Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-r2nwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-29T18:10:42.765Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A new radiodontan oral cone with a unique combination of anatomical features from the early Cambrian Guanshan Lagerstätte, eastern Yunnan, South China

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 September 2017

Han Zeng
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China 〈hzeng@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈fczhao@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈zjyin@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈myzhu@nigpas.ac.cn〉Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 37012, MRC-121, Washington, DC, 20013–7012, USAUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
Fangchen Zhao*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China 〈hzeng@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈fczhao@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈zjyin@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈myzhu@nigpas.ac.cn〉
Zongjun Yin
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China 〈hzeng@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈fczhao@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈zjyin@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈myzhu@nigpas.ac.cn〉
Maoyan Zhu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China 〈hzeng@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈fczhao@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈zjyin@nigpas.ac.cn〉, 〈myzhu@nigpas.ac.cn〉College of Earth Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
*
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The radiodontans, including anomalocaridids and their allies, are enigmatic stem-group euarthropods and are the most ancient apex giant predators known from the fossil record. Most studies on their feeding behaviors have emphasized their diverse and abundant raptorial frontal appendages, while the oral cone surrounding the mouth opening in these animals has attracted less attention. At present, three oral cone morphotypes are known, fromAnomalocaris Whiteaves,1892,Peytoia Walcott,1911, andHurdia Walcott,1912, respectively. In this paper, we report on a novel form of radiodontan oral cone from the Guanshan Lagerstätte (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) in the Wulongqing Formation, eastern Yunnan, South China. This oral cone is unique in combining features seen inPeytoia/Hurdia andAnomalocaris. It possesses aPeytoia/Hurdia-type ‘tetraradial’ configuration comprising a 32-plate outer ring that consists of four perpendicularly arranged large plates and 28 small plates, in addition to furrowed folds and scale-like nodes on plate surfaces otherwise seen only inAnomalocaris. As an intermediate morphotype, the Guanshan oral cone improves our understanding of the occurrence and morphological disparity of radiodontan oral cones, illuminates future investigations on potentially variable radiodontan feeding mechanisms, and reveals possible evolutionary transformations of these peculiar feeding structures. The resolution of current radiodontan phylogeny would be potentially improved by new knowledge on other body parts apart from frontal appendages in future studies.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2017, The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aria,C., andCaron,J.-B.,2015,Cephalic and limb anatomy of a new isoxyid from the Burgess Shale and the role of “stem bivalved arthropods” in the disparity of the frontalmost appendage:PLoS ONE, v.10, p.e0124979.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Briggs,D.E.G.,1979,Anomalocaris, the largest known Cambrian arthropod:Palaeontology, v.22, p.631–664.Google Scholar
Briggs,D.E.G., andMount,J.D.,1982,The occurrence of the giant arthropodAnomalocaris in the lower Cambrian of Southern California, and the overall distribution of the genus:Journal of Paleontology, v.56, p.1112–1118.Google Scholar
Briggs,D.E.G.,Lieberman,B.S.,Hendricks,J.R.,Halgedahl,S.L., andJarrard,R.D.,2008,Middle Cambrian arthropods from Utah:Journal of Paleontology, v.82, p.238–254.Google Scholar
Budd,G.E.,1998,Stem group arthropods from the lower Cambrian Sirius Passet fauna of North Greenland,in Fortey, R.A., and Thomas, R.H., eds.,Arthropod Relationships,Volume 55:Dordrecht,Springer Netherlands, p.125–138.Google Scholar
Chen,J.-Y.,2004,The Dawn of Animal World:Nanjing,Jiangsu Science and Technology Press,367 p. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Chen,J.-Y.,Ramsköld,L., andZhou,G.-Q.,1994,Evidence for monophyly and arthropod affinity of Cambrian giant predators:Science, v.264, p.1304–1308.Google Scholar
Chen,J.-Y.,Zhou,G.-Q.,Zhu,M.-Y., andYeh,K.-Y.,1996,The Chengjiang Biota: A Unique Window of the Cambrian Explosion:Taizhong, National Museum of Natural Science,222 p. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Collins,D.,1996,The “evolution” ofAnomalocaris and its classification in the arthropod class Dinocarida (nov.) and order Radiodonta (nov.):Journal of Paleontology, v.70, p.280–293.Google Scholar
Cong,P.-Y.,Ma,X.-Y.,Hou,X.-G.,Edgecombe,G.D., andStrausfeld,N.J.,2014,Brain structure resolves the segmental affinity of anomalocaridid appendages:Nature, v.513, p.538–542.Google Scholar
Cong,P.-Y.,Daley,A.C.,Edgecombe,G.D.,Hou,X.-G., andChen,A.-L.,2016,Morphology of the radiodontanLyrarapax from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota:Journal of Paleontology, v.90, p.663–671.Google Scholar
Conway Morris,S., andRobison,R.A.,1982,The enigmatic medusoidPeytoia and a comparison of some Cambrian biotas:Journal of Paleontology, v.56, p.116–122.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C., andBergström,J.,2012,The oral cone ofAnomalocaris is not a classic “peytoia”:Naturwissenschaften, v.99, p.501–504.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C., andBudd,G.E.,2010,New anomalocaridid appendages from the Burgess Shale, Canada:Palaeontology, v.53, p.721–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daley,A.C., andEdgecombe,G.D.,2014,Morphology ofAnomalocaris canadensis from the Burgess Shale:Journal of Paleontology, v.88, p.68–91.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C., andLegg,D.A.,2015,A morphological and taxonomic appraisal of the oldest anomalocaridid from the lower Cambrian of Poland:Geological Magazine, v.152, p.949–955.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C.,Budd,G.E.,Caron,J.-B.,Edgecombe,G.D., andCollins,D.,2009,The Burgess Shale anomalocarididHurdia and its significance for early euarthropod evolution:Science, v.323, p.1597–1600.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C.,Budd,G.E., andCaron,J.-B.,2013a,Morphology and systematics of the anomalocaridid arthropodHurdia from the middle Cambrian of British Columbia and Utah:Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, v.11, p.743–787.Google Scholar
Daley,A.C.,Paterson,J.R.,Edgecombe,G.D.,García-Bellido,D.C., andJago,J.B.,2013b,New anatomical information onAnomalocaris from the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale of South Australia and a reassessment of its inferred predatory habits:Palaeontology, v.56, p.971–990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagadorn,J.W.,2009, Taking a bite out ofAnomalocaris,in Smith, M.R., O’Brien, L.J., and Caron, J.-B., eds., Abstract Volume: International Conference on the Cambrian Explosion—Walcott 2009: Toronto, Burgess Shale Consortium, p. 33–34.Google Scholar
Hagadorn,J.W.,2010,PuttingAnomalocaris on a soft-food diet:Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v.42,no. 5, p.320.Google Scholar
Hou,X.-G.,Bergström,J., andAhlberg,P.,1995,Anomalocaris and other large animals in the lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna of southwest China:GFF, v.117, p.163–183.Google Scholar
Hou,X.-G.,Bergström,J., andJie,Y.,2006,Distinguishing anomalocaridids from arthropods and priapulids:Geological Journal, v.41, p.259–269.Google Scholar
Hu,S.-X.,Zhu,M.-Y.,Steiner,M.,Luo,H.-L.,Zhao,F.-C., andLiu,Q.,2010,Biodiversity and taphonomy of the early Cambrian Guanshan biota, eastern Yunnan:Science China Earth Sciences, v.53, p.1765–1773.Google Scholar
Hu,S.-X.,Zhu,M.-Y.,Luo,H.-L.,Steiner,M.,Zhao,F.-C.,Li,G.-X.,Liu,Q., andZhang,Z.-F.,2013,The Guanshan Biota:Kunming,Yunnan Science and Technology Press,204 p. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Kühl,G.,Briggs,D.E.G., andRust,J.,2009,A great-appendage arthropod with a radial mouth from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, Germany:Science, v.323, p.771–773.Google Scholar
Lankester,R.E.,1904,The structure and classification of the Arthropoda:Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, v.47, p.523–582.Google Scholar
Legg,D.A.,Sutton,M.D., andEdgecombe,G.D.,2013,Arthropod fossil data increase congruence of morphological and molecular phylogenies:Nature Communications, v.4, p.2485 doi:10.1038/ncomms3485.Google Scholar
Lieberman,B.S.,2003,A new soft-bodied fauna: the Pioche Formation of Nevada:Journal of Paleontology, v.77, p.674–690.Google Scholar
Lin,H.-L.,2008,Early Cambrian (Chiungchussuan, Tsanglangpuan and Lungwangmiaoan),in Zhou, Z.-Y., and Zhen, Y.-Y., eds.,Trilobite Record of China:Beijing,Science Press, p.36–76.Google Scholar
Liu,J.-N.,Ou,Q.,Han,J.,Zhang,Z.-F.,He,T.-J.,Yao,X.-Y.,Fu,D.-J., andShu,D.-G.,2012,New occurrence of the Cambrian (Stage 4, Series 2) Guanshan Biota in Huize, Yunnan, South China:Bulletin of Geosciences, v.87, p.125–132.Google Scholar
Luo,H.-L.,Li,Y.,Hu,S.-X.,Fu,X.-P.,Hou,S.-G.,Liu,X.-Y.,Chen,L.-Z.,Li,F.-J.,Pang,J.-Y., andLiu,Q.,2008,Early Cambrian Malong Fauna and Guanshan Fauna from Eastern Yunnan China:Kunming,Yunnan Science and Techonology Press,134 p. [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Masiak,M., andŻylińska,A.,1994,Burgess Shale-type fossils in Cambrian sandstones of the Holy Cross Mountains:Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, v.39, p.329–340.Google Scholar
McHenry,B., andYates,A.,1993,First report of the enigmatic metazoanAnomalocaris from the southern hemisphere and a trilobite with preserved appendages from the early Cambrian of Kangaroo Island, South Australia:Records of the South Australian Museum, v.26, p.77–86.Google Scholar
Nedin,C.,1999,Anomalocaris predation on nonmineralized and mineralized trilobites: Geology, v.27, p.987–990.Google Scholar
Ortega-Hernández,J.,2016,Making sense of ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ stem-group Euarthropoda, with comments on the strict use of the name Arthropoda von Siebold, 1848:Biological Reviews, v.91, p.255–273.Google Scholar
Smith,M.R., andCaron,J.-B.,2015,Hallucigenia’s head and the pharyngeal armature of early ecdysozoans:Nature, v.523, p.75–78.Google Scholar
Steiner,M.,Zhu,M.,Zhao,Y., andErdtmann,B.-D.,2005,Lower Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil associations of South China:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v.220, p.129–152.Google Scholar
Van Roy,P., andBriggs,D.E.G.,2011,A giant Ordovician anomalocaridid:Nature, v.473, p.510–513.Google Scholar
Van Roy,P.,Daley,A.C., andBriggs,D.E.G.,2015,Anomalocaridid trunk limb homology revealed by a giant filter-feeder with paired flaps:Nature, v.522, p.77–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vinther,J.,Stein,M.,Longrich,N.R., andHarper,D.A.T.,2014,A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the early Cambrian:Nature, v.507, p.496–499.Google Scholar
Vinther,J.,Porras,L.,Young,F.J.,Budd,G.E., andEdgecombe,G.D.,2016,The mouth apparatus of the Cambrian gilled lobopodianPambdelurion whittingtoni:Palaeontology, v.59, p.841–849.Google Scholar
Walcott,C.D.,1911,Cambrian geology and paleontology II. No. 3. Middle Cambrian holothurians and medusae:Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v.57, p.41–68.Google Scholar
Walcott,C.D.,1912,Cambrian geology and paleontology II. No. 6. Middle Cambrian Branchiopoda, Malacostraca, Trilobita and Merostomata:Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, v.57, p.145–228.Google Scholar
Wang,Y.-Y.,Huang,D.-Y., andHu,S.-X.,2013,New anomalocaridid frontal appendages from the Guanshan biota, eastern Yunnan:Chinese Science Bulletin, v.58, p.3937–3942.Google Scholar
Whiteaves,J.F.,1892,Description of a new genus and species of phyllocarid crustacea from the middle Cambrian of Mount Stephen, BC:The Canadian Record of Science, v.5, p.205–208.Google Scholar
Whittington,H.B., andBriggs,D.E.G.,1985,The largest Cambrian animal,Anomalocaris, Burgess Shale, British Columbia:Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, v.309, p.569–609.Google Scholar
Yang,J.,Ortega-Hernández,J.,Gerber,S.,Butterfield,N.J.,Hou,J.-B.,Lan,T., andZhang,X.-G.,2015,A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v.112, p.8678–8683.Google Scholar
Zeng,H.,Zhao,F.-C.,Yin,Z.-J., andZhu,M.-Y.,2017,Morphology of diverse radiodontan head sclerites from the early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, south-west China:Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, p.1–37. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1263685.Google Scholar
Zhao,F.-C.,Hu,S.-X.,Caron,J.-B.,Zhu,M.-Y.,Yin,Z.-J., andLu,M.,2012,Spatial variation in the diversity and composition of the lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3) Chengjiang Biota, Southwest China:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v.346/347, p.54–65.Google Scholar