Mooreocrinus liaoi sp. nov. (Crinoidea, Echinodermata) from the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) Outangdi Formation in Zhejiang, South China Block

A new crinoid species of the Order Cladida, Mooreocrinus liaoi Mao and Li sp. nov. , is described from the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) Outangdi Formation in Jiangshan, Zhejiang Province, representing the first record of Mooreocrinus Wright & Strimple, 1945 in China. The presence of Mooreocrinus in the South China Block extends the palaeogeographic record of this genus and indicates it to be a cosmopolitan taxon. Three other ancient tectonically-separated areas that are now combined into the modern China mass (Sibumasu, Junggar, North China) do not contain any record of Mooreocrinus. Overall, there is low biodiversity of the Late Paleozoic crinoid faunas in the South China Block. Our new materials provide further evidence for diversity assessment of crinoid faunas in peri-Gondwana blocks.