Rhynchonelliformean brachiopods with soft-tissue preservation from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte of South China

Kutorgina chengjiangensis material from Chengjiang preserves paired valves together with an early spirolophe-stage lophophore, digestive tract and pedicle, directly documenting soft anatomy in an early calcareous-shelled rhynchonelliformean.

Chengjiang Kutorgina specimens preserve paired valves with lophophore, digestive tract and pedicle anatomy; this formation-scale sample documents one early rhynchonelliformean, not the global origin of brachiopods.

Zhang et al. establish Kutorgina chengjiangensis from Chengjiang material and describe its articulated brachiopod anatomy; the species-level diagnosis is distinct from any claim that it is a direct brachiopod ancestor.

The Kutorgina chengjiangensis occurrence documented here is restricted to the Chengjiang Lagerstätte in Yunnan, South China; it does not establish the complete geographic range of the species or brachiopods.

The preserved lophophore and pedicle support a suspension-feeding, attached functional interpretation for the sampled Kutorgina chengjiangensis anatomy; feeding behaviour and habitat use remain inferred rather than directly observed.

The Kutorgina chengjiangensis material in the Chengjiang Lagerstätte supports a 520–518 Ma Early Cambrian formation-scale study window; this bounded occurrence is not a global brachiopod FAD, LAD or continuous lineage range.