Precambrian phosphatized embryos and larvae from the Doushantuo Formation and their affinities, Guizhou (SW China)

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Abstract
Weng,an phosphates of the Precambrian Dou-shantuo Formation, Guizhou (southwestern China) preserve a large number of exquisite biological structures, which are mostly micro-spherical and represent seaweeds, acritarchs and developing eggs related to various groups of metazoans. Here is a report of a variety of developing eggs and larvae, which are most probably of Cnidarian affinity. The eggs ex-amined in the study are composed of early cleavage embryos and two-layered gastrulae. The early cleavage embryos are radial and total cleavage with equal-size blastomeres. The gastrulae mostly bear a large archenteron, which is filled with yolk-degrading organic matter. Ovoid to fusiform planula-like larvae identified in thin sections under light microscope are mostly mouthless and their gastrovascularcavity is filled with possible yolk-degrading organic matter. They are likely representatives of non-feeding larva. The uncommon planula-like structures are hollow, with each having a mouth-like structure on its narrow end. We inter-pret them as feeding larva. Study of these embryos with pos-sible Cnidarian affinities shed new insight on the origin ofmetazoans.

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