New crustacean microcoprolites of the Upper Triassic limestones of the Sambosan Accretionary Complex, Japan

We report here the first crustacean microcoprolites from the Sambosan Accretionary Complex (AC) in Japan. Three species of crustacean (order Decapoda) microcoprolites - Payandea japanica n. sp., Favreina tosaensis n. sp., and a species belonging to the genus Parafavreina? sp. are described from the Late Carnian to Rhaetian shallow-water limestones of the Sambosan AC, which were originated on extinct and subsiding volcanoes forming a mid-oceanic atoll-type buildup in the Panthalassan Ocean. Coprolites, which occur within a lagoonal to back-reef facies, provide new insight into the micropaleontology and sedimentology of the Sambosan limestones. Furthermore the occurrence of these Tethyan coprolites genera in Japan improves our knowledge of the distribution of Triassic crustacean decapods across the Panthalassa Ocean.