Early Cambrian eocrinoids from Guizhou Province, South China

Numerous specimens of Guizhoueocrinus yui n gen. et sp. occur in the middle-upper parts of the Lower Cambrian Balang Formation, eastern Guizhou, and are the earliest well preserved gogiids. Mature specimens are larger than most comparable gogiids, thecal plates are very numerous and sutural pores are smaller. Stalk is polyplated, conical and long; brachioles (up to 10) are spirally coiled. The species comprises a significant component of the Balang Fauna. It is distinctly different than Sinoeocrinus lui and Sinoeocrinus globus from the Middle Cambrian Kaili Biota in the adjacent region in Guizhou. This new gogiid expands the geographic range of Lower Cambrian eocrinoids and provides significant new data on gogiid evolution.