biologia: Burgess Shale-type preservation

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The Burgess Shale of British Columbia is famous for its exceptional preservation of mid-Cambrian organisms. Around 69 other sites have been discovered of a similar age, with soft tissues preserved in a similar, though not identical, fashion. Additional sites with a similar form of preservation are known from the Ediacaran and Ordovician periods. These various shales are of great importance in the reconstruction of the ecosystems immediately after the Cambrian explosion. The taphonomic regime results in soft tissue being preserved, meaning that organisms without conventionally fossilized hard parts can be seen. This provides further insight into the organs of more familiar organisms such as…

Evidence: 51 • authority: 72

The Maotianshan Shales (simplified Chinese: 帽天山页岩; traditional Chinese: 帽天山頁岩; pinyin: Màotiānshān yèyán) are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation or Heilinpu Formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales form one of some 40 Cambrian fossil locations worldwide, exhibiting exquisite preservation of rarely preserved, non-mineralized soft tissue, comparable to the fossils of the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada. They take their name from Maotianshan Hill (Chinese: 帽天山; pinyin: Màotiānshān; lit. 'Hat Sky Mountain') in Chengjiang County…

Evidence: 44 • authority: 92

New Miaolingian tubicolous fossils from North China and the persistence of the Ediacaran “worm-world”. The oldest undisputed metazoan body fossils are often represented by tubular remains, which led to the characterization of early ecosystems as the Ediacaran ‘worm-world’ fauna. Tubular body fossils continued to dominate during the Cambrian Bioradiation Event, primarily as three-dimensionally preserved small skeletal fossils, although their preservation varied widely. Most tubular fossils, however, lack soft tissue preservation, making it challenging to determine their biological affinities based solely on tube morphology. Here we describe well-preserved tubular fossils, Longgangia bilamell…

Evidence: 39 • authority: 92

Quantification of leg mobility in the Burgess Shale Olenoides serratus indicates functional differences between trilobite and xiphosuran appendages.. Background Euarthropod appendages are specialized for diverse roles including feeding, walking, and mating, which require precise morphologies and ranges of motion. Cambrian fossils preserve exceptional details of extinct euarthropod appendages that can illuminate their anatomy and ecology. However, fossils are typically restricted by small sample sizes or incomplete preservation, and thus functional studies of the appendages usually rely on idealized reconstructions. The Burgess Shale Olenoides serratus is unique among trilobites owing to the…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 92

Branched Setae or Attached Macroalgae: A Case Study of an Exceptionally Preserved Brachiopod from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte.. The remarkable conservation of soft tissues within Cambrian fossils has significantly enhanced our comprehension of the origins and evolutionary trajectories of animals, in addition to the progression of ecological intricacy. Here, we report an exceptionally preserved specimen of the lingulid brachiopod Xianshanella haikouensis from the lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, exhibiting branched fringes along the distal ends of its marginal setae. These structures may represent either branched setae or attached macroalgae. The diameter of the branched…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 92

Exceptionally Preserved Setae: A Possible Morphological Synapomorphy of Cambrian Lophotrochozoans.. Cambrian Lagerstätten yield exceptionally preserved fossils that have greatly improved our understanding of the origin and evolution of animal groups. Brachiopoda, a phylum of bivalved marine invertebrates nested firmly within the lophotrochozoan protostomes, are widely recovered in such Lagerstätten. The marginal chitinous setae (or chaetae) of brachiopods are the most commonly described soft tissue and have been interpreted as performing a defensive and/or sensory role. Despite their relatively common appearance in Cambrian Lagerstätten, the origin, function, and evolution of setae in the B…