Tremadocian (Early Ordovician) chitinozoan biostratigraphy of South China: An update

The lowest Ordovician (Tremadocian) chitinozoan biostratigraphy of the South China Palaeoplate has been reviewed and updated, based on new investigation from the Upper Yangtze area. The systematic paleontology of Lagenochitina pestovoensis Obut 1973 and Lagenochitina destombesi Elaouad-Debbaj 1988, has been revised. Previous identifications of L. destombesi from South China are considered questionable, and the L. destombesi Biozone, recognized from Baltica, northern Gondwana and peri-Gondwana, is therefore no longer used for the middle-upper part of the Tremadocian in South China. Two chitinozoan biozones are recognized, including the Lagenochitina pestovoensis Biozone (lower) and the Euconochitina symmetrica Biozone (upper) for the middle and upper part of the South Chinese Tremadocian. International correlation of the E. symmetrica Biozone indicates that the base of this biozone in South China is lower than the records in North America and northern Gondwana, and that the biozone is confined within the upper Tremadocian in South China.