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Guanling Biota: A Marker of Triassic Biotic
Recovery from the end-Permian Extinction
in the Ancient Guizhou Sea
Jiang Dayong, Ryosuke Motani, Li Chun, Hao Weicheng,
Sun Yuanlin, Sun Zuoyu and Lars Schmitz
Vol. 79 No. 6 2005
ACTA
GEOLOGICA
SINICA
(English Edition)
Journal of the Geological Society of China

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ACTA GEOLOGICA SIMCA
Guanling Biota: A Marker of rfiassic Biotic Recovery
from the end-Permian Extinction in the Ancient Guizhou Sea
JIANG Dayongr, Ryosuke MorANI2, LI chun3, HAo weichengt, suN yuanlinr,
SIIN Zuoyul and Lars SCHtvtItZ,
I Department of Geology and Geological Museum, peking university,
Yiheyuan str. 5, Beijing r0087t, china; Email: crjiang@pku.edu.cn
2 Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, California 956l6, USA
3 Institute of vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology,
Chinese Academy of Science, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing 100044, China
Abstract
After a slow recovery from the end-Permian extinction during the Early Triassic and rapid radiation in the
Middle Triassic, evolution of organisms reached a new peak phase in the Late Triassic. The Guanling Biota from the
Wayao Member (cono dont Paragondolella polygnathifurmis Zone),Falang Formation, Xinpu, Guanling bounty, Guizhou
Province, southwestern China corresponds to this peak that marks the full recovery from the end-permian extinction of
marine ecosystems. The biota is of high diversity, containing well preserved and completely articulated skeletons of
vertebrates comprising marine reptiles, fishes, and invertebrates including crinoids, urn*onit.., biuulu.*, and other fossils,
and is one of the best examples of marine ecosystem records in life history. The fossil marine reptiles and crinoids are most
significant in this biota, especially the marine reptiles, which provide an important link between the Triassic pacific and
Tethys, and between Triassic basal forms and the Jurassic-Cretaceous marine top predators. The most remarkable fossils
are the large completely articulated ichthyosaur skeletons up to and more than 10 m, and the first recorded thalattosaurs
and placodonts in China. Following our review, of the l7 named reptilian taxa the eight listed here are considered to be
valid: three ichthyosaurs (Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999; Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo rn yin et al.,
2000, Guanlingsaurus liangae Yin in Yin et a1.,2000), three thalattosarrs (Anrhunsourus huangguoshuensisliu, 1999,
Xinpusaurus suni Yin in Yin et al., 2000, Xinpusaurus kohi Jtutg et a1.,2004), and two placodonts (sinocyamodus
xinpuensis Li,2oo0' Psephochelys polyosteodermaLt and Rieppel, 2oo2). Mixosaurus guanlingensis cao in yin et al.,
2000 might be a junior synonYrn of Qianichthyosaurus zhouiLi, lggg, and Cymbospondylus asiaticus Li and yotr,2oo2
and Panjiangsaunts epichnris Chen and Cheng, 2003 might bejunior synonyrns of Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae cao and
Luo in Yin et al., 2000. It needs to re-describe the holotypes after a comjlete preparation for clarifying the taxonomic
status of rypicusichthyosaurus tsaihuae Yu in Yin et al., 2000, Xinpusauris bamaolinensis Cheng,20o3-, Neosinosaurus
hoangi (Zhott' in Yin et al., 2oo}\,Wayaosaurus geeiZhor: in Yin et al., 2000, Wayaosaurus bellusZhortin yin et al., 2000
and Placochelys ? minutus Yin and Luo in yin et al.. 2000.
Key words: Guanling Biota, marine reptiles, Late Triassic, camian, Guizhou. china
l lntroduction
The Guanling Biota is characterized by abundant, well_
preserved Late Triassic fossils notably marine reptiles and
crinoids, and especially complete articulated ichthyosaur
skeletons of large-size up to more than l0 m and the first
Chinese thalattosaurs and placodonts. This fauna is
attracting more and more interest from scientists all over
the world and thus the time is right for a review of the
taxonomic diversity.
Mu's (1949) description of several crinoid species from
Guanling can be considered as the frrst scientific report of
the Guanling Biota. However, it was not until the late 1990s
that the extent of the biota was fully recognized, following
excavations of numerous marine reptile fossils by local
farmers. Li (1999) and Liu (1999) first reported marine
reptiles from the Guanling Biota. Since then, several
international research groups, including the Institute of
Vertebrate Paleontology and paleoanthropology of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVpp), Department of
Geology and Geological Museum of peking University
(GMPKU), and rhe Yichang Institure of Geology and
Mineral Resource, have been excavating and sfudying the
fossil taxa and biodiversity, stratigraphy and sedimentary
geology, paleoenvironment and paleogeography of this
biota. The fossils were excavated from the Wayao Member
of the Falang Formation at Xinpu in Guanling County,
Guizhou Province, southwestern China (Fig. l; Wang et al.,
2000; Wang et al., 2001; Sun er a1.,2O03; Jiang er al.,
2004a), where the Guanling National Geopark of Fossil

26N
Guizhou
Guanling
0 25 50 75km
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106"E
Biota: Triassic Biotic
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Fig. l. Locality of the Guanling Biota in South Chin;r.
Biota is being constructed.
There are two other important marine reptile faunas in
Guizhou Province, namely the Middle Triassic (Ladinian)
Xingyi Fauna dominated by nothosauroids (Li et a1.,2ffi\
Li and Jin, 2003; Li and Rieppel, 2004) and the Middle
Triassic (Anisian) Panxian Fauna comprising mixosaurid
ichthyosaurs, placodonts, tanystropheiids, and nothosaurs
(Fig. 2; Jiang et al., 2003; Jiang et al., 2004b; Jiang et al.,
2005: Li, 2003; Li et al., 2004). The Guanling Biota is the
most remarkable of the Triassic biota known around the
world in terms of its faunal diversity, preservation and body
size of individual reptiles. Other biota include Monte San
Giorgio, Switzerland and the Germanic Basin in central
Europe; Nevada and British Columbia in the Nonh
America; and Spitsbergen in arctic Norway (e.g. Motani,
1999; Maisch and Matzke, 2000; Rieppel, 2000; McGowan
and Motani, 2003) (Fig. 3).
2 Lge of the Guanling Biota
The Wayao Member of the Falang Formation is
characterized by grayish yellow to dark gray, thin- to
medium-bedded marl, argillaceous limestone and
limestone with some intercalations of black shale and
siltstone. There are several fossil layers yielding abundant
marine reptiles, crinoids and other fossils in the lower part,
mainty in the bed about 8 m above the base of the Wayao
Member, which can be ascribed to the conodont
Paragondolella polygnathiformis Zone (Sun et al., 2003).
Three chronostratigraphic levels for the Guanling Biota
have been proposed:
1) Middle Carnian of the Late Triassic by Chen and
Wang (2002), Sun et al. (2003) and Chen and Cuny (2003)
"'
from the end-Permian Extinction
on the basis of conodont and elasmobranch ichthvolith
biostrati graphic corre lation.
2) Early or late period of early Carnian of the Late
Triassic by Hao et al. (2003) and Xu et al. (2003) on the
basis of cephalopod stratigraphic correlation.
3) Late period of late Ladinian of the Middle Triassic
based on bivalve (e.g., Hsti, 1944);the view is still held by
some researchers.
The two most recently proposed levels of the above three
agree that the Guanling Biota represents a part of the Late
Triassic Carnian and this view is adopted here. There is no
age dating by radiogenic isotopes for the Guanling Biota
available. From the Geological Time Scale 2004 of the
International Cornmissivn of Stratigraphy (Gradstein et al.,
2005), the range of the Carnian is taken as23V2l6 Ma. We
presume that the age of the Guanling Biota is arcnnd 225
Ma given its early Carnian or middle Carnian level.
3 Taxa in the Guanling Biota
3.1 Marine reptiles
The most remarkable animals in the Guanling Biota ere
the marine reptiles, including ichthyosaurs, thalattosaurs,
placodonts and possibly other sauropterygians. Li and Jin
(2003) gave a brief comment on this fauna. The study of the
marine reptiles of the Guanling Biota is still at its beginning.
Till now, 17 endemic taxa of marine reptiles have been
erected; of these some should be re-studied and comparison
made in detail with those elsewhere, and the taxonomic
status of others needs to be confirmed. Given this
complicated situation, we temporarily use the term of
taxonomic name, instead of taxon, in this paper.
Ichthyosaurs
Ichthyosaurs are a group of fish-shaped diapsid reptiles
that first appeared in the late Early Triassic; they became
especially adapted to live in Mesozoic marine
environments.
Taxonomic names l, 2 (It does not mean they are true
synonyms. For more information see description in the
text.)
Ichthyosauria De Blainville, 1835
Toretocnemidae Maisch and Matzke, 2000
Qi anic hthy o s auru s Li, 1999
Qianichthy o s aurus zhoui Li, 1999
Mixosauridae Baur, 1887
Mixosaurus Baur, 1887
Mixosaurus guanlingensis Cao in Yin et al., 2000
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Vol. 79 No. 6 ACTA GEOLOGICA SIMCA Dec.2005 731
Time scale
Carbon isotopes
DasYclad
scleractinian
Global diversity Largest atgae
corals (so.)
(boundary crossing
'
lcrown (gen.) Calcareous
genera) gastropods
(sp.)
Late
riassic
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Fig. 2. Stratigraphic horizons of the Guanling Biota, Xingyi Fauna and Panxian Fauna in the biotic recovery from
the end-Permian extinction.
Modified with permission from Fig. 3 of Payne et al. (20O4), original coppight 2004 by the American Association for the Advmcement
of Science.
Li (1999) first reported a new genus and species in the
Guanling Biota: Qianichthyosaurus zhouiLi, 1999 (Plate I-
1), a small ichthyosaur specimen of less than 2 m long. Yin
et al. (2000) briefly recognized additional referred
specimens in size from 0.5 m to 2 m. Nicholls et al. (2002)
re-described and presented detailed anatomical information,
and agreed with Maisch and Matzke (2000) to unite
Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999 with Toretocnernus
califurnicus Merriam, 1903 from the Carnian in California,
North America in the family Toretocnemidae. Furthermore,
they inferred that Qianichthyosaurus is more derived than
Toretocnemus.
Cao in Yin et al. (2000) assigned a small ichthyosaur
specimen of I.27 m long to a new species Mixosaurus
guanlingensis. Its taxonomic status remains uncertain, but
most probably it is not a mixosaur because no
synapomorphy of Mixosaurus can be distinguished and
might be ajunior synonym of Qianichthyosaurus zhoui.
Taxonomic names 31 4, 5
Ichthyosauria De Blainville, 1835
Merriamosauria Motani, 1 999
Shastasauridae Merriam 0902\
Guizhouichthyosaurus Cao and Luo in Yin et al., 2000
Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo in Yin et a1.,
2000
Cymbospondylus Leidy, 1 868
Cymbospondylus asiaticus Li and You,2002
Panjiangsaurus Chen and Cheng, 2003
Panjiangsaurus epicharis Chen and Cheng, 2003
Many large ichthyosaur specimens with various total
lengths from 5 m to more than 10 m have been excavated
from Guanling. They represent the most remarkable
members of the Guanling Biota. Three species were erected,
namely Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo in Yin
et at., 2000, Cymbospondylus asiaticus Li and Yol,20O2
(Plate I-2; Li and You, 2002), and Panjiangsaurus
epicharis Chen and Cheng,2003 (Chen and Cheng, 2003).
The three species have long snouts, and their presacral
vertebral count when known is about 62-65 . Distinguishing
characters among the three have not been clarified, and
therefore a possibility exists that the latter two might be

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Fig. 3. Paleogeographic position of the Guanling Biota.
Paleogeographic map from Scotese (2001) and see also Scotese, C.R., 2002., htp://www.scotese.com (PALEOMAP website)
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Fig. 4. Lithofacies paleogeographic position of the Guanling Biota in southern China.
Dark yellow rea: old land; yellow rea: clastic deposit platform; light blue area: carbonate platform; dark blue mea: deeper basin
Lithofacies Paleogeographic map from Feng et al., 1997, Appendix figure 4.
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Vol. 79 No.6 ACTA GEOLOGICA SIMCA Dec.2005 733
junior synonyms of G. tdngae. Given that the two skulls of
C. asiaticus were described in detail by Li and You (2002),
it is imporant to redescribe the type specimens of G. tangae
and P. epicharjs. A detailed comparison can be then made
to solve the taxonomic problem.
Taxonomic names 6,7
Ichthyosauria De Blainville, 1835
Merriamosauria Motani, 1999
Shastasauridae Merriam ( 1902\
Guanlingsaurus Yin in Yin et a1., 2000
Guanlingsaurus liangae Yin in Yin et al., 2000
Typicusichthyosaurus Yu in Yin et al., 2000
Typicusichthyosaurus tsaihuae Yu in Yin et al., 2000
Guanlingsaurus liangae, with more than 80 presacral
veftebrae, appears to be a distinct type oflarge ichthyosaur
and different from Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae because it
presents more presacral vertebrae than latter.
Typicusichthyosaurus tsaihuae is a third genus and species
of large ichthyosaur described in Yin et al. (2000), which
was reported to have about 68 presacral vertebrae. Its
taxonomic status can only be clarified through further
research.
Thalattosaurs
Thalattosaurs are a group of lizard-shaped diapsid
reptiles with a long tail, which were formerly known only
from the Middle-Upper Triassic of Europe and North
America, with a possible occurence from the Lower
Triassic of Canada.
Taxonomic name 8
Thalattosauria Merriam, 1904
Askeptosauridae Kuhn-Schnyder, 1952
Anshunsaurus Liu, 1999
Anshunsaurus huang guo shuensis Lilu, 1999
Liu (1999) reported the first specimen of this mysterious
group from Guanling, reaching nearly 3 m in total length,
but he described it as a pistosaurid sauropterygian (Plate I-
5). Rieppel et al. (2000) re-described this taxon and
clarified its status as a thalattosaur and suggested a close
relationship to the Middle Triassic basal thalattosaur
Askepto saurus italic us from Europe.
Taxonomic names 9, 10, 1L
Thalattosauria Merriam, I 904
Thalattosauridae Merriam, 1 905
Xinpusaurus Yin in Yin et al., 2000
Xinpusaurus suniYin in Yin et al., 2000
Xinpusaurus bamaolinensis Cheng, 2003
Xinpusaurus kohi Jiang et al., 2OO4a
Yin in Yin et al. (2000) reported a new taxon
Xinpusaurus suni and briefly described it from four
articulated skeletons with a size range of l.4l-2.38 m, but
attributed it to the ichthyosaurian family
Cymbospondylidae. Liu (2001), Liu and Rieppel (2001,
Plate I-6), and Luo and Yu (2002) re-described and
attributed the species to Thalattosauria. Liu and Rieppel
(2001) also presented a phylogenetic analysis of
thalattosaur relationships. Cheng (2003) briefly reported a
second species of the genus Xinpusaurus, X.
bamaolingensis with a very long snout. Jiang et al. (2O0/.a)
described the third species ofthis genus, X. kohi (Plate I-7),
and analyzed thalattosaurian interrelationships based on 30
cranial and postcranial characters. Their phylogenetic tree
corroborated a sister-group relationship between
Xinpusaurus and Nectosaurus from the Carnian of
California, USA.
Taxonomic names 12, 13, 14
Neosinosaurus hoangi (Zhou in Yin et al., 2000)
Wayaosaurus geeiZhot in Yin et a1.,2000
Wayaosaurus bellus Zhou in Yin et al., 2000
Zhou in Yin et al. (2000) erected the three taxa above and
assigned them to a new family of pachypleurosauriod
sauropterygian, Sinasauridae (Neosinasauridae in Yin and
Zhou, 2000). Preliminary observations suggest that they
may indeed be thalattosaurs, and more detailed preparation
and descriptions are needed to clarify their taxonomic
status.
Sauropterygians
Placodont sauropterygians, a group of Triassic marine
reptiles with characteristic crushing teeth, were formerly
only known from the western Tethys.
Taxonomic names 15, 16, 17
Sauropterygia Owen, 1860
Placodontia Cope, 1871
Cyamodontoidea Nopcsa, 1923
Family incertae sedis
Sinocyamodu,s Li. 2000

734 Guanling Biota: Triassic Biotic Recovery from the end-Permian Extinction Jiang et al.
Sinocyamodus xinpuensis Li, 2000
Placochelysidae Romer, I 956
Psephochelys Li and Rieppel, 2002
P sephochelys polyosteoderma Li and Rieppel, 2002
Placochelys ? minutus Yin and Luo in Yin et a1., 2000
The turtle-shaped Sinocyamodus xinpuensis (Plate I-3)
was the first placodont discovered in China and outside the
western Tethys (Li, 2000). Li and Rieppel (2002) reported
another taxon of placodont, Psephochelys polyosteoderma
(Plate I-4), and discussed the idea that "Placochelys?
minutes" named by Yin and Luo in Yin et al. (2000) was
not clearly a member of the genus Placochelys, and in
addition, that its relationship with Sinocyamodus
xinpuensis was not clear.
3.2 Fossil fishes
There are also abundant fossil fishes with well-preserved
and completely arliculated skeletons of up to and more than
1 m in the Guanling Biota. No description on these fish has
yet been published.
Chen and Cuny (2003) reported abundant elasmobranch
ichthyoliths (microscopic shark teeth and dermal denticles)
across the horizon containing the Guanling Biota, including
a single tooth possibly of a shark of the family
Hybodontidae as well as seven paragener and paraspecies
of dermal denticles.
3.3 Crinoids
Another remarkable group in the Guanling Biota is the
crinoids, represented by numerous well-preserved fossils.
Mu ( 1949, 1957) recognized six taxa: Traumatocrinus hsui,
T. unifurmis,T. hueichouensis,T. hsuivar. enormis,T. aff .7.
timorensis, and Z sp. Yu et al. (2000) erected a new species:
T. guanlingensis, and recognized T. hsui and T. unifurmis.
Wang et al. (2002) reported another new species: Z.
xinpuensis. Wang et al. (2003) argued that all crinoid
specimens in the Guanling Biota should be assign to a
single species, Traumatocrinus hsui Mu 1949, and that "the
juvenile Traumatocrinus hsui lived a pseudoplanktonic
life".
3.4 Cephalopods
From the Zhuganpo and Wayao members of the Falang
Formation at Guanling, a cephalopod sequence has been
discerned. Hao et al. (2003) recognized four genera and
eight species of ammonites and one genus and species of
nautiloid, including Protrachyceras? sp., Trachyceras sp. A,
Z sp. B, T. multituberculatum Hsii, 1940, T. uraniae
Mojsisovics, 7893, Arcto sirenite s canadensis Tozer, 1961,
Arctosirenites columbianus Tozer, 1994, Aust rotrachy ce ras
triadicum (Mojsisovics, 1893), and Enoploceras? sp. Xu et
al. (2003) reported cephalopods in 11 families, 19 genera
and 3'l species, including three new species. They listed
five ammonoid zones in ascending order as: the Xenop
rotrachyceras primum Zone, the Protrochyceras deprati
Zone, the Protrochyceras costulatum Zone, the
Trachyceras multituberculatum Zone, and the Sirenites cf .
senticosus Zone, and attributed the horizon containing the
Guanling B iota to the Tr ac hy c e r a s mult it ub e rc ul a t um Zone,
which they correlated with the early Early Carnian
Trachyceras aonZone in Europe.
3.5 Bivalves
The "Halobia Bed", named after the enclosed bivalve
fossils by Hsii (1944), was previously used to representhe
strata of the Falang Formation. The bivalves in the
Guanling Biota mainly form the Halobia:'Daonella"
assemblage.
3.6 Conodonts
Conodonts survived from the end-Permian extinction.
but finally became extinct at the end of the Triassic.
Conodonts are important in determining the age of the
Guanling Biota. Wang (2000), Chen and Wang (2002), and
Sun et al. (2003) reported conodonts from Guanling,
including Paragondolella polygnathformis, P. tadpole, P.
navicula navicula, P. foliata foliata, P. jiangyouensis, P.
foliata inclinata, and P maantangensis, which can be
ascribed to the conodont Paragondolella foliata inclinata
Zone, Paragondolella polygnathformis Zone and
Paragondolella tadpole Zone in ascending order.
3.7 Other fossils
There are also fossils of brachiopods, holothurian
sclerites (Chen et a1., 2003), heterochthonous terrestrial
plants (Meng et a1.,2002) in the Guanling Biota.
4 Paleogeographic position of the Guanling
Biota
After the end-Permian extinction, the biosphere started
to recover slowly during the Early Triassic (Erwin, 1994),
when the environment was unstable as indicated by the
large perturbations ofthe carbon cycle preserved in marine
sediments (Payne et al., 2004). The marine ecosystem
stabilized in the Middle Triassic, and then the organisms
radiated rapidly (Payne et al., 2004). The Panxian and
Xingyi faunas represent this time period (Fig. 2). In the
early Late Triassic, global diversity reached its highest in
the Triassic (Payne etal.,20O4: Fig. 2). The Guanling Biota
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Vol.79 No.6 ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA Dec.2005 735
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(Fig. 3) coresponds to this peak phase that marks a full
recovery of marine organismal diversity from the end-
Permian extinction. Reptiles became the top predators in
the marine realm just as dinosaurs began to dominate on
land.
Wang et al. (2000) briefly discussed the scientific
significance of the Guanling fauna fossils, and its
Iithofacies and tectonic position. Rieppel et al. (2000), Li
(2000) and Nicholls et al. (2002\ discussed the
paleogeographic significance of the Guanling Biota.
Ichthyosaurs in the Guanling Biota show closer
relationship with those from the Carnian of North America
(Qianichthyosaurus with Toretocnemus, and
Guizhouichthyosaurus witJn Shonisaurus or Shastasaurus).
Of thalattosaurs, Xinpusaurus appears as a sister group of
Nectosaurus from North America (Jiang et al., 20O4a),
whereas Anshunsaurus shows close relationship to the
Middle Triassic basal thalattosatr Askeptosaurus italicus
from Europe (Rieppel et al., 2000). Of placodonts, they
expanded their geographic distribution from the western
Tethys to China, indicating a close relationship with the
western Tethys (Li, 2000). The Guanling Biota was a
transitional biota between the eastem Pacific and western
Tethys, and located in the carbonate platform near by the
margin of a deeper basin (Figs. 3,4, and Feng et al. 1997).
Lehrmann et al. (2005) also pointed out that the
paleogeographic position of Guanling was in the interior of
the Yangtze Platform and away from the Nanpanjiang
Basin.
5 Prospects for the Future Research on the
Guanling Biota
Among the l7 taxa described from the Guanling Biota,
three ichthyosaurs (Qianichthyosaurus zhoui,
Guizhouichthy o s aurus tangae, Guanling s aurus lian g ae),
three thalattosaurs (Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis,
Xinpusaurus suni, Xinpusaurus kohi), and two placodonts
(S ino cy amo dus xinpuen s i s, P s ep ho c he ly s p o ly o s t e o de rma)
are currently accepted to stand on their taxonomic status,
although all need further study.
The Guanling Biota undoubtedly surpasses other Late
Triassic faunas in abundance, preservation quality and
diversity of fossils. Especially noteworthy are the complete
skeletons of marine reptiles. The study on this biota will
greatly expand our knowledge of Triassic marine reptiles,
when they were in their early evolutionary stage. Limited
numbers of well-preserved specimens had previously been
known for thalattosaurs and placodonts; the well-preserved
specimens of these two groups in the Guanling Biota will
greatly enhance our understanding of these mysterious
animals. which onlv lived in the Triassic sea. The larse
ichthyosaurs in the Guanling Biota will help us fill the gap
between Triassic and Jurassic forms, and help complete the
link in the evolutionary line. Furthermore, the Guanling
Biota will provide more data to discuss Triassic
paleogeography, paleoenviroments and its coevolutionary
relationship with the biota.
As described above, the Guanling Biota is unique, well
preserved, and scientifically important. To fully expose the
potential ofthis natural treasure, it is first critical to protect
the biota from destruction and exploitation. At the same
time, it is important to systematically collect scientific data
through excavations, detailed stratigraphic investigations,
and specimen preparation. These basic activities will
ultimately form the basis of all future research.
Acknowledgements
Particular thanks go to Profs. Qiang Di, Bai Shunliang,
Wang Xinping, and Yang Shouren of Peking University.
The first author is grateful to Dr. Michael W. Maisch and
Dr. Andreas T. Matzke of Eberhard-Karls-Universitzit
Ttibingen, Germany for their support and help. Financial
support for this study was also provided by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No.
40302009), and Peking University.
Manuscript received July 1, 2005
accepted July22,2O05
edited by Xie Guanglian and Susan Turner
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Explanation
of Plate
Plate I
7. Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999: paratype, IVPP V 11838.
Scale bar: 10 cm.
2. Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae Cao and Luo in Yin et al., 2000:
paratlpe of Cymbospondylus asiaticusLi and You, 2002, IVPP
V 11869. scalebar: 10cm
3. Sinocyamodus xinpuensis Li,2000: holotype, IVPP V 11872.
Scale bar: 10 cm.
4. Psephochelys polyosteodermtt Li and Rieppel,2002: holotype,
IVPP V 72442;4a: skull, 4b: carapace. Scale bar: 5 cm.
5. Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis Liu, 1999: holotype, IVPP V
| | 835. Scale bar: l0 cm
6. Xinpusaurus suni Yin in Yin et al., 2000: IVPP V 11860. Scale
bar: 5 cm.
7 . Xinpu s auru s kohi J iang et al., 20M : holotype, GMPKU-P- I 005
(former GMPKU 2000/005); 7a: skull, 7b: skeleton. Scale bar:
15 cm.
cf
t.,
'6r
1,

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