This study documents a late Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) radiolitid rudist assemblage from the basal part of the Jingzhushan Formation in the northern Lhasa Terrane, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The radiolitid fauna includes Paronaites zuffardii, Eoradiolites liratus, Sauvagesia cf. sharpei, and Auroradiolites biconvexus, with the first three species constituting a characteristic late Cenomanian association widely distributed in the Mediterranean Tethys and the Middle East. Their presence in the Jingzhushan Formation, previously interpreted as deposited in alluvial-fan and braided-river systems, provides definitive evidence for a shallow-marine carbonate platform environment in the northern Lhasa Terrane during the late Cenomanian. The co-occurrence of the primitive genus Auroradiolites with more advanced radiolitids suggests a significant faunal transition and a notable radiation event of the Family Radiolitidae in eastern Tethys during the early Late Cretaceous. These findings contribute to understanding the paleogeographic evolution of the eastern Tethys, and the stratigraphic correlation of Cenomanian shallow-water carbonates between the eastern and western Tethys.
Lhasa Terrace; Jingzhushan Formation; late Cenomanian; Radiolitidae