The earliest species of<i>Burlingia</i>Walcott, 1908 (Trilobita) from South China: biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical significance

Abstract

Abstract Burlingia balangensis sp. nov. from the lower Cambrian of South China represents the earliest species of this genus, and suggests that the genus may have originated in South China. A revision of the genus shows that B. primitiva and B. obscura can be used in order to indentify the base of the Cambrian Stage 5 when other trilobites are absent because their last appearance datum (LAD) coincides with the first appearance datum (FAD) of Oryctocephalus indicus . Available palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic models suggest five major palaeocurrents during Cambrian times which could control the migration patterns of the Burlingia clade from South China to Baltica.