The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Chengjiang Fossil-Lagerstätte

Shu, Degan; Morris, Simon Conway; Zhang, Z.-F.; Han, Jian

doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0646

Cited by 48 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…Whereas chordates in the Burgess Shale biota are rare and of low diversity [40][41][42], chordates of the Chengjiang biota are abundant and diverse, particularly in fossil associations from the Haikou-Chengjiang area [24,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. Chengjiang hemichordates and echinoderms are still controversial [23,44,[46][47][48][49][50][51], and thus far there have been no reports of polychaetes from the Chengjiang biota, although a single poorly preserved specimen, Maotianchaeta fuxianella, has been interpreted as a possible polychaete [2]. In contrast, the hemichordates, echinoderms, and polychaetes of the Burgess Shale biota are relatively diverse and abundant [20].…”

Section: Comparison With the Burgess Shale Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure and composition of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Zhao

Zhu

2010

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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Based on previously published species data (228 species in over 18 phyla) and field sampling (114 species and 18406 individuals) in the Chengjiang-Haikou-Anning area, we analyzed quantitatively the paleocommunity composition and structure of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota (Cambrian Series 2, eastern Yunnan, China). Arthropods dominate the community both in species diversity (species: 37%) and in abundance (individuals: 51.8%). Priapulids (individuals: 22.6%) and brachiopods (individuals: 16.3%) follow in abundance rank. The arthropod Kunmingella douvillei (26.2%), the priapulid Cricocosmia jinningensis (15.4%), and the brachiopod Diandongia pista (11%) are the three most abundant species. Ecological analyses show that the community was dominated by epifaunal organisms (species: 63%, individuals: 68.4%) followed by infaunal organisms (species: 11.9%, individuals: 25.9%), nektobenthic organisms (species: 11.5%, individuals: 2.6%), and pelagic organisms (species: 5.3%, individuals: 3.1%). The diverse feeding strategies, dominated by suspension feeders (species: 35.6%, individuals: 26.1%) and hunter/scavengers (species: 31.1%, individuals: 40.4%), indicate the former existence of a complex food chain and intense competition. Epifaunal vagrant omnivores (28.2%), infaunal vagrant hunter/scavengers (19.8%), epifaunal sessile suspension feeders (17.7%), and epifaunal vagrant hunter/scavengers (15.3%) were the most abundant ecological groups, represented primarily by arthropods, poriferans, priapulids, and brachiopods. Ecological group analyses reveal that the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota is similar in community patterns and functional relations to modern biotas in shallow marine settings.The Chengjiang biota (Maotianshan Shale Member, Yu'anshan Formation) of eastern Yunnan is a key Cambrian Konservat Lagerstätte, characterized by exceptional preservation of large numbers of non-biomineralizing metazoans and providing a unique window into metazoan diversity and ecosystems in the immediate aftermath of the "Cambrian explosion" (Figure 1(a)) [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Despite the great numbers of fossil specimens and species collected since 1984 [7], the full range of analytical techniques available to interpret this exceptionally important biota, including quantitative approaches, have not previously been applied. For this reason, the composition and structure of this earliest complex animal community have been poorly understood. The main goal of this study was to analyze quantitatively the species diversity, composition and structure of the entire Chengjiang biota, based on published diversity data and on new data from systematic field collections.

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Section: Comparison With the Burgess Shale Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure and composition of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Zhao

Zhu

2010

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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“…Haikouella has been interpreted as a craniatelike chordate with a well-developed brain, lateral eyes, a pharynx with gills, and a ventral heart (44,45). A subsequent interpretation of the Haikouella material suggests that the head consisted of separate dorsal and ventral movable units connected by external gills (46) and that Yunnanozoon and Haikouella are stem group deuterostomes that are allied to vetulicolians, another problematic group in the Chengjiang biota (46,47). Thus, the yunnanozoans (Yunnanozoon, Cathaymyrus, and Haikouella) may be stem cephalochordates, or they may be closely allied to vetulicolians and may possibly be stem deuterostomes.…”

Section: Fossil Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of centralized nervous systems: Two schools of evolutionary thought

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

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Understanding the evolution of centralized nervous systems requires an understanding of metazoan phylogenetic interrelationships, their fossil record, the variation in their cephalic neural characters, and the development of these characters. Each of these topics involves comparative approaches, and both cladistic and phenetic methodologies have been applied. Our understanding of metazoan phylogeny has increased greatly with the cladistic analysis of molecular data, and relaxed molecular clocks generally date the origin of bilaterians at 600-700 Mya (during the Ediacaran). Although the taxonomic affinities of the Ediacaran biota remain uncertain, a conservative interpretation suggests that a number of these taxa form clades that are closely related, if not stem clades of bilaterian crown clades. Analysis of brain-body complexity among extant bilaterians indicates that diffuse nerve nets and possibly, ganglionated cephalic neural systems existed in Ediacaran organisms. An outgroup analysis of cephalic neural characters among extant metazoans also indicates that the last common bilaterian ancestor possessed a diffuse nerve plexus and that brains evolved independently at least four times. In contrast, the hypothesis of a tripartite brain, based primarily on phenetic analysis of developmental genetic data, indicates that the brain arose in the last common bilaterian ancestor. Hopefully, this debate will be resolved by cladistic analysis of the genomes of additional taxa and an increased understanding of character identity genetic networks.The fact that some of these building stones are universal does not, of course, mean that the organs to which they contribute are as old as these molecules or their precursors.von Salvini-Plawen and Mayr (1) A ny consideration of the evolution of centralized nervous systems is inextricably linked to an understanding of the phylogeny of living metazoans, their fossil history, the vast range of complexity in their nervous systems, and the development of these nervous systems. For this reason, any attempt to reconstruct the phylogeny of metazoan CNSs must be based on all lines of evidence available. The molecular phylogenetic studies of the last 20 y are particularly important in understanding metazoan interrelationships as well as the time frame in which these animals arose and radiated, and we now have increased insights into the genetics underlying the development of CNSs.First, I will review the fossil history of the earliest putative metazoans, and then, I will discuss different comparative approaches to analyzing both molecular and morphological data: the molecular clock hypothesis, which has yielded a range of possible dates for the origin and divergence of metazoans; developmental genetics and its contribution to our understanding of the patterning of metazoan bodies, particularly patterning of the CNS; and conclusions based on the first outgroup analysis of metazoan central neural characters. Finally, I will review two hypotheses concerning the morphological complexity of the ...

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“…3O). Still noteworthy is the currently discovered vetulicolians of potential deuterostome affinity (Shu et al 2001(Shu et al , 2005(Shu et al , 2010. In addition to Vetulicola gangtoucunensis (Luo et al 2005; Fig.…”

Section: New Fossil Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

New occurence of the Cambrian (Stage 4, Series 2) Guanshan Biota in Huize, Yunnan, South China

Liu¹,

Ou²,

Han³

et al. 2012

Bull. Geosci.

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Typical elements of the Guanshan Biota are reported from the Cambrian Stage 4 Wulongqing Formation of Huize, Qujing, South China, approximately 100 km north of the Guanshan fossil sites previously reported. Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the current Zhujiaqing section are also discussed herein. Representatives of various phyla recovered therein include not only previously described sponges, palaeoscolecids, arthropods, brachiopods, echinoderms, and vetulicolians, but also some potential new taxa, <i>e.g</i>. a new species of <i>Vetulicola</i>. This new occurrence not only expands the palaeogeographic distribution of the Guanshan Biota, but also strengthens the ties between the younger Chengjiang Biota and the older Kaili Biota (and also the coeval Burgess Shale community

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The earliest history of the deuterostomes: the importance of the Chengjiang Fossil-Lagerstätte

Cited by 48 publications

References 49 publications

Community structure and composition of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Community structure and composition of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Evolution of centralized nervous systems: Two schools of evolutionary thought

New occurence of the Cambrian (Stage 4, Series 2) Guanshan Biota in Huize, Yunnan, South China

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