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Palaeoecological Analysis of Trace Fossil Sinusichnus sinuosus from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formationin Southwestern China

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Abstract

The Luoping Biota discovered from the early Middle Triassic (Anisian) Guanling Formation of southwestern China represents a fully recovered shallow marine ecosystem, marking the end point of Early Triassic biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction. Contemporaneously preserved are prolific trace fossils, which offer good opportunities to understand the palaeoecology of marine invertebrates from a fully recovered shallow marine ecosystem. Here we present a newly discovered sinuous branching burrow from the fossil-bearing unit in Member II of the Guanling Formation. Several features, including the horizontal regular sinuous nature, the branching pattern, typical H-junction, and the small wavelength/amplitude ratio of these sinuous structures within the burrow systems justify assignment of these traces as Sinusichnus sinuosus, a trace possibly produced by decapod crustaceans. Close association of S. sinuosus with Rhizocorallium commune suggests a deposit-feeding strategy of these trace makers. The newly reported Anisian material from the Guanling Formation in Luoping represents first report of Sinusichnus from South China. The global record of Sinusichnus occurrence suggests that these burrows might have an older history than Early Middle Triassic.

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  • 19 December 2018

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The title was incorrect. The corrected one is given below.

    <Emphasis Type="Bold">Palaeoecological Analysis of Trace Fossil</Emphasis> <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Sinusichnus sinuosus</Emphasis> <Emphasis Type="Bold">from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation in Southwestern China</Emphasis>

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly supported by the ARCDP discovery grant to G. R. Shi (No. DP15Q1QQ69Q). This research has also been supported by a CAS Pioneer Hundred Talents Program (to ML). This research is also supported by a grant from the State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Biology (No. GBL2141Q to ML), China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), and a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41502013). This research has also been supported by for China Geological Survey projects (Nos. DD2Q16QQ2Q, 1212011140051, 12120114030601, and 1212010610211). This paper is a contribution to the IGCP 630 "Permian-Triassic climatic and environmental extremes and biotic response". The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-018-0794-4..

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Melbourne Burwood Campus), Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, 3125, Australia

    Mao Luo & G. R. Shi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Yi-Ming Gong, Zhong-Qiang Chen & Xueqian Feng

  3. Chengdu Center of China Geological Survey, Chengdu, 610081, China

    Jinyuan Huang, Shixue Hu, Qiyue Zhang, Changyong Zhou & Wen Wen

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  1. Mao Luo
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Luo, M., Gong, YM., Shi, G.R. et al. Palaeoecological Analysis of Trace Fossil Sinusichnus sinuosus from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formationin Southwestern China. J. Earth Sci. 29, 854–863 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-018-0794-4

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