Carboniferous fusuline Foraminifera: taxonomy, regional biostratigraphy, and palaeobiogeographic faunal development

Abstract

This paper proposes a synthesis of the taxonomy, phylogeny, palaeogeographic distribution, regional biostratigraphy, and palaeobiogeographic faunal development of Carboniferous fusuline foraminifers. They appeared in the latest Tournaisian and comprised a small-sized, morphologically conservative taxonomic group during the Mississippian. Fusulines became larger and prevailed in Pennsylvanian foraminiferal assemblages. Carboniferous fusulines consist of Ozawainellidae, Staffellidae, Schubertellidae, Fusulinidae, and Schwagerinidae, in which 95 genera are considered as valid taxonomically. Upsizing their shells throughout the Pennsylvanian is likely related to symbiosis with photosynthetic microorganisms, which was accelerated by the acquisition of a keriothecal wall in Late Pennsylvanian schwagerinids. Regional fusuline succession data from 40 provinces provide a refined biostratigraphy, enabling zonation and correlation with substage- or higher-resolution precision in the Pennsylvanian. Their spatio-temporal faunal characteristics show that fusulines had a cosmopolitan palaeobiogeographic signature in Mississippian time, suggesting unrestricted faunal exchange through the palaeoequatorial Rheic Ocean. After the formation of Pangea, Pennsylvanian fusulines started to show provincialism, and their distributions defined the Ural-Arctic Region in the Boreal Realm, Palaeotethys, Panthalassa, and North American Craton regions in the Palaeoequatorial Realm, and Western Gondwana and Eastern Peri-Gondwana regions in the Gondwana Realm. The Western Palaeotethys and East European Platform Subregions maintained higher generic diversity throughout the Pennsylvanian.

Resolving the Tectonic Setting of South China in the Late Paleozoic

“…A total of 28 fusulinid species are discovered in depth from −9.0 to 27.0 m in the OTD section. They are the common elements from the upper Kashirian to Myachkovian substages in the Eastern European Platform and the corresponding strata in South China (Ueno, 2021). The detailed distribution of fusulinid fossils are exhibited in Figure S3 of Supporting Information S1.…”

Discovery of Late Mississippian (late Serpukhovian)–Early Pennsylvanian (earliest Bashkirian?) foraminiferal assemblages from the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone, Iran: Biostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental implications

“…Carboniferous foraminifers were first reported in Iran by Bozorgnia ( 1973 ) from the Alborz Mountains of Northern Iran. They were mostly characterized by the Tournaisian–Viséan smaller foraminifers, however, a few Moscovian fusulinoids were also described from the eastern part of the Alborz Mountains, without any clearly defined descriptions (Ueno, 2022 ). Further Carboniferous fusulinoids were also reported by Lys et al ( 1978 ) from the Alborz Mountains.…”

“…As indicated by Ueno ( 2022 ), the Iranian Carboniferous sequence is currently a major target for the study of fusulinoids. Therefore, an interpretation of the Upper Serpukhovian–lowermost Bashkirian?…”

“…As indicated by Ueno (2022), the Iranian Carboniferous sequence is currently a major target for the study of fusulinoids.…”