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Title: The rangeomorph fossil Charnia from the Ediacaran Shibantan biota in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China
Abstract

The terminal Ediacaran Shibantan biota (~550–543 Ma) from the Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China represents one of the rare examples of carbonate-hosted Ediacara-type macrofossil assemblages. In addition to the numerically dominant taxa—the non-biomineralizing tubular fossilWutubusand discoidal fossilsAspidellaandHiemalora, the Shibantan biota also bears a moderate diversity of frondose fossils, includingPteridinium,Rangea,Arborea, andCharnia. In this paper, we report two species of the rangeomorph genusCharnia, including the type speciesCharnia masoniFord, 1958 emend. andCharnia gracilisnew species, from the Shibantan biota. Most of the ShibantanCharniaspecimens preserve only the petalodium, with a few bearing the holdfast and stem. Despite overall architectural similarities to otherCharniaspecies, the Shibantan specimens ofCharnia gracilisn. sp. are distinct in their relatively straight, slender, and more acutely angled first-order branches. They also show evidence that may support a two-stage growth model and a epibenthic sessile lifestyle.Charniafossils described herein represent one of the youngest occurrences of this genus and extend its paleogeographic and stratigraphic distributions. Our discovery also highlights the notable diversity of the Shibantan biota, which contains examples of a wide range of Ediacaran morphogroups.

UUID:http://zoobank.org/837216cd-4a4a-4e13-89e2-ee354ba48a4c

 
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Award ID(s):
2021207
PAR ID:
10540442
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Cambridge University Press
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Paleontology
ISSN:
0022-3360
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 17
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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