Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T04:27:52.051Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The enigmatic metazoan Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, Yunnan Province, South China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2018

Yujing Li ,
Mark Williams ,
Sarah E. Gabbott ,
Ailin Chen ,
Peiyun Cong  and
Xianguang Hou
Yujing Li
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China 〈yl@mail.ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈cong@ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈xghou@ynu.edu.cn〉 School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK 〈mri@leicester.ac.uk〉, 〈sg21@leicester.ac.uk〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Mark Williams
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK 〈mri@leicester.ac.uk〉, 〈sg21@leicester.ac.uk〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Sarah E. Gabbott*
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK 〈mri@leicester.ac.uk〉, 〈sg21@leicester.ac.uk〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
Ailin Chen
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China 〈yl@mail.ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈cong@ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈xghou@ynu.edu.cn〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China Research Center of Paleobiology, Yuxi Normal University, Yuxi 653100, China 〈ailinchen@yxnu.net〉
Peiyun Cong
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China 〈yl@mail.ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈cong@ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈xghou@ynu.edu.cn〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Xianguang Hou*
Affiliation:
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China 〈yl@mail.ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈cong@ynu.edu.cn〉, 〈xghou@ynu.edu.cn〉 MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology & Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
*
*Corresponding authors
*Corresponding authors
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Vetulicolians are a group of exclusively Cambrian animals characterized by an anterior section with lateral pouches and a posterior section that appears segmented. The precise phylogenetic affinity of vetulicolians is debated because there is a lack of consensus regarding the interpretation of their anatomical features. Their disparate morphology might even cause one to question whether this is a monophyletic taxon. In total, there are 15 species grouped into three families included in vetulicolians. Here we focus on new specimens of Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi Chen, Feng, and Zhu in Chen et al., 2003, a species that was first described from only a single specimen from the Chengjiang Biota (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3, Eoredlichia-Wutingaspis trilobite Biozone), Yunnan Province, China. The species is notable in being exceptionally large (up to 20 cm long). Morphological observations on the new specimens clarify the nature of the wide circular opening at the presumed anterior end of the animal and the cowl-shaped lateral openings within this anterior section. Taphonomic observations identify wrinkles in the anterior section and twists in the posterior segmented section. In particular, the shape of the anterior opening of Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi suggests significant differences from other vetulicolians. Taxonomic reappraisal of Y. magnificissimi indicates that it belongs within the family Didazoonidae, as that is presently defined.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 92 , Issue 6 , November 2018 , pp. 1081 - 1091
Copyright
Copyright © 2018, The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldridge, R.J., Hou, X.G., Siveter, D.J., Siveter, D.J., and Gabbott, S.E., 2007, The systematics and phylogenetic relationships of vetulicolians: Palaeontology, v. 50, p. 131–168.Google Scholar
Briggs, D.E., Lieberman, B.S., Halgedahl, S.L., and Jarrard, R.D., 2005, A new metazoan from the middle Cambrian of Utah and the nature of the Vetulicolia: Palaeontology, v. 48, p. 681–686.Google Scholar
Butterfield, N.J., 2005, Vetulicola cuneata from the lower Cambrian Mural Formation, Jasper National Park, Canada: The Palaeontological Association, 49th Annual Meeting, University of Oxford, Oxford, Abstracts, p. 18.Google Scholar
Caron, J.B., 2006, Banffia constricta, a putative vetulicolid from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, v. 96, p. 95–111.Google Scholar
Chen, A.L., Feng, H.Z., Zhu, M.Y., Ma, D.S., and Li, M., 2003, A new vetulicolian from the early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna in Yunnan of China: Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), v. 77, p. 281–287.Google Scholar
Chen, J.Y., 2004, The Dawn of the Animal World: Nanjing, Jiangsu Science and Technology Press, 328 p. [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Chen, J.Y., and Zhou, G.Q., 1997, Biology of the Chengjiang fauna: Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural Science, v. 10, p. 11–106.Google Scholar
Chen, L.Z., Luo, H.L., Hu, S.X., Yin, J.Y., Jiang, Z.W., Wu, Z.L., Li, F., and Chen, A.L., 2002, Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna in Eastern Yunnan, China: Kunming, Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 199 p. [in Chinese with English summary].Google Scholar
Conway Morris, S., Halgedahl, S.L., Selden, P., and Jarrard, R.D., 2015, Rare primitive deuterostomes from the Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah: Journal of Paleontology, v. 89, p. 631–636.Google Scholar
Forchielli, A., Steiner, M., Kasbohm, J., Hu, S.X., and Keupp, H., 2014, Taphonomic traits of clay-hosted early Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil Lagerstätten in South China: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 398, p. 59–85.Google Scholar
Gabbott, S. E., Hou, X.G., Norry, M. J., and Siveter, D. J., 2004, Preservation of early Cambrian animals of the Chengjiang biota: Geology, v. 32, p. 901–904.Google Scholar
García-Bellido, D.C., Lee, M.S., Edgecombe, G.D., Jago, J.B., Gehling, J.G., and Paterson, J.R., 2014, A new vetulicolian from Australia and its bearing on the chordate affinities of an enigmatic Cambrian group: BMC Evolutionary Biology, v. 14, p. 214.Google Scholar
Hou, X.G., 1987, Early Cambrian large bivalved arthropods from Chengjiang, Eastern Yunnan: Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, v. 26, p. 286–292. [in Chinese with English abstract].Google Scholar
Hou, X.G., and Bergström, J., 1997, Arthropods of the lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China: Fossils and Strata, v. 45, p. 116.Google Scholar
Hou, X.G., Siveter, D.J., Siveter, D.J., Aldridge, R.J., Cong, P.Y., Gabbott, S.E., Ma, X.Y., Purnell, M.A., and Williams, M., 2017, The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: The Flowering of Early Animal Life: Oxford, John Wiley & Sons, 328 p.Google Scholar
Lacalli, T.C., 2002, Vetulicolians—are they deuterostomes? Chordates?: BioEssays, v. 24, p. 208–211.Google Scholar
Li, Y.J., Cong, P.Y., Zhao, J., and Hou, X.G., 2015, New observations on morphological variation of genus Vetulicola with quadrate carapace from the Cambrian Chengjiang and Guanshan biotas, South China: Palaeoworld, v. 24, p. 36–45.Google Scholar
Luo, H.L., Hu, S.X., Chen, L.Z., Zhang, S.S., and Tao, Y.H., 1999, Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna from Kunming Region, China: Kunming, Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 129 p. [in Chinese with English summary].Google Scholar
Luo, H.L., Fu, X.P., Hu, S.X., Li, Y., Chen, L.Z., You, T., and Liu, Q., 2005, New vetulicoliids from the lower Cambrian Guanshan Fauna: Kunming, Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), v. 79, p. 1–6.Google Scholar
Ou, Q., Conway Morris, S., Han, J., Zhang, Z.F., Liu, J.N., Chen, A.L., Zhang, X.L., and Shu, D.G., 2012, Evidence for gill slits and a pharynx in Cambrian vetulicolians: Implications for the early evolution of deuterostomes: BMC Biology, v. 10, p. 81.Google Scholar
Shu, D.G., 2005, On the phylum Vetulicolia: Chinese Science Bulletin, v. 50, no. 20, p. 2342–2354.Google Scholar
Shu, D.G., Conway Morris, S., Zhang, X.L., Chen, L., Li, Y., and Han, J., 1999, A pipiscid-like fossil from the lower Cambrian of south China: Nature, v. 400, p. 746–749.Google Scholar
Shu, D.G., Conway Morris, S., Han, J., Chen, L., Zhang, X.L., Zhang, Z.F., Liu, H.Q., Li, Y., and Liu, J.N., 2001, Primitive deuterostomes from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (lower Cambrian, China): Nature, v. 414, p. 419–424.Google Scholar
Vinther, J., Smith, M.P., and Harper, D.A.T., 2011, Vetulicolians from the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagerstätte, North Greenland, and the polarity of morphological characters in basal deuterostomes: Palaeontology, v. 54, p. 711–719.Google Scholar
Walcott, C.D., 1911, Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II: Middle Cambrian annelids: Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v. 57, p. 109–144.Google Scholar
Yang, J., Hou, X.G., Cong, P.Y., Dong, W., Zhang, Y.X., and Luo, M.B., 2010, A new Vetulicoliid from lower Cambrian: Kunming, Yunnan, Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, v. 49, p. 54–63. [in Chinese with English abstract].Google Scholar
Zhang, X.L., and Hua, H., 2005, Soft-bodied fossils from the Shipai Formation, lower Cambrian of the Three Gorge area, South China: Geological Magazine, v. 142, p. 699–709.Google Scholar