Abstract
A latest Permian (late Changhsingian) radiolarian fauna is recorded from the upper Talung Formation, Hushan, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, South China. This fauna includes 24 species belonging to 16 genera; new species are Albaillella hushanensis, Copicyntroides stellatus and Trilonche crassus. The presence of the radiolarian fauna and its taxonomic composition reveal that the Eastern Qinling-Dabie deep sea, which was located along the northern margin of the northeastern Yangtze Basin, persisted at least until the end of the Palaeozoic and that the collision between the North China and South China plates had not occurred by the end of the Permian.
Acknowledgements
The authors express sincere thanks to Wu Jun and Zhang Suxin for photography, and to Ms Liu Weihong from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, and Prof. Wu Shunbao for offering much help with fieldwork. We wish to express sincere thanks to four anonymous reviewers and the editor of Alcheringa for their reviews of the manuscript and for offering good suggestions that improved the paper. This research has been supported by NSFC (Grant Nos. 40872008, 40921062, 40502001), the Ministry of Education of China (NCET-10-0712, B08030) and the Fundamental Funds for the Central Universities.