Name: Nematomorpha; Maotianshania cylindrica
Geological Time: Early Cambrian, (~525 million years ago)
Size: (25.4mm=1 inch): 32 mm long on a 40 mm by 28 mm matrix
Fossil Location: Chengjiang Biota, Quiongzhusi Section, Yu’anshan Member, Heilinpu Formation, Mafang Village, Anning, Kunming , Yunnan Province, China
Code: CJF414
Price: $95.00
 Description:
This is an example of the nematomorph Maotianshania cylindrica. The
species is known from numerous specimens, many of which have preserved
details, with the taxon named after, Maotianshan (Mao Tian Hill),
site of the discovery of the Chengjiang Biota by Hou Xian-guang in
1984. The intestine is often preserved as a dark film, indicative
of its deposit-feeding lifestyle. The diversity of soft-tissue fossils
is astonishing: algae, medusiforms, sponges, priapulids, annelid-like
worms, echinoderms, arthropods (including trilobites), hemichordates,
chordates, and the first agnathan fish make up just a small fraction
of the total. Numerous problematic forms are known as well, some of
which may have represented failed attempts at diversity that did not
persist to the present day. While the species is known from other
Lower Cambrian locations in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, it is particularly
well known from the Chengjiang Biota. The fine example preserved here
in exquisite detail makes this a highly unique specimen of life from
525 million years ago. |
