An early Late Tournaisian (Early Carboniferous/Mississippian) ammonoid fauna is described from the Tafilalt of south-eastern Morocco. Twelve genera, four of which are new, and eleven new species are represented: Becanites africanus sp. nov., Triimitoceras epiwocklumeriforme gen. et sp. nov., Irinoceras minutum sp. nov., Muensteroceras quadriconstrictum sp. nov., Eurites bouhamedensis sp. nov., Ouaoufilalites ouaoufilalensis gen. et sp. nov., Helicocyclus fuscus sp. nov., Pericyclus mercatorius sp. nov., Orthocyclus(?) sp., Bouhamedites enigmaticus gen. et sp. nov., Winchelloceras antiatlanteum sp. nov., and Progoniatites maghribensis gen. et sp. nov. Palaeogeographic analysis of Late Tournaisian ammonoid assemblages shows strong endemism at the species-level, but genera and families had a nearly global distribution in the equatorial seas. The new fauna contains the stratigraphically oldest known representatives of the important Carboniferous goniatite families Girtyoceratidae and Goniatitidae.

Key words: Ammonoide, palaeobiogeographya, Carboniferous, Tournaisian, Morocco.

Dieter Korn [dieter.korn@museum.hu−berlin.de], Naturhistorisches Forschungsinstitut, Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt−Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, D−10115 Berlin; Jürgen Bockwinkel [jbockwinkel@t−online.de], Dechant−Fein−Straße 22, D−51375 Leverkusen; Volker Ebbighausen[volker@vxr.de], Engstenberger Höhe 12, D−51519 Odenthal; Christian Klug [christian.klug@uni−tuebingen.de], Institut und Museum für Geologie und Paläontologie der Eberhard−Karls Universität, Sigwartstraße 10, D−72076 Tübingen.