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Main Authors: Xian, Xiaofeng, Zhang, Huaqiao, Xiao, Shuhai, Waloszek, Dieter, Maas, Andreas, Duan, Baichuan
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42008710/
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author Xian, Xiaofeng
Zhang, Huaqiao
Xiao, Shuhai
Waloszek, Dieter
Maas, Andreas
Duan, Baichuan
author_facet Xian, Xiaofeng
Zhang, Huaqiao
Xiao, Shuhai
Waloszek, Dieter
Maas, Andreas
Duan, Baichuan
Xian, Xiaofeng
Zhang, Huaqiao
Xiao, Shuhai
Waloszek, Dieter
Maas, Andreas
Duan, Baichuan
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Polychaete annelids from the earliest Cambrian Period. Xian, Xiaofeng Zhang, Huaqiao Xiao, Shuhai Waloszek, Dieter Maas, Andreas Duan, Baichuan Animals Fossils Polychaeta China Annelida Unambiguous body fossils of annelids (ringed worms) first appear in the Cambrian Period but are so far known exclusively as flattened specimens preserved in Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten. Here, we report phosphatized microfossils, interpreted as polychaete annelids, from a distinct taphonomic window (i.e., three-dimensional Orsten-type preservation) in the earliest Cambrian (early Fortunian Age, ca. 535 Ma) Zhangjiagou Lagerstätte of South China. The fossils are millimetric in length and preserved as three-dimensional endocasts of the body. They exhibit clear trunk segmentation, with each segment bearing a pair of lateral or ventrolateral outgrowths. Two species, gen. et sp. nov. and gen. et sp. nov., are distinguished based on the relative length of these outgrowths. The lateral outgrowths terminate in a bifurcation into two lobes of equal, subequal, or unequal size, closely resembling the notopodium and neuropodium of annelid parapodia. Both species are interpreted as members of the total-group Annelida. has relatively short appendages and may have been a benthic annelid similar to modern nereids. closely resembles fossil and extant polychaetes (e.g., and ) in their relatively long appendages, suggesting a swimming lifestyle and representing the earliest known semi-pelagic annelid. These findings indicate that annelids had already acquired a polychaete-like body plan in the Fortunian and that early members of the clade had diverged from their living sister group and differentiated into forms with both short and elongate parapodia by the Fortunian Age.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_42008710
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2026
publisher Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Polychaete annelids from the earliest Cambrian Period.
Xian, Xiaofeng
Zhang, Huaqiao
Xiao, Shuhai
Waloszek, Dieter
Maas, Andreas
Duan, Baichuan
Animals
Fossils
Polychaeta
China
Annelida
Polychaete annelids from the earliest Cambrian Period. Xian, Xiaofeng Zhang, Huaqiao Xiao, Shuhai Waloszek, Dieter Maas, Andreas Duan, Baichuan Animals Fossils Polychaeta China Annelida Unambiguous body fossils of annelids (ringed worms) first appear in the Cambrian Period but are so far known exclusively as flattened specimens preserved in Burgess Shale-type Lagerstätten. Here, we report phosphatized microfossils, interpreted as polychaete annelids, from a distinct taphonomic window (i.e., three-dimensional Orsten-type preservation) in the earliest Cambrian (early Fortunian Age, ca. 535 Ma) Zhangjiagou Lagerstätte of South China. The fossils are millimetric in length and preserved as three-dimensional endocasts of the body. They exhibit clear trunk segmentation, with each segment bearing a pair of lateral or ventrolateral outgrowths. Two species, gen. et sp. nov. and gen. et sp. nov., are distinguished based on the relative length of these outgrowths. The lateral outgrowths terminate in a bifurcation into two lobes of equal, subequal, or unequal size, closely resembling the notopodium and neuropodium of annelid parapodia. Both species are interpreted as members of the total-group Annelida. has relatively short appendages and may have been a benthic annelid similar to modern nereids. closely resembles fossil and extant polychaetes (e.g., and ) in their relatively long appendages, suggesting a swimming lifestyle and representing the earliest known semi-pelagic annelid. These findings indicate that annelids had already acquired a polychaete-like body plan in the Fortunian and that early members of the clade had diverged from their living sister group and differentiated into forms with both short and elongate parapodia by the Fortunian Age.
title Polychaete annelids from the earliest Cambrian Period.
topic Animals
Fossils
Polychaeta
China
Annelida
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42008710/