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A thorough review of the available literature regarding biostratigraphic studies on the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks of Sonora, northwestern Mexico, is presented here. Most frequently reported fossils are marine invertebrates as well as protozoans and vertebrate remains. Most abundant groups are corals, both solitary and colonial, fusulinids and other foraminifera, conodonts, and brachiopods. Less commonly described groups are crinoids, algae, bryozoans, and radiolarians. This revision evidences the high paleobiodiversity and potential research interest of the Carboniferous geological record of Sonora. Although published studies including paleontological information greatly lack detailed specific taxonomic determinations or biostratigraphic analyses, the presence of all Mississippian and Pennsylvanian stages can be inferred. Regional stratigraphic gaps and hiatuses, however, are difficult to determine because of this scarcity of precise datings. Current lithostratigraphic units defined formally or informally are also reviewed.

Terra Nova, 22, 330–340, 2010 Abstract The youngest Ordovician conodont fauna in SW Europe has been found in the Malaguide Complex of the Betic Cordillera, SE Spain. It is also the first Ordovician conodont fauna in the Western Mediterranean Alpine Orogen. The conodont association, attributed to the Hirnantian (upper part of the Amorphognathus ordovicicus Biozone), is characterized by the predominance of Walliserodus amplissimus and Scabbardella altipes and by the absence of Sagittodontina and Istorinus, typical of the Mediterranean Province. This fauna differs markedly from those of the same biozone recorded in the Spanish Variscan Orogen of the Iberian Massif, which are attributed to the Katian. The Malaguide fauna shows, however, striking similarity to faunas of the Carnic Alps and some resemblance to those of the Pyrenees, Northern England and North Wales. These features suggest that Palaeozoic terranes of the Betic Cordillera were located far to the east of their present location and displaced westward during the Alpine Orogeny.