Evolution and extinction of Permian fusulinid fauna in the Khao Tham Yai Limestone in NE Thailand

Abstract

The first detailed biostratigraphic investigation of a single limestone unit within the Khao Tham Yai Limestone shows it was deposited continuously in a shelf setting without any intercalation of clastic beds. It ranges from the Wordian (middle Middle Permian) up to the Wuchiapingian (lower Upper Permian). The limestone unit is divided in ascending order into three fusulinid zones, i.e. Colania, Lepidolina and Codonofusiella zones. The middle zone is characterized by an abundance of large-tested fusulinids characteristic of the Lepidolina Zone. Shell sizes of the fusulinid species in this zone display continuous rapid morphological change along a one-way evolutionary path from small, primitive species with simple structure to large, highly evolved species having a complicated wall structure. Fusulinid biostratigraphy in a single limestone unit elucidates evolution and extinction patterns of Permian fusulinids of the shallow-water Tethyan shelf area in the Indochina Block. Our study reveals that the boundary between the Guadalupian (Middle Permian) and Lopingian (Upper Permian) in the Khao Tham Yai Limestone is clearly defined as an abrupt change in the fusulinid assemblages from the elimination of large-tested Verbeekinids and Schwagerinids to the domination of small-shelled Schubertellids. The Schubertellids underwent slower evolutionary morphological change than earlier fusulinids and were decreasingly dominant through the Permian. A similar pattern of fusulinid evolution and extinction at the Guadalupian–Lopingian boundary occurs in shallow-water Tethyan shelf areas and mid-oceanic shallow-water environments in mid-Panthalassa. Eventually, even smaller fusulinids abruptly become extinct. Clastic deposits finally replace previous carbonate formations characterized by algae-foraminifera biota. It starts in the upper Middle Permian in the southern parts and spreads throughout the whole area in the lower Upper Permian in NE Thailand. These observations suggest possible correlation between the turning points of fusulinid evolution and global environmental change such as worldwide sea-level drop and its consequent effects.