supérieur (Cambrien Série 2, Étage 3) d’Espagne Silvia Menéndez a,* , Antonio Perejón b , Elena Moreno-Eiris b a Museo Geominero (IGME), C/Ríos Rosas, 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain b Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, UCM, C/José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 31 October 2014 Accepted 27 January 2015 Available online 9 September 2015 Keywords: Archaeocyathan assemblage Biostratigraphy Early Cambrian Spain a b s t r a c t Significant archaeocyathan assemblages have been recorded from virtually all tectonostratigraphic zones of the Iberian Massif and Pyrenees in Spain. Only the South Portuguese Zone lacks an archaeocyathan record. The most widely distributed assemblages correspond to an Iberian Late Ovetian age. This age encompasses Spanish archaeocyathan Zones IV, V, VI and VII (Perejón and Moreno-Eiris, 2006), of Late Atdabanian and Early Botoman age in Siberian terms, currently Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3 (Peng et al., 2012). Recent studies carried out on Late Ovetian carbonate materials have allowed us to establish a precise biostratigraphic framework for this age span in Spain. From comparison with all Late Ovetian archaeocyathan assemblages of Gondwana, it is evident that the Late Ovetian archaeocyathan record of Spain provides a rich generic assemblage from Gondwana for this time. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. Mots clés : Assemblage d’archéocyathes Biostratigraphie Cambrien inférieur Espagne r é s u m é Des associations significatives d’archéocyathes sont enregistrées dans quasiment toutes les zones tectonostratigraphiques du Massif Ibérique et des Pyrénées en Espagne. Seule la Zone Sud Portugaise en est dépourvue. Les associations d’archéocyathes qui sont distribuées le plus largement datent de l’Ovétien supérieur. Cet âge comprend les zones espagnoles d’archéocyathes IV, V, VI et VII (Perejón et Moreno-Eiris, 2006), qui correspondent aux étages sibériens Atdabanien supérieur et Botomien inférieur, actuellement Cambrien Série 2, Étage 3 (Peng et al., 2012). Des études récentes sur les matériaux carbonatés de l’Ovétien supérieur ont permis d’établir un cadre biostratigraphique plus précis pour l’étage Ovétien en Espagne. La comparaison avec les associations ovétiennes d’archéocyathes de l’ensemble du Gondwana montre que l’enregistrement fossile en Espagne fournit un assemblage générique particulièrement riche pour cet intervalle de temps. © 2015 Publié par Elsevier Masson SAS. 1. Introduction Early Cambrian outcrops of the Iberian Massif have recorded significant archaeocyathan assemblages of Iberian early Ovetian to Bilbilian age, or Atdabanian to Toyonian age in Siberian terms, currently provisional global Cambrian Series 2, Stages 3 and 4 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: s.menenez@igme.es (S. Menéndez). (Peng et al., 2012). Very diverse early Ovetian assemblages of Spanish archaeocyathan Zones I, II and III have been thoroughly studied (Perejón and Moreno-Eiris, 2006). These are equivalent to the Siberian early Atdabanian, or provisional global Stage 3 (Moreno-Eiris, 1988; Perejón, 1986, 1989; Fig. 1). However, max- imal distribution of archaeocyath-bearing lithofacies in Spain corresponds to an Iberian Late Ovetian age, or Siberian Late Atd- abanian and Early Botoman, currently Stage 3. Some of the various archaeocyathan assemblages that define archaeocyathan Zones IV, V, VI and VII have been recorded in several localities within the http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annpal.2015.04.001 0753-3969/© 2015 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.