Morpho-geometric analysis of helcionelloid mollusks from the Cambrian Miaolingian Kaili Formation, Jianhe, Guizhou
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Abstract:
Helcionellids are common mollusks of the Cambrian. They occur in Cambrian strata all over the world, but they are mostly found in carbonate depositional settings and rarely reported in Burgess Shale-type faunas. The Kaili biota in Jianhe, Guizhou Province is a typical exceptionally preserved fossil Lagerst?tten, where more than 700 specimens of helcionellids were collected, which is particularly noteworthy among Cambrian Burgess Shale-type faunas. Herein, helcionelloid mollusks from the Kaili biota were analyzed by using canonical variate analysis (CVA) of the geometric morphological method. Geometric morphometrics refers to a quantitative analysis of organism morphology and specific marked parts. As an important method for multivariate analysis, CVA can be used to discriminate differences between data sets. Results of CVA show that, by analyzing the lateral outline of Dorispira, the accuracy rate of identifying the three species Dorispira accordinonata, Dorispira taijiangensis, and Dorispira cf. pearylandica was 92 %, which accords with morph-based classifications of the genus. This work demonstrates that CVA can be used to quantify the differences between species with relatively similar morphologies, thus providing a quantitative reference for the application of geometric morphometry in systematic paleontological taxonomic studies.
