Malong Fauna Malungia laevigata Trilobite

Description: This fine trilobite fossil comes from what has been termed the “Malong Fauna”, found in the Honjingshao Formation. Of Malong County, Yunnan Province, China. The genus derives its name from the county, and is a redlichiid. Since the 1950s, five important early Cambrian faunas have been discovered in southwest China: Meishucun, Chengjiang, Kaili, Guanshan, and Malong. While the first three have been studied in some detail, the latter two have only been known for less than a decade, with material coming to light with regularity. Both of these newly-studied faunas are of the Canglanpuan Stage, and fill the 15 million year time gap between the older Chengjiang and younger Kaili Fauna. Of the two, the Malong is older and has a less diverse fauna, characterized by trilobites, brachiopods, hyolithids, and branchiopods. Nearly all the animal groups found in the Chengjiang Fauna are also found in the Guanshan Fauna, although they typically differ at the species level.