Abstract
The Tielugou section, Shennongjia Anticline, Hubei Province (China) includes a relatively complete succession of Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) to basal Telychian (Llandovery, early Silurian) graptolite faunas. The section shows the first record of a fauna of the late Aeronian Stimulograptus halli Biozone from South China, even though the index species was not reported. The Stimulograptus sedgwickii Biozone may not be represented, indicating a possible gap at the base of the Stimulograptus halli Biozone. The interval yields a number of taxa that are elsewhere reported to originate only in the Stimulograptus halli Biozone. The youngest graptolitic levels are included in the Spirograptus guerichi Biozone based on specimens of Parapetalolithus dignus and Parapetalolithus palmeus not known from earlier intervals. Spirograptus guerichi is not represented in the section. The Tielugou section provides the first detailed information on the faunas and thickness of the encountered biostratigraphic units for the Shennongija region.
Highlights
Graptolitic successions of Late Ordovician to Early Silurian age are well known from the Yangtze platform of China and a number of faunal descriptions of the Late Ordovician to Early Silurian graptolites exist (Ni 1978; Chen and Lin 1978; Fang et al 1990; Ge 1990; Li 1995, 1999)
The here reported succession of the Tielugou section provides for the first time a detailed overview of the graptolite faunal succession of the lower Silurian of the region
The species has been described from the Cystograptus vesiculosus Biozone of the Montagne Noire, but Štorch and Feist (2008: 948) indicated that the species is present in the ascensus-acuminatus Biozone, as it is in the Tielugou section
Summary
Graptolitic successions of Late Ordovician to Early Silurian age are well known from the Yangtze platform of China and a number of faunal descriptions of the Late Ordovician to Early Silurian graptolites exist (Ni 1978; Chen and Lin 1978; Fang et al 1990; Ge 1990; Li 1995, 1999). Loxton (2017) found the species only in the lower part of his Metabolograptus persculptus Biozone and illustrated a single specimen that shows much more densely spaced proximal thecae and is not comparable with the Štorch and Loydell (1996) material.
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