Late Permian radiolarian Neoalbaillella caridroiti assemblage from the Loufanggou, Guangyuan-Shangsi area, Sichuan Province, China

A well-preserved Lopingian (Late Permian) radiolarian assemblage including Neoalbaillella has been recovered from the Loufanggou 2 section of the Dalong Formation in northern Sichuan, China. The assemblage consists mainly of spherical radiolarians with spongy tests, such as Entactinaria and Spumellaria. Albaillellaria and Latentifistularia are relatively rare in the assemblage. The occurrence of Neoalbaillella caridroiti nov. sp., Neoalbaillella antaixiangi Yao and Kuwahara and Albaillella triangularis Ishiga, Kito and Imoto indicates that the Loufanggou 2 section may be correlated with the Neoalbaillella optima assemblage zone. Until now, only Neoalbaillella caridroiti nov. sp. and Neoalbaillella antaixiangi were known to occur in the northern Sichuan area. This limited occurrence indicates the possibility that the Dalong Formation depositional basin in northern Sichuan Province was a geographically limited area, and the radiolarian assemblage shows its provincialism.