New Early Cretaceous shrimp (Decapoda) from the Sidi Aïch Formation of the Northern Chotts Range, southern Tunisia: Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and palaeoenvironmental implications

Abstract

The fossil dendrobranchiate shrimp Macropenaeus was originally described from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) limestones of Hadjoula, northwest Lebanon. A new species, M. sidiaichensis sp. nov., was recovered from the Sidi Aïch Formation in the Northern Chotts Range, southern Tunisia. The Barremian occurrence of the genus in Tunisia suggests that Macropenaeus most likely originated in northern Africa and then migrated to Arabia in the Cenomanian. The