Un nouveau gisement miocène à ichthyofaune au sud de la chaîne des Chotts (Tunisie méridionale). Paléoenvironnement et paléobiogéographie

Palaeoenvironment and palaeobiogeography. A systematic excavation in the Miocene continental sands of the Béglia Formation (southwestern Tunisia), south of the ‘Chaîne des Chotts’, yielded a rich fossil-fish assemblage. These sands, with soft rollers and oblique stratifications are in unconformity on the Cretaceous and are covered by Miocene clays. The organisation and the nature of the facies, as well as the palaeocurrent figures testify to a proximal fluvial-deltaic regime. It is SW–NE prograding. The three fish taxa (polypterid, clariid, latid) are typical of modern Nilo-Sudanese assemblages, but are absent from Maghreb. The regional palaeobiogeographic relations are discussed.