Abstract
A morphologically more diverse assemblage of Longfengshaniaceae has been found in the uppermost Ediacaran (Sinian) Jiucheng Member, Yuhucun Formation at Jinning and Jiangchuan, eastern Yunnan, South China. A majority of them are different from the Longfengshania found in the Neoproterozoic Changlongshan Formation, Yanshan Mountain area, North China and the Little Dal Group, North America. They are mainly characterized by a more varied, often thallus-like appearance with no branches, such as oval, pyriform, spindle, shovel, heart, ribbon and balloon shapes, and more sturdy stalk-like projection (stipe) with a smooth connection on the basal part of the thallus. In addition, they appear to have a remarkable attaching organ of lanceolate, shuttle-like or short stem-like structure at the base of the stipe. Six distinct morphological taxa are recognized, including one new genus, two new species and three conformis species. The characteristics of the family and the genus Longfengshania are further discussed in this paper. The new discoveries of these carbonaceous macrofossils identified as Longfengshaniaceae algae on the basis of the diagnostic forms and anastomosis patterns of their thalli and stipes demonstrate that an important evolutionary radiation of metaphytes took place in the last Ediacaran stage. The flourishing of the benthonic thallophytes attached to the substrate from eastern Yunnan and considered to be photosynthetic alga probably provided continuous nutritional habitats for the explosion and diversification of the Early Cambrian “Chengjiang biota”.
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Translated from Acta Geologica Sinica, 2006, 80(11): 1643–1649 [译自: 地质学报]
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Tang, F., Song, X., Yin, C. et al. Discoveries of new Longfengshaniaceae from the uppermost Ediacaran in eastern Yunnan, South China and the significance. Front. Earth Sci. China 1, 142–149 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-007-0018-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-007-0018-1