Large Devonian and Mississippian rostroconchs (Mollusca) from Iran

Large rostroconchs have been described from Europe by Sowerby (1815), M'Coy (1844), Baily (1871), Halfar (1882), de Koninck (1885), Hind (1900), and Amler (1996). This report concerns the first known occurrences of rostroconchs from Iran (Fig. 1). The specimens are from the Devonian Bahram Formation (Famennian) (Dastanpour, 1996; Dastanpour and Bassett, 1998; Brice, 1999; Brice et al., 1999) and the Mississippian Mobarak Formation (Tournaisian-Vis6an) (Gaetani, 1968; Bozorgnia, 1973). The Devonian specimens were collected from limestone and argillaceous limestone associated with a diverse brachiopod fauna (Fig. 2). The Mississippian specimens were found in limestone with brachiopods, corals, and crinoids (Fig. 3).