Early Carboniferous (late Tournaisian) brachiopod fauna from the Shittakazawa Formation in the Okuhinotsuchi area, South Kitakami Belt, Japan

This study describes the brachiopod Shittakazawa fauna from the upper part of the Shittakazawa Formation in the Okuhinotsuchi area, South Kitakami Belt, northeastern Japan. The following four brachiopod species, which are assigned to three genera, are identified: Rhipidomella kusbassica, Schizophoria pinguis, S. mayesensis, and Unispirifer kozuboensis. The Shittakazawa fauna corresponds to a late Tournasian age, thus indicating a late Tournasian age for the upper part of the Shittakazawa Formation.