DISCOVERY OF TIANZHUSHANIA IN DOUSHANTUO PHOSPHORITES IN WENG''''AN, GUIZHOU PROVINCE

The large acanthomorphic acritarch Tianzhushania spinosa (Yin L et Li) Yin C(1988) and a new species Tianzhushania tuberifera sp. nov. are first described from the Doushantuo phosphorites in Weng'an, Guizhou Province. The former is usually preserved as globoids and their morphological character and inner structure are quite similar to those typical Tianzhushania spinosa (silicified) found in chert of the Sinian Doushantuo Formation in eastern Yangtze Gorges, Hubei Province. The distinct new species, preserved as globoids too, shows a dense inner wall with distinctly uniform tubers and stretching out one or more tube like processes. The phosphatized Tianzhushania found in Weng'an further confirms that the fossiliferous horizons in Guizhou and eastern Yangtze Gorge are coeval, which provides a new datum for studying those phosphatized spheroidal fossils.

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Q913.6