Progress and significance in research on the early Middle Cambrian Kaili Biota, Guizhou Province, China

Important progress in research on the Kaili Biota has been made recently. Many interesting components from Chengjiang Biota and Burgess Shale Biota have been discovered, e. g. Microdictyon of lobopodia; Ottoia, Palaeoscolex of worms; Naraoial Marrella of Trilobitioidea, Mollisonia, anamalocarids and other non-trilobite arthropods; and new sorts of echinoder-mas, macroalage fossils and so on. Recent work on the Kaili Biota has resulted in the following developments: (i) an increase in the number of animal genera, up to more than 100 genera in total, so that the Kaili Biota has become the third most diverse of the Burgess Shale-type Biota after the Burgess Shale and Chengjiang Biotas; and (ii) the most noteworthy fossils in the Kaili Biota are echinoderms, non-trilobite arthropods and soft-bodied medusiform fossils, especially the most diverse echinoderms. The progress provides envidence for the biodiversity of marine organisms presented after the "Cambrian Explosion" and serves as a link between the earlist Cambrian Chengjiang Biota and late early Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale Biota. It is of great significance in the reconstruction of the Cambrian palaeoplate, palaeongeography and in research on taphonomy.