Hyolithids and associated trace fossils from the Balang Formation (Cambrian Stage 4), Guizhou, China

Abstract

The Balang Formation (Cambrian Stage 4) of eastern Guizhou, China, yields slender, sinuous, and branching ichnofossils associated with shells of hyolithids. The trace-makers, of speculative identity, are inferred to have been feeding on decaying soft parts of hyolithids and on the microbial halos formed around decaying bodily remains. The comprehensive observation of hyolithid shells and their associated traces suggests that the hyolithid shells may have been moved some distance after scavenging began. This preservational pattern can address some issues relating to hyolith preservation of the Balang Formation.