Eumetazoan fossils in terminal Proterozoic phosphorites?

Phosphatic sedimentary rocks preserve a record of early animal life differe nt from and complementary to that provided by Ediacaran fossils in terminal Proterozoic sandstones and shales. Phosphorites of the Doushantuo Formatio n. South China. contain eggs, egg cases, and stereoblastulae that document animals of unspecified phylogenetic position; small fossils containing puta tive spicules may specifically record the presence of sponges. Microfossils recently interpreted as the preserved gastrulae of cnidarian and bilateria n metazoans can alternatively be interpreted as conventional algal cysts an d/or egg Eases modified by diagenetic processes known to have had a pervasi ve influence on Doushantuo phosphorites. Regardless of this interpretation, evidence for Doushantuo eumetazoans is provided by millimeter-scale tubes that display tabulation and apical budding characteristic of some Cnidaria, especially the extinct tabulates. Like some Ediacaran remains, these small , benthic, colonial fossils may represent stemgroup eumetazoans or stem-gro up cnidarians that lived in the late Proterozoic ocean.