Systematics and palaeoecology of fossil plants from the Upper Permian Longtan Formation in western Guizhou Province, southwestern China

Abstract

ABSTRACT A megafossil flora (i.e., Shuicheng flora) has been collected from the Upper Permian Longtan Formation coal-bearing rock series in the Wangjiazhai coal district, Shuicheng county, western Guizhou Province, southwestern China. Shuicheng flora, as an important part of the late Permian Cathaysian flora in South China, thrived in warm and humid conditions after the eruption of the Emeishan basalt but disappeared during the end-Permian mass extinction event. Here the fossil plants including 13 species in 9 genera were systematically described and compared. Results of systematic taxonomic studies demonstrate that these fossil plants are dominated by ferns and pteridosperms, followed by some sphenopsids, ginkgophytes and lycopsids. Taphonomic analysis shows that these fossil plants are mainly dominated by parautochthonous burial and accompanied by a small number of heterochthonous burial. Meanwhile, the palaeoecological reconstruction of Shuicheng flora suggests that these plants including lepidodendrids presented tall trees, calamites presented trees, ferns and pteridosperms presented trees, small trees, shrub, microphanerophytes and herbaceous plants, and ginkgopsida presented trees grown on detrital substrates under warm and humid climatic conditions and constituted a portion of the terrestrial landscape in western Guizhou Province during the Wuchiapingian.