Silurian (late Llandovery–Wenlock) conodont fauna and biostratigraphy from the Yanbian area of Sichuan province, south-west china

Late Llandovery–Wenlock conodonts are still inadequately documented in China with knowledge chiefly from the Baizitian section of Yanbian County, Sichuan Province, SW China. A collection of over 32000 conodont elements was recovered from 38 samples from the Xiabaizitian and Shangbaizitian formations at this classical locality. The conodont fauna is dominated by cosmopolitan species and can be assigned to 50 species representing 17 genera. Among these, one new species, Apsidognathus yanbianensis sp. nov. is proposed herein. Six conodont zones are recognized in this section, including the Pterospathodus eopennatus Zone, Pt. amorphognathoides. angulatus Taxon-range Zone of the Pt. amorphognathoides amorphognathoides Superzone, Kockelella ranuliformis Zone, Kockelella walliseri Taxon-range Zone, and Kockelella patula Taxon-range Zone, in ascending order. These zones can be correlated with other conodont zones around the world based on the occurrences of the stratigraphically diagnostic spec...