The Lower Permian succession of the Huqf area (Sultanate of Oman) represents the uppermost part of a mega-sequence which includes the Late Carboniferous to ?Sakmarian tillites of the A1 K_hlata Fm. and the overlying transgressive marine Saiwan Fro. of Early Permian age. The Saiwan yields a rich brachiopod fauna associated with bivalves, gastropods, crinoids, conularids, cephalopods and bryozoans. The brachiopod fauna of the Saiwan includes Derbyia haroubi nov. sp., Arctitreta c£ bioni (REED), Reedoconcha permixta (REED), Neospirifer aff. hardmani (FOORD), Neospirifer sp., Trigonotreta sp., ?Cyrtella aff. nagmargensis (BION), Subansiria sp., Punctocyrtella spinosa PLODOWSKI, Punctospirifer sp., Callispirina sp., Fletcherithyris sp., ?Gilledia sp. This brachiopod assemblage indicates a Late Sakmarian age. Application of the Unitary Association method (Guex 1991) to the brachiopod data of the Saiwan leads to establish a local biochronological sequence of three faunal associations. KEYWORDS: OMAN, SAIWAN FORMATION, BRACHIOPODS, SAKMARIAN, BIOSTRATIGRAPHY.

The Lower Permian succession of the Huqf area (Sultanate of Oman) represents the uppermost part of a mega-sequence which includes the Late Carboniferous to ?Sakmarian tillites of the A1 K_hlata Fm. and the overlying transgressive marine Saiwan Fro. of Early Permian age. The Saiwan yields a rich br...