Ediacara-type fossils from Lower Cambrian strata in Qingzhen County, Guizhou Province, South China

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INTRODUCTION The Ediacara fauna, generally believed to contain the oldest metazoan fossils, has been described from about 25 localities around the world (Hofmann et al., 1990). It was commonly considered that this fauna was restricted to Late Neoproterozoic (Glaessner, 1984). These were suggested to be mostly nonlocomotory quasi-autotrophs that were wiped out during the mass extinction at the Neoproterozoic– Cambrian boundary (Seilacher, 1984). The oldest Ediacara-type body fossils were discovered below Proterozoic glacial deposits (Hofmann et al., 1990), but mainly restricted to Late Neoproterozoic (Glaessner, 1984). However, some elements of this fauna were continually discovered in Cambrian strata (Hagadom and Waggoner, 2000; Hagadom et al., 2000; Jensen et al., 1998; Crimes et al., 1995; Narbonne et al., 1991). In Qingzhen County, Guizhou Province, South China, there is a well exposed stratigraphic succession spanning the Neoproterozoic–Cambrian boundary. Here, an Ediacara fauna, including Tirasiana