Unusual Arthropod and Brachiopod Chengjiang Fossil Association

Description: This is a fine association piece. The unusual arthropod is known as Ercaicunia multinodosa. The species is known mostly from the thin-shelled carapace. This one, however, shows most all of the body and the gut trace. The small brachiopod is known as Lingulellotreta malonggensis. The species is a relatively common member of the biota. It may have used its long pedicle to project itself above the bottom as shown in the restoration. This species has been reported from both Chengjiang and Haikou.. The diversity of soft-tissue fossils is astonishing: algae, medusiforms, sponges, priapulids, annelid-like worms, echinoderms, arthropods (including trilobites), hemichordates, chordates, and the first agnathan fish make up just a small fraction of the total. Numerous problematic forms are known as well, some of which may have represented failed attempts at diversity that did not persist to the present day. This is an excellent association plaque showing two of the diverse lifeforms of the Chengjiang Biota.