A new organ-species dasycladalean green alga from Darbandikhan, Kurdistan, Iraq

Algal-rich limestones have been identified during fieldwork at Zawali (Shameran) Mountain, Darbandikhan, Iraq. The algae occur within an 8-m thick interval of fine-grained gray limestone in the lower part of the Khurmala Formation (Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene). In this area, the Khurmala Formation is 170 m thick and consists mostly of poorly fossiliferous dolomitic lagoonal limestone. Thin intervals contain gastropods, pelecypods, foraminifers (e.g., miliolids, soritids, rotaliids, and rare nummulitids), and calcareous green algae. One of these levels consists almost exclusively of fertile ampullae of a bornetellacean dasycladalean alga. Here we define it a new organ-species: Frederica kurdistanensis nov. sp.