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 Chengjiang Animals: page ; 3/3
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Yunnanozoon lividum
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Locality: |
Maotianshan, Chengjiang, Yunnan,
People's Republic of China |
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Age: |
Early Cambrian (about 530 million years ago) |
Yunnanozoon is the oldest known example of a
hemichordate.
The phylum (or 'supergroup') Hemichordata is closely associated
with the phylum Chordata, which includes the vertebrates along
with other groups such as cephalochordates and urochordates.
The identification of Yunnanozoon is therefore also significant
for the early evolution of chordates and vertebrates. |
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Cathaymyrus diadexus
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Locality: |
Ma'anshan,Chengjiang,Yunnan,
People's Republic of China |
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Age: |
Early Cambrian (about 530 million years ago) |
This is oldest known example of a cephalochordate.
The form of Cathaymyrus resembles that of Pikaia from the Middle
Cambrian Burgess Shale of Canada, but this animal is about 10
million years older. Some palaeontologists have suggested that
the ertebrates, which include humans, evolved from cephalochordates
like Cathaymyrus. |
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Myllokunmingia fengjiaoa
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Locality: |
Haikou, Kunming, Yunnan,
People's Republic of China |
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Age: |
Early Cambrian (about 530 million years ago) |
This is a primitive fish that has many similarities
to the living hagfish. Along with Haikouichthys, Myllokunmingia
is among the oldest vertebrate animal ever found. The publication
of this discovery in the international scientific journal Nature
(4th Nov. 1999) has aroused great interest in the palaeontological
community, as these fossils extend the known time-span of the
vertebrates back another 50 million years. |
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Xidazoon stephanus
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Locality: |
Haikou, Kunming, Yunnan,
People's Republic of China |
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Age: |
Early Cambrian (about 530 million years ago) |
The relationship of Xidazoon to the known animal
groups is ambiguous. The anterior of this animal resembles an
agnathan fish known as a pipiscid, but the segmented tail-like
posterior is more like that of an invertebrate, such as an arthropod.
Because of its enigmatic nature, Xidazoon has at present been
assigned to the pseudo-phylum "Problematica". Nevertheless,
this animal has great importance in the study of the evolution
of the primitive deuterostomes and protostomes. |
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