Phosphatized Punctatus with mouthparts and its embryo fossils from the Lower Cambrian of Ningqiang, south Shaanxi, China

Abstract

The appearance of coelenterates marks the real beginning of metazoan evolution. It therefore has a prominent position in the origin and evolutionary history of organisms, and is also a pivotal question of evolutionary biology. Punctatus is an extinct, ancient marine animal from the early stage of the Cambrian explosion, occurring at the lowermost Cambrian of both Kuanchuanpu (Ningqiang, Shaanxi) and Maidiping (Emei, Sichuan) areas. Punctatus has been studied for many years since the discovery of its fragments. Systematic and phylogenetic analysis has long been limited because of the rarity of complete specimens. In order to improve research into Punctatus, more than ten thousand globular fossils were recovered by means of “Chemistry Retting”. On the basis of the study of these globular fossils, a series of Punctatus fossils with cone parts and finely preserved soft-tissue mouthparts and fossilized metazoan embryo were recovered. Through research on characteristics such as shape, modality and structure of these fossils symbiotic with Punctatus emeiensis, the author found many possible embryo fossils including the evidence of gastrula-stage animal fossils. The sequence of fetation might have appeared on the corolliform oral region of Punctatus emeiensis. A study of the soft tissues, functional morphology and the sequence of embryo fossils shows evidence that Punctatus resembles coelenterate polyps in systematic classification. Perhaps it also represents an ancestor of the coelenterate with an original tentacle. A comparison with the real “tentacle animal” found in the Chengjiang Fauna, shows that the original tentacle is very tiny and its function range is limited. This reveals the primitive nature of the animal. Although the original tentacle is so small, it does exist, representing the first big step towards the real flexible tentacle with a strong function from the early evolving tentacle.