Lower Eocene Ostracods from the Rusayl Shale Formation of Oman

Abstract. A small fauna of ostracods is described from the Early Eocene of the Rusayl Shale of northern Oman. The fauna is dominated by Neocyprideis rusaylensis sp. nov., forming 95% of the ostracods. The other species present are Stigmatocythere siddiquii sp. nov., Krithe sp. and Paracypris sp. None of these taxa has been previously recorded, but there is a close resemblance to the fauna described from the upper part of the Lower Eocene of Pakistan. The fauna indicates restricted conditions, probably of fluctuating salinities in coastal lagoons, which were often hypersaline.