Phytoplanktonic sea lily fossils.
Fossils of sea lilies with bottoms.
Yang Jiongli
The sea lily is an ancient invertebrate echinoderm, also known as the pentagram lily. There is a mouth in the center of the body, and there are five wrists around it, and each wrist is divided into many flower-like feathers, and the whole is like a lily flowering, hence the name. The reason why the sea lily has high scientific research value and archaeological value is because the living environment is extremely demanding, and it can become a complete fossil that is extremely rare, like a work of art that is ingenious and resembles a lotus flower, and it is vivid.
Sea lilies not only provide important evidence for the study of the paleogeological environment, but also are treasures of fossil collectors, known as "lily jade". The world's Shanghai lily fossils are mainly concentrated in the German Alps and China, of which the sea lily fossils excavated in Guizhou are more systematic, most of which are concentrated in the Triassic period, with a total of more than 10 species.
In the Late Triassic strata of Guanling and Zhenfeng, the perfect and abundant sea lily fossils are rare in China and the world, rich in number, widely distributed, and have high research value.
My in-depth understanding of hailili was only after undertaking the task of compiling the "Guizhou Guanling National Geopark Feasibility Study Report" in 2003 and conducting in-depth research on the Guanling area, that I knew the scientific research value and significance of this fossil. The Guanling area was a bay environment in the Late Triassic period, and gradually evolved from shallow sea land sheds to limited basins. The area is in a residual basin, with a warm and humid climate and abundant organic matter constantly carried into the sea by rivers, providing abundant nutrients for primary consumers such as marine lilies, molluscs, brachiopods and some fish, and ultimately for marine reptiles such as the predator Ichthyosaurus, who are at the top of the food chain in the ocean. The organisms in the Guanling biota compete and are interdependent, together maintaining a thriving ecosystem. 220 million years ago, the seawater in the bays where these organisms lived may be intermittently desalinated by freshwater injections, and lead to intermittent hypoxia in the marine environment on which the organism originally depended, and biological clusters died and buried into fossil clusters.
The remains of the Triassic biota of Guanling are characterized by marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, ichthyosaurs, sea dragons and shield-toothed dragons, etc., with which symbiotic fossil categories include sea lilies, fish, ammonites, bivalves and plants, etc., with rich fossil species and complete preservation. Among them, the sea lily is a representative creature of this period, living about 240 million years ago. Guanling biota marine reptiles and marine lilies have a large number, well-preserved and exquisite morphology that are rare in the strata of the same period in foreign countries, and the multi-phyla fossils constitute a wonderful ancient marine animal ecosystem, which is a brilliant treasure of rare and rare fossils. Hailed by geological paleontologists as "the world's unique treasure trove of Triassic fossils", it is by far the world's largest, best-preserved and largest fossil group. It is of particularly important scientific significance for the classification and evolution of marine reptiles and marine lilies. At the same time, it fills the gap in international research on the evolution of marine reptiles, which is of great significance for the study of paleontology, paleoecology, paleociliation, paleogeography, burial and stratigraphy in the Late Triassic Period.
Triassic fossils in guizhou geological history, in addition to ichthyosaurs and sea lilies in Places such as Guanling, the discovery of Guizhou dragons is also enough to shock the world. In 1957, Mr. Hu Chengzhi of the Geological Museum of China collected Guizhou dragon fossils in Dingxiao Luyin Village, Xingyi, Southwest Qianxi, and was later named "Guizhou Dragon of the Guizhou Dragon genus Hu clan" by Professor Yang Zhongjian, director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since then, domestic researchers have found nearly a thousand fish fossils in the same area, which have been named "Oriental Rib Scale Fish", "Guizhou Chinese True Crocodile", "Xingyi Asian Scaly Tooth Fish" and so on, of which 226 are designated as national precious cultural relics. The discovery of the "Guizhou Dragon" fossil group has caused a sensation in the field of paleontological fossil research at home and abroad, and southwest Qianxi has become an important production area and research base for paleontology in China. Guizhou dragon is the earliest discovery, study and naming of triassic marine reptiles in China, and it is also the first discovery of primitive finnosaurs in Asia, and its discovery is of great significance to the study of the evolution and paleogeography of marine reptiles.
Guizhou Triassic paleontological fossils are a large number, rich in form and variety, and are a treasure house of geological resources in the world. Academician Ouyang Ziyuan, a geochemistry and astrologer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Guizhou is a world-class treasure house of the Triassic paleontological community, among which the sea lilies are the only paleontological heritage in the world. It can be said that except for Guizhou, no other region in the world can clearly explain the history of the Triassic period of the earth's oceans. Guizhou has a world-class heritage represented by the Triassic geological relics landscape, and many large-scale tourist attractions are closely related to the Triassic, among which Qingyan Ancient Town, Huangguoshu, Dragon Palace, Maling River, Wanfeng Forest, etc. are all developed in the Triassic shallow sea deep-sea transition zone. ”
The scientific significance, rarity, uniqueness and aesthetic value of Guizhou Triassic geological relics are the precious wealth of Guizhou and have a special position of decisive importance in the world. To this end, relevant departments and scientific workers inside and outside the province have made a lot of fruitful research, and have repeatedly given suggestions and suggestions to the state to build the "Guizhou Triassic Global Geopark". The main core content of the park is the establishment of the "Great Guizhou Beach" Triassic National Geological Relics Park.
The core area of "Daguizhou Beach" is located in Pangeng Township, Luodian County, Qiannan Prefecture, originally known as "Ban geng tan". From 1988 to 1991, after three years of investigation, Chinese and American experts found that the strata, zone and Pangeng Beach of triassic fauna fossils were connected in Guizhou, and they were uniformly named "Great guizhou beach". Professor Paul Enos, an internationally renowned sedimentary geologist, believes that Ban Geng Beach is unique in today's world and has very important scientific research value. The late Permian to Triassic strata are very well exposed here, and the records of the extinction of biological clusters at the end of the Permian are extremely clear, and the extremely single microbial sedimentary blue fungus limestone that appears after it is the main object for studying the causes and consequences of the extinction of biological clusters, and is currently only found in a few places in the world. International academic circles believe that "Greater Guizhou Beach" is one of the most ideal areas for global research on the extinction of biological clusters at the end of the Permian and the recovery of Triassic organisms. Moreover, the karst landforms of the region are colorful and magnificent, which is an ideal area for establishing a national park or geopark.
The author Yang Jiongli is a researcher at the Development Research Center of the People's Government of Guizhou Province and the executive director of the Guizhou Branch of the Urban and Rural Planning and Design Research Institute of China Social Sciences (Beijing).