Discovery and significance of Naraoia from the Qiandongian (lower Cambrian) Balang Formation, Eastern Guizhou, South China

Naraoia is a taxon represented by commonly non-mineralized fossil found in lower–middle Cambrian strata and widely distributed in China, North America, and is an important component of Burgess Shale-type biotas. Well-preserved representatives of Naraoia are known from the Chengjiang and Kaili biotas of South China. Here, we report a new species of Naraoia, Naraoia taijiangensis sp. nov. from the Balang Fauna, Guizhou, South China. The new species clearly represents an intermediate morphology between Misszhouia longicadata and N. cf. N. compacta. It is obvious that there is a body-morphologic evolution for Naraoia from the Cambrian Series 2 to Cambrian Series 3 (lower Cambrian to the middle Cambrian). N. taijiangensis sp. nov. provides new data about evolution and geographical range of this genus.