| Citation: |
Feng Tang, Si-cun Song, Guang-xu Zhang, Ai-lin Chen, Jun-ping Liu, 2021. Enigmatic ribbon-like fossil from Early Cambrian of Yunnan, China, China Geology, 4, 205-214. doi: 10.31035/cg2020056
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Enigmatic ribbon-like fossil from Early Cambrian of Yunnan, China
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Abstract
During the Late Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian, a series of paleogeographic and paleoecological events occurred associated with deglaciations and the evolution of life. The appearance of fossils representing diverse phyla, novel body plans and complex ecologies in Ediacaran and Cambrian sedimentary successions has sparked diverse hypotheses about potential drivers for the radiation of early animals during this interval. Recently, new macroscopic fossils of carbonaceous compressions with unique features have been found in Anning, Yunnan, China. The fossils’ bodies are ribbon-shaped and bilaterally symmetric, with dense longitudinal features and transversal features. The fossils occur 0.68 m below a bentonite interlayer which has been dated 535.2 ± 1.7 Ma by Ri-xiang Zhu and his team in 2009. The relatively simply morphology of these fossils, coupled with a lack of preserved internal structures challenge efforts taxonomically identify the precursor organism and definitively ally it to a living group. However, the symmetry and unusual features of the body are analogous to members of Platyzoa. The presence of ribbon-shaped fossils in the Zhongyicun Member in Anning indicates that these organisms were at least a locally significant component of Cambrian seafloor ecosystems, and may hold important implications for our understanding of the early evolution of Bilateria.
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Keywords:
- Early Cambrian /
- Platyhelminthe /
- Bilateria /
- Macrofossil /
- Eastern Yunnan /
- Geological survey engineering
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References
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Feng Tang, Si-cun Song, Guang-xu Zhang, Ai-lin Chen, Jun-ping Liu, 2021. Enigmatic ribbon-like fossil from Early Cambrian of Yunnan, China, China Geology, 4, 205-214. doi: 10.31035/cg2020056
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Figure 1.
Map showing the locations of the studied sections of the Anning fossils Rugosusivitta. ①–the Mingyihe section. It is in a phosphorite quarry owned by Yunnan Phosphate Chemical Group where the fossils were collected. The quarry is 62 km from Kunming, Yunnan. The specimens were collected from Yuhucun Formation, Zhongyicun Member. ②– the locality of the Qingshuigou section. ③–the locality of the well-known Meishucun section.
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Figure 2.
Stratigraphic column of Dengying and Yuhuchun Formations, Anning City, South China. Position of the interbed yielding fossils is indicated in the column with an arrow. The 535 Ma old bentonite layer is marked and correlated between the columns. a–the FAD of Treptichnus pedum in Meishucun section is at the top of the Lower Phospate unit (Zhu MY et al., 1997). b–the first occurrence of Rugosusivitta orthogonia is 0.68 m below the bentonite layer. All specimens were collected from the Zhongyicun Member.
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Figure 3.
a–specimen No. IG-170915-2: the body divided into three zones: transversal features zone (TFZ), transition zone (TZ) and longitudinal features zone (LFZ). b–details of the longitudinal features zone. c– details of the transversal features zone. d–details of the transition zone. e–specimen No. IG-170922: the preservation of Rugosusivitta, the fossils come out separately. f–spliced image of the up left folded specimen of IG-170922. The black scale is 2 cm and the white scale is 1 cm. The specimens are housed in the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.
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Figure 4.
Ribbon-like fossils from Qingshuigou, Jiangchuan, Yunnan Province. a–dense transversal features similar to Rugosusivitta; b, c–abundant in the lowermost Zhongyicun Member; d–directional alignment of the ribbon-like fossils. Scale bar for all specimens is 1 cm.
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Figure 5.
The preservation of the ribbon-like fossils. a–compression of the Shaanxilithes, the disk-like units might deform during the compression. b–the compression of the tubular algea fossils. Various forms would appear as ridges, bands and filled minerals.
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Figure 6.
a, b–imaginary photographs of Rugosusivitta. Wave-induced currents can be the cause of the folding of Rugosusivitta fossils. The black arrows in (a) represent the direction of the currents. The original ribbon-like bodies of Rugosusivitta fossils lived on the sea floor and were transported after death. The dynamic of the waves can fold the dead worms back and forth and in the end buried in sediments.
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Figure 7.
Sketched from the figure of summary of relationships within Bilateria by Edgecombe GD et al. (2011) page 153. The possible taxonomy of Rugosusivitta is marked as red.
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Figure 8.
a–specimen No. IG-190818: Rugosusivitta with a elliptical attachment at the end of the longitudinal feature zone and look very similar to modern Cesdote. b–Tetraphyllidea Anthobothrium laciniatum Linton, 1890 is collected from Fiddler ray in Zoo lab UCL. c–Pedibothrium mounseyi sketched by Ruhnke TR et al. (2009).