The terminal Ediacaran Tongshan Lagerstätte from South China

Jin-bo Hou (), Xiang-dong Wang, Zhang-shuai Hou, Jahandar Ramezani, Qing Tang and Shu-zhong Shen ()
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Jin-bo Hou: Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Critical Earth Material Recycling and Mineral Deposits, Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering
Xiang-dong Wang: Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Critical Earth Material Recycling and Mineral Deposits, Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering
Zhang-shuai Hou: Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Critical Earth Material Recycling and Mineral Deposits, Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering
Jahandar Ramezani: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Qing Tang: Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Critical Earth Material Recycling and Mineral Deposits, Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering
Shu-zhong Shen: Nanjing University, State Key Laboratory of Critical Earth Material Recycling and Mineral Deposits, Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Because the informative Burgess Shale-type preservation is uncommon in the Ediacaran, mouldic Ediacara-type preservation provides insight into the early evolution of organisms like metazoans (including typical fronds), protists, and algae. Here, we report the Burgess Shale-type preservation from the new Tongshan Lagerstätte ( ~ 551–543.74 ± 0.87 Ma), in carbonaceous mudstones/shales of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation in Tongshan, Hubei, South China. The preservation of a high diversity of organisms indicates rapid, likely in situ burial in the marine photic zone below the storm wave base, revealing deep-water biodiversity coeval with the Nama Assemblage of Ediacara Biota. These are the first records, to our knowledge, of typical Ediacaran rangeomorph fronds with Burgess Shale-type preservation. The presence of Burgess Shale-type preservation of fronds reflects the rarity of fine-grained deposits in the Ediacaran Period and bridges an important gap between traditional Ediacara-type preservation, Ediacara-type preservation with organic remains, and Burgess Shale-type preservation.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65176-2

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