Yunnan University's research team discovers new Cambrian mollusk

A research finding from the Yunnan Key Laboratory for Paleontology at Yunnan University was published in Science – one of the most respected and widely cited scientific journals in the world – on Aug 2, detailing the discovery of a new mollusk.

Yunnan University is located in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The paper was collaboratively completed by Zhang Guangxu, a PhD graduate from Yunnan University (first author), and his advisor, Researcher Ma Xiaoya (co-corresponding author), along with Associate Professor Luke Parry from the University of Oxford (co-corresponding author) and Dr Jakob Vinther from the University of Bristol (co-author).

The research team discovered a new Cambrian mollusk in the Cambrian Guanshan biota, dated to 514 million years ago, in Yunnan. They named it Shishania aculeata.

The specimen is only a few centimeters long, with a flat, bilaterally symmetrical, oval-shaped body that lacks a shell. The dorsal side of the body is densely covered with small spiny ossicles, while the ventral side is smooth and features broad and muscular feet.

The research received financial support from a major project funded by the Yunnan Department of Science and Technology.