A new eocrinoid from the Guanshan Biota (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4), with implication of the development of different attachment modes in early Cambrian

Eocrinoids are scarce in the Guanshan Biota (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4), Yunnan Province, southwest China. Here, we introduce a new gogiid: Kunmingeocrinus cupuliformis n. gen. n. sp. which is characterized by a short stalk and a well-developed attachment disc. Preservation may indicate a weakly biomineralized body for the new taxon. Morphological similarities between the new taxon and other eocrinoids with attachment discs from Cambrian Lagerstätten of Guizhou Province (Series 2, Stage 4 and Miaolingian, Wuliuan) might suggest a similar mode of life. The eocrinoids from the Guanshan Biota possibly utilized different attachment modes.     

贵州早-中寒武世凯里组类似苔藓植物化石(英文)

贵州台江早-中寒武世凯里组保存大量的生物化石,它构成了寒武纪重要的生物群之一——凯里生物群。在凯里生物群中保存有丰富的碳质薄膜藻类化石,新发现类似苔藓植物化石(Parafunaria sinensis Yang(gen.et sp.nov)),它具有藓类植物所拥有的典型的叶状体轮生现象、孢朔、孢朔柄和复杂的根系特征。推测它是藓类植物祖先,它为进一步研究藓类植物和陆生高等植物的起源和演化提供了新的线索。     

贵州早-中寒武世凯里组类似苔藓植物化石

贵州台江早-中寒武世凯里组保存大量的生物化石,它构成了寒武纪重要的生物群之一--凯里生物群.在凯里生物群中保存有丰富的碳质薄膜藻类化石,新发现类似苔藓植物化石(Parafunaria sinensis Yang(gen.et sp.nov)),它具有藓类植物所拥有的典型的叶状体轮生现象、孢朔、孢朔柄和复杂的根系特征.推测它是藓类植物祖先,它为进一步研究藓类植物和陆生高等植物的起源和演化提供了新的线索.     

Palaeobiogeographic implications of the first report of the eocrinoid genus Ascocystites Barrande (Echinodermata,Blastozoa) in the Upper Ordovician of the Ougarta Range (Western Algeria)

Several specimens of the genus Ascocystites (Blastozoa, Eocrinoidea) are described for the first time in Late Ordovician deposits (Bou M’Haoud Formation) from the Ougarta Range, Algeria. This genus was previously known in Darriwilian–Sandbian deposits of four other areas of the Mediterranean Province (Czech Republic, France, Morocco and Portugal). The Algerian material completes its palaeobiogeographic distribution in the peri-Gondwanan area, restricted in shallow water settings.     

A new oryctocephalid trilobite from the Balang Formation (Cambrian Stage 4) of northwestern Hunan,South China,with remarks on the classification of oryctocephalids

A new trilobite, Longaspis paiwuensis n. gen. n. sp., from the Balang Formation (Cambrian Stage 4) in northwestern Hunan, South China, is described. This rare trilobite adds to an expanding taxonomic list of organisms recognized from the Balang Lagerstätte, a deposit of exceptional preservation from the Cambrian. Longaspis paiwuensis is an unusually large-sized, micropygous oryctocephalid trilobite that has proparian facial sutures, pit-like lateral glabellar furrows, up to 17 thoracic segments, and a distinct medial notch in the pygidium; it lacks marginal spines.The classification of the family Oryctocephalidae is reviewed. Three subfamilies are recognized, and Longaspis n. gen. is assigned to the subfamily Oryctocarinae.     

Reassessment of the mode of life of Pagetia Walcott, 1916 (Trilobita: Eodiscidae) based on a cluster of intact exuviae from the Kaili Formation (Cambrian) of Guizhou, China

Pagetia is the most abundant trilobite in the Kaili Formation (lower to middle Cambrian). During the course of studying the museum collections of Kaili trilobites ( n  > 1000), a cluster containing 22 pagetiid individuals at various growth stages is noted. Specimens record the growth range from the degree 0 meraspid to late holaspid phases. Based on the relative completeness of the moults except for missing free cheeks, these specimens are interpreted as intact exuviae that had undergone minimal transport prior to burial. If Kaili pagetiids had pelagic or planktonic living habits as previously suggested, it would be difficult to explain the presence of intact exuviae in clusters. Therefore, Kaili pagetiids are interpreted here as having a benthic mode of life after the onset of the meraspid phase.     

贵州寒武纪杷榔组古蠕虫类埋藏特征及意义*

贵州剑河寒武纪杷榔组辣子寨剖面含有丰度较高的古蠕虫类化石。化石鉴定为Wronascolex geyiensis, 主要保存在三个层位。在对三个层位的岩石、沉积特征、化石成因及埋藏特征探讨分析后, 证实W. geyiensis化石保存于快速的沉积事件导致的浊流沉积层内, 而化石埋藏的完美程度受到成岩过程中埋藏位置、沉积物中矿物结晶和充填方式的影响, 这些后期的成岩、成矿作用对先期形成的化石精细结构产生了直接和间接的破坏作用。本文通过对W. geyiensis化石体上黏土矿物、草莓状黄铁矿、自形–半自形黄铁矿的成因分析后, 获得最适合保存软躯体化石的环境应该为缺氧且生物体与孔隙水中的硫酸盐无接触的原地和近原地埋藏条件。     

A new assemblage of dabashanellids (Crustacea: Phosphatocopida) from Cambrian Stage 3 of western Hubei Province,South China

Dabashanellids are univalved phosphatocopid crustaceans, and are among the earliest crustaceans known so far. They were reported mainly from the Cambrian Stage 3 of China, but only a single species was established. Here I report a new assemblage of dabashanellids from the Cambrian Stage 3 Shuijingtuo Formation in western Hubei Province, South China. All specimens are sub-millimetre in length, and are preserved as three-dimensional carbonaceous hollow shields. Five species of Dabashanella were recognized, including the previously reported D. hemicyclica, three new species, D. longa n. sp., D. semiorbiculata n. sp., D. unispinata n. sp., and an indeterminate form Dabashanella sp. In addition, five indeterminate forms of arthropods were recovered. These dabashanellids represent part of a meiofauna that lived in the off-shore, deeper environments of mid-northern Yangtze Sea during Cambrian Age 3. This study shows greater morphological diversity and ecologic disparity of dabashanellid crustaceans, and supports the previous suggestion that the invasion of meiofaunal ecdysozoans into the off-shore, deeper environments probably occurred simultaneously with their radiation in the shallow water.     

Additional trilobite fauna from the basal part of the Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5, Kunzam La (=Parahio) Formation,Parahio Valley,Spiti (Northwest Himalaya), India and its biostratigraphic significance

Additional Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5, trilobite fauna comprising Peronopsis sp., Eosoptychoparia cf. Spinosa Gaotanaspis cf. pingzhaiensis and Gaotanaspis cf. transversa have been recorded just immediately above the known Oryctocephalus indicus biozone (Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5) in the Parahio valley section (Spiti region). The FAD of Peronopsis and LAD of Gaotanaspis are used to establish a Peronopsis–Gaotanaspis concurrent biozone immediately above the Oryctocephalus indicus biozone. The first records of Gaotanaspis cf. pingzhaiensis and G. transversa from the Cambrian of Spiti region and the other faunal elements are correlated with the Peronopsis taijiangensis biozone of the Kaili Formation (South China). The stratigraphic thickness from the base of the O. indicus biozone to the top of the Peronopsis–Gaotanaspis concurrent biozone in the Kunzam La (=Parahio) Formation and its comparison to the Kaili Formation (South China) indicate a possible stratigraphic condensation in the basal part of the Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5 of the Parahio valley (Spiti). Sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic analysis supports this contention.     

华北寒武系第二统辛集组软舌螺动物化石群*

软舌螺动物是华北板块寒武系小壳化石基本组成之一,也是寒武纪生命大爆发在华北地区的重要见证者。本文系统描述了华北板块南缘-西南缘(河南-陕西地区)寒武系第二统辛集组软舌螺化石9属14种及1未定种。包括直管螺类6属9种:Conotheca australiensis、Cupitheca holocyclata、Cupitheca costellata、Cupitheca? decollata、Tegminites hymenodes、Triplicatella disdoma、Triplicatella xinjia、Protomicrocornus triplicensis和Longxiantheca mira;软舌螺类3属5种及1未定种:Microcornus eximius、Microcornus petilus、Parkula cf. esmeraldina、Parkula bounites、Parakorilithes mammillatus和Parakorilithes sp.。基于大量保存的精美聚合标本,本文准确重建了锥壳和口盖在软舌螺不同属种中的配置。此外,新材料显示华北辛...     

A Parvancorina-like arthropod from the Cambrian of South China

Constraining the origin of animal groups is allowed, to some extent, by discoveries of Cambrian Lagerstätten that preserve both mineralizing and nonmineralizing organisms. A new species is reported here of the Cambrian arthropod Skania, which bears an exoskeleton that shares homologies with the Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) organism Parvancorina and firmly establishes a Precambrian root for arthropods. A new monophyletic group, Parvancorinomorpha, is proposed as the first clade within the arthropod crown group demonstrably ranging across the Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic transition. The Parvancorinomorpha is interpreted to be the sister group of the Arachnomorpha. Incipient cephalization in Skania and related genera represents a step in the progression toward division of a cephalon from a large posterior trunk as shown in Cambrian arachnomorphs such as naraoiids and the addition of a pygidium and thoracic tergites as shown in the arachnomorph clade basal to trilobites. This evidence can serve as a new calibration point for estimating the divergence time for the last common ancestor of arthropods and priapulids based on molecular clock methods.     

寒武系杷榔组Redlichia (Peteroredlichia) chinensis（Walcott，1905）个体发育研究

贵州东部寒武纪的杷榔组发育,化石丰富,含有杷榔动物群;其中掘头虫类、莱德利基虫类三叶虫保存好,序列完整,提供了研究这些类群属种个体发育的重要材料。本文据杷榔组Redlichia (Pteroredlichia) chinensis（Walcott,1905）的300多块标本的分析数据,详细讨论和重点研究了其从幼虫期、分节期至成虫期个体发育特征,分析各个阶段的形态变化及个体发育演化趋势。丰富了R.(Pteroredlichia) chinensis个体发育的资料,对莱德利基虫属种厘定起到积极的作用,提供了属种分类对比的重要证据。     

全尾宽背虫Bathynotus holopygus(Hall,1859)在贵州剑河八郎寒武系凯里组的首次发现及意义

宽背虫属Bathynotus(Hall,1859)广泛分布于劳伦古大陆、中国华南地区、澳大利亚和西伯利亚,为寒武纪第二世末期最重要的标志性三叶虫之一,已成为寒武系划分的重要指示化石。其模式种B. holopygus以其狭长的颊刺、胸轴宽,第11节肋刺巨大,第12、13节肋刺不发育为主要特征;具有很强的地域性,仅分布于华南和北美,在华南主要见于寒武系扬子区与江南区之间过渡区的黔东地区。B. holopygus产出地层延限较窄,仅见于寒武系第二统第四阶顶部。本文所描述的部分标本采自贵州剑河八郎苗板坡剖面苗岭统及乌溜阶界线之下2m左右,是在该地的首次报道,也是全球仅有的第4个产地。笔者通过数理统计值分析进一步描述B.holopygus的特征和发育趋势,为进一步属种研究提供新材料;根据新发现的唇瓣标本进一步推测其唇瓣与腹边缘为愈合状态。     

A new choristodere (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning Province, China, and phylogenetic relationships of Monjurosuchidae

The publication of the scientific name Monjurosuchus splendens in 1940 documented the first tetrapod fossil of the later world-renowned Jehol Biota. For more than half a century since this discovery, however, Monjurosuchus has remained as a monotypic genus of the family Monjurosuchidae, and the relationships of the family with choristoderes have not been correctly recognized until quite recently. In this paper, a new monjurosuchid is named and described based on a nearly complete skull and postcranial skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Chiufotang Formation exposed near Chaoyang, western Liaoning Province, China. This new material documents the first occurrence of monjurosuchid choristoderes outside the type Lingyuan area, and extends the geological range of the family from the Yixian Formation to the younger Chiufotang Formation. Cladistic analyses were conducted with inclusion of monjurosuchids, and the results support the placement of the family Monjurosuchidae as a primitive clade outside the Neochoristodera. A new classification scheme is proposed for choristoderes on the basis of the recovered phylogenetic framework of the group.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 145 , 427–444.     

A new rhynchonelliform brachiopod Longtancunella with soft-part preservation from the Hongjingshao Formation (Cambrian Stage 3) in Yunnan,South China

Rhynchonelliform brachiopods made their first appearance in early Cambrian, and became a major group within the palaeozoic evolutionary fauna since late Cambrian. Exceptionally preserved fossils from the early Cambrian Lagerstätten provide valuable chances to investigate their phylogeny and ecology. Longtancunella is one of the most interesting early rhynchonelliforms, and has been mainly recovered from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Series 2, Stage 3). Here, we report a new rhynchonelliform Longtancunella xiazhuangensis n. sp. from the lower Hongjingshao Formation (upper Stage 3) in Yunnan Province, China. These specimens were well preserved with soft parts, including pinnate mantle canal system and a pedicle. It is identified as a new species based mainly on its difference in shell ornamentations, pinnate mantle canals and pedicle morphology from the type species. Its pedicle looks unusually stout with distinct annulated lamellae on the surface, and reveals crucial evidence in illustrating its ecology and settling strategy as an early marine epifauna. The ecological interaction between L. xiazhuangensis and other marine animals also provides insights into the food web structure in the early Cambrian.     

Crypto-helical body plan in partially disarticulated gogiids from the Cambrian of South China

All living echinoderms have a pentaradial symmetry that is unique within the Bilateria. However, the Cambrian origin of echinoderm radial/pentaradiate symmetry is a long-standing problem. During the Cambrian (542–488 Ma), gogiids were the most common stalked echinoderm characterized by an “irregularly” plated body. Based on recently discovered material from the Balang Formation (Cambrian Series 2), eastern Guizhou, China, three unusual, partially disarticulated specimens of Guizhoueocrinus have clear evidence for a helical body plan. This helical plating is only evident in partially disarticulated specimens, thus a crypto-helical body construction is present. Crypto-helical construction in a gogiid raises the possibility of a phylogenetic connection among helicoplacoids, gogiids, and Helicocystis. The crypto-helical body construction may be an important evolutionary innovation among pre-radiate echinoderms.     

Settling strategy of stalked echinoderms from the Kaili Biota (middle Cambrian), Guizhou Province,South China

A total of 124 articulated echinoderms, including Sinoeocrinus lui (n = 30), “S. globus” (n = 92), one indeterminate gogiid, and one indeterminate edrioasteroid, from the Kaili Formation (Middle Cambrian), eastern Guizhou, China was examined. Among them, 73% of gogiid echinoderms are preserved attached to skeletal substrates. Suitable skeletal substrates for gogiid holdfasts in the Kaili Biota are organophosphatic brachiopods; large trilobite fragments, including cranidia, free cheeks, thoracic segments, and pygidia; hyoliths; and Scenella shells. The high frequency of “S. globus” attached to organophosphatic brachiopods is due to the high richness of organophosphatic brachiopods rather than a host-specific association in the Kaili Biota. However, the possible discrimination against attachment to small trilobites, such as Pagetia, requires further investigation. Based on 11 hand samples, echinoderm population density (EPD) varies from 0.3 to 4.5 echinoderms per 50 grind points (0.06 to 0.96 echinoderms per cm²), depending on the percent coverage of skeletal debris. Crowding effect is evident when EPD is approximately 0.32 echinoderms per cm² and the skeletal coverage is less than 20%.     

A negative carbon isotope excursion defines the boundary from Cambrian Series 2 to Cambrian Series 3 on the Yangtze Platform,South China

A globally recorded negative carbon isotope excursion characterizes the transition from Cambrian Series 2 to Cambrian Series 3. This transition is also well exposed in sedimentary successions on the Yangtze Platform, and the Wuliu–Zengjiayan section, Guizhou Province, South China has been proposed as a potential Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for this boundary. Here, we report δ¹³C_carb values for the Jianshan and the Wuliu–Zengjiayan sections. Both sections display a progressive decrease in δ¹³C from values around + 3‰ upwards in stratigraphy to a pronounced δ¹³C minimum with values as low as ? 6.9‰ at the proposed boundary level, and a return to δ¹³C values between 0 and + 1‰ in the upper part of the sections. The δ¹³C minimum is thought to be caused by a transgressive event, flooding the shelf area with ¹³C depleted basinal anoxic bottom water. Our δ¹³C data are in good agreement with carbon isotope profiles recorded elsewhere. These define the so called ROECE event (Redlichiid–Oleneliid Extinction Carbon Isotope Excursion, cf. Zhu et al., 2006, 2007) and may reflect the perturbation of the global carbon cycle during the Cambrian Series 2 to Cambrian Series 3 transition.     

First report of Schizopholis (Lingulata,Brachiopoda) from the Tsinghsutung Formation (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) in Guizhou,China

Schizopholis Waagen, 1885 is a genus of linguliform brachiopod, which is known from Cambrian Stage 4 to the Wuliuan Stage of Australia, Antarctica, Pakistan and China. Recently, new material of Schizopholis was discovered from the upper part of the Tsinghsutung Formation (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) near Balang village, Jianhe County, Guizhou Province, China. These specimens display the oval pedicle opening in the ventral valve, a median tongue and a pair of tubercles in the dorsal valve that are characteristic features of Schizopholis napuru (Kruse, 1990). This is the first time that this species has been described from Guizhou Province, China. Previously, fossils of this species are usually preserved in carbonate deposits, but the new material documented herein preserved in mudstone of the Tsinghsutung Formation, providing new information regarding both the paleogeographic distribution and paleoecology of this species.