A new brachiopod fauna from the Telychian (early Silurian) of Southwest China and its palaeoecological significance

Huang, Bing; Chen, Di; Candela, Yves

A new brachiopod fauna from the Telychian (early Silurian) of Southwest China and its palaeoecological significance

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

Huang, Bing

ORCID

Chen, Di

Candela, Yves

ORCID

Date published

December 3, 2024

Abstract

Research on the recovery and radiation of biotas after the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction has not yet focused extensively on the record of Telychian (early Silurian) brachiopods. We therefore examined a highly diverse brachiopod fauna recovered from the lower-to-middle Telychian Wuke section of the Daluzhai Formation in southern Sichuan Province, Southwest China. Specimens were collected from 14 beds across the Wuke section and include 18 species representing 17 genera of predominantly atrypides, strophomenides, chonetides and spiriferides. We evaluated the taxonomic diversity of this typically Silurian fauna using principal component analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and network analysis with a heatmap to visualize abundance data. Two associations were identified a Nalivkinia elongata–Megaspinochonetes subrectangularis assemblage from the lower Wuke section; and a Nalivkinia magna–Howellella shiqianensis assemblage from the upper Wuke section. These reflect a shallowing trend within the local marine environment that was potentially linked to the Yangtze Uplift of the South China Platform. Assemblage turnover amongst Early Silurian brachiopods from Southwest China was thus probably related to regional bathymetric changes.