Jinzhangia, a new Staffellid fusulinoidea from the Middle Permian Daaozi Formation of the Baoshan Block, West Yunnan, China

Permian foraminifers are reported and illustrated for the first time from t he lower part of the Daaozi Formation of the Baoshan Block, West Yunnan, Ch ina. The Baoshan Block is a Gondwana-derived continental fragment that is b elieved to be a key to understanding Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretio n during Paleozoic and Mesozoic time. Its Late Paleozoic foraminifers have been poorly documented until now. The Daaozi assemblage is dominated by ova l staffellids representing the new genus, Jinzhangia, with J. shengi Ueno, n. sp. as the type species, and several other smaller foraminifers, includi ng Pachyphloia robustaformis Wang, Okimuraites? cf. O. guvenci (Altiner), a nd Kamurana? sp. Although these foraminifers do not provide a precise age d etermination, associated corals reveal a Murgabian age for the assemblage. Among the oval and fusiform staffellids from Eurasia, only Leella armenica Rozovskaya from the Middle Permian of Transcaucasia should be referable to the new genus Jinzhangia. Thus, Jinzhangia apparently is restricted to Baos han and Transcaucasia, which are parts of the Cimmerian continent and which was paleogeographically independent of both Gondwanaland and the Cathaysia n blocks, such as Indochina and Yangtze, during Permian and Triassic time.