Stratigraphy and brachiopod fauna of the Carboniferous El Imán Formation, Colombia

Abstract

The three main outcrops of the El Imán Formation (Departamento de Tolima, central western Colombia) are fully described and revised. The study of a newly collected brachiopod fauna from the upper outcrop of the El Imán Formation, indicates a Carboniferous age (late Bashkirian-Moscovian) for the upper part of the El Imán Formation at the type locality. Although the fauna is not abundant, has low diversity, and is poorly preserved, the Bashkirian-Moscovian age is deduced from the association of the brachiopod genera Fimbrinia (Productida), Orthotichia (Orthida) and Alispirifer (Spiriferida). These occurrences affirm zoogeographic relationships between Australia and South America during the Late Carboniferous.