Language: English
Middle and Late Cambrian trilobite faunas are described from the Dama, Haichongkou, Elitang and Shishangguan (Chenxi) sections in western Hunan, China. There, trilobites are the most common macrofossils and include a mixture of cosmopolitan agnostoids and polymerids, most of the fossils are well preserved in dark gray or gray granular, laminated, argillaceous carbonates. The trilobite faunas are assigned to 63 genera and subgenera, 84 species, and two forms of gen. et sp. indetermined. Three new species were described by author in 2004. the discovery of this genus is significant for biostratigraphic correlation of the Late Cambrian in the Australo-Asia region.
During the Middle and Late Cambrian, the study area had well-developed carbonate gravity deposits, particularly in the Fenghuang and adjacent areas. This paper describes in detail slope fan deposit characters of the Lejopyge laevigata to Corynexochus plumula-Sinoproceratopyge cf. kiangshanensis zones. According to their distribution and thickness, three main slope fan deposits have been recognized in the study area.
According to vertical distribution regularity, the Middle and Late Cambrian trilobites can be divided into 9 trilobite communities for the Dama section and 4 trilobite communities for the Haichongkou section.