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New Animal Species that Survived Mass Extinction Event Half a Billion Years Ago Found in a Quarry in China
The Huayuan biota, with 153 species and nearly 60% new to science, reveals deep-water ecosystems survived the Sinsk extinction, offering insights into early marine biodiversity recovery.
- A quarry in Huayuan County, Hunan Province yielded the Huayuan biota, an extraordinary 512-million-year-old fossil site preserving almost an entire ecosystem shortly after the Sinsk extinction.
- Around 513.5 million years ago, the Sinsk event caused major declines in several animal groups, but Zeng says the deep‑water environment at Huayuan's outer shelf served as a refuge.
- So far, the team has analysed 8,681 fossils representing 153 species, nearly 60 per cent new to science, with over 50,000 specimens collected from a quarry 12 meters high, 30 meters long and eight meters wide.
- The discovery places Huayuan alongside the Burgess Shale with shared taxa Helmetia and Surusicaris, plus the world's oldest pelagic tunicate and 80-centimetre Guanshancaris kunmingensis, indicating wide dispersal soon after the Sinsk extinction.
- Maoyan Zhu's team classified Huayuan as a Burgess Shale‑type Lagerstätte with exceptional soft‑tissue preservation including internal organs and neural tissues, opening a new window on post-extinction recovery and keeping researchers busy for years.
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The researchers identified 153 fossilized animal species, 91 of which were previously unknown.
The fossils were discovered in a mining quarry in the province of Hunan, in southern China. He found distant ancestors of worms, sponges, corals and jellyfish.
·Paris, France
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Scientists discovered, in a small pit, in a quarry in China,153 fossilized animal species, including 91 new ones.
·Montreal, Canada
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ABC FOX Montana+13 Reposted by 13 other sources
'Extraordinary' trove of ancient species found in China quarry
Almost a hundred new animal species that survived a mass extinction event half a billion years ago have been discovered in a small quarry in China, scientists revealed Wednesday.
·Missoula, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources25
Leaning Left4Leaning Right2Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Center
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
60% Center
L 27%
C 60%
13%
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