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First report of Wiwaxia from the Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2014

FANG-CHEN ZHAO ,
MARTIN R. SMITH ,
ZONG-JUN YIN ,
HAN ZENG ,
SHI-XUE HU ,
GUO-XIANG LI  and
MAO-YAN ZHU
FANG-CHEN ZHAO*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
MARTIN R. SMITH
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
ZONG-JUN YIN
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
HAN ZENG
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
SHI-XUE HU
Affiliation:
Chengdu Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chengdu Centre of China Geological Survey, Chengdu 610081, China
GUO-XIANG LI
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
MAO-YAN ZHU
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

The robust spines and sclerites of the early to middle Cambrian ‘mollusc’ Wiwaxia are ubiquitous in suitably preserved deposits, but are strikingly absent from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Cambrian Stage 3, Yunnan Province, SW China). Here we provide the first record of Wiwaxia sclerites from this rich deposit, extending the record of the genus to the earliest Cambrian Series 2. This reinforces the cosmopolitan distribution of this iconic Cambrian lophotrochozoan and demonstrates the strong faunal continuity that unites distant Cambrian Lagerstätten.

Keywords

Maotianshan shaleMolluscahalwaxiidsCambrian explosionChina
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 152 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 378 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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