Alatoconchids: Giant Permian bivalves from South China

被引:12
作者
Chen, Fayao [1 ,2 ]
Xue, Wuqiang [1 ,2 ]
Yan, Jiaxin [1 ,2 ]
Wignall, Paul B. [3 ]
Meng, Qi [1 ,2 ]
Luo, Jinxiong [4 ]
Feng, Qinglai [1 ]
机构
[1] China Univ Geosci, Sch Earth Sci, Wuhan 430074, Peoples R China
[2] China Univ Geosci, State Key Lab Biogeol & Environm Geol, Wuhan 430074, Peoples R China
[3] Univ Leeds, Sch Earth & Environm, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England
[4] Yangtze Univ, Sch Geosci, Wuhan 430100, Hubei, Peoples R China
基金
中国国家自然科学基金;
关键词
Alatoconchidae; Habit and habitat; Guadalupian; Tethyan fauna; South China; CARBONATE PLATFORMS; WESTERN HUBEI; BEARING; SECTION; BOUNDARIES; SHIKAMAIA; PROVINCE; FAMILY; JAPAN;
D O I
10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.01.012
中图分类号
P [天文学、地球科学];
学科分类号
07 ;
摘要
Alatoconchidae, a unique bivalve family from the Permian, are characterized by a giant body size (up to 100 cm long), and unusual shell form with wing-like flanges and coarse prismatic outer layer of the shell wall. Palaeogeographically, they are restricted to low-latitude Tethyan and Panthalassan regions. However, the clams have not been previously been reported from South China even though this is one of the main, eastern Palaeotethyan terranes. Here we show that these giant clams were in fact widely distributed in South China, but they have been previously misidentified as phylloid algae. The present study verifies their occurrence in the region using reconstruction of shell forms from a series of transverse sections, as well as their characteristic shell microstructure. The alatoconchids occur commonly as coquina beds. Over thirty occurrences, ranging from the early Kungurian to probably the latest Capitanian in time, have been found. Based on detailed lithologicaland microfacies observation at more than ten fossil localities, most alatoconchid-bearing horizons (ABH) are autochthonous deposits, confined to medium- to thick-bedded limestones (often wackestone) of shallow water carbonate platforms. Two occurrences from an intra-platform basin are allochthonous deposits shed from the nearby carbonate platform by gravity flows, and featured by completely disintegrated fragments. Autochthonous and condensed accumulation of the fossil materials with great lateral persistence imply a gregarious habit of the clam, although slightly reworking might be involved. Its absence from high energy conditions, as well as the completeness of shell preservation, suggests it was not a reef dweller. To obtain gigantism in the tropical oligotrophic environment, alatoconchids may have harboured photosymbionts like present-day tridacnids, facilitated by its transparent shell texture, although this notion is challenged by Asato et al. (2017). Their association with calcareous algae and corals in the ABH indicates that the optimum belt of the clams is likely within the euphotic zone, but below that of calcareous green algae judging from the lithological succession and skeletal grain association.
引用
收藏
页码:147 / 167
页数:21
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