Carnian (Upper Triassic) Ostracods of the Mufara Formation (Sicily): Taxonomy and Comparative Analysis

Ostracods from the Upper Triassic (Carnian, Tuvalian) Mufara Formation exposed in north-west (Monti di Palermo: Reali Celsi and Torrente Cuba) and central-east Sicily (Monte Scalpello: Acquanova and Rocchette) are reported and described for the first time. The studied samples yielded 58 species, including Petasobairdia scylla n. sp. and Triadohealdia kharybdis n. sp. Ptychobairdia iudicaensis, previously described from the Monte Gambanera site, is emended and re-attributed to Petasobairdia. Following taxonomic standardization and reassignment of several previously reported species from Monte Gambanera and other sites in Monte Scalpello, 75 species are currently recognized from the Mufara Formation, including 32 formally described species and 43 in open nomenclature or compared to previously known species. The taphonomic analysis of the assemblages reported here and those from the literature indicate that they are all relatively good indicators of their depositional environment, with the exception of the largely undersampled Torrente Cuba site. The comparative analysis points to circalittoral depositional setting for all sites, with possible moderate salinity deviation in all Monte Scalpello and Monte Gambanera sites. All Monte Scalpello sites and possibly Reali Celsi correspond to the shallower sites, though more work is needed to further characterize the depositional environment of Reali Celsi.