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A new modular palaeopascichnid fossil Curviacus ediacaranus new genus and species from the Ediacaran Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China

Part of: From Snowball Earth to the Cambrian Explosion: Evidence from China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2017

BING SHEN ,
SHUHAI XIAO ,
CHUANMING ZHOU ,
LIN DONG ,
JIEQIONG CHANG  and
ZHE CHEN
BING SHEN*
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
SHUHAI XIAO
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
CHUANMING ZHOU
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
LIN DONG
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
JIEQIONG CHANG
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
ZHE CHEN
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Non-biomineralizing Ediacaran macrofossils are rare in carbonate facies, but they offer valuable information about their three-dimensional internal anatomy and can broaden our view about their taphonomy and palaeoecology. In this study, we report a new Ediacaran fossil, Curviacus ediacaranus new genus and species, from bituminous limestone of the Shibantan Member of the Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China. Curviacus is reconstructed as a benthic modular organism consisting of serially arranged and crescent-shaped chambers. The chambers are confined by chamber walls that are replicated by calcispars, and are filled by micritic sediments. Such modular body construction is broadly similar to the co-occurring Yangtziramulus zhangii and other Ediacaran modular fossils, such as Palaeopascichnus. The preservation style of Curviacus is similar to Yangtziramulus, although the phylogenetic affinities of both genera remain unresolved. The new fossil adds to the diversity of Ediacaran modular organisms.

Keywords

Ediacaran fossilDengying FormationSouth Chinamodular organism
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 154 , Issue 6: THEMATIC ISSUE: From Snowball Earth to the Cambrian Explosion: Evidence from China , November 2017 , pp. 1257 - 1268
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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