A new Early Triassic fossil Lagerstätte from Wangmo, Guizhou Province

A new Early Triassic fossil Lagerstätte was recently discovered in Wangmo County, Guizhou Province, southwest China, and it is named as the Wangmo biota. The fossils are recovered from thin bedded mudstones and microcrystalline limestones of Member I of the Lower Triassic Luolou Formation. The fossil assemblages are dominated by ammonites and arthropods in terms of individuals, accompanied by bivalves, belemnoids, brachiopods, conodonts, fishes, microconchids and problematic fossils. The age of the Wangmo biota is taken as the Late Dienerian (Indian) to the Early Smithian (Olenekian). The fossils are exceptionally preserved, with an abundance of fossils and high species diversity. The Wangmo biota suggests that a complex marine ecosystem was rebuilt during the Late Dienerian to the Early Smithian after the Permo–Triassic mass extinction, providing a new window for comprehensively understanding the early Triassic marine biodiversity and the process of marine biotic recovery.