Middle Permian brachiopods from the Moribu area, Hida Gaien Belt, central Japan

Abstract

A Middle Permian (Murgabian) brachiopod fauna is described from the lower Moribu Formation in the Moribu area, Hida Gaien Belt, central Japan. This fauna consists of 29 species, of which 2 are new, in 27 genera. The new species are Fallaxoproductus moribuensis and Alispiriferella japonica. The Moribu fauna is a Boreal-Tethyan mixed fauna and allied with the Middle Permian brachiopod faunas of central Japan (Ise in the Hida Gaien Belt), northeast Japan (South Kitakami Belt), eastern Russia (South Primorye), northeast China (Jilin) and north China (Inner Mongolia). These regions were probably a continental shelf bordering the northeastern margin of the Sino-Korean block, which was present at a middle northern palaeolatitude in the Middle Permian time.