Evolution and Ecology of the Cathaysia flora

Abstract

The Cathaysia flora, one of four famous floras of Late Carboniferous and Permian periods in the world, is mainly distributed in Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. China is one of the most important countries for the Cathaysia flora, which derived from the identical Lepidodendropsis flora of the Early Carboniferous on a global scale. From the beginning of the Namurian A, the Cathaysia flora gradually separated from the global Lepidodendropsis flora and it could be recognized as an independent flora in the early Late Carboniferous (Namurian B to C). According to the succession of the Cathaysia flora of different geological ages, the flora may be divided into seven fossil-plant assemblages from early Late Carboniferous to late Late Permian so as to reflect the characteristics of floral evolutionary stages. From the early Late Carboniferous to the early Late Permian, the typical elements of the Cathaysia flora gradually increased. The Cathaysia flora ranged from the beginning of the early Late Carboniferous to the end of the Permian in age. The most obvious changes of dry climate and tectonic movement caused the extinction of the Cathaysia flora by the end of the Late Permian. The Cathaysian floral province, located in the equatorial region under tropical climatic condition during the Carboniferous and Permian, was characterized by lycopods, ferns, pteridosperms, sphenopsids and cordaitean gymnosperms. The vertical structure of floral communities included arbores, tree ferns, shrubs and herbs.