Phoenix 2 outcrop, Xiaheyan, Zhongwei County (Carboniferous of China)

Where: Ningxia, China (37.4° N, 105.0° E: paleocoordinates 15.7° N, 71.0° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Yanghugou Formation, Westphalian C (314.6 - 311.4 Ma)

• Phoenix 2 beds are between beds 6 and 36, both dated by conodonts. In bed 6, the conodont Declinognathodus marginodosus is a cosmopolitan species that defines the homonymous biozone of latest Bashkirian to earliest Moscovian age (Fig. 15; Nemyrovska, 1999; Davydov et al., 2010; 2012). This age range for bed 6 can be limited to the latest Bashkirian (Duckmantian), as plesiomorphic features (adcarinal grooves, narrow platform and parapets) of co-occurring Neognathodus specimens suggest (Nemyrovska, 1999). A latest Bashkirian age is additionally supported by the discovery of a specimen of Gastrioceras cf. listeri (Fig. 14) in the same bed. Gastrioceras species with this conch morphology (coronate shape with angular umbilical margin and coarse ribs) are representatives of the globally applicable late Bashkirian Branneroceras-Gastrioceras genus zone (Davydov et al., 2012; Korn and Klug, 2015; Fig. 15). Concerning bed 36, the conodont species Idiognathodus praeobliquus has been reported from the Donets and Midcontinent basins, where it indicates a middle Moscovian (Bolsovian) age (Fig. 15; Nemyrovska et al., 1999; Marshall, 2010; Nemyrovska, 2017). A post-Bashkirian age for bed 36 is also indicated by juvenile Idiognathodus specimens, because their prominent rostral ridges, which reach far beyond the anterior margin of the platform, appear to be too advanced for Bashkirian Idiognathodus. (Trümper et al., 2019)

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: interdistributary bay; lithified siliciclastic sediments

• Western margin of Ordos basin, developed on North China craton

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: mold/impression

Collected in 2012, 2013

• Repository: Capital Normal University, Beijing

Primary reference: N. Robin, O. Béthoux, E. Sidorchuk, Y. Y. Cui, Y. N. Li, D. Germain, A. King, F. Berenguer, and D. Ren. 2016. A Carboniferous mite on an insect reveals the antiquity of an inconspicuous interaction. Current Biology 26:1376-1382 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 179078: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Matthew Clapham on 27.05.2016

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Insecta
 Plecoptera - Gulouidae
Gulou carpenteri Béthoux et al. 2011 stonefly
 Grylloblattodea - Sinonamuropteridae
Sinonamuropteris ningxiaensis Peng et al. 2005 ice crawler
 Cnemidolestodea - Spanioderidae
Sinopteron huangheense Prokop and Ren 2007 winged insect
Longzhua loculata Gu et al. 2011 winged insect
Miamia maimai Béthoux et al. 2012 winged insect