Kunmingella douvillei, Diminutive Bradoriid Fossil from Chengjiang

Description: This plaque contains a half dozen examples of a tiny bivalved arthropod known as Kunnmingella. The conjoined valves are often preserved in “butterfly” fashion as are these. Some 240 members of this unique Bradoriid have been described. They are yet another example of the diverse life forms that make up what is known as the Chengjiang Biota. 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.