Taxonomy of the late Ediacaran index fossil Cloudina and a new similar taxon from South China

Cai, Yao; Cortijo, Iván; Schiffbauer, James D.; Hong, Hui

doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2017.05.016

Cited by 48 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The Gaojiashan Member of the middle Dengying Formation hosts the Gaojiashan biota, including the earliest biomineralizing animal fossils Cloudina and Sinotubulites (Hua et al 2007;Cai et al 2010Cai et al , 2011Cai et al , 2013Cai et al , 2014Cai et al , 2015Cai et al , 2017, other calcareous fossils such as Protolagena (Cai et al 2010), non-biomineralizing tubular fossils such as Shaanxilithes, Gaojiashania and Conotubus (Cai et al 2010), as well as trace fossils made by mobile bilaterian animals (Lin et al 1986;Zhang, 1986;Ding et al 1992). Cloudina and Sinotubulites also extend into the overlying Beiwan Member at the Gaojiashan and nearby Lijiagou sections (Cai et al 2010).…”

Section: A Biomineralizing Animal Fossils and Trace Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentology and chemostratigraphy of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, South China

et al. 2019

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The terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation (c. 551.1–538.8 Ma) in South China is one of two successions where Ediacara-type macrofossils are preserved in carbonate facies along with skeletal fossils and bilaterian animal traces. Given the remarkable thickness of carbonate-bearing strata deposited in less than 12.3 million years, the Dengying Formation holds the potential for construction of a relatively continuous chemostratigraphic profile for the terminal Ediacaran Period. In this study, a detailed sedimentological and chemostratigraphic (δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb, δ13Corg, δ34Spyrite, and 87Sr/86Sr) investigation was conducted on the Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, Ningqiang County of southern Shaanxi Province, South China. Sedimentological results reveal an overall shallow-marine depositional environment. Carbonate breccia, void-filling botryoidal precipitates and aragonite crystal fans are common in the Algal Dolomite Member of the Dengying Formation, suggesting that peritidal facies were repeatedly karstified. The timing of karstification was likely early, probably soon after the deposition of the dolomite sediments. The presence of authigenic aragonite cements suggests high alkalinity in the terminal Ediacaran ocean. Geochemical analysis of micro-drilled samples shows that distinct compositions are registered in different carbonate phases, which should be considered when constructing chemostratigraphic profiles representative of true temporal variations in seawater chemistry. Integrated chemostratigraphic data suggest enhanced burial of organic carbon and pyrite, and the occurrence of extensive marine anoxia (at least in the Gaojiashan Member). Rapid basinal subsidence and carbonate accumulation during a time of elevated seawater alkalinity and increased rates of pyrite burial may have facilitated the evolutionary innovation of early biomineralizing metazoans.

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Section: A Biomineralizing Animal Fossils and Trace Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentology and chemostratigraphy of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, South China

et al. 2019

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“…The tube surface shows a characteristic rugate ornamentation (Fig. 1B), similar to Cloudina hartmannae 25 , while the inner surface of the wall is non-textured, indicating a smooth lumen (Figs. 1L, 2C1, 3C1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Contributing to this uncertainty is their strong diagenetic alteration and diverse preservational modes. Most phylogenetic efforts have focused on Cloudina, though recent studies have recognized that the cloudinid morphoclade embraces a number of taxa with similar construction but various preservational modes 12,25 . Cloudina has been interpreted as either an alga 46 or as an eumetazoan 14 -the latter with specific affinities, including cribricyathean archaeocyaths 17 , anthozoan-like cnidarians 6 , and several annelid designations 3,16,47 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrastructure of Ediacaran cloudinids suggests diverse taphonomic histories and affinities with non-biomineralized annelids

Yang

Steiner

Schiffbauer

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Cloudinids have long been considered the earliest biomineralizing metazoans, but their affinities have remained contentious and undetermined. Based on well-preserved ultrastructures of two taxa, we here propose new interpretations regarding both their extent of original biomineralization and their phylogenetic affinity. One of these taxa is a new cloudinid from Mongolia, Zuunia chimidtsereni gen. et sp. nov., which exhibits key characteristics of submicrometric kerogenous lamellae, plastic tubewall deformation, and tube-wall delamination. Multiple carbonaceous lamellae are also discovered in Cloudina from namibia and paraguay, which we interpret to have originated from chitinous or collagenous fabrics. We deduce that these cloudinids were predominantly originally organic (chitinous or collagenous), and postmortem decay and taphonomic mineralization resulted in the formation of aragonite and/or calcite. further, based on our ultrastructural characterization and other morphological similarities, we suggest that the cloudinids should most parsimoniously be assigned to annelids with originally organic tubes.

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“…One of the greatest issues concerning the interpretation of Cloudina palaeobiology is related to the preservational quality of the fossils, which varies according to distinct rock matrixes, in some cases precluding the precise interpretation of its tridimensional morphology. This also hampers the use of detailed morphometric parameters (i.e., oblique/ transverse annulations at the exterior surface of funnels) that can be easily or better observed in those individuals preserved in phosphatized material (Cai et al, 2017). When the preservation occurs in carbonate rocks, the lack of compositional contrast between recrystallized shell walls and carbonate rock matrix that embeds them, hindering mechanical or chemical separation of individuals, or even the assessment through micro-CT scanning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reevaluación de la tafonomía de las asociaciones conservadas <em>in situ</em> de <em>Cloudina</em> en la Formación de Tagatiya Guazu, Grupo ediacárico de Itapucumi, Paraguay

et al. 2019

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Taxonomy of the late Ediacaran index fossil Cloudina and a new similar taxon from South China

Cited by 48 publications

References 29 publications

Sedimentology and chemostratigraphy of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, South China

Sedimentology and chemostratigraphy of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, South China

Ultrastructure of Ediacaran cloudinids suggests diverse taphonomic histories and affinities with non-biomineralized annelids

Reevaluación de la tafonomía de las asociaciones conservadas <em>in situ</em> de <em>Cloudina</em> en la Formación de Tagatiya Guazu, Grupo ediacárico de Itapucumi, Paraguay

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