湖南石门杨家坪晚震旦世至早寒武世小壳化石

本文描述了湖南石门杨家坪组下段(本文命名为泥沙段)和灯影组顶部的小壳化石15个属、11个种和7个未定种(包括3个新属、8个新种)。它们分属于软舌螺类、似软舌螺类、海绵类、阿纳巴管类、牙形刺状化石、球状化石和分类位置未定的化石。建立了二个小壳化石组合:上组合为Protohertzina unguliformis-Kaiyangites multispinatus;下组合为Eocucumaria sinica-Huangshandongella yangjiapingensis。本剖面的寒武系与震旦系的界线划在上、下化石组合之间。该区小壳化石的发现改变了我国过渡区内没有小壳化石的观念,为解决本区和邻区(川、鄂、黔)震旦系与寒武系界线地层的对比提供了极为重要的古生物依据。     

扬子地台早古生代软舌螺化石记述

该文的标本采自云南昆明、晋宁下寒武统筇竹寺组,龙陵上寒武统核桃坪组、柳水组和江苏江宁上奥陶统顶部“新开岭层”。文中描述了软舌螺化石4属5种,1未定种。其中3新属3新种,再次丰富了早古生代碎屑岩地层中的软舌螺化石,对探讨软舌螺类演化进程,确定时代,进行地层对比均有重要价值。     

峡东水井沱组顶部微体骨骼化石初探

报道湖北宜昌地区寒武纪早期水井沱组顶部灰岩中赋含的壳体动物群及一些骨骼化石,主要包括软舌螺、腕足动物、开腔骨类骨针、海绵骨针、原始赫兹刺、阿纳巴管、管状微体化石、单板类、古杯类等。初步研究认为软舌螺可归属为2纲3目8科9属,2种、2相似种和6未定种;腕足动物主要以乳孔贝和古圆货贝为主;单板纲归属为1科3属,1相似种、2未定种;分类位置不明的Coleoloides cf.prindlei Lochman,1956和Coleolussp.,归属1科2属,1相似种,1未定种。这些骨骼化石中,古杯类Archaeocyaths和9个其他微体骨骼化石种:如软舌螺四边螺类Quadrotheca sp.,中槽螺类Altaicornus sp.,线带螺类Linevitus sp.,似软舌螺类Hyolithellus cf. micans Bil-lings,1871和Coleoloides cf. prindleiLochman,1956,单板动物太阳女神螺类Securiconus sp.和Igorella cf. minuta,以及腕足动物乳孔贝类Eohadrotreta zhenbaensis Li and Hol mer,在峡东地区水井沱组尚属首次报道。该层位微体骨骼化石丰度大,分异度较高,海绵骨针粗壮,骨骼化石保存分散。     

贵州剑河八郎寒武系“清虚洞组”单板类化石Oelandiella

贵州剑河八郎松山寒武系都匀阶“清虚洞组”上部三叶虫Redlichia(R.)guizhouensis-Redlichia (R.)nobilis顶峰带产包括软躯体化石的多门类化石组合,文中描述其中的单板类化石小厄兰岛螺属(Oelandiella Vostokova,1962),含2相似种和1未定种:Oelandiell...     

峡东地区下寒武统黄鳝洞组的古动物化石

本文描述了我国峡东地区下寒武统黄鳝洞组软舌螺类、喙壳类、似软舌螺类、寒武骨片类、异射骨针类以及其它动物化石共25属、37种,其中5新属、15新种。提出了黄鳝洞组有上、下两个化石组合。下组合以Anabarites-Circotheca-Protohertzina 为特征,上组合以Paleosulca-chites-Lenatheca-Zhijinites-Heraultipegma-Sachites-Zeugites-Lapworthella 为特征。黄鳝洞组下组合化石相当于云南梅树村组下组合化石,可与四川麦地坪组下组合化石对比。     

扬子地台早古代软舌螺化石记述

该文的标本采自云南昆明、晋宁下寒武统筇竹寺组,龙陵上寒武统核桃坪组、柳水组和江苏江宁上奥陶统顶部“新开岭层”。文中描述了软舌螺化石４属５种,１未定种。其中３新属３新种,再次丰富了早古生代碎屑岩地层中的软舌螺化石,对探讨软舌在演化进程,确定时代,进行地层对比均有重要价值。     

陕南寒武纪梅树村期西乡生物群中的管状化石研究

陕南寒武纪梅树村期西乡生物群中的管状化石数量丰富,本文对其中的三类主要化石类型:软舌螺、似软舌螺类和阿纳巴管类进行了深入研究。其中软舌螺主要为圆管螺目,属于寒武纪软舌螺演化的第一阶段,且化石具有不同的壳体结构:主要分为单层壳和多层壳两大类,多层壳根据截面又可分为同心与偏心两类。单层壳与同心多层壳可能属于原生结构;偏心多层壳属于次生结构。对上述各类结构进行了分类统计,其中的单层壳与次生多层壳居多,并推测原生多层壳体的出现可加固管体,是地球早期生物为应对同期食肉动物所进化出的生存对策。似软舌螺类的两属:小软舌螺属及小钻孔螺属在此生物群中均有发现。西乡生物群中的阿纳巴管类主要为Anabarites trisulcatus,Aculeochrea tripartitus和Anabarites isiticus,其中Anabarites isiticus的化石壳体表面具有细密生长纹,生长纹可明显分为较粗与较细两类,二者相间排列、重复出现,体现了生物不同的生长周期。     

陕南地区下寒武统筇竹寺阶软舌螺化石

描述陕南地区下寒武统筇竹寺阶软舌螺化石６属８种,其中有５新属（Ningqiangethus gen.nov.,Bilgulitheca gen.nov.,Xixiangethes gen.nov.,Paranicrocornus gen.no.,Inflatatheca gen.nov.),新种,１相似种,１未定种。从组织结构和面貌上论述筇竹寺阶软舌螺和梅树村阶软舌螺匠区别,筇笔直寺阶的软舌螺不仅个体增大、背腹分异、口唇发育、壳体与口盖常共存,而且属种分异度大,为进一步研究软舌螺动物的早期演化和解决下寒武统生物地层划分为对比提供重要的实证材料。     

贵州凯里生物群中软舌螺的初步研究

本文描述了采自贵州台江县革东镇八郎中寒武世凯里生物群中的软舌螺化石,计有1种,3相似种和1个未定种。即：Ambrolinevitus cf.ventricosus,Glossolites?sp..Haplophrentis?cf.carinatus,Linevitus opimus,Hyolithes?cf.cariniferus.凯里生物群中软舌螺特点是：1)壳体通常较大,呈宽锥形;2)背、腹壳区分明显,常具中槽或中脊;3)特别是以软舌螺目中的软舌螺科和线带螺科的软舌螺保存数量最多。完全与欧洲、北美相当层位中出现的软舌螺组合面貌相似;并与澄江动物群中的软舌螺在演化特征上是可衔接的。凯里生物群中的软舌螺除具有世界性属种外。还具地区特有的属种。这对研究软舌螺的地理分布、演化进程以及与凯里生物群组合关系有重要意义。     

新疆乌什下寒武统肖尔布拉克组软舌螺化石

首次描述了采自新疆乌什县乌什磷矿肖尔布拉克组中部Kepingaspis-Tianshanocephalus带中的2个软舌螺新种Conotheca xinjiangensis sp.nov.,Nitorcornus wushiensis sp.nov.和下部Ushbaspis带中的1个软舌螺未定种Adyshevitheca?sp.。这些软舌螺化石材料为研究新疆乌什地区下寒武统中部地层与邻区相当层位的对比提供了新的证据,认为肖尔布拉克组中部2个三叶虫化石带和其中的软舌螺化石相当于我国扬子地台下寒武统沧浪铺阶中部,即乌龙箐亚阶和红井哨亚阶之间,可与俄罗斯西伯利亚和哈萨克斯坦下寒武统波特姆阶(Botomian)中的三叶虫带Ushbaspis和软舌螺带Erraticornus-Nitorcornus带对比。     

A revision of Holm's Early and early Mid Cambrian hyoliths Of Sweden

ABSTRACT. Re-examination of type specimens of Early Cambrian and early Mid Cambrian hyoliths from Sweden confirms placement of Hyolithes teretiusculus Linnarsson in Hexitheca Syssoiev, and reassignment to the order Hyolithida rather than Orthothecida. Inclusion of Hyolithes affinis Holm within Decoritheca Syssoiev is re-confirmed, and Hyolithes socialis Linnarsson is now referred to Nevadotheca Malinky and Slapylites Marek. An operculum included under Hyolithes oelandicus Holm is transferred provisionally to Maxilites Marek, and conchs of that species are placed under Tulenicornus Val'kov with question. No other hyolith species of Holm can be definitely assigned to genus. The rarity of well preserved opercula is a major impediment to recognizing hyolith taxa confidently, and we follow Holm in attributing the comparative rarity of opercula to the fact that in some hyolith taxa the operculum may have been composed of a different, and perhaps less stable, material than the rest of the conch.     

Slapylitidae: a new family of hyolithids (Cambrian–?Devonian; Baltica,Laurentia, Gondwana)

Hyoliths are usually preserved as isolated skeletal elements consisting of conch, operculum, and helens. The occurrence of a conch associated with an operculum is ordinarily exceptional, and the co-occurrence of helens with other skeletal parts is a great rarity. The extraordinary finds of hyolithid conchs associated with opercula in situ are relatively abundant in the Cambrian and Ordovician clastic sediments of the Barrandian area in the Czech Republic. The platyclaviculate operculum with clavicles divided by longitudinal walls into channels characterizes members of the newly established family Slapylitidae fam. nov., which includes two genera: Slapylites Marek, 1980 known from the mid-Cambrian of West Gondwana and Baltica and Nevadalites Marek, 1976 documented from the Late Cambrian of Laurentia. To this family most probably belongs also an operculum from the Cambrian Series 2–Series 3 boundary of North Greenland and poorly known material from the Middle Devonian of Bolivia.     

Plywood‐like shell microstructures in hyoliths from the middle Cambrian (Drumian) Gowers Formation,Georgina Basin,Australia

Hyoliths are a group of Palaeozoic fossils with calcareous shells whose affinities remain controversial. As their shells were originally aragonitic, their fossils are usually coarsely recrystallized, and few data on their microstructure are available. We report hyoliths from the middle Cambrian (Drumian, Floran) Gowers Formation of the eastern Georgina Basin, Queensland. These are preserved as phosphatic internal moulds, often with the inner layers of the shell also partly replaced by phosphate. Microstructural details preserved by this early diagenetic phosphatization show that these hyolith conchs were originally composed of fibrous crystallites, c. 0.5 μm wide, parallel to one another and to the inner surface of the shell. In several species, the fibres are arranged in a plywood‐like structure composed of multiple lamellae with a different fibre orientation in each lamella: often they are transversely oriented (relative to the long axis of the conch) in the inner part of the wall and longitudinally oriented in the outer part. Opercula also show a microstructure of parallel fibres. The lamello‐fibrillar microstructure we report from hyoliths is reminiscent of microstructures of many Cambrian molluscs; that this microstructure is found in both conchs and opercula suggests that these structures are serial homologues of one another, and in this respect they resemble brachiopod valves. As with many other biological plywoods, the hyolith shell probably records self‐organization in a liquid‐crystal‐like organic matrix. This provided a straightforward way to construct a material that could resist stresses from different directions, offering an effective defence against predators.     

Homologous shell microstructures in Cambrian hyoliths and molluscs

Hyoliths were among the earliest biomineralizing metazoans in Palaeozoic marine environments. They have been known for two centuries and widely assigned to lophotrochozoans. However, their origin and relationships with modern lophotrochozoan clades have been a longstanding palaeontological controversy. Here, we provide broad microstructural data from hyolith conchs and opercula from the lower Cambrian Xinji Formation of North China, including two hyolithid genera and four orthothecid genera as well as unidentified opercula. Results show that most hyolith conchs contain a distinct aragonitic lamellar layer that is composed of foliated aragonite, except in the orthothecid New taxon 1 that has a crossed foliated lamellar microstructure. Opercula are mostly composed of foliated aragonite and occasionally foliated calcite. These blade or lath‐like microstructural fabrics coincide well with biomineralization of Cambrian molluscs rather than lophophorates, as exemplified by the Cambrian members of the tommotiid‐brachiopod linage. Accordingly, we propose that hyoliths and molluscs might have inherited their biomineralized skeletons from a non‐mineralized or weakly mineralized common ancestor rather than as a result of convergence. Consequently, from the view of biomineralization, the homologous shell microstructures in Cambrian hyoliths and molluscs strongly strengthen the phylogenetic links between the two groups.     

Hyolith guts in the Cambrian of northern Australia -turning hyolithomorphs upside down

A single specimen of the early Middle Cambrian (Ordian) orthothecimorph hyolith Gudugu-wan hardmani with preserved gut filling has been discovered in the Montejinni Limestone, Wiso Basin, northern Australia. This represents only the eighth such occurrence worldwide. The specimen is unique among orthothecimorphs in retaining the gut filling in combination with the external mould of the operculum and invites revision of the accepted soft-part recon struction in this group, whereby the opercular lateral processes are now recognized to be ventral. Thus orthothecimorph conchs, if horizontal in life, would have been oriented ventral side down, while hyolithomorphs adopted the reverse orientation: horizontal, ventral side up.     

Early Cambrian organophosphatic brachiopods from the Xinji Formation,at Shuiyu section,Shanxi Province,North China

Abundant and diverse small shelly fossils have been reported from Cambrian Series 2 in North China, but the co-occurring brachiopods are still poorly known. Herein, we describe seven genera, five species and two undetermined species of organophosphatic brachiopods including one new genus and new species from the lower Cambrian Xinji Formation at Shuiyu section, located on the southern margin of North China Platform. The brachiopod assemblage comprises one mickwitziid (stem group brachiopoda), Paramickwitzia boreussinaensis n. gen. n. sp., a paterinide, Askepasma toddense Laurie, 1986, an acrotretoid, Eohadrotreta cf. zhenbaensis Li and Holmer, 2004, a botsfordiid, Schizopholis yorkensis (Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al., 2001) and three linguloids, Spinobolus sp., Eodicellomus cf. elkaniiformis Holmer and Ushatinskaya in Gravestock et al., 2001 and Eoobolus sp. This brachiopod assemblage suggests a late Age 3 to early Age 4 for the Xinji Formation and reveals a remarkably strong connection with coeval faunas from East Gondwana, particularly the Hawker Group in South Australia. The high degree of similarity (even at species level) further supports a close palaeogeographic position between the North China Platform and Australian East Gondwana during the early Cambrian as indicated by small shelly fossil data.     

Gracilitheca astronauta n. sp. and Nephrotheca sophia n. sp. (Hyolitha,Orthothecida) from the Cambrian of Czech Republic

Two orthothecid hyoliths, Gracilitheca astronauta n. sp. and Nephrotheca sophia n. sp. are described from the “middle” Cambrian Buchava Formation of the Skryje-Tý?ovice Basin in the Czech Republic. The new forms are based on about thirty well-preserved external and internal moulds of both conchs and opercula. Gracilitheca astronauta n. sp. is classified under the family Gracilithecidae Sysoev, 1972 and may be distinguished by clearly triangular cross-section of the conch, whereas Nephrotheca sophia n. sp. is characterized by transversally elongated cardinal processes reaching the lateral opercular margin and is combined with the family Orthothecidae Sysoev, 1958 emended Malinky, 2009. Several specimens of G. astronauta show operculum preserved inside of the conch. Stratigraphic ranges and geographic distributions within the Skryje-Tý?ovice Basin are established for both taxa.     

Periodic shell decollation as an ecology-driven strategy in the early Cambrian Cupitheca

Shell decollation is a growth strategy that has been adopted by a number of invertebrate taxa to offset the metabolic and ecological disadvantages of shell growth. However, little is known about the origin and evolution of this process. We here describe well-preserved specimens of the hyolith Cupitheca decollata sp. nov. preserving the decollation process, from the early Cambrian Yu'anshan Formation (c. 518 Ma) of South China. Based on a large number of specimens collectively representing different developmental stages, we use high-resolution X-ray microtomography and scanning electronic microscopy to reconstruct the process of decollation in this taxon. Cupitheca is among the earliest known small shelly fossils, and thus our discovery confirms that periodic decollation had evolved by the onset of the Cambrian explosion, reflecting the high intensity of the predator–prey arms race in early Cambrian ecosystems. A comparison between the decollation processes of Cupitheca and other shelly invertebrates suggests that periodic decollation and the associated molecular mechanisms of calcium dissolution, uptake, allocation and deposition may have had multiple independent origins.     

Thecate stem medusozoans (Cnidaria) from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Cnidarians are phylogenetically located near the base of the ‘tree of animals’, and their early evolution had a profound impact on the rise of bilaterians. However, the early diversity and phylogeny of this ‘lowly’ metazoan clade has hitherto been enigmatic. Fortunately, cnidarian fossils from the early Cambrian could provide key insights into their evolutionary history. Here, based on a scrutiny of the purported hyolith Burithes yunnanensis Hou et al. from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota in South China, we reveal that this species shows characters distinct from those typical of hyoliths, not least a funnel-shaped gastrovascular system with a single opening, a whorl of tentacles surrounding the mouth, and the lack of an operculum. These characters suggest a great deviation from the original definition of the genus Burithes, and a closer affinity with cnidarians. We therefore reassign the material to a new genus: Palaeoconotuba. Bayesian inference of phylogeny based on new anatomical traits identifies a new clade, including Palaeoconotuba and Cambrorhytium, as a stem group of sessile medusozoan cnidarians that are united by the synapomorphies of developing an organic conical theca and a funnel-like gastrovascular system. This study unveils a stem lineage of medusozoans that evolved a lifelong conical theca in the early Cambrian.     

贵州剑河寒武系凯里组脊状单臂螺(Haplophrentis carinatus)埋藏特征及与始海百合共生关系探讨

贵州剑河寒武系凯里组软舌螺化石丰富、埋藏形式多样,其中以脊状单臂螺Haplophrentis carinatus化石数量最多、保存最为完整。过去有关学者对凯里组单臂螺化石的研究主要集中在化石分类学方面,对脊状单臂螺埋藏特征及与其他生物共生关系缺乏深入探讨。本文对324块脊状单臂螺化石标本进行系统研究对比后发现,凯里组脊状单臂螺口盖化石埋藏形式有四类:口盖单独保存、口盖以内模或外模化石形式保存、口盖与锥壳完全绞合保存、口盖与锥壳不完全绞合保存;附肢保存较少;锥壳多以内模化石形式保存;脊状单臂螺内模化石与印痕化石上普遍出现类似软体保存形成的三分叉结构,这类三分叉结构属于后期埋藏因素造成的次生结构。文中还对脊状单臂螺与始海百合共生关系进行探讨,并将二者共生关系归为偏害共生。