T198 Exceptionally Preserved Proterozoic–Early Paleozoic Fossils

Tuesday, 24 October 2017
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 607

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF BRANCHING MACROFOSSILS FROM THE EDIACARAN DENGYING FORMATION IN THE YANGTZE GORGES AREA, SOUTH CHINA

Paper number: T198-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:15 AM – 8:30 AM

Authors

  • Ke Pang Presenting Author
    Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing
  • Chuanming Zhou
    Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing
  • Xunlai Yuan
    Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing
  • Shuhai Xiao
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

Abstract

Carbonate-hosted macroscopic Ediacaran fossils provide a unique taphonomic window on the paleobiology and paleoecology of soft-bodied Ediacaran organisms. The Shibantan Member (551–541 Ma) of the Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China represents such a carbonate-hosted assemblage, and is known to contain several iconic Ediacara-type fossils (Hiemalora, Pteridinium, Rangea, and Charniodiscus), an annulated tubular fossil (Wutubus annularis), as well as a branching macrofossil (Yangtziramulus zhangi). Yangtziramulus zhangi was interpreted as a benthic organism consists of a central axis and biserially arranged tubes, each with two vertical side walls, a floor, a roof, and an open distal end. Here we report new Shibantan fossils similar to or conspecific with Yangtziramulus zhangi. These fossils share with Yangtziramulus zhangi a similar branching system, but some of them bear transverse bars between branches, whereas others show a transition from a dichotomously branching system to a reticulate network. While the branching system in Yangtziramulus zhangi was interpreted as a reflection of tri-layered walls of distally open tubes, the new material suggests that the organisms consist of solid branches (sometimes with connecting bars), rather than open tubes/quilts. The phylogenetic affinities of these fossils remain unconstrained, although they are similar in some respects to encrusting algae, fungi, lichens, and slime molds.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-301275

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