New Ediacara fossils preserved in marine limestone and their ecological implications

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Chen, Z., Zhou, C., Xiao, S., Wang, W., Guan, C., Hua, H., Yuan, X.
• Other Authors: Geosciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2014
• Subjects: SOUTH-AUSTRALIA COASTAL; YANGTZE GORGES AREA; MACKENZIE MOUNTAINS; NORTHWESTERN CANADA; TRACE FOSSIL; GAOJIASHAN LAGERSTATTE; DENGYING FORMATION; MICROBIAL MATS; DEEP MARINE; CHINA; Mackenzie mountains
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/74309; https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04180

Ediacara fossils are central to our understanding of animal evolution on the eve of the Cambrian explosion, because some of them likely represent stem-group marine animals. However, some of the iconic Ediacara fossils have also been interpreted as terrestrial lichens or microbial colonies. Our ability to test these hypotheses is limited by a taphonomic bias that most Ediacara fossils are preserved in sandstones and siltstones. Here we report several iconic Ediacara fossils and an annulated tubular fossil (reconstructed as an erect epibenthic organism with uniserial arranged modular units), from marine limestone of the 551-541 Ma Dengying Formation in South China. These fossils significantly expand the ecological ranges of several key Ediacara taxa and support that they are marine organisms rather than terrestrial lichens or microbial colonies. Their close association with abundant bilaterian burrows also indicates that they could tolerate and may have survived moderate levels of bioturbation. Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology National Natural Science Foundation of China U.S. National Science Foundation Chinese Academy of Sciences Published version