First record of Eocene brachiopods from the United Arab Emirates, Arabian Gulf and their paleogeographical significance

Two brachiopod species, Terebratulina tenuistriata (Leymerie) and Orthothyris pectinoides (von Koenen) have been identified in the Upper Eocene (Priabonian) marls of the uppermost Dammam Formation (Mazyad Member) in the eastern side of the Gebel Hafit anticline, United Arab Emirates, Arabian Gulf. This is the first record of brachiopods from the Eocene of the United Arab Emirates. Both species are widely distributed in the Eocene of Europe but outside of Europe O. pectinoides is reported for the first time. This new finding extends the paleobiogeographical range of those species to the south-eastern margin of the Tethys.