DISCUSSION ON GEOLOGICAL AGE OF THE PINGLING MEMBER OF SHANGHU FORMATION IN THE NANXIONG BASIN,GUANGDONG PROVINCE

The Pingling Member(89-140mthick),of the basal Shanghu Formation in the Nanxiong red beds Basin of Guangdong Province contains abundant fossils.Dinosaurs have been recovered from the lower part of the Pingling Member at four sections(e.g.the Pingling,Gaotian,Nanxiong city,and Fengmenao sections),including Tyranosaurus sp.,Tarbosaurus sp.,and Microhadrosaurus nanshiungensis.Dinosaur eggs have been recovered from the lower part of the Pingling Member at the Ejingling,Wutaigang,Nanxiong city,Fengmenao,and Nanxiong Cigarette Factory sections,as well as the middle and upper Pingling Member at the turtle hill section at Fengmenao.The fossil mammal Bemalambda occurs in the lower Pingling Member,and becames common in the middle and upper Member,and more abundant in the overlying Xiahui Member of the Shanghu Formation.The Pingling Member also yields abundant charophytes,ostracodes,gastropods,and bivalves,which have late Cretaceous-early Paleocene characters,butperhaps closer late Cretaceous affinities.The Pingling Member is thus assigned to a latest Cretaceous age instead of an early Paleocene age.