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The Burgess Shale arthropod Mollisonia (M. sinica new species): new occurrence from the Middle Cambrian Kaili fauna of southwest China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Xingliang Zhang ,
Yuanlong Zhao ,
Ruidong Yang  and
Degan Shu
Xingliang Zhang
Affiliation:
Early Life Institute and Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xian, 710069, P. R. China,
Yuanlong Zhao
Affiliation:
Institute of Resources and Environment Science, Guizhou University of Technology, Guiyang, 550003, P. R. China
Ruidong Yang
Affiliation:
Institute of Resources and Environment Science, Guizhou University of Technology, Guiyang, 550003, P. R. China
Degan Shu
Affiliation:
Early Life Institute and Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xian, 710069, P. R. China,
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Extract

The Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, Yunnan Province, Southwest China, has become one of the most celebrated Cambrian fossil Lagerstatten not only for perhaps the earliest biota of soft-bodied organisms in the Phanerozoic (Yuan and Zhao, 1999; Zhang et aI., 2001; but see Budd and Jensen, 2000), but also for a number of significant discoveries (Shu et al., 1996a, 1996b, 1999a, 1999b, 2001), proven to be of particular importance for our understanding the Cambrian explosion. Also in Southwest China, Guizhou Province, there is a very significant, although less acclaimed, Middle Cambrian soft-bodied fauna as well, namely the Kaili fauna, which occurs in the Kaili Formation in Kaili area (Kuizhou). The age of the Kaili Formation ranges from late Early to early Middle Cambrian. Regionally, the Kaili Formation is about 222 m thick and consists of three parts. The lowermost part (late Early Cambrian, about 55 m thick) is dominated by thin, calcareous siltstone strata interbedded with limestone layers at the base. The middle part (early Middle Cambrian, ca. 123 m) consists of dark green mudstone and shale, while the uppermost part (ca. 44 m) is composed of interbedded limestone and silty shale. The Kaili fauna is derived from mudstones in the middle part of the formation (Zhao et aI., 1994; Zhu et aI., 2000).

Type
Paleontological Notes
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 76 , Issue 6 , November 2002 , pp. 1106 - 1108
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society

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