Middle Devonian ostracods from Jiwozhai patch reef (Dushan, Guizhou Province, South China): Biostratigraphic and palaeoecological implication

The Middle Devonian ostracods from the Jiwozhai patch reef in Dushan, Guizhou Province, South China were described for the first time in this study. Twenty-nine species belonging to 20 genera were identified and figured, including a new species named Wangshangkia jiwozhaiensis sp. nov. The ostracod fauna in the Jiwozhai patch reef represents a Givetian age. The ostracod assemblage belongs to the smooth-podocopid association, which is also ecologically equivalent to the Eifelian Mega-Assemblage III. This association is indicative of shallow open-marine environments. The Jiwozhai patch reef fauna is primarily comprised of suspension feeders, including filter-feeding ostracods, corals, brachiopods and bryozoans. Ostracods from the Jiwozhai patch reef were compared to the ostracod faunas from Laurentia–Baltica at generic level, which reveals limited faunal exchanges between South China and Laurentia–Baltica during the Middle Devonian.