A new Changhsingian (Lopingian) brachiopod fauna of the shallow‐water clastic shelf facies from Fujian Province, south‐eastern China

Abstract

Although much attention has been paid to Changhsingian brachiopods in South China, there are only two Chinese studies, published in 1979 and 1990, on Changhsingian brachiopods from the south-eastern part of South China. Based on systematically collected fossil material, this paper describes and quantitatively analyses a Changhsingian brachiopod fauna from the Luokeng Formation at the Hongtian section, Fujian Province, south-eastern China, for the first time. Of the brachiopods (30 species in 19 genera) described and illustrated, Cathaysia yongdingensis Liao and an endemic genus of South China (Qinglongia) are reported in English for the first time. Two new species, Neochonetes (Sommeriella) longa and Neochonetes (Sommeriella) transversa, are also proposed. The Hongtian fauna is mainly composed of Cathaysia (29.4%), Neochonetes (19.3%), Linoproductus (13.5%), and Orthothetina (11.7%), and is correlated with the brachiopod fauna from the lower part of the Luokeng Formation in Fujian Province. Based on new and previously published quantitative data, we suggest that the Cathaysia-Neochonetes-Orthothetina Assemblage should represent the early Changhsingian brachiopod fauna in the shallow-water clastic shelf of Fujian Province. After comparing this fauna with contemporaneous brachiopod fauna from the shallowwater clastic shelf in the Yangtze area, we find that Neochonetes is a common genus in both areas, but that Fusichonetes is predominant in the Yangtze, while Cathaysia-Orthothetina are the additional main genera in south-western China.