Upper Triassic (Ladinian?-Carnian) reef biota from the Sambosan Accretionary Complex, Shikoku, Japan

The Middle and Late Triassic was a time of important reef development. This evolution, which is primarily documented in the Tethys realm, comprised several phases from the Anisian to the Rhaetian. To help elucidate the less constrained reef evolution in the Panthalassa domain, samples of reef limestone were collected from several localities along the Sambosan Accretionary Complex in Shikoku Island, southwest Japan. In this paper, we report a well-preserved and comprehensive reef biota, including several taxonomic groups, such as scleractinian corals, calcified sponges, calcareous algae, foraminifers, and microproblematica. Seventeen species are described for the first time in Japan among the 33 that are identified in this study. The assemblage-based biostratigraphy and index taxa indicate a Ladinian?-Carnian age. This new finding corresponds to an older reef limestone than has been previously identified in the Sambosan Accretionary Complex and may represent the initiation of shallow-water carbonate deposition on western Panthalassa seamounts. This work also provides valuable insights on reef ecosystem biodiversity in the Panthalassa domain during the Middle? to Late Triassic