Aratrisporites saharaensis sp. nov.: A characteristic lower carboniferous miospore species of North Africa

Abstract A new miospore species Aratrisporites saharaensis is described. Attributed to a genus previously known mainly from the Trias, it constitutes the first record of monolete camerate miospores from the Carboniferous. This taxon occurs abundantly in the Lower Carboniferousof northern region of the Sahara, North Africa. It has, in the past, been incorrectly attributed by several authors to Spelaeotriletes balteatus ( Playford ) Higgs 1975. Its stratigraphic range is late Tournaisian to early Namurian.