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    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > Northwestern University Nature's latest article: the earliest bryozoan fossil found on earth

    Northwestern University Nature's latest article: the earliest bryozoan fossil found on earth

    • Last Update: 2021-11-15
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    On the evening of October 27th, Beijing time, "Nature" published the latest results of doctoral student Zhang Zhiliang and others under the guidance of Professor Zhang Zhifei from the early life research team of Northwest University-"Fossil evidence reveals that the bryozoa originated in the Cambrian Early” announced the discovery of the earliest known bryozoan (bryozoan) fossil on earth in Zhenba County, southern Shaanxi Province, which pushed the origin of bryozoa forward for at least 50 million years, and further supported the proposal of the academician Shu Degan’s team.
    The "three-act Cambrian explosion" hypothesis perfected the 40 million-year construction process of the Cambrian earth animal tree, effectively connecting the three major animal sub-units (basic animals, protomouth animals, and backmouth animals).
    A chain of fossil evidence that emerged in a sexual, phased manner
    .



    The Cambrian Explosion is the most magnificent life explosion event of a bisymmetrical animal known on earth
    .


    Between 54 and 518 million years ago, the early ancestors of almost all modern animals, including vertebrates, suddenly appeared in the earth’s oceans


    The Northwest University research team discovered millimeter-level microfossils in the bioclastic limestone in the Xihaoping section of the Dengying Formation in the Xiaoyangba section of Zhenba County, southern Shaanxi Province through acid etching treatment experiments
    .


    Through the preliminary research of the research group and the cooperation with international scholars, these micro-fossils are believed to be the earliest fossils of bryozoans on earth, revealing the Cambrian origin of this genus


    Through scanning electron microscopy (SEM and BSEM) and X-ray tomography (μ-CT) analysis, Zhang Zhiliang and others believe that the multi-level plasticity and complex modular construction of the bryozoan population originated 530 million years ago, clarifying the Cambrian.
    Important ecological innovation during the outbreak
    .

    The individual bryozoans are small, with calcareous or chitin chambers on the body surface.
    They are typical shell reef-building animals and usually live on other shell animals or hard bottom ocean surfaces
    .


    The discovery of this fossil in argillaceous limestone in southern Shaanxi indicates that Cambrian bryozoans are similar to those of the later genus and are suitable for living in a clear, hard-bottomed environment


    Academician Shu Degan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said, “This incident once again perfectly supports the correctness of our hypothesis of the'three-act Cambrian explosion', or it further confirms that this hypothesis is reliable and scientifically predictable
    .


    ” (General Taiwan reporter Lei Kai and Yang Yutong)

    Original link: https://content-static.



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