STROPHOMENIDE BRACHIOPODS FROM THE CHANGWU FORMATION (LATE KATIAN, LATE ORDOVICIAN) OF CHUN’AN, WESTERN ZHEJIANG, SOUTH‐EAST CHINA

Abstract:  Late Ordovician strophomenide brachiopods (superfamilies Strophomenoidea and Plectambonitoidea) from the upper Changwu Formation (mid Ashgill, late Katian) of Jianglütang, Chun’an County, western Zhejiang Province, consist of ten genera and 12 species. Five new species of three new genera are recognized: Chunanomena triporcata, Chunanomena sembellina, Cheramomena subsolana, Lateriseptomena modesta, and Lateriseptomena rugosa. The strophomenide brachiopods from the upper Katian strata described in this study and those from the border region of Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces reported in previous work contain 16 strophomenoid and 12 plectambonitoid genera, and most of the strophomenoids are endemic to South China. Numerical analysis of well‐documented late Katian strophomenide brachiopod faunas indicates a strong provincialism, characterized by the highly distinct North American province (Laurentia), the South China‐Kazakhstan province, and the Avalonia‐Baltica province (Wales, Belgium and Sweden). Surprisingly, the Girvan district of Scotland, which was a peri‐Laurentian terrane during the Ordovician, contains a late Katian brachiopod fauna that is more closely related to the contemporaneous brachiopods of Avalonia‐Baltica than to those of North America.