The transition from the terminal Ediacaran to early Cambrian (ca. 550−530 Ma) witnessed both decline of Ediacaran-type soft-bodied and skeletal biota rapid diversification Cambrian-type biota, which dominate Terreneuvian 538.8−521 fossil record. This interval hosts globally widespread positive negative δ13Ccarb excursions, including a excursion near Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary termed 1n/BACE. E...

• Cavity-dwelling filamentous microorganisms accommodated in a valve-like organism from the uppermost Dengying Formation (Ediacaran) eastern Yunnan are reported for first time. Well-preserved filaments develop mycelial networks with abundant branching pattern. Probable saprophytic interaction between and is discovered. The Ediacaran–Cambrian transition, one of major turning points Earth’s histo...

The existence of late Cambrian (Furongian) trilobites in Myanmar (Burma) has been acknowledged since the 1970s, but no formal systematic descriptions such fossils have published to date. Herein, we provide some from Molohein Group’s Myet-Ye Formation Linwe area, Ye-Ngan Township southern Shan State. Three species two genera are reported: Asioptychaspis (A. asiatica, previously known North China...

Abstract The Seve Nappe Complex (SNC) comprises continental rocks of Baltica that were subducted and exhumed during the Caledonian orogeny prior to collision with Laurentia. tectonic history central SNC is investigated by applying in-situ zircon monazite (Th-)U–Pb geochronology trace element analysis (ultra-)high pressure (UHP) paragneisses in Avardo Marsfjället gneisses. Zircons Gneiss exposed...

The Early Cambrian (approximately 540 million years old) Meishucun fossil assemblage of Ningqiang County (Shaanxi Province), China, contains the oldest complex skeletonized organisms known in the geological record. We here report the finding in this assemblage of an exquisitely preserved late-stage embryo of a ctenophore ("comb jelly"), its fine structure documented by confocal laser scanning m...

Muscle tissue is a fundamentally eumetazoan attribute. The oldest evidence for fossilized muscular tissue before the Early Cambrian has hitherto remained moot, being reliant upon indirect evidence in the form of Late Ediacaran ichnofossils. We here report a candidate muscle-bearing organism, Haootia quadriformis n. gen., n. sp., from approximately 560 Ma strata in Newfoundland, Canada. This tax...

Parablackwelderia is the oldest known stalk-eyed trilobite and thrived during the middle–late Cambrian (Guzhangian Age) in eastern Gondwanaland. The elongated palpebral lobe extends outward and forward from the anterior corner of the cranidium and shows positive allometry, becoming markedly longer and relatively thinner in large specimens. The animal occurred in muddy environments and may have ...