Middle Permian Brachiopods from Greece and their palaeobiogeographical significance: New evidence for a Gondwanan affinity of the Chios Island upper unit

Synopsis Wordian (Middle Permian) brachiopods from the allochthonous Upper Unit of Chios (Greece) are described and used to perform a palaeobiogeographical analysis to establish the pa‐laeogeographicalaffinities of the unit. Species of the genera Stenoscisma Conrad, 1839, Cleiothyridina Buckman, 1906, Martinia McCoy, 1844 and Dielasma King, 1859 are reported for the first time from Chios and their systematic descriptions are given. In addition, the revision and discussion of the genus Kotlaia Grant, 1993 and its comparison with Orthotichia Hall & Clarke, 1892 are provided in the systematic section. A matrix of presence/absence data of Wordian (Middle Permian) brachiopod genera from Crimea, Sosio, Oman, Chios, the Salt Range and Timor was analysed using multivariate methods. Cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis, non‐metric multidimensional scaling, minimum spanning trees and bond analyses indicate a similarity between Chios and the Gondwanan data sets of Oman and the Salt Range. However, maximum dissimilarity is recorded when comparing Chios to the Crimean brachiopod faunas. This indicates a clear Gondwanan affinity of the Wordian brachiopods of the Upper Unit of Chios.