The silicified brachiopod fossils from the base of the Mintang Formation (Middle Devonian) in Liujing,Guangxi

The present paper deals in detail with the silicified brachiopod fossils from the base of the Mintang Formation (Middle Devonian) in Liujing,Guangxi.Thirty-one genera and species,including one new genus,one new subgenus and twenty new species are described, resulting in the establishment of two faunas Geranocephalus-Pentamerella (lower) and Stringocephalus-Changtanella (upper).In particular,the studies of the characteristics and geological ages of the fauna Geranocephalus-Pentamerella indicate that the fauna is likely to be late Eifelian in age,and thus may be ascribed to a part of the Old World Province.It also has a close affinity to the coeval faunas in Nevada,U.S.A.,or displays the striking similarities to those from Europe (e.g.Germany,Czech and Ural).The author argued, however,that it is indeed a new fauna.The fauna Geranocephalus should not be an interme-diate type between Subrenssellandia and Stingocephalus but the one between Renssellandia and Stingocephalus;probably it should be the precursor of Stingocephalus,and represents an important stage in the transition from Renssellandia to Stingocephalus.