Article
Geography, Physical
Xiong Liu, Yuanlong Zhao, Xinglian Yang, Zhengpeng Chen, Shengguang Chen, Xue Luo
Summary: An exceptionally preserved hyolithid fossil with attached stalked eocrinoids was found, confirming a symbiotic relationship between the two organisms. The reconstruction of their epibiotic relationship provides insights into the ecology and environment of the Cambrian period.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Can Chen, Qinglai Feng, Thomas J. Algeo, Lei Zhang, Shan Chang, Minglong Li
Summary: This study reports the discovery of abundant siliceous spicules in a deep-slope setting in South China, providing insights into the origin and evolution of sponges. The appearance of different types of spicules is consistent with their timing in shallow-platform settings, indicating a delayed appearance in deep-water slope settings. These findings contribute to our understanding of the early Cambrian marine ecosystem.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Tingzu Peng, Yuning Yang, Hao Yun, Xinglian Yang, Qianqian Zhang, Min He, Xiangri Chi, Jing Liu, Xi Liu
Summary: Diverse chancelloriids from two sections of the Kaili Biota in Guizhou Province, China are described, including 3 genera and 6 species. Two new species, Ar. anchoriformis and Ch. zhaoi, are identified and their unique characteristics are analyzed. The study also recognizes two flourishing ages of chancelloriids based on their distribution in South China.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Hao Yun, Cui Luo, Chao Chang, Luoyang Li, Joachim Reitner, Xingliang Zhang
Summary: Sponge fossils from the Cambrian black shales have been of interest due to their diversity, preservation, and adaptation to inhospitable environments. A new species of hexactinellid sponge, S. tentoriformis, with a unique dendriform body shape, has been discovered in the Qingjiang biota. This body shape represents an adaptation to deep-water, oxygen-deficient conditions, aiding in oxygen utilization and energy conservation.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Paleontology
De-Guang Jiao, Kun-Sheng Du
Summary: A new small euarthropod, Astutuscaris bispinifer gen. et sp. nov., has been discovered in the early Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota in Yunnan, China. This euarthropod possesses unique features, such as a wide head shield, possible eyes, and paired frontalmost appendages. The discovery expands the biological diversity of euarthropods in the Guanshan Biota.
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Min Zhang, Zhong-Qiang Chen, David A. T. Harper
Summary: An atypical Burgess Shale-type fossil assemblage from the Cambrian Stage 4 in central Hubei Province, South China, is reported, providing insights into early metazoan biotic evolution and ecological interactions. The newly recovered fauna, preserved in yellowish-green shale within a dolomite succession, includes a variety of shelly and soft-bodied fossils. This discovery represents an important geographical extension of Burgess Shale-type biotas in China and contributes to our understanding of the Cambrian Explosion of life and biodiversity by comparing fossiliferous horizons in a chronological framework.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
De-Guang Jiao, Stephen Pates, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril, Javier Ortega-Hernandez, Jie Yang, Tian Lan, Xi-Guang Zhang
Summary: The Guanshan Biota in South China during the Cambrian Stage 4 is characterized by a variety of biomineralizing and non-biomineralizing animals, including some unique fossil organisms exclusive to this deposit. The radiodonts in this biota, with four known species, appear to be endemic to this locality, showcasing a local adaptation to their prey and highlighting the importance of exploring different deposits for a better understanding of this group's evolution and distribution. The complex relationship between free-swimming radiodonts and benthic communities underscores the interplay between paleobiogeography and environmental distributions of predators and prey.
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA
(2021)
Article
Biology
Buqing Wei, Yuan Wang, Xinglian Yang, Weiyi Wu
Summary: A number of well-preserved fossils of Hadrotreta were found in south China for the first time in the Tsinghsutung Formation. Hadrotreta shows an expanding trend in global distribution from the Cambrian Age 4 to the Miaolingian Epoch, with a preference for low-latitude regions. It was mainly found in deep-water continental shelf environments during the Cambrian Epoch 2, Age 4, but later expanded its distribution to shallow-water platform environments during the Miaolingian Epoch.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hui Liu, Lin Dong, Shujian Qin, Wei Liu, Chenqing Li
Summary: The globally distributed string fossils, Horodyskia and Palaeopascichnus, have been a subject of debate regarding their origins for decades. Through a study of the Liuchapo Formation in South China, similar string fossils to Horodyskia minor and Palaeopascichnus jiumenensis were found. Based on the reconstruction of their morphological characteristics, the string fossils were renamed as Parahorodyskia and Ordinilunulatus, suggesting a biological rather than diagenetic origin. Additionally, a new strip-like fossil named Jiumenia was discovered in the Liuchapo Formation. The wide occurrences of Parahorodyskia and Ordinilunulatus in South China may have biostratigraphic significance for the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition.
PRECAMBRIAN RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Geography, Physical
Ziheng Li, Min Zhang, Zhong-Qiang Chen, Thomas J. Algeo, Laishi Zhao, Feifei Zhang
Summary: The co-evolution of marine redox conditions and early animals during the early Cambrian was crucial to the development of the modern Earth ecosystem. Geochemical proxies and fossil records from Burgess Shale-type fossil Lagerstatten in South China reveal a dynamic euxinic wedge controlling redox variations in the Nanhua Basin, with expansion and contraction influencing the emergence of early animals like those in the Chengjiang and Qingjiang biotas. Global marine oxygenation may have facilitated ecologic complexity and biodiversification of early animals during Cambrian Age 3.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yichen Wu, Jianni Liu
Summary: This study on the Tuzoia from the Guanshan Biota provides detailed descriptions of the characteristics and larval stage, as well as the possibility of species communication through the discovery of new species.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Paleontology
Yifan Wang, Jin Peng, Qiujun Wang, Rongqin Wen, Hui Zhang, Guangying Du, Yunbin Shao
Summary: Understanding the moulting behavior of trilobites through different growth stages, this study focuses on the detailed exploration of moulting behaviors in Arthricocephalites xinzhaiheensis based on a large number of disarticulated specimens. The findings show that the trilobites commonly utilized cephalic sutures and cephalothoracic joint for moulting, involving rotation or inversion of the cranidium to create a wide exuvial gape.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yan Li, Sibo Wang, Jia Xia, Zhiguang Song
Summary: The study analyzed shale samples from Guizhou Province to understand the organic sources and marine environmental conditions during the deposition of Lower Cambrian shales in South China. The results showed a variety of lipid biomarkers, indicating contributions from bacterial microorganisms and algae thriving in low-salinity, stable anoxic environments. The difference in mineral and carbon isotope composition between shale samples suggests changes in primary production and paleoocean environments due to sea-level rise. High primary productivity driven by sea-level rise is suggested to be the main factor controlling organic matter enrichment in certain shale samples under stable anoxic conditions.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Qi Meng, Wuqiang Xue, Fayao Chen, Jiaxin Yan, Jiahua Cai, Yadong Sun, Paul B. Wignall, Ke Liu, Zhichen Liu, Deng Chen
Summary: This study investigates the Guadalupian SRDs on the Yangtze Carbonate Platform, showing that changes in carbonate productivity during this time have significant impacts on biotic turnovers and environmental factors. The research also reveals three stages of SRDs onlap during the platform evolution and their correlation with eustatic sea-level fluctuations.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Caixia Zhang, Yu Liu, Javier Ortega-Hernandez, Joanna M. Wolfe, Changfei Jin, Huijuan Mai, Xianguang Hou, Jin Guo, Dayou Zhai
Summary: Early evolution of euarthropods involved a significant transition from lobopodian-like organisms to creatures with a segmented and well-sclerotized trunk and limbs. However, the origins of completely arthrodized trunks and arthropodized ventral biramous appendages, as well as the early differentiation of anterior-posterior limbs in stem-group euarthropods, are still debated. New fossil material and micro-computed tomography reveal the morphology of arthropodized biramous appendages in the carapace-bearing euarthropod Isoxys curvirostratus. The results suggest that Isoxys curvirostratus had a non-arthrodized trunk and provide evidence for the early evolution of arthropodized biramous appendages before full body arthrodization.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
