中国科学院南京地质古生物研究所机构知识库

Putative fossil embryos and larvae from the Precambrian phosphorite rocks of the Doushantuo Formation in Southwest China have been examined in thin section by bright field and polarized light microscopy. Although we cannot completely exclude a nonbiological or nonmetazoan origin, we identified what appear to be modern cnidarian developmental stages, including both anthozoan planula larvae and hydrozoan embryos. Most importantly, the sections contain a variety of small (less than or equal to 200 Gem) structures that greatly resemble gastrula stage embryos of modern bilaterian forms.