扬子区晚震旦世动物化石新材料

扬子区晚震旦世地层中已有多种类型的动物及遗迹化石的报道。文中补充了不同地区和层位的骨骼及遗迹化石新材料,包括：江西上饶王家院陡山沱组顶部磷块岩中的磷酸盐化“十”字形骨针和云南晋宁王家湾灯影组上段隧石条带中的单轴双射硅质骨针,它们可能分属于钙质海绵和普通海绵类;贵州瓮安陡山沱组上段磷质白云岩中的可疑壳状化石;宜昌三斗坪金瓜墩陡山沱组下部（第二段）遗迹化石;瓮安陡山沱组上段及湖北南漳灯影组上段底部磷质硬底中的生物扰动构造。另外还报道了贵州清镇桃子冲剖面桃子冲组最底部的瓶状动物（Pro-tolagena limbata）化石,并认定桃子冲组与灯影组之间为假整合接触,其底界并无跨入震旦系的证据。     

陕南寒武系底部宽川铺组微体化石人工智能识别

我国陕南寒武纪初期的宽川铺组(距今大约535百万年)以盛产磷酸盐化的微体小壳化石和球状动物胚胎化石而闻名于世,是探索早期动物门类起源和寒武纪生命大爆发研究中的一个非常重要的窗口。在宽川铺组中寻找微体化石新类型主要依赖显微镜下人工挑选的传统方法日趋低效,迫切需要新的技术手段来解决这些问题。而微体化石数量庞大,大小接近,形态简单,非常适合于采用机器学习的手段进行人工智能分类。我们在宽川铺组微体化石中尝试使用机器学习的手段来进行化石图像识别和机器分拣。采用方向梯度直方图来提取化石图像的主要向量特征,并设计了二叉树型多分类识别器进行化石数字分类。目前处理了5 000多张微体化石照片的人工智能识别,已经取得了较高的准确率。     

贵州剑河中寒武世中期甲劳组水母状化石的发现

贵州剑河革东镇八郎村南甲劳组中部钙质白云岩中新近发现的具有粗强放射状辐管的水母状化石和其下凯里组中具细辐管及同心环的拟轮盘水母(Pararotadiscus)有明显区别,属于伊尔东钵科(Eldoniidae)。其层位晚于中寒武世早期凯里生物群中拟轮盘水母(Pararotadiscus)层位1个化石带,属中寒武世中期,是该类化石在中国的最高层位,相当于北美布尔吉斯页岩生物群中Eldonia化石层位。     

Trace fossils from lower Cambrian Hongjingshao Formation,Yunnan, China: Taxonomy,palaeoecology, palaeoenvironment

The Hongjingshao Formation (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) yields abundant, complex trace fossils that have not been systematically investigated up till now. Our detailed ichnological study of the traces from this formation in Malong area, Yunnan, China, recognizes four groups: (1) simple horizontal or sub-horizontal burrows; (2) complex branched burrow systems; (3) arthropod trails and; (4) simple vertical burrows belonging to the Cruziana ichnofacies. A trophic web is reconstructed for the community in Hongjingshao Formation based on both trace and body fossils. The ichnological and sedimentological features of the formation indicate an intertidal setting. The trace fossil assemblage demonstrates that Early Cambrian organisms were able to colonize very shallow marine environments, which further supports the landward expansion of the Early Cambrian ecosystems.     

Infaunal augurs of the Cambrian explosion: An Ediacaran trace fossil assemblage from Nevada,USA

Morphologically complex trace fossils, recording the infaunal activities of bilaterian animals, are common in Phanerozoic successions but rare in the Ediacaran fossil record. Here, we describe a trace fossil assemblage from the lower Dunfee Member of the Deep Spring Formation at Mount Dunfee (Nevada, USA), over 500 m below the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. Although millimetric in scale and largely not fabric‐disruptive, the Dunfee assemblage includes complex and sediment‐penetrative trace fossil morphologies that are characteristic of Cambrian deposits. The Dunfee assemblage records one of the oldest documented instances of sediment‐penetrative infaunalization, corroborating previous molecular, ichnologic, and paleoecological data suggesting that crown‐group bilaterians and bilaterian‐style ecologies were present in late Ediacaran shallow marine ecosystems. Moreover, Dunfee trace fossils co‐occur with classic upper Ediacaran tubular body fossils in multiple horizons, indicating that Ediacaran infauna and epifauna coexisted and likely formed stable ecosystems.     

贵州交榜留茶坡组化石组合特征及其生物地层学和演化意义*

埃迪卡拉纪—寒武纪之交见证了地球—生命系统不同圈层的重大变革, 是复杂多细胞生物演化的重要转折期。华南是开展相关研究的主要区域之一, 但前人工作主要集中在化石材料丰富的浅水台地相区, 深水区生物组成面貌尚未得到充分认识。本研究对斜坡相区贵州交榜剖面的留茶坡组进行了详细研究, 通过酸蚀和薄片观察发现了丰富的化石材料, 包括: 海绵骨针、软舌螺、可能的原牙形类(? Protohertzina sp.)和织金钉类(? Zhijinites sp.)、球形疑源类、Megathrix longus, 及不同类型的多细胞藻类, 亲缘关系未定的Poratusiramus sp.、球形化石和形态多样的丝状、片状化石等。该化石组合属于寒武纪纽芬兰世幸运期, 其中的骨骼化石以海绵骨针为主。化石组合中既有与浅水区共有分子, 也有深水区特有类群, 丰富了斜坡相区的化石记录, 具有潜在的地层对比和演化意义。     

现代丰年虾卵的腐解实验——对早期化石胚胎研究的启示

早寒武世和埃迪卡拉纪中的球状化石,一些已被归入可能的后生动物胚胎化石,由于具较为完好的三维保存方式以及近乎完美的胚胎发育序列,为早期后生动物的起源、分类、谱系演化及发育生物学提供了难得的实证材料。然而随着研究的深入,多数寒武纪胚胎的生物学分类位置未定;而数量异常巨大、又有独自的保存方式的晚元古代陡山沱组胚胎的真伪和生物学归属,更是争议未消。通过对现生生物胚胎的实验埋藏研究,可以揭示出各类生物胚胎在腐解、埋藏各阶段的保存潜力,而现代胚胎在各实验埋藏阶段形态、结构的变化,也能为化石胚胎的研究提供重要的实证材料。本文就是通过对虾卵胚胎各发育阶段腐解保存潜力的实验模拟研究,试图为球状化石的形成机制和化石归属提供一些实验室依据。     

贵州东部下寒武统杷榔组上部的三叶虫

贵州凯里市西北郊瓮岭塘寒武系都匀阶下部(下寒武统)杷榔组顶部和镇远县江古镇杷榔组上部的杷榔动物群,是新近发现的重要动物群。动物群由始海百合与莱德利基虫类三叶虫及多门类的化石组成,表明黔东早寒武世都匀期早期斜坡相生物的多样性。就属种而言,三叶虫类最为丰富,计有4属5种,1亚种和1未定种,包括莱得利基虫类的Redlichia(Pteroredlichia)chinensis,Redlichia(Pteroredlichia)chinensislui,Redlichia(Pteroredlichia)murakamii,耸棒头虫类Arthricocephaluschauveaui,Changaspisplacenta,Changaspismicropyge及褶颊虫类Probowmania(Probowmania)sp.。褶颊虫类Probowmania(Probowmania)的出现,丰富了黔东地区杷榔组上部三叶虫组合,层位明显下延。文章还报道Redlichia(Pteroredlichia)chinensis分节末期到成虫早期个体发育特征。     

Early Cambrian Pentamerous Cubozoan Embryos from South China

Background

Extant cubozoans are voracious predators characterized by their square shape, four evenly spaced outstretched tentacles and well-developed eyes. A few cubozoan fossils are known from the Middle Cambrian Marjum Formation of Utah and the well-known Carboniferous Mazon Creek Formation of Illinois. Undisputed cubozoan fossils were previously unknown from the early Cambrian; by that time probably all representatives of the living marine phyla, especially those of basal animals, should have evolved.

Methods

Microscopic fossils were recovered from a phosphatic limestone in the Lower Cambrian Kuanchuanpu Formation of South China using traditional acetic-acid maceration. Seven of the pre-hatched pentamerous cubozoan embryos, each of which bears five pairs of subumbrellar tentacle buds, were analyzed in detail through computed microtomography (Micro-CT) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) without coating.

Results

The figured microscopic fossils are unequivocal pre-hatching embryos based on their spherical fertilization envelope and the enclosed soft-tissue that has preserved key anatomical features arranged in perfect pentaradial symmetry, allowing detailed comparison with modern cnidarians, especially medusozoans. A combination of features, such as the claustrum, gonad-lamella, suspensorium and velarium suspended by the frenula, occur exclusively in the gastrovascular system of extant cubozoans, indicating a cubozoan affinity for these fossils. Additionally, the interior anatomy of these embryonic cubozoan fossils unprecedentedly exhibits the development of many new septum-derived lamellae and well-partitioned gastric pockets unknown in living cubozoans, implying that ancestral cubozoans had already evolved highly specialized structures displaying unexpected complexity at the dawn of the Cambrian. The well-developed endodermic lamellae and gastric pockets developed in the late embryonic stages of these cubozoan fossils are comparable with extant pelagic juvenile cubomedusae rather than sessile cubopolyps, whcih indicates a direct development in these fossil taxa, lacking characteristic stages of a typical cnidarian metagenesis such as planktonic planula and sessile polyps.     

Giving the early fossil record of sponges a squeeze

Twenty candidate fossils with claim to be the oldest representative of the Phylum Porifera have been re‐analysed. Three criteria are used to assess each candidate: (i) the diagnostic criteria needed to categorize sponges in the fossil record; (ii) the presence, or absence, of such diagnostic features in the putative poriferan fossils; and (iii) the age constraints for the candidate fossils. All three criteria are critical to the correct interpretation of any fossil and its placement within an evolutionary context. Our analysis shows that no Precambrian fossil candidate yet satisfies all three of these criteria to be a reliable sponge fossil. The oldest widely accepted candidate, Mongolian silica hexacts from c. 545 million years ago (Ma), are here shown to be cruciform arsenopyrite crystals. The oldest reliable sponge remains are siliceous spicules from the basal Cambrian (Protohertzina anabarica Zone) Soltanieh Formation, Iran, which are described and analysed here in detail for the first time. Extensive archaeocyathan sponge reefs emerge and radiate as late as the middle of the Fortunian Stage of the Cambrian and demonstrate a gradual assembly of their skeletal structure through this time coincident with the evolution of other metazoan groups. Since the Porifera are basal in the Metazoa, their presence within the late Proterozoic has been widely anticipated. Molecular clock calibration for the earliest Porifera and Metazoa should now be based on the Iranian hexactinellid material dated to c. 535 Ma. The earliest convincing fossil sponge remains appeared at around the time of the Precambrian‐Cambrian boundary, associated with the great radiation events of that interval.     

Cambrian biostratigraphy of the Bowers back-arc basin,Northern Victoria Land,Antarctica — A review

The Bowers Mountains in Northern Victoria Land contain the richest Cambrian Series 3 (Miaolingian, middle Cambrian) and Cambrian Series 4 (Furongian, late Cambrian) fossiliferous successions in Antarctica. Almost all the fossils are found within the Bowers Supergroup, which outcrops within the Bowers Terrane, a fault-bounded northwest-southeast oriented strip in Northern Victoria Land. The fossils provide the main age control on the history and evolution of the Bowers volcanic arc and back-arc basin. The great bulk of the fossils occur within the Spurs Formation. The fossil assemblages are dominated by agnostoids and polymerid trilobites with most ranging in age from Drumian to Paibian, although one fauna is of Jiangshanian age. Over 40 agnostoid taxa and over 100 polymerid trilobite taxa have been recorded from the rocks of the Bowers Supergroup. The youngest fauna occurs within the adjacent Robertson Bay Terrane, where a limited fauna of polymerid trilobites and conodonts from within a limestone olistolith have a very late Cambrian or early Ordovician age. Faunal affinities are mainly with Australia, New Zealand, North and South China and the Himalaya with lesser ties to Iran, Kazakhstan, Siberia and Laurentia.     

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.     

Occurrence of the Lower Cambrian anemone-style trace fossils in the Zabuk Formation (Mardin–Derik,SE Turkey)

The Zabuk Formation of the Derik Group exposed over much of south-eastern Turkey presents a succession composed of shallow marine and fluvial siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The Lower Cambrian assemblages containing abundant anemone-style trace fossils are known from most major palaeocontinents such as Laurentia, Baltica, and Gondwana. These have possible affinities with semi-infaunal dwelling anemones on siliciclastic mid-latitude shelves of West Gondwana in early Fortunian deposits. Among them is Bergaueria, characterized by plug-shaped burrows as exemplified by Bergaueria perata, that is, a characteristic trace fossil of the Cambrian globally.     

Small shelly fossils and trace fossils near the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in the Yukon Territory, Canada

In the past an ‘explosion’ in diversity and abundance of small shelly fossils and of trace fossils has served to mark the base of the Cambrian. However, no evidence has been presented to prove that the ‘explosions’ of the two groups were synchronous. We describe small shelly fossils and trace fossils from the same phosphatic limestone beds that indicate that the two events were separate in time. The small shelly fossils are Anabarites trisulcatus, Hyolithellus cf. H. isiticus, Microcornus? sp., Protohertzina anabarica, P. unguliformis, P. sp. A, Pseudorthotheca sp. A, Rushtonia? sp. A, four types of tuberculate plates and one type of reticulate plate. These fossils represent a restricted, ‘pre-explosion’ fauna and are assigned to the Anabarites-Circotheca-Protohertzina Assemblage Zone, an uppermost Precambrian zone in the Meishucun Stage, Yunnan Province, China. A point at the top of this zone has received strong international endorsement for future designation as the base of the Cambrian. Associated with the small shelly fossils are the trace fossils Cruziana sp. A, Cruziana? sp. B, Rusophycus sp. A, Palaeophycus rubdark and arthropod scratch marks. If found in isolation, this trace fossil assemblage would be considered as post-Precambrian because it includes large, highly organized arthropod traces that are traditionally accepted as occurring above the trace fossil ‘explosion’. We therefore conclude that the trace fossil ‘explosion’ predates the small shelly fossil ‘explosion’. If the proposed location of the base of the Cambrian in Yunnan is accepted, the small shelly fossil ‘explosion’ concept and its relationship to the boundary would not be greatly modified. The trace fossil ‘explosion’, however, would no longer indicate the base of the Cambrian and the ranges of some trace fossils would be extended into the Precambrian.     

Seventy-five-million-year-old tropical tetra-like fish from Canada tracks Cretaceous global warming

Newly discovered fossil fish material from the Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, documents the presence of a tropical fish in this northern area about 75 million years ago (Ma). The living relatives of this fossil fish, members of the Characiformes including the piranha and neon tetras, are restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, being limited in their distribution by colder temperatures. Although characiform fossils are known from Cretaceous through to Cenozoic deposits, none has been reported previously from North America. The modern distribution of characiforms in Mexico and southern Texas in the southernmost United States is believed to have been the result of a relatively recent colonization less than 12 Ma. The new Canadian fossils document the presence of these fish in North America in the Late Cretaceous, a time of significantly warmer global temperatures than now. Global cooling after this time apparently extirpated them from the northern areas and these fishes only survived in more southern climes. The lack of early Cenozoic characiform fossils in North America suggests that marine barriers prevented recolonization during warmer times, unlike in Europe where Eocene characiform fossils occur during times of global warmth.     

A scratch circle origin for the medusoid fossil Kullingia

Kullingia is considered a key taxon in demonstrating the presence of terminal Proterozoic-early Cambrian chondrophorine hydrozoans. However, Kullingia concentrica from the Lower Cambrian of northern Sweden possesses several features that show that it is not a body fossil but that it was formed by current or wave-induced rotation of an anchored tubular organism, possibly a sabelliditid. A scratch circle interpretation applies also to several other reports of Lower Cambrian Kullingia , including Kullingia delicata from the Chapel Island Formation of Newfoundland. Given the considerable number of problematic fossils that have been interpreted as chondrophorines, it is difficult to put an age on the oldest fossil chondrophorines, but it may be as late as the Devonian. Overall, scratch circles appear to be rarely preserved. The occurrence of these scratch circles in Lower Paleozoic storm deposits is probably related to low levels of bioturbation that enhanced both the likelihood of formation and preservation of these structures.     

Trace fossils of Cambrian aglaspidid arthropods

A new trace fossil, Raaschichnus gundersoni , from the Upper Cambrian St. Lawrence Formation of Wisconsin, was produced by an aglaspidid arthropod. The rusophyciform trace, which occurs singly and in series, is distinctive in showing marks left by the tail-spine. Other trace fossils previously considered to have been made by aglaspidids were probably excavated by animals lacking a tail-spine and with appendage morphologies very different from the aglaspidids of Wisconsin.     

浙西早寒武世梅树村期棒状化石

该文记述了浙江省西部江山县新塘坞地区灯影组(梅树村期)中新发现的矿化骨骼化石——浙江棒(新属)Zhejiangorhabdion gen.nov.。该化石的形态与以往化石类群均不相同,为个体微小的棒状,表面具较复杂的纹饰,不同个体间的纹饰都有一定变化,推测是动物体内不同部位的骨棒所具有的特征,代表了一个新的化石类群。新属的发现丰富了梅树村期动物群的内容,对了解具骨骼动物群体在这一时期的演化具有一定的意义。     

The problematic microfossil Utahphospha from the Upper Cambrian of the western United States

Phosphatic conical microfossils from Upper Cambrian (Franconian) limestones of the Orr Formation in western Utah are described as Utahphospha sequina n.g., n.sp. The genus is also known from other localities in Utah and Nevada. The fossil has a distinct sequin-like external sculpture which has been formed by outward accretion. A hole at the tip originated by abrasion from within. The fossils are interpreted as hatched cysts of an unknown organism.