DISTRIBUTION OF THE LATE ORDOVICIAN CONODONT TAOQUPOGNATHUS IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA AND CHINA

Taoqupognathus is a multimembrate panderodontid conodont, consisting of distinctive, blade-like, coniform elements with various degrees of posterior bulging. The genus is restricted in distribution to the Upper Ordovician of eastern Australia and China, where the four known species are useful for precise regional correlation. A cladistic analysis of morphological characters indicates that the mian evolutionary trend of Taoqupognathus appears to follow the lineage: T.philipi-T.blandus, and T.tumidus during the Eastonian (middle Late Ordovician), with T.philipi as the most primitive form. The distribution of Taoqupognathus suggests a close biogeographical link between eastern Australia and China with the genus apparently originating in central New South Wales in the early Eastonian. It then migrated to Chinese crustal blocks during the summit of its development in the mid-late Eastonian, and probably became extinct in the latest Eastonian or early Bolindian.

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Clc Number:

Q915.642 Q915.5