A new genus Liaous of early Anisian Stage (Middle Triassic) brachiopods from southwestern China: systematics, reassessment of classification of the Spiriferinioidea, community paleoecology, and paleoenvironmental implications. (9th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Weihong; Zhang, Kexin; Chen, Zhong-Qiang; Yan, Jiaxin; Yang, Tinglu; Zhang, Yang; Gu, Songzhu; Wu, Shunbao
• Is Part Of: Journal of paleontology. Volume 89:Number 6(2016)
• Page Start: 966
• Page End: 979
• Publication Date: 2016-05-09
• Subjects: Fossils -- Classification -- Periodicals; Paleontology -- Periodicals; Paléontologie -- Périodiques; Fossils -- Classification; Paleontology; Paleontologie; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 560.5
• DOI: 10.1017/jpa.2016.6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3360

Abstract

Abstract: This paper describes a new genus Liaous, with L. shaiwensis He and Chen n. gen. n. sp. as the type species, from the Xinyuan Formation of Anisian age in Ziyun, southern Guizhou, China. The phylogenetic tree revealed by the parsimony analysis shows that Liaous is closely allied to both Mentzelia Quenstedt, 1871 and Paramentzelia Xu, 1978 of the subfamily Mentzeliinae. A new classification scheme for the Spiriferinoidea is also proposed based on a phylogenetic tree of the superfamily indicated by parsimony analysis. The Spiriferinoidea includes three families and nine subfamilies. Three new subfamilies—Madoinae He and Chen, new subfam., Qinghaispiriferininae He and Chen, new subfam., and Triadispirinae He and Chen, new subfam. are proposed. Liaous shaiwensis He and Chen n. gen. n. sp. is found in the Posidonia wengensis - Liaous shaiwensis (P-L) paleocommunity, which is dominated by r-strategists (i.e., organisms defined by a fauna with a high dominance and small body sizes) and has a low diversity and high dominance. The P-L paleocommunity therefore has little similarity to its coeval communities from the Anisian Stage of South China and instead it appears more similar to the Lower Triassic shelly faunas in community structures. This paleocommunity is interpreted to have inhabited a relatively deep, low-energy, dysaerobic offshore basin/slope setting with the influence of episodic storms.