Late Viséan to Early Serpukhovian Rugose Corals from the Yashui Section, Guizhou, South China
LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, China Academy of Science, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, P. R. China; robert_lynnxx@hotmail.com
LPS, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, China Academy of Science, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, P. R. China; xdwang@nigpas.ac.cn
Service de Paléontologie animale, Université de Liège, Bâtiment B18, Allée du 6 Août, Sart Tilman, B-4000 Liège, Belgium; e.poty@ulg.ac.be
Université de Toulouse, UPS (OMP), GET, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France; markus.aretz@get.obs-mip.fr
Abstract
Abundant rugose corals are recorded in the Yashui Section in Huishui County of Central Guizhou, South China. The section is mainly composed of light-coloured bioclastic limestone with intercalations of few beds of dolomitized limestone and punctuated by a certain number of unconformities. Totally 20 species belonging to 13 genera are recognized. The composition of the fauna shows resemblance to the Western European faunas of latest Viséan to early Serpukhovian age. Many well-known European taxa such as Dibunophyllum bipartitum, Palaeosmilia murchisoni, Lithostrotion decipiens, Siphonodendron pauciradiale and Aulina rotiformis appear in Yashui, but with different stratigraphic ranges. There are also some endemic taxa such as Arachnolasma sinense, Yuanophyllum kansuense, Kueichouphyllum sinense and Stylostrotion petalaxoidae which can be used for correlations throughout South China. The coral diversity of the Yashui section shows: (1) a diversity decrease in the uppermost part of the Viséan, and (2) a poorly renewed fauna in the Serpukhovian, which is the similar pattern recorded in Palaeotethys. Therefore, a coral based biostratigraphic succession to separate the early Serpukhovian from latest Viséan is difficult to establish. Among the 20 species, 18 are described and illustrated, including 2 in open nomenclature. Two species are omitted from the description due to their bad preservation.