NEW LOCALITIES AND MATERIAL OF THE UPPER EDIACARAN MIAOHE BIOTA IN SOUTH CHINA

Exceptionally preserved carbonaceous compression macrofossils have been reported from a number of Ediacaran successions around the world, providing a crucial view of the marine ecosystem shortly before the Cambrian explosion. One of the best known assemblages is the Miaohe Biota, initially described from the upper Ediacaran (>551 Ma) Miaohe Member at the Miaohe Village on the northern bank of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, South China. Until recently, this was the only known locality of the Miaohe biota in the Yangtze Gorges area, and equivalent strata in neighbouring areas have not been known to contain macrofossils, leading to problems about the environmental, ecological, taphonomic distribution of the Miaohe biota, as well as the stratigraphic correlation of the Miaohe Member. Here we report a large number of macroscopic carbonaceous compression fossils from the Miaohe Member at three new localities to the north and northwest of the Miaohe Village. The new material includes twenty seven species, a handful of which are new species. These fossils mostly represent benthic multicellular algae and are taxonomically similar to those from the Miaohe Village, thus significantly extending the geographic distribution of the Miaohe Biota and providing new insights into the Ediacaran diversification of macroalgae. They also help us to understand the paleoecology and taphonomy of Ediacaran macroalgal fossils.