等刺虫(Isoxys)是寒武纪海洋中一类分布广泛的双瓣壳节肢动物,在北美、欧洲、澳大利亚、西伯利亚及中国均有发现,但延续时间并不长,目前已经描述了16个已命名的种以及一些未定种化石。等刺虫在我国扬子地台云南滇东地区、贵州凯里、湖北长阳等地寒武系第二、第三统均有发现。文中报道的等刺虫发现于山东省临沂市刘庄镇馒头组顶部,没有保存软体部分,被命名为一个新种Isoxys shandongensis Wang and Huang sp.nov.。同时,对美国寒武系Spence页岩保存的未定名等刺虫软体部分特征进行修订,并进行形态比较。等刺虫的新发现对探讨这类常见的寒武纪节肢动物的演化、分布和多样性均有一定意义。
Cambrian echinoderms,especially eocrinoids,have been reported recently from Guizhou and Yunnan provinces of China,such as the Kaili,Balang,and Guanshan faunas.The present paper reports abundant well-preserved eocrinoids from the Cambrian Mantou Formation of Dalian,Liaoning Province.This new discovery provides additional data on the early evolution of Echinodermata.It also gives us a clue as to where to seek the Cambrian soft-bodied fauna on the margin of the North China Platform.
The Guole biota contains common shelly fossils and some exceptionally well-preserved softbodied fossils. Stratigraphically, it is located in the mudstones and siltstones of the Sandu Formation near Guole Town, Jingxi County, Guangxi, South China. It is the first Furongian （late Cambrian） Burgess Shale-type biota found in the world, thereby filling the gap between middle Cambrian and Lower Ordovician Burgess Shale-type Lagerstaitten. Preliminary studies suggest that the Guole biota includes approximately seven metazoan groups as well as algae. These will provide important new evolutionary and ecological information.
Anomalocaridids were large predators of the Cambrian seas at the top of the trophic pyramid.Complete anomalocaridid specimens have been rarely discovered and the rigid isolated frontal appendages and mouthparts are more commonly preserved.Here we study new material of the frontal appendages from the Wulongqing Formation,Cambrian Stage 4,Series 2 near Kunming,eastern Yunnan.Two new forms of anomalocaridid frontal appendages are described,namely Anomalocaris kunmingensis sp.nov.and Paranomalocaris multisegmentalis gen.nov.,sp.nov.The frontal appendage of A.kunmingensis sp.nov.probably comprises15 podomeres of which the first one has a weakened skeletoned,the second one is armed with small spines,and the third one is armed with remarkably robust proximal ventral spines with 6 anisomerous auxiliary spines;paired auxiliary spines are associated with podomeres 4–14;podomeres 12–14 are armed with paired dorsal spines,and the last podomere bears 2 distal spines,one spine distinctly larger than the other.The frontal appendage of P.multisegmentalis tapered backwards,consisting of 22 visible podomeres;the most ventral spine is armed with 5 pairs of auxiliary spines,and podomeres 12–21 bear dorsal spines,the last podomere with 2 small distal spines.The new material provides additional evidence for our understanding of the diversity of anomalocaridids in the Cambrian.The morphology of these new finds may indicate the importance of different feeding strategies of anomalocaridids in the Cambrian ecosystem.
