Abstract
AbstractWe describe an extraordinarily preserved non-trilobite artiopodBailongia longicaudatagen. et sp. nov. from the Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota in Yiliang, Kunming of the Yunnan Province in China. Its exoskeleton consists of a large semi-elliptical cephalon with paired lateral posterior eyes, nine tapering homonomous tergites and a long slender tailspine. Appendages include paired small antennae, at least three pairs of post-antennal cephalic limbs, and trunk biramous limbs consisting of an endopod and an exopod with lamellae.B.longicaudatadoes not conform to any taxon within Artiopoda, although the eyes invite comparisons withXandarella spectaculum,Sinoburius lunarisandPhytophilaspis. Parsimony analyses indicateBailongiais a member of Artiopoda and cannot be readily accommodated within any of the major artiopod clades.
Highlights
The Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota is one of the famous Burgess-Shale-type Lagerstätten found in Yunnan, South China, that continues to yield exquisitely preserved fossils with soft tissues and organs, and greatly attracts the interests of palaeontologists and evolutionary biologists (Yang et al 2010; Hu et al 2013, 2017; Hopkins et al 2017; Chen et al 2019a, 2020)
The features identified as diagnostic of the proposed non-trilobite artiopod clades do not readily fit the new taxon for its long and wide semi-elliptical head shield with lateral posterior eyes, nine tapering imbricated tergites, a long slender tailspine that is longer than half of its trunk, and the small exoskeleton
Bailongia bears a resemblance to Retifacies from the Cambrian Stage 3 Chengjiang Biota in the presence of paired genal spines on its head shield and a long tailspine (Hou & Bergström, 1997)
Summary
The Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota is one of the famous Burgess-Shale-type Lagerstätten found in Yunnan, South China, that continues to yield exquisitely preserved fossils with soft tissues and organs, and greatly attracts the interests of palaeontologists and evolutionary biologists (Yang et al 2010; Hu et al 2013, 2017; Hopkins et al 2017; Chen et al 2019a, 2020). The fossils of non-trilobite artiopods are extremely rare at all the Guanshang Biota localities, and the most recent discovery of a new artiopod species was made 12 years ago (Luo et al 2008; Hu et al 2013). In this contribution, we describe a small-sized but well-preserved non-trilobite artiopod from the Cambrian Guanshan Biota, and investigate its phylogenetic relationships among early euarthropods with the phylogeny programme TNT.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
