Early-Mid Ordovician brachiopod diversification in South China

Diversity and paleobiogeographic distribution patterns of early and Middle Ordovician graptolites in distinct depositional environments of South China

“…An intensive study of the Ordovician fossils in regions like South China and Baltoscandia, which have nearly complete successions and well studied depositional facies, is of particular significance for an evaluation of the biogeographic distribution and evolutionary patterns of organisms across environmental gradients. In South China, there have been some studies on the diversity history of some specific fossil groups, such as trilobites [5], brachiopods [6], graptolites [2,3,7,8], bivalves [9], nautiloids [10], and acritarchs [11], which have revealed their basic evolutionary patterns. The results of our graptolite diversity study indicate that a remarkable difference in diversity history exists between the two major South China regions with distinct geological backgrounds, the Yangtze Region and the Jiangnan Region [3].…”

Diversity fluctuations and biogeography of Ordovician brachiopod faunas in northeastern Spitsbergen

“…3A-C. The figure and tables are based on data from Poulsen (1927Poulsen ( , 1937, Ulrich & Cooper (1938), Cooper (1956aCooper ( , 1956b, Lochman (1966), Ross (1967Ross ( , 1972, Neuman & Bruton (1974), Krause & Rowell (1975), Havlíček & Branisa (1980), Laurie (1980), Nazarov & Popov (1980), Babin et al (1982), Severgina (1984), Yadrenkina (1984), Laurie (1987), Holmer (1989), Loch et al (1993), Freeman & Stitt (1996), Holmer & Popov (2000), Benedetto (2001a), Holmer et al (2001), Robson & Pratt (2001), Mergl (2002, Benedetto (2003), Zhan et al (2005), Benedetto & Cech (2006), Zhan & Harper (2006), Nikitina et al (2006), Gutiérrez-Marco & Villas (2007), Cocks (2008), and Popov et al (2008). The Lower Ordovician distribution of linguliform genera is omitted, as three of the four genera did not have representatives of similar ages in the researched literature.…”

“…An interpreted offshore setting for most of the Valhallfonna Formation is supported by the dominance of linguliform brachiopods (see Patzkowsky 1995). In Spitsbergen the start of the diversification was later than in South China, were it took place in the early Floian (Zhan et al 2005), but still earlier than for the first major diversification of the rhynchonelliform brachiopods globally and in Baltica, taking place in the Dapingian to early Darriwilian (Harper et al 2004, Rasmussen et al 2007). On a global scale the micromorphic linguliform brachiopods already diversified in the late Tremadocian, but this stage appears to be missing in Laurentia (Harper et al 2004).…”

Principal aspects of the Ordovician biotic radiation

“…During the past few years, some case studies have already been conducted in South China particularly on the Ordovician radiation, dealing with trilobites [31,32], brachiopods [33,34], graptolites [27,35,36], bivalves [37,38], and acritarchs [39]. Initial results on the macroevolutionary patterns of these fossil groups have already been achieved, and researchers are investigating the dynamics of the biotic radiation [40] to reveal the patterns of the radiation in South China.…”

“…In fact, even for shelly organisms, the situation is actually much more complicated. For example, Ordovician brachiopod communities of South China radiated first on the inner shelf, corresponding roughly to lower BA2 to BA3 benthic environment, rather than in nearshore areas, and then expanded gradually in both onshore and offshore directions, and meanwhile differentiated into more diverse but isolated communities and associations [33,34]. Planktonic graptolites usually originated in marginal shelf or upper slope settings, and then dispersed into shallow-water platform and epipelagic settings.…”