Waptia
(Chuandianella) ovata
Phylum Arthropoda
Geological
Time: Early Cambrian (~525 million years ago)
Size (25.4
mm = 1 inch): Fossil is 17 mm long (with antennae) on a 55 mm by 50
mm matrix
Fossil
Site: Chengjiang Maotianshan Shales, Quiongzhusi Section, Yu’anshan
Member, Heilinpu Formation, Haikou Village , Anning, Kunming, Yunnan
Province, China
Fossil Code:
CF327
Price: Sold
Description:
This unusual arthropod is known as Waptia ovata. The species
is known mostly from the distinctive wrinkled carapace, but this
one has much soft tissue preserved. The discovery of the Chengjiang
Biota by Hou Xian-guang in 1984 opened a window onto a remarkable
array of lifeforms from what is termed the Cambrian Explosion.
The diversity of soft-tissue fossils is astonishing: algae, medusiforms,
sponges, priapulids, annelid-like worms, echinoderms, arthropods
(including trilobites), hemichordates, chordates, and the first
agnathan fish make up just a small fraction of the total. Numerous
problematic forms are known as well, some of which may have represented
failed attempts at diversity that did not persist to the present
day.
The
systematic position of this taxon has undergone several revisions.
It was originally placed within the Ostracodiform genus Mononotella,
then later referred to a new genus Chaundianella. More recent
finds of remains other than the carapace have shown it to be
similar to the Burgess Shale genus Waptia. While the species
is known from other Lower Cambrian locations in Yunnan, Sichuan,
Guizhou, and Shaanxi Provinces, only those from the Chengjiang
Biota are known to show soft part preservation. This one shows
parts of the antennae preserved as well as much of the internal
structure due to the fact that much of the carapace is missing,
a most unusual occurrence.
Also
see: Chengjiang
Biota Fauna List Chengjiang
Fossils
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