Paleobiota of the Maotianshan Shales

This is a list of fossils found at Maotianshan Shales, whose most famous assemblage of organisms are referred to as the Chengjiang biota.
The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales form one of some forty Cambrian fossil locations worldwide exhibiting exquisite preservation of rarely preserved, non-mineralized soft tissue, comparable to the fossils of the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada.

[Ecdysozoa]

[Scalidophora]

Palaeoscolecidomorpha">Palaeoscolecid">Palaeoscolecidomorpha

[Priapulida]

[Panarthropoda]

[Lobopodia]

[Eoconchariidae]

Hallucishaniids">Hallucishaniida">Hallucishaniids

Siberiidae">Lobopodia#Siberion_and_similar_taxa">Siberiidae

Gilled Lobopodians">Lobopodia#Gilled_lobopodians">Gilled Lobopodians

[Radiodonta]

Radiodonta are a group of highly successful panarthropods. The Chengjiang Fauna includes a large number of Radiodont species, primarily from the clade Amplectobeluidae. While hurdiids are poorly known from the formation and surrounding region, several specimens attributable to the family have been discovered, but remain unnamed. Some radiodonts from the Chengjiang defy easy classification, or are otherwise debated in their exact affinity.

Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Houcaris	H. saron H. consimilis	Isolated appendages.	Previously described as "Anomalocaris" saron.
Innovatiocaris	I. maotianshanensis I. multispiniformis I. sp.	Complete fossil and isolated appendages	Previously assigned to the Anomalocaris genus, and one of the most completely known radiodonts.
Laminacaris	L. chimera	Giant isolated appendages, up to nearly 30 centimetres long.	A giant radiodont combining features from different clades.

[Amplectobeluidae]

[Anomalocarididae]

[Hurdiidae]

Hurdiids have historically been considered absent, or at least rare, from the Chengjiang Biota, an observation that researchers have found confusing given their regularity at other sites. In recent years, a number of fragmentary hurdiid fossils have been described, including 3 partial appendages belonging to a new species of Stanleycaris, an isolated sclerite assigned to Cambroraster, Zhenghecaris, and isolated lateral sclerites.

Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Cambroraster	C. sp.	Head sclerites.	A large nektobenthic hurdiid, first known from the Burgess Shale. Fossils of Cambroraster are also known from Mantou Formation of North China, making this a very widespread genus. This genus was the first definitive hurdiid known from China.
Zhenghecaris	Z. shankouensis	Sclerites	Large-sized arthropod carapace, originally described as bivalved arthropod close to Thylacocephala, later reinterpreted as hurdiid radiodont close to Cambroraster, its classification is still discussed. Some fossils, apparently the lateral scelrites of a radiodont, connected anteriorly by a "beak" and featuring two-pronged, wing-like processes posteriorly, have also been attributed to Zhenghecaris.

Arthropoda">Arthropod">Arthropoda

[Hymenocarina]

[Fuxianhuiida]

[Bradoriida]

[Megacheira]

Leanchoiliidae">Megacheira">Leanchoiliidae

Jianfengiidae">Megacheira">Jianfengiidae

[Marrellomorpha]

Artiopoda">Artiopod">Artiopoda

[Nektaspida]

Trilobita">Trilobite">Trilobita

[Spiralia]

Gnathifera">Gnathifera (clade)">Gnathifera

[Chaetognatha]

[Lophotrochozoa]

[Annelid]a

[Mollusca]

[Hyolitha]

Phoronida">Phoronid">Phoronida

[Entoprocta]

[Cornulitida]

[Brachiopoda]

Deuterostomia">Deuterostome">Deuterostomia

Chordata">Chordate">Chordata

[Vetulicolia]

[Ambulacraria]

[Cambroernid]a

[Hemichordata]

[Vetulocystida]

Ctenophora">Ctenophore">Ctenophora

Porifera">sea sponge">Porifera

[Cnidaria]

[Petalonamae]

Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Stromatoveris	S. psygmoglena

Enigmatic

Miscellaneous macroalgae

Macroalgae rank fourth in species-level diversity behind arthropods, priapulids, and sponges, and account for 71.5% of total abundance from the biota, particularly dominated by unattached species.

Genus	Species	Material	Notes	Images
Enteromophites	E. intestinalis		Sessile, attached to the substrate.
Fuxianospira	F. gyrata	The most common species of macroalgae present, accounting for 52% of all macroalgae fossils reported from the Chengjiang.	Unattached
Liulingjitaenia	L. alloplecta		Unattached
Longfengshania	L. stipitata L. spheria L. cordata		Sessile, attached to the substrate.
Megaspirellus	M. houi
Morania	M. fragmenta		Unattached
Paralongfengshania	P. sicyoides		Sessile, attached to the substrate.
Paradelesseria	P. sanguinea		Unattached
Plantulaformis	P. sinensis		Sessile, attached to the substrate.
Punctariopsis	P. latifolia P. simplexis		Sessile, attached to the substrate.
Sinocylindra	S. yunnanensis S. linearis		Unattached
Tawuia	T. sp.		Unattached
Yunnanospirellus	Y. typica Y. elegans		Unattached