Paleontological content of the Stephano-Permian basins from the Armorican Massif (France): review, actinopterygian taxonomy, paleobiogeography and correlations

The Armorican Massif (France) is located in the western part of the Variscan Belt, in which few Stephano-Permian sedimentary basins are known. These basins have been poorly documented over time, and their fauna remains poorly understood. These basins are the Carentan, Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, Finistère, Doué-la-Fontaine and Sillon Houiller Vendéen basins. This study synthesises the available sedimentary and palaeontological data in order to relate these Stephano-Permian basins to other Variscan basins. New specimens of Aeduella blainvillei (Agassiz, 1833) are described from the Saint-Pierre-la-Cour Basin, extending the distribution range of this taxon and suggesting two distinct modes of repartition among Aeduellidae actinopterygians. The revision of the faunal occurrences in the Carentan and Saint-Pierre-la-Cour basins allows to establish the distribution of taxa across the Variscan Belt, in particular the key taxa Pseudestheria Raymond, 1946 and Anthraconaia Trueman & Weir, 1946. The application of regional dating based on paleoflora makes it possible to correlate the basins of the Armorican Massif with other Variscan basins. Updating the chronology and palaeobiogeography in these basins of the Armorican Massif shed light on the state of art in one of the westernmost areas of the Variscan Belt and enable future comparisons with other Variscan massifs.