Middle Permian brachiopods from central Peninsular Malaysia - faunal affinities between Malaysia and west Cambodia

A moderately diverse Permian brachiopod fauna is described from a new rock unit, the Bera Formation, in the Bera District, central Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. The fauna consists of 19 taxa, including 14 genera and 17 (both i dentified and unidentified) typically Tethyan species. The fauna appears to be correlative on the basis of brachiopods with the Neoschwagerina-Yabeina fusulinid Zones in Indochina and South China. In particular, it has strong linkage to Member C (Yabeina beds) of the Sisophon Limestone, west Cambodi a. This is indicated by three of the Bera species - Urushrenoidea chaoi (Ch ing), Spyridiophora gubleri Termier and Termier, and Transennatia termieror um sp. nov., being shared with the Cambodian fauna. A possible early Capita nian (Middle Permian) age is proposed for the Bera brachiopod fauna. (C) 20 01 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.