EDIACARAN TADPOLE-LIKE TRACE FOSSILS FROM THE DENGYING FORMATION IN THE YANGTZE GORGES AREA,HUBEI PROVINCE
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Abstract:
The definitive evidence for the presence of bilaterian animals in the Ediacaran comes from trace fossils.However,most of them are limited to simple surface trails and relatively shallow burrows,representing simple behaviors of wormlike animals that lived close to the sediment surface.Here a new tadpole-like trace fossil was described from the Shibantan dark grey thinbedded laminated micritic limestone of the Dengying Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area,Hubei Province,and co-occurred with remarkably soft-bodied Ediacara-type fossils and simple trace fossils.The tadpole-like fossil consists of a narrow burrow and expanding bulb structure.Based on morphological characters, isotope analysis and sedimentary observations,the tadpole-like fossil is confirmed to be a kind of trace fossil rather than a body fossil.The tadpole-like trace fossils,closely associatedwith microbial mats,represent a probing behavior of new feeding style.The tadpole-like fossils can be interpreted as compound traces that are made up of two types of traces in contact.Respectively,the expanding bulbous represents vertical probing and the narrow burrow represents horizontal behaviors of trace maker.Regardless of the precise taxonomic affinity of the producers,the tadpole-like trace fossil is made by a bilaterian.They can penetrate the microbial mat to exploit into deeper sediment,and form modest complex burrows during the latest Ediacaran Period.
