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Exceptional preservation of clam shrimp (Branchiopoda, Eucrustacea) eggs from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and implications for paleoecology and taphonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2015

Yanhong Pan ,
Yaqiong Wang ,
Jingeng Sha  and
Huanyu Liao
Yanhong Pan
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, East Beijing Road 39, Nanjing 210008, China
Yaqiong Wang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, East Beijing Road 39, Nanjing 210008, China
Jingeng Sha
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, East Beijing Road 39, Nanjing 21008, China 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉
Huanyu Liao
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, East Beijing Road 39, Nanjing 21008, China 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉, 〈[email protected]〉
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Abstract

Fossil eggs of clam shrimps (Spinicaudata) are rare and little attention has been paid to the study of their shape and microstructures. Here, we report the discovery of exceptionally preserved three-dimensional eggs from numerous specimens of Eosestheria elliptica Chen, 1976 from the lacustrine Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in western Liaoning, China. These three-dimensionally preserved fossil eggs display a spherical shape with smooth surface, part of the tertiary envelope, and possibly the first embryonic cuticle, which were previously unknown or ambiguous. The eggs are abundant and assumed to be attached to the exopod as in extant Spinicaudata. Moreover, the exceptional three-dimensional preservation and delicate preparation of slices of the eggs allowed us to document the microstructures and elemental composition of fossil eggs of clam shrimps from the Jehol Biota. Energy dispersive spectroscopy of the fossilized envelope revealed a calcium phosphate composition. However, the egg contents display two completely different elemental compositions. Some exhibit the same elemental composition as the envelope, whereas others has been replaced by alumino-silicate. The taphonomic process is also briefly discussed in this paper.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 369 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © 2015, The Paleontological Society 

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