New Odonatan oviposition ichnotaxa from the Lower Jurassic of Iran

Abstract Distinct, new oviposition lesion types, Paleoovoidus pyriformis ichnosp. nov. and Variomorphonotatus sagittaeformis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., occurring on two fossil compression Cycadophyte leaves from the Lower Jurassic Shemshak Formation of western Alborz Ranges, northern Iran are documented and compared with the previously instituted morphologically analogous taxa. Comparison of the shape and configuration of the scars with those of the modern zygopteran Odonata suggests that any member of the Lestid-damselfly produced P. pyriformis ichnosp. nov. whereas any representative of Coenagrionid-damselflies (damselflies-dragonflies) induced formation of V. sagittaeformis ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. In the absence, so far, of any entomofaunal evidence from the Shemshak Formation, the ichnotaxa documented herein offer unequivocal evidence to the presence of the Odonatan representatives in the Early Jurassic riparian ecosystems of northern Iran.