Bivalve reefs from the Upper Triassic of Iran

In the Upper Triassic Nayband Formation of east-central Iran, bivalves repeatedly form small patch reefson a mid to outer mixed carbonate-siliciclastic ramp in close stratigraphic neighbourhood to coral and coralspongereefs. In contrast to other Triassic-Jurassic bivalve-dominated patch reefs, the bivalve reefs of theNayband Formation are characterized by a comparatively high diversity of framebuilding taxa. These includetaxa from three different families, i.e., the ostreids Umbostrea emamii, U. iranica and U.? aff. parasiticum, the prospondylids Newaagia stocklini and Persia monstrosa, and the plicatulids Eoplicatula parvadehensis and Pseudoplacunopsis asymmetrica. The bivalve reef constructors may have had a competitive advantage over coral and calcareous sponges in environments characterized by a higher degree of turbidity and/or higher nutrient contents.