Discovery of intact fossil plants in the Guanling biota in Guizhou

In recent years,two species of fossil plants,i.e.Ctenozamites sarrani Zeiller and Equisetites arenaceus(Jaeger)Bronn,have been found for the first time in the Xiaowa Formation in Guanling County,Guizhou.They occur together with marine reptiles,crinoids,ammonites,bivalves,conodonts,fishes,brachiopods etc.The Xiaowa Formation is composed of a sequence of marine deposits,in which fossil plants may have been carried to the bay from the land not far from the coast by rivers and deposited there.This finding not only adds a new element to the Guanling biota,but also provides further evidence for determining this biota to be of Carnian age.