Heliomedusa orienta Chengjiang Biota Yunnan Province China

The brachiopod Heliomedusa orienta is a species found in the Chengjiang biota. The source of the specific name is easy to understand as original discoverers thought it to be a jellyfish. While the taxon had a widespread distribution throughout eastern Yunnan Province, this one comes from the most famous Chengjiang Biota locale: Mao Tian Hill, site of the original discovery.

The Maotianshan Shales come from lower Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu formation are famous for their Konservat-Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. There are some forty Cambrian fossil locations worldwide exhibiting exquisite preservation of rarely preserved, non-mineralized soft tissue, and the Maotianshan shales are one of them. They are comparable to the fossils of the Burgess Shale and take their name from Maotianshan Hill, in Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. The Chengjiang biota has all the animal groups found in the Burgess Shale but are ten million years older. It strongly supports the idea that metazoans diversified earlier and faster in the early Cambrian than does the Burgess Shale fauna by itself.

Matrix Size: 40mm H X 35mm W X 10mm D, Heliomedusa size: Approximately 7mm diameter

Ships in a display box with information and COA. Tag stand included. Acrylic base and photo cube are not included.

FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING (2-3 days) IN THE USA