Early Berriasian ammonites from Shal, Talesh region (NW Alborz Mountains, Iran)

An early Berriasian (Berriasella jacobi Zone) ammonite fauna is described for the first time from the Alborz Mountains in northwest Iran. It has been collected from a section located near the village of Shal (Talesh region); in addition to rare phylloceratids, lytoceratids and Neolissoceras, the majority of ammonites belong to the neocomitid subfamily Berriasellinae. With the exception of a new genus and species, Taleshites fuersichi, these taxa are common in European and North African Tethyan successions. Associated calpionellids confirm the early Berriasian age of the ammonite-bearing levels.