An upper Kungurian/lower Guadalupian (Permian) brachiopod fauna from the South Qiangtang Block in Tibet and its palaeobiogeographical implications

A brachiopod fauna including 15 species belonging to 14 genera is described from a thin carbonate succession of the Lugu Formation at the Anmu section in the northern part of the South Qiangtang Block, which is about 15 km south to the Longmu Co-Shuanghu Suture. The brachiopod fauna is late Kungurian or early Guadalupian in age in terms of the presence of the brachiopod species Vediproductus punctatiformis, “Cryptospirifer” omeishanensis, and Paraplicatifera regularis. This is also generally consistent with the age indicated by the fusulines (e.g., Cancellina, Chusenella, Monodiexodina, Nankinella, Neofusulinella, Pseudofusulina, and Sphaerulina) from this formation at the nearby Mari and Duoma A (DMA) sections. Palaeobiogeographically, the brachiopod fauna exhibits a typical Cathaysian affinity and all the species are reported commonly from the equivalents in South China and Cimmerian blocks, which strongly suggest that the South Qiangtang Block had drifted to a position in the warm-water or temperate regime close to South China.