Abstract
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This work presents a systematic study of Permian Brachiopoda from the Sungai Toh Leptodus Shale locality, Pahang State, Peninsular Malaysia. This locality lies within the Central Belt of Peninsular Malaysia, a tectonic unit characterised by tuffaceous sediments and limestones of Late Palaeozoic age. Two brachiopod-bearing horizons were studied in detail at this locality, the lower one (Horizon 2) bearing a mixed plant and invertebrate assemblage, including the brachiopods Urushtenoidea chaoi (Ching), Leptodus richthofeni Kayser, Anidanthus cf. sinosus Huang, Acosarina dorashamensis (Sokolskaja), A. minuta (Abich) and unidentifiable species of Linoproductus, Neochonetes, and Strophalosiina. Horizon 3 contains a more abundant and diverse brachiopod fauna, comprising a total of 57 species representing 47 genera, including Vediproductus punctatiformis (Chao), Permianella typica He & Zhu, Transennatia gratiosa (Waagen), Leptodus richthofeni Kayser, Leptodus cf. tenuis (Waagen) and "Semibrachythyrina" [= Alphaneospirifer] cf. pyramidiformis Liang. It is suggested in this study that the age of the Sungai Toh locality is Capitanian (late Guadalupian) to possibly Wuchiapingian (early Lopingian), as it appears to correlate well with the Lengwu fauna from Zhejiang in eastern China. The palaeobiogeographical affinities of the Sungai Toh fauna are interesting, mainly indicating strong Palaeo-equatorial affinites, while there are also some elements more typical of the cooler peri-Godwana Region. © 2005 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.