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Systematic description of putative animal fossils from the early E diacaran L antian F ormation of S outh C hina
Author(s) -
Wan Bin,
Yuan Xunlai,
Chen Zhe,
Guan Chengguo,
Pang Ke,
Tang Qing,
Xiao Shuhai
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/pala.12242
Subject(s) - biology , macrofossil , zoology , evolutionary biology , ecology , pollen
The early E diacaran L antian F ormation in S outh C hina contains some of the oldest known representatives of morphologically complex macroorganisms, including various macroalgae and putative animals. The macroalgal fossils have been described previously in several publications, but no taxonomic treatment has been published for the putative animal fossils. This hampers our ability to fully evaluate and communicate the significance of these potentially important E diacaran macrofossils. To address this deficiency, here we provide a systematic description of these putative animal fossils from the L antian F ormation, including four new genera and five new species: L antianella laevis gen. et sp. nov., L . annularis gen. et sp. nov., P iyuania cyathiformis gen. et sp. nov., Q ianchuania fusiformis gen. et sp. nov. and X iuningella rara gen. et sp. nov. Morphological comparisons of these fossils and potential modern analogues are provided and critically assessed.