Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Biodiversity and taphonomy of the Early Cambrian Guanshan biota, eastern Yunnan

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Guanshan biota from eastern Yunnan (Cambrian Series 2, early Stage 4) is a Burgess Shale-type fossil biota with abundant exceptionally preserved soft-bodied fossils after the discovery of the well-known Cambrian Chengjiang fauna and Kaili biota in South China. The geological settings, sedimentology, taphonomy, and the fossil assemblage of the Guanshan biota are briefly summarized here. The Guanshan biota consists of about 60 taxa belonging to more than 10 metazoan groups and algae, among which the lobopods, eldonids, hyolithids with helens, and green algae are reported for the first time. The common occurrence of soft-bodied preservation in many groups, notably the trilobites and brachiopods, makes the Guanshan biota a significant fossil lagerstätte for understanding the metazoan evolution during Cambrian explosion and taphonomy of the Burgess Shale-type fossils.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Steiner M, Zhu M Y, Zhao Y L, et al. Lower Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil associations of South China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2005, 220(Suppl): 129–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang X L, Liu W, Zhao Y L. Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten in South China: Distribution and significance. Gondwana Res, 2008, 14(Suppl): 255–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhao Y L, Zhu M Y, Babcock L E, et al. Kaili biota: A taphonomic window on diversification of metazoans from the basal Middle Cambrian, Guizhou, China. Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 2005, 79: 751–765

    Google Scholar 

  4. Pen J, Zhao Y L, Wu Y S, et al. The Balang fauna—A new Early Cambrian fauna from Kaili City, Guizhou Province. Chin Sci Bull, 2005, 50: 1159–1162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Luo H L, Hu S X, Chen L Z, et al. Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna from Kunming Region, China (in Chinese with English summary). Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 1999. 129

    Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang X L, Hua H. Soft-bodied fossils from the Shipai Formation, Lower Cambrian of the Three Gorge area, South China. Geol Mag, 2005, 142: 1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Xiao S H, Hu J, Yuan X L, et al. Articulated sponges from the Lower Cambrian Hetang Formation in Southern Anhui, South China: Their age and implication for the early evolution of sponges. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2005, 220(Suppl): 89–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wu W, Yang A H, Janussen D, et al. Hexactenellid sponges from the early Cambrian Black Shales of South Anhui, China. J Paleont, 79: 1043–1051

  9. Luo H L, Fu X P, Hu S X, et al. New vetulicoliids from the Lower Cambrian Guanshan fauna, Kunming. Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 2005, 79: 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  10. Li Y, Chen L Z, Luo H L, et al. New advances in the study of the Early Cambrian Guanshan fauna in the Kunming Area, Yunnan, China. Geol Bull Chin, 2006, 25: 415–418

    Google Scholar 

  11. Luo H L, Fu X P, Hu S X, et al. A new arthropod, Guangweicaris Luo, Fu et Hu gen. nov. from the Early Cambrian Guanshan fauna, Kunming, China. Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 2007, 81: 1–7

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hu S X, Luo H L, Hou S G, et al. Eocrinoid echinoderms from the Lower Cambrian Guanshan fauna in Wuding, Yunnan, China. Chin Sci Bull, 2007, 52: 717–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Luo H L, Li Y, Hu S X, et al. Early Cambrian Malong Fauna and Guanshan Biota from Earstern Yunnan, China (in Chinese with English summary). Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 2008. 134

    Google Scholar 

  14. Hu S X, Li Y, Luo H L, et al. New record of palaeoscolecids from the Early Cambrian of Yunnan, China. Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 2008, 82: 244–248

    Google Scholar 

  15. Zhu M Y, Strauss H. From snowball earth to the Cambrian bioradiation: Calibration of Ediacaran-Cambrian earth history in South China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2007, 254(Suppl): 1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Han J, Zhang Z F, Liu J N. A preliminary note on the dispersal of the Cambrian Burgess Shale-type faunas. Gondw Res, 2008, 14(Suppl): 269–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Clausen S, Hou X G, Bergström J, et al. The absence of echinoderms from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of China: Palaeoecological and palaeogeographical Implications. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2010, 294: 133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Luo H L, Jiang Z W, Tang L D. Stratotype Section for Lower Cambrian Stages in China (in Chinese with English abstract). Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 1994. 183

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ponomarenko A G. Unique Sinsk localities of Early Cambrian organisms (Siberian Platform). Trans Palaeontol Inst Nauka, 2005, 284: 1–143

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ivantsov A Y, Zhuravlev A Y, Leguta A V, et al. Palaeoecology of the Early Cambrian Sinsk biota from the Siberian Platform. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2005, 220(Suppl): 69–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Paterson J R, Brock G A. Early Cambrian trilobites from Angorichina, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, with a new assemblage from the Pararaia bunyerooensis Zone. J Paleont, 2007, 81: 116–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Yang J, Hou X G, Dong W. Restudy of Guangweicaris Luo, Fu and Hu, 2007 from the Lower Cambrian Canglangpu Formation in Kunming Area (in Chinese with English summary). Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 2008, 47: 115–122

    Google Scholar 

  23. Mata S A, Bottjer D J. The paleoenvironmental distribution of Phanerozoic wrinkle structures. Earth-Sci Rev, 2009, 96: 181–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Nelson J R, Eckman J E, Robertson C Y, et al. Benthic microalgal biomass and irradiance at the seafloor on the continental shelf of the South Atlantic Bight: Spatial and temporal variability and storm effects. Cont Shelf Res, 1999, 19: 477–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kuwahara V S, Toda T, Hamasaki K, et al. Variability in the relative penetration of ultraviolet radiation to photosynthetically available radiation in temperate coastal waters, Japan. J Oceanogr, 2000, 56: 399–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hu S X, Zhang Z F, Holmer L E, et al. Soft-part preservation in a linguliform brachiopod from the Lower Cambrian Wulongqing Formation (Guanshan Fauna) of Yunnan, South China. Acta Palaeont Polon, 2010, 55: 495–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Luo H L, Fu X P, Hu S X, et al. New bivalved arthropods from the Early Cambrian Guanshan biota in the Kunming and Wuding area (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Paleont Sin, 2006, 45: 460–469

    Google Scholar 

  28. Liu Q, Luo H L, Chen L Z, et al. Panlongia, a new trilobitomoph from Lower Cambrian, Kunming, Yunnan (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Paleont Sin, 2006, 45: 384–391

    Google Scholar 

  29. Luo H L, Li Y, Hu S X, et al. On the genus Megapalaeolenus Chang, 1966. Acta Paleont Sin, 2007, 46: 314–3

    Google Scholar 

  30. Yang J, Hou X G, Cong P Y, et al. A new vetulicoliid from Lower Cambrian, Kunming, Yunnan (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Paleont Sin, 2010, 49: 54–63

    Google Scholar 

  31. Pen J, Babcock L E, Zhao Y L, et al. Cambrian Sphenothallus from Guizhou Province, China: Early sessile predators. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2005, 220(Suppl): 119–127

    Google Scholar 

  32. Babcock L E, Robison R A. Taxonomy and paleobiology of some Middle Cambrian scenella (cnidaria) and hyolithids (mollusca) from western North America. Univ Kansas Paleont Contr, 1988, 121: 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  33. Zhao Y L, Parsley R L, Peng J. Early Cambrian eocrinoids from Guizhou Province, South China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2007, 254(Suppl): 317–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhang W T, Babcock L E. New extraordinarily preserved enigmatic fossils, possibly with Ediacaran affinities, from the Lower Cambrian of Yunnan, China. Acta Palaeontol Sin, 2001, 40(Suppl): 201–213

    Google Scholar 

  35. Conway Morris S, Robison R A. More soft-bodied animals and algae from the Middle Cambrian of Utah and British Columbia. Univ Kansas Paleont Contr, 1988, 122: 1–48

    Google Scholar 

  36. Zhuravlev A Y, Wood R A. Anoxia as the cause of the mid-Early Cambrian (Botomian) extinction event. Geology, 1996, 24: 311–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Zhuravlev A Y. Biotic diversity and structure during the Neoproterozoic-Ordovician transition. In: Zhuravlev A Y, Riding R, eds. The Ecology of the Cambrian Radiation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. 173–199

    Google Scholar 

  38. Li G X, Steiner M, Zhu X J, et al. Early Cambrian metazoan fossil record of South China: Generic diversity and radiation patterns. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2007, 254(Suppl): 229–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    ShiXue Hu, MaoYan Zhu & FangChen Zhao

  2. Yunnan Geological Survey, Kunming, 650051, China

    ShiXue Hu & HuiLin Luo

  3. Freie Universität Berlin, D-12249, Berlin, Germany

    Michael Steiner

  4. Faculty of Earth Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Qi Liu

Authors
  1. ShiXue Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. MaoYan Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael Steiner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. HuiLin Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. FangChen Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Qi Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to ShiXue Hu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hu, S., Zhu, M., Steiner, M. et al. Biodiversity and taphonomy of the Early Cambrian Guanshan biota, eastern Yunnan. Sci. China Earth Sci. 53, 1765–1773 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4086-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4086-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation