139 Evolution of Life in the Cambrian Seas: Biotic, Biogeochemical, and Sedimentological Contexts, Part II

This session is dedicated to studies that illuminate the biotic, geobiological, sedimentological, and geochemical contexts of the evolution of early animal life in the oceans, with a particular focus on the Cambrian Period.

Monday, 20 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 304B

Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Lagerstatten: Chengjiang and Qingjiang biotas

Paper number: 139-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:35 PM – 1:50 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Cambrian Burgess Shale-type deposits yield abundant, diverse animal fossils showing a broad range of tissue types from labile organs to hard skeletons, a high level of morphological breadth, and an initial maximal phylogenetic diversity, and hence provide a unique glimpse into ancient marine life temporally close to the origins of animal body plans. They are well represented in Laurentia and South China, among which the Chengjiang and Qingjiang biotas, both from the ~518 million years old shales of South China, are on par with the Burgess Shale biota in term of taxonomic diversity and preservation fidelity while ~10 million years earlier than the Burgess Shale. Here I present a biotic, environmental and taphonomical comparison of the Chengjiang and Qingjiang biotas, which suggest that different early Cambrian ecosystems flourished in distinct settings. Accordingly, the two biotas provide complementary scientific insights.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414781

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