In Southwest China, Gondwana-affinity Permo-Carboniferons deposits are known to occur in the Northern Himalayas, the Lhasa Block and the South Qiangtang Block, the Baoshan Block and the Tengchong Bock. The three-fold clastic successions, namely diamictite-pebbly mudstone-dark mudstone and shale are commonly interpreted as representing deposits of glacial-deglacial-postglacial periods in marine environments. Deposits, for example, the Dingjiazhai Formation in the Baoshan Block, the Kongshuhe Formation in the Tengchong Block, the Yongzhu Group and the Poindo Group in the Lhasa Block, are all succeeded by carbonate deposits. This marks a significant change from post-glacial clastic environment to a carbonate environment. Available paleontological data show that the change from post-glacial clastic environment to carbonate environment took place in the Baoshan, Tengchong and Lhasa Block at the beginning of the Artinskian. The carbonate environment in the Baoshan Block was spoiled by the eruption of the Woniusi Basalts, and in the Xainza area of the Lhasa Block was shortly replaced by clastic environment until the Kungurian. In the northern Himalayas limestones began to occur in the Late Permian in a fluctuating manner.
To make fusulinid morphospecies more accordant with biological species, it is necessary and reasonable to constrain the conventional determination of fusulinid species with population-level morphological variation. As an example, morphospecies identification on population level was conducted on Eopolydiexodina specimens from a single bed of the Middle Permian Shazipo Formation of Xiaoxinzhai Section in western Yunnan, China. These specimens were identified with the consideration of fossil population by morphometric analysis of their characteristic morphological variates (diameter of proloculus, size and ratio of inner and outer volutions). The results reveal that the studied variates have wide but overall continuous variation and generally follow the normal distribution. The studied individuals, therefore, have consistent morphological variation with a single population and should belong to one fusulinid morphospecies. This study supports the assumption that fusulinid individuals of one genus from the same bed in one locality should constitute a single fossil population.
