Sinoceras chinense (Foord, 1888) in western Thailand: first identification outside China

Abstract

The nautiloid cephalopod Sinoceras chinense (Foord, 1888) was previously only known from the Upper Ordovician of Chinese blocks/terranes. Here, we document the first identification of S. chinense from the Kanchanaburi area, western Thailand. Upper part of the Tha Manao Formation containing S. chinense is extremely similar both faunally and lithologically to the coeval Pagoda Formation of South China. This identification from Thailand not only extends the palaeobiogeographic distribution of S. chinense, but also supports the dynamic palaeogeographic reconstruction of the peri-Gondwana Chinese terranes and Sibumasu from Middle to Late Ordovician.