THE CAMBRIAN FOSSILS OF CHENGJIANG, CHINA: THE FLOWERING OF EARLY ANIMAL LIFE, 2ND EDITION

• Part One Geological and Evolutionary Setting of the Biota 1
• Part Two Chengjiang Fossils 39
8 Algae 40
9 Ctenophora 48
10 Porifera 56
11 Cnidaria 78
12 Entoprocta 82
13 Phoronida 84
14 Brachiopoda 86
15 Annelida 98
16 Trochozoa of uncertain affinity 102
17 Priapulida and relatives 114
18 Lobopodians 138
19 Anomalocaridids 154
20 Euarthropoda 162
21 Chaetognatha 248
22 Hemichordata 250
23 Ambulacraria of uncertain affinity 252
24 Chordata 258
25 Bilateria of uncertain affinity 264
26 Vetulicolians 272
27 Animals of uncertain affinity 282
28 Species recorded from the Chengjiang biota 288
29 Phylogenetic arrangement of chapters 292

The celebrated lower Cambrian Chengjiang biota of Yunnan Province, China, represents one of the most significant ever paleontological discoveries. Deposits of ancient mudstone, about 520 million years old, have yielded a spectacular variety of exquisitely preserved fossils that record the early diversification of animal life. Since the discovery of the first specimens in 1984, many thousands of fossils have been collected, exceptionally preserving not just the shells and carapaces of the animals, but also their soft tissues in fine detail. This special preservation has produced fossils of rare beauty; they are also of outstanding scientific importance as sources of evidence about the origins of animal groups that have sustained global biodiversity to the present day.
Much of the scientific documentation of the Chengjiang biota is in Chinese, and the first edition of this book was the first in English to provide fossil enthusiasts with a comprehensive overview of the fauna. The second edition has been fully updated and includes a new chapter on other exceptionally preserved fossils of Cambrian age, exciting new fossil finds from Chengjiang, and a phylogenetic framework for the biota. Displaying some 250 figures of marvelous specimens, this book presents to professional and amateur paleontologists, and all those fascinated by evolutionary biology, the aesthetic and scientific quality of the Chengjiang fossils.

Author Information
• Hou Xian-guang is former Director, Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming
• David J. Siveter is Professor Emeritus of Paleontology, University of Leicester
• Derek J. Siveter is Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
• Richard J. Aldridge was Professor Emeritus and F.W. Bennett Professor of Geology, University of Leicester
• Cong Pei-yun is Professor of Paleobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming
• Sarah E. Gabbott is Professor of Paleobiology, University of Leicester
• Ma Xiao-ya is Professor of Paleobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, and the Natural History Museum, London
• Mark A. Purnell is Professor of Paleobiology, University of Leicester
• Mark Williams is Professor of Paleobiology, University of Leicester