Cambrian to Permian conodont biogeography in East Asia-Australasia

Conodont faunas of the allochthonous East Asian terranes demonstrate biogeographic affinities with Australasia during the Cambrian to Permian and suggest close proximity or attachment to Australian Gondwanaland in the Palaeozoic over a time frame of about 250 My, from about 500 Ma in the Late Cambrian to the end of the Permian at about 253 Ma. Lower Palaeozoic conodonts that define an East Asia-Australasia province include the Late Cambrian genus Eodentatus and Ordovician taxa such as Serratognathus spp., Aurilobodus spp., Plectodina onychodonta and Tasmanognathus. The distinctive Lower to Middle Silurian conodont genera Tuberocostadontus and Nericodus are also restricted to East Asia and Australasia. Devonian…