COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RUI: Biogeography of Latest Devonianand Carboniferous Echinoderms From the Peoples Republic of China

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The Carboniferous is the Age of Echinoderms, especially stemmed echinoderms. Faunas are commonly abundant and diverse, but many genera are high endemic. Crinoid endemism can make biogeographic analysis difficult, but could play a positive role in assessing the proximity of continental blocks during the Carboniferous. In this study, we will focus on echinoderms from the latest Devonian and Carboniferous of China that could provide constraints to paleogeographic reconstructions of the closure of Paleo-Tethys. Sparse collections of crinoids from the latest Devonian of northwestern China indicate the presence of a fauna that may be intermediate in nature between older (Devonian) European echinoderm communities and younger (Early Carboniferous) North American echinoderm communities. Camerate crinoids decreased in diversity and abundance, becoming virtually "extinct" in North America and Europe. However, some Carboniferous camerates survived elsewhere in the world and eventually made a dramatic, although short-lived, comeback during the Permian in the Tethyan realm (e.g., Australia, Timor, and the USSR). Collections of crinoids from the mid-Carboniferous of southeastern China indicate the presence of a fauna that may have set the stage for this Tethyan re-radiation of camerate-rich assemblages. We will test the hypothesis that certain elements of the Carboniferous echinoderm community radiated through Asia during the latest Devonian and earliest Carboniferous, expanded globally in the Carboniferous, then contracted back to the Tethyan realm during the latest Carboniferous.