Early Carboniferous spiriferoid brachiopods from the Qaidam Basin,Northwest China: Taxonomy,biostratigraphy and biogeography

Six Early Carboniferous brachiopod species in four genera of the Superfamily Spiriferoidea are described from the Qaidam Basin, northwestern China, including a new genus, Qaidamospirifer, and two new species: Grandispirifer qaidamensis and Qaidamospirifer elongatus. Additionally, a new genus, Triangulospirifer, is also proposed to replace Triangularia Poletaev, 2001 that was preoccupied by a Devonian molluscan genus.On the basis of the new material as well as published information, we have reviewed the taxonomic composition and the stratigraphic and palaeobiogeographic distributions of the three previously established genera from the viewpoint of palaeobiogeography. The study reveals that Grandispirifer has a relatively long stratigraphic range from the late Tournaisian to Serpukhovian. During this interval, the genus attained a wide geographical distribution, reaching Northwest China, western Yunnan of West China, Japan, as well as Iran and North Africa. Angiospirifer first occurred in western Europe in the Viséan, and later migrated to North Africa during the late Viséan. In the Serpukhovian, it migrated eastward, reaching the Donets Basin of Ukraine and the Qaidam Basin in Northwest China. Anthracothyrina evolved from Brachythyrina in North Africa in late Viséan, then dispersed north-westward to western and eastern Europe and, further eastward to the Qaidam Basin during the Serpukhovian.     

The genus Laxifenestella (Bryozoa) from the Lower Carboniferous of the East European platform

Twelve species of the genus Fenestella from the Lower Carboniferous of the East European platform are placed in the genus Laxifenestella Morozova, 1974 based on the analysis of its species composition. These species and their stratigraphical range are described in more detail. Two species are shown to be synonymous. The stratigraphical distribution of these species over the horizons of the Viséan and Serpukhovian stages of the East European platform suggests a high degree of endemism of these bryozoans.     

Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) ammonoid biogeography

Cluster analyses and non-metric multidimensional scaling of ammonoid assemblages from six successive Early Carboniferous time intervals (two Tournaisian, Viséan, and Serpukhovian) show that increasing provincialism is the main biogeographic trend through the period. While the assemblages from the Tournaisian to the early Late Viséan are globally similar in the tropical occurrences, dissimilarities appear in the middle Late Viséan and become pronounced in the latest Viséan, Pendleian, and Arnsbergian. From the latest Viséan, two major biogeographic realms are recognisable. A north-western realm consists of the four North Variscan regions (Rhenish Mountains, North England, South Portugal, and Moroccan Meseta) as well as the American Midcontinent and the Antler Foreland Basin. The second realm includes the South Urals, which is the most diverse region and thus has an isolated position, as well as the Jadar Block of Serbia, the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, the Anti-Atlas of Morocco, and the Saoura Valley of Algeria.     

New Viséan and Serpukhovian ammonoids from the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section, eastern slope of the South Urals

Viséan and Early Serpukhovian ammonoids from the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section (South Urals, Bashkortostan) are discussed. The ammonoid assemblages include taxa that have not been previously recorded from this region and are probably connected with the open shelf settings of the eastern subregion of the South Urals. For the first time in the South Urals, we were able to recognize the succession of the ammonoid genozones Goniatites → Hypergoniatites-Ferganoceras → Uralopronorites-Cravenoceras within the same section that can be correlated with the synchronous zonations of Western Europe, North Africa, and North America. New records allow interpretation of the evolution of the family Goniatitidae in the Ural Paleocean in the terminal Viséan. Two new species, Goniatites altus sp. nov. and Platygoniatites integer sp. nov. are described.     

New Late Viséan and Early Serpukhovian ammonoids in the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section (Eastern Slope of the South Urals)

New Late Viséan and Early Serpukhovian ammonoids are described from the Verkhnyaya Kardailovka section (South Urals, Bashkortostan). The ammonoid assemblages allow the recognition of the Hypergoniatites?Ferganoceras Genozone and a correlation with the synchronous zonations of North Africa, Spain, and China. The new species Ferganoceras constrictum sp. nov., Dombarites clemens sp. nov., and Hypergoniatites kardailovkensis sp. nov. are described.     

The cystoporate bryozoan <Emphasis Type="Italic">Glyptopora michelinia</Emphasis> (Prout, 1860) in the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary interval of the Montagne Noire (southern France)

The cystoporate bryozoan Glyptopora michelinia (Prout, 1860) was identified from the latest Viséan/earliest Serpukhovian of southern France. This species was known previously from the Mississippian of the USA and southwestern Spain. The morphology of the genus Glyptopora includes the development of bilaminate lobes. Such morphology became successful in several groups of cystoporate bryozoans and was regarded as efficient adaptation for feeding. Another explanation would be control by the type of substrate which enabled temporal success of lobate species against the encrusting ones in the Late Palaeozoic.     

Marine algal flora of the Late Viséan (Early Carboniferous) of the Moscow Basin

New data on the taxonomic composition of the algal flora of the Late Viséan of the Moscow Basin are discussed based on newly collected material. The algal assemblage comprises 24 taxa, 14 taxa identified to species, nine identified to genus, and one taxon not positively identified. Representatives of the genera Anthracoporella, Anthracoporellopsis, Asphaltina, Asphaltinella, Asteroaoujgalia, and Zidella are recorded for the first time from the Upper Viséan of the Moscow Basin. The large geographic ranges of these benthic calcareous algae suggest a relatively free exchange of the floral elements of the Late Viséan Moscow Basin with the remote basins of North America and the Paleotethys in the Aleksinian and Mikhailovian time. The new data fill an important gap in the current state of knowledge of Late Viséan marine algae.     

New data on the Devonian and Carboniferous Graptolithina (Dendroidea) from Belgium with notes on possible occurrences of Rhabdopleuridae in the Belgian Carboniferous

An old find of a graptolite from the Eifelian Jemelle Formation, combined with the recent discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen from the Upper Frasnian (Matagne Formation), allow documentation of the geologically oldest and youngest dendroid fossils from the Devonian of Belgium. Both are ascribed to the long-ranging genus Callograptus (Acanthograptidae). These records enlarge the sparse knowledge of graptolite diversity and occurrences along the southern margin of Laurussia during the mid-Paleozoic. In Belgium, Devonian dendroids are exclusively known from the Dinant Synclinorium. The Devonian dendroid faunas previously reported from the Eifelian, Givetian and Frasnian of the Ardenne–Rhenish massifs (Belgium and Germany) are of low diversity (one to five species per locality). The specimens, generally inedaquatelly preserved, were ascribed to the genera Callograptus, Dictyonema, Palaeodictyota?, and Ruedemannograptus? In these massifs, Carboniferous dendroids are only known from the Viséan (Moliniacian) Denée Konservat-Lagerstätte. Other but undocumented reports of dendroids (and rhabdopleurids) are from the historical type area of the Tournaisian Stage (Tournai area, Brabant Parautochthon). Rhabdopleuridae from the Viséan–Serpukhovian of the Campine Basin (Turnhout borehole) remain incompletely known in the absence of the previously described material.     

Foraminifers of the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary interval in Western Palaeotethys: a review

A detailed revision of foraminiferal zonal schemes in sections throughout Europe and North Africa for the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary interval suggests that several foraminiferal taxa might have the potential to form reliable markers throughout the Palaeotethys. This would support the currently investigated boundary definition based on the First Appearance Datum of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri. However, correlation of these foraminiferal markers in the Western Palaeotethys region has encountered several problems, partly arising from taxonomic issues, but mainly because of apparent discrepancies between the First Occurrence Data (FOD). Analysis of the available foraminiferal data has revealed that some taxa show marked delays in their FODs, due to the timing of westward dispersal within the Palaeotethys, emanating from a probable source in eastern Russia. As a result of this investigation, two dispersal routes have been identified, a northern branch and a southern branch. In general, the displacements within the southern branch occurred more rapidly than in the northern branch. In addition to different dispersal routes, separation of the main foraminiferal markers in stratigraphical sections from different regions can result from isolation of shallow‐water facies of the inner platform from those of relatively deeper‐water settings in the outer platform, the latter showing more consistent foraminiferal FODs. The differences in palaeobathymetry and associated energy levels have enabled two foraminiferal zonal schemes to be distinguished for the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary interval in the Western Palaeotethys, one for the inner platform and a second one for the outer platform.     

New bryozoans from the Devonian of Afghanistan and the Carboniferous of Iran

A new family, Vidronovellidae, with a new genus, Vidronovella, and its type species V. fastigata sp. nov., and a new species, Europora gerirudensis, are described from the Famennian of Afghanistan, and the new species Primorella iranica, Heloclema magnificum, and Worthenopora elbursensis are described from the Viséan of Iran.     

Dorlodotia and related genera (Rugosa) from the Visean (Mississippian; Carboniferous) of Zonguldak and Bartin (North‐Western Turkey)

Abstract: A rich and diverse coral fauna collected from the Livian (Viséan, Mississippian) of Zonguldak and Bart?n (North‐western Turkey) contains numerous specimens of Dorlodotia and related forms. The most common species, D. delepinei Charles, 1933 , is redetermined as Dorlodotia briarti, an European species. A new species of Dorlodotia is described for very large, phaceloid forms: D. euxinensis. The genus Ceriodotia is created for species close to Dorlodotia with a cerioid habit. It comprises two species: C. bartinensis and C. petalaxoides, both common in the Viséan of Zonguldak and Bart?n. Based on comparison of morphological characters and features of the astogeny, a phylogenetic lineage is proposed for Dorlodotia and the new taxa. The evolution of D. euxinensis from D. briarti is peramorphic. Subsequent paedomorphosis resulted in the lineage D. euxinensis–C. bartinensis–C. petalaxoides. Ceriodotia probably includes Viséan taxa from Asia previously described as ‘Acrocyathus’.     

Gigantoproductid and allied productid brachiopods from the “Calcaires à Productus” (late Viséan-Serpukhovian; Montagne Noire,southern France): Taxonomy and palaeobiogeographical position in the Palaeotethys

The “Calcaires à Productus” or “Calcaires à Productus giganteus” on the southern slope of the Montagne Noire (Hérault, France) consist of numerous isolated olistolitic limestone blocks, generally transported by gravitational flows into siliciclastic basinal deposits. The present paper is the first systematic monographic study of gigantoproductids, semiplanids, and some other large-sized productid brachiopods from the upper Viséan to Serpukhovian strata of the Montagne Noire. Gigantoproductids are represented by abundant Datangia semiglobosa and Kansuella spp.; a single Globosoproductus specimen is described. The semiplanids are represented by Latiproductus aff. latissimus, L. latissimus complicatus and L. edelburgensis, and the linoproductids by Balakhonia aff. kokdscharensis. The Montagne Noire productid faunas are found in very different facies including shell beds and microbial mounds. They are most abundant in assemblages from agitated, shallow water environments with a firm substrate where rugose corals are rare or absent. The palaeobiogeographical relations to the other regions in the western Palaeotethys are often limited to taxa with an almost cosmopolitan character. Worth noting is the absence of Gigantoproductus sensu stricto in the Montagne Noire. This genus, and other brachiopod taxa, migrated probably during the late Serpukhovian into southern France. On a larger scale, the presence of Kansuella indicates faunal exchanges with the eastern Palaeotethys (South China) via a westward migration path along North China, the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and south-eastern Laurussia. The studied taxa, even at the genus level, did not migrate into North America even if the Alleghanian Isthmus was still open.     

Conodonts of the genus Lochriea in Ireland and the recognition of the Viséan–Serpukhovian (Carboniferous) boundary

Conodonts of the genus Lochriea offer high‐resolution biostratigraphical differentiation of the upper Mississippian (Carboniferous). In particular, L. ziegleri is regarded as the most suitable index taxon for recognition of a revised Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary and selection of a Global Stratotype Section and Point. Mixed carbonate‐siliciclastic Carboniferous sections from western Ireland demonstrate that gradual morphological evolution is expressed within the Lochriea lineage, evidenced by P₁‐elements with progressively more complex ornament appearing in a pulsed fashion in the Late Viséan. Significant diversification of the Lochriea conodonts occurs below the currently recognized base of the Namurian (identified by ammonoids), with which the basal Serpukhovian has been correlated in the past. The First Appearance Datum (FAD) of L. ziegleri in the Lugasnaghta Section of western Ireland is apparently coincident with the FAD's of other complexly ornamented Lochriea species (e.g. L. cruciformis) and corresponds with the Irish and British P_2a ammonoid biozone and the lower part of the upper Cf6δ (MFZ15) foraminiferal biozone. The FAD of L. ziegleri in Ireland is closely related to other Lochriea morphotypes with complex ornament, which are difficult to identify to species level using current species definitions. These forms, recorded from the three sections examined (St Brendan's Well, Kilnamona and Lugasnaghta), may partly be explained as abnormal growth histories, evolutionary intermediate forms, etc. In some instances, however, the apparently consistent and novel morphotypes suggest that current Lochriea taxonomy needs to be re‐examined. Furthermore, given the close association of the morphologies with asymmetric complex ornament and L. ziegleri, these taxa may hold significance as biostratigraphical tools in their own right.     

An evaluation of biostratigraphic markers across multiple geological sections in the search for the GSSP of the base of the Serpukhovian Stage (Mississippian)

This paper aims to evaluate potential biostratigraphic markers for the Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary in sections of Europe and Asia, to help identify the base of the global Serpukhovian Stage, which is a high priority task for Carboniferous biostratigraphy. Sections in the Serpukhovian stratotype area in the Moscow Basin contain a gap at the base of the Tarusian Regional Substage (basal in the classical Serpukhovian), so the traditional boundary defined in these sections cannot be precisely correlated with other successions worldwide. The IUGS Task Group to establish a GSSP close to the traditional Viséan–Serpukhovian boundary focused on the search for a new boundary marker, primarily on the first appearance datum (FAD) of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri in the lineage Lochriea nodosa to Lochriea ziegleri, considering it to be a suitable biostratigraphic event. The FOD (first occurrence datum) of L. ziegleri has been recognized in many successions worldwide, although only in a few sections the supposed evolutionary lineage of L. ziegleri was inferred. There are serious impediments to the FAD of L. ziegleri being universally accepted as the boundary marker. This paper presents a review of the FOD levels of L. ziegleri documented so far from multiple sections along with other correlatable markers (foraminifers and ammonoids) that can serve as additional points of reference in sections where a conodont record is poor or absent. The reviewed sections are Naqing Section (South China), Verkhnyaya Kardailovka and Kugarchi sections (South Urals, Russia), Mariinsky Log and Ladeinaya Mountain Sections (western slope of the Middle Urals, Russia), Novogurovsky Section (Moscow Basin, Russia), Vegas de Sotres Section (Cantabrian Mountains, Spain), Lugasnaghta Section (County Leitrim, Ireland), Wenne River Bank Section (Germany), and Milivojevića Kamenjar Section (Družetić, NW Serbia). We also included a compilation of data from sections of North England and southern Scotland. In this paper, we will mainly focus on newly described sections, while the discussion of most previously described sections was summarized by Nikolaeva et al. (2001, 2002, 2005, 2009b) and other publications, so they are only briefly mentioned in this review. It should be added that there is no such a thing as a perfect GSSP section, as each section has certain disadvantages, either lithological, paleontological, or both, so it is important to hear and discuss all the different opinions to develop the optimum strategy for future research. In addition, we analyze published records from several sites in North England and southern Scotland. We discuss the first appearances of the ammonoid genera Cravenoceras, Edmooroceras, Lyrogoniatites, Dombarites, and Platygoniatites, the foraminifers Neoarchaediscus postrugosus, Hemidiscopsis muradymica, H. hemisphaerica, species of Janischewskina and Monotaxinoides, Eostaffella pseudostruvei group, Eostaffellina decurta, and Endothyranopsis plana. We publish here for the first time the useful accounts of foraminifers and conodonts from the Mariinsky Log Section and Ladeinaya Mountain Section (Middle Urals, Russia), and re-figure several important type specimens from Europe and the Urals.     

Mikrofazies karbonischer Kalkgerölle aus dem Paläozoikum des Rif (Marokko): Ein Beitrag zur Paläogeographie der westmediterranen Paläotethys im Karbon

Post-lower Serpukhovian conglomerates with abundant limestone clasts are intercalated within the Carboniferous flysch succession of the Ghomarides (internal zone of the Rif, northern Morocco). They are restricted to two ghomaridic nappes (Beni Hozmar, Akaili; Fig. 1). No limestone-bearing conglomerates are known from the third nappe (Kuhdiat Tizian). 83.4% of the limestone clasts derived from shallow-shelf environments and adjoining proximal slope environments of late Viséan (V3b gamma) to early Serpukhovian (Namurian E1–E2) age. Microfacies types of the inner shelf lagoon and of restricted shelf environments dominate. They indicate a complicated mosaic facies pattern (Fig. 2). 16.6% of the limestone clasts derived from distal slope environments and deep, open marine environments. They are of unknown age except for one Upper Devonian pebble from around the transition do IIα/do IIβ. All are supposedly of late Middle Devonian and Late Devonian age. Their sedimentology as well as the age and the microfacies of the limestone clasts indicate that the conglomerates of the Ghomarides are homologous to the Marbella Formation of the Malaguides (Betic Cordillera, Southern Spain). The conglomerate of Binifaillet (Minorca, Balearic Islands) is also similar. The source area of the conglomerates was the not any more existent Betico-Rifean Block south of the Malaguide-Ghomaride flysch trough. Owing to their facies development in Devonian and Carboniferous times, the nappes of the Ghomarides and the Malaguides can be arranged in a successively more distal position towards the source: nappe of Beni Hozmar—nappe of Kuhdiat Tizian—nappe of Akaili + Malaguides (Fig. 4). Minorca, which received its flysch sediments from the north, seems to be influenced only episodically by conglomerate inputs from the south. The lithofacies development of the Carboniferous in other Paleozoic massifs of the western Mediterranean clearly demonstrates that the Paleotethys of this region was framed by shallow-water carbonate shelves between early Viséan and Moscovian times. These shelves are not preserved in situ, but gravitative carbonate sediments, conglomerates, slide blocks and gravitational nappes with in the flysch troughs confirm their existence. The flysch troughs were situated at active continental margins. They developed initially in the northern Paleotethys realm (southern border of the Southern European plate) starting with the late Viséan; in the southern Paleotethys realm (northern border of the Betico-Rif block) they started in the lowermost Viséan. The appearance of the flysch troughs records the beginning subduction of the Paleotethys towards the north beneath the Southern European plate as well as towards the south beneath the Betico-Rifean block (Fig. 6). Flysch sedimentation was predated by pelagic sedimentation since the earliest Carboniferous. During the Viséan a successive deepening of the western Mediterranean Paleotethys from north to south was recorded in the facies development of the pelagic deposits. The deepening is genetically connected with the earlier start of the subduction at the Betico-Rifean block.     

Late Viséan–Serpukhovian foraminifers in the Montagne Noire (France): Biostratigraphic revision and correlation with the Russian substages

The “calcaires à Productus” of the Montagne Noire (Aude-Hérault, southern France) are carbonate lenses embedded within a thick Carboniferous siliciclastic complex. Foraminiferal assemblages in some of the larger carbonate lenses are typically representative of the late Viséan and Serpukhovian. Eleven new species of foraminifers are described: Hemidiscopsis variabilis, H. pilleae, Planohowchinia rara, P. redondensis, Spireitlina minima, Rectoendothyra japhetensis, Mikhailovella enormis, Cribrospira? perretae, Pojarkovella occidentalis, Parabiseriella vailhanensis, and Biseriella delicata. Eight foraminiferal biozones are defined; they are based on the first occurrence of some taxa, and could be used for other regions of southern France (e.g., Mouthoumet and the Pyrenees). These biozones are informally named as A to H. Due to the problems with classical biozonations and substages in northern England as well as Belgium and northern France, the biozones established herein are mostly compared with the Russian standard substages. Thus, biozones A and B are correlated with the Mikhailovian, corresponding to the latest Asbian and earliest Brigantian in western Europe; biozones C, D and E are correlated with the Venevian, equivalent to the upper part of the early Brigantian in western Europe. Therefore, biozones A–E form part of the late and latest Viséan. The stratigraphically younger biozones F, G and H contain foraminiferal assemblages correlated with the Tarusian, Steshevian and Protvian, respectively.     

Lithofacies and biostratigraphical correlation of marine Carboniferous rocks in the Tindouf Basin,NW Africa

Spatial and temporal variations of Carboniferous sediment accumulation within the northwestern part of the northern flank of the Tindouf Syncline in Saharan Morocco allowed to distinguish 16 lithofacies types. The predominant sedimentation pattern is cyclic, with the overall succession recording a major regressive trend. Outer platform siliciclastics in the lower part (Tournaisian and Viséan) pass up to middle and inner platform mixed siliciclastic and carbonate sediments (late Viséan–Serpukhovian) and finally to continental sandstones in the Bashkirian capping the marine carbonate sedimentation. The lack of similarities in a correlation with southern outcrops in the Tindouf Syncline suggests tectonically controlled sedimentation. The upper Tournaisian to lower Bashkirian succession records the incipient uplift of the Anti-Atlas Mountains, changing the paleogeography and, therefore, affecting the paleoecologic conditions, as well as the sedimentary environments in the Tindouf Basin. It is suggested that from the Serpukhovian onwards, much of the Anti-Atlas was uplifted, leading to subaerial conditions, while during the late Viséan, only a few small inliers had emerged. Although the number of Proterozoic emergent inliers of the Anti-Atlas is unknown, during the late Viséan, the Anti-Atlas Mountain belt is regarded as an emerging structure, with a distinct influence on the paleobiogeography of the region.     

Survival of early Viséan foraminifers in the Western Meseta of Morocco

Typical early Viséan foraminiferal assemblages documented in outcrops of the Western Meseta of Morocco led to the erroneous biostratigraphic dating of areas that later, after much effort, have been demonstrated to correspond to the mid and late Viséan. These sections are analyzed to decipher if they are formed by reworked specimens or if this fauna really survived into younger rocks. Key sections are located in vast areas of the Western Meseta, in the north of the Azrou-Khenifra basin, Fourhal area, El Hammam Ridge, Oulmès area, Sidi Bettache basin (all on the north of the Western Meseta), and the Skoura region (on the southern border). The environmental settings as well as the taphonomical stage of preservation of the foraminifers suggest that most of the assemblages are composed of autochthonous or parautochthonous foraminifers and, thus, that the fauna really survived into the middle and even upper Viséan carbonate platforms of the Western Meseta. In some sections, the early Viséan foraminifers share the same levels with mid Viséan foraminifers; in others, they share the same levels with mid and late Viséan foraminifers, and in a third group, the early Viséan foraminifers occur in the same stratigraphic sections with mid and late Viséan assemblages, although never in exactly the same stratigraphic levels but alternating. These distributions exemplify the three patterns of interaction between the stratigraphic and biogeographic ranges of the assemblages.The absence of similar patterns is noteworthy in the surrounding regions of the Palaeotethys, and thus, this anomalous distribution can be discarded as a matter of dispersal from neighbouring regions. The absence of similar patterns in basins situated far from the Western Meseta allows abiotic factors to be discarded, such as tectonic/environmental setting, palaeolatitude or isolation. The most plausible hypothesis to explain the survival of these fauna is related to biotic factors, such as species interaction and competition, and they can be compared to some similar modern ecological patterns. However, the primary triggering factor allowing these biotic factors to interact is considered to be the late arrival of the mid Viséan foraminifers to the Western Meseta, allowing them to occupy niches completely different from the rest of the Palaeotethys.     

Distribution and evolution of Carboniferous reefs in South China

Reefs are sensitive proxies for palaeontological, palaeoenvironmental, and palaeogeographical changes during geological history. In South China, after the collapse of the reef ecosystem during the Frasnian-Famennian and Hangenberg mass extinction events, Carboniferous reefs underwent evolutionary episodes of recovery, decline, and turnover, which were controlled by changes of reef-builders abundance, sedimentary facies, relative sea level, and even global climate. In Tournaisian times, only a few Waulsortian-like banks have been found in Liuzhou, Guangxi without metazoan reefs, which were caused by the lack of reef-builders, such as colonial rugose corals and bryozoans, and the dominant non-carbonate facies (shale, mud stone and sandstone) driven by low relative sea level. The absence of mud mounds in the early Viséan was attributed to the regression event during the Tournaisian-Viséan boundary. During Viséan times, bryozoan-coral reefs in Huishui, Guizhou and Tianlin, Guangxi occurred during a time of increasing biodiversity and carbonate facies resulting from relative sea-level rise. The number of potential reef-builders as colonial rugose coral and bryozoan genera significantly increased in Viséan times in South China. The reef abundance declined during Serpukhovian times in South China and the controlling factors were decreasing abundance of potential reef-builders and developing non-carbonate facies due to a relative sea-level fall. The sedimentary facies were characterized by shale, mud stone, sandstone, and dolostone during this time. A distinct change in reef types occurred after the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary, when phylloid algae and red algae reefs (distributed in Ziyun, Guizhou and Beibuwan, Guangxi) replaced metazoan reefs and became the dominant role in reef ecosystem. This reef turnover event may be triggered by the dramatic relative sea-level fall during the mid-Carboniferous, and continued low relative sea level in South China and global flourish of phylloid and red algae during Pennsylvanian times. Grainstone and dolomitic limestone were the main composition of the platform sedimentary facies in South China during Pennsylvanian times. In addition, global climate cooling and warming, resulted from the waxing and waning of Gondwana glaciation, may also influence the reef evolution in South China, as evidenced from the consistent transgression and regression events and reef evolutionary pattern between South China and globe during the Carboniferous.     

Arachniden-Neufunde im mitteleuropäischen Unterkarbon bis Perm — Beitrag zur Revision der Familie AphantomartidaePetrunkevitch 1945 (Arachnida, Trigonotarbida)

On the basis of rich new material covering a broad time span from the Lower Carboniferous (Viséan) to the Lower Permian (Asselian), the trigonotarbid family AphantomartidaePetrunkevitch 1945 is revised. According to investigations presented here it includes only one genus,Aphantomartus Pocock 1911, with two species,A. pustulatus (Scudder 1884) undA. areolatus (Pocock 1911). Many synonyms that existed in the literature until now, the stratigraphic occurrence, palaeobiogeographic distribution as well as taphonomic aspects are discussed. Besides some newly found as well as newly investigated specimens both the oldest and the youngest (the youngest trigonotarbid hitherto known) representatives of the family are presented.