Kaili Formation

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The "Kaili Formation", also frequently referred to in the literature as the Kaili Biota, is a lower Cambrian Konservat Lagerstätte fossil site named for nearby city of Kaili, in Taijiang County, Guizhou province in southwest China. The Kaili formation is more than 200 meters thick and ranges from early to early middle Cambrian (513–501 Ma). This age places it between the two most important and famous Cambrian Lagerstätten, the Burgess Shale and the Maotianshan Shale (also called the Chengjiang Biota). The faunal assemblage is highly diverse, comprising some 110 genera among 11 phyla; of these, some 40 genera are in common with the Burgess shale, and some 30 with the Maotianshan Shale. Trilobites and eocrinoids with hard parts that are easily preserved are the most common fossils, but many animals with only soft tissues are also preserved. For example, an arthropod similar to the Parvancorina found in the Neoproterozoic age Ediacara Hills of South Australia has been found at the Kaili site. Some other notable fossils discovered at Kaili are putative invertebrate eggs and embryos (Lin, et. al., 2006), Naraoiids, chancellorids, and Marrella.