Guanshan Fauna
Guanshan Fauna of Yunnan Province, China - "Another Window to the Cambrian Explosion" |
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Related Interest: Chengjiang
Maotianshan Shales |
 The
Early Cambrian (~525 million years ago) Guanshan Fauna is slightly
younger than animals from the Chengjiang
Biota, and older than animals from the Kaili Fauna and  the
Burgess Shale Fauna. Like the
Chengjiang Fauna, soft-tissue preservation is prevalent, and like
Chengjiang the faunal assemblage comprises a rich diversity of
arthropods, trilobites, Tuzoia, Vetulicola, Paleoscolex, as well
as brachiopods and sponges. The discovery and research of this
fauna is of great significance in furthering scientific understading
of the Cambrian
Explosion and the evolution of early life. Additionally, the
occurrence of vetulicoliids from the Guanshan Fauna not only adds
new members to the taxon, but also adds new data to study the
evolution of this enigmatic group. |
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