Major New Cambrian Fossil Site Found in China

The extensive bed contains some
surprises as well as “more of the same”
to the consternation of some evolutionists

This article was first published at Science & Culture Today.

Get to Know the Name: Huayuan Is a
Major New Cambrian Fossil Site Found in China
by David Coppedge
Science & Culture Today, 9 Feb 2026.

The Burgess Shale in Canada has been famous for over a century. It is the archetype of well-preserved Cambrian fossils. In 1988, the Chengjiang site in China startled paleontologists with its colorful specimens showing exceptional preservation (Lagerstätte). In 2014, another site in British Columbia near the Burgess Shale, Marble Canyon, was discovered with comparable fossils. Several lesser Cambrian sites around the world have been identified as “Burgess Shale Type” fossil beds (BST).

Now, another Cambrian fossil site that rivals the original Burgess Shale has been announced to the world: the Huayuan site in southern China, over 650 miles northeast of the Chengjiang site. The extensive bed contains some surprises as well as “more of the same” to the consternation of some evolutionists.

The Discovery

The Chinese Academy of Sciences boasts that the new site is top-notch among BST fossil beds:

The Huayuan biota boasts an extraordinary abundance and diversity of soft-bodied fossils, exceptional fidelity of soft-tissue preservation, and complex ecosystem structures, establishing it as a top-rank Burgess Shale-type fossil deposit, rivaling China’s Chengjiang biota and Canada’s Burgess Shale biota.

What’s New at Huayuan

The surprises include new species and the reappearance of species from the Burgess Shale, halfway around the world. James Woodford at New Scientist says, “So far, they have analysed 8681 fossils from 153 species, nearly 60 per cent of which are new to science.”

The Chinese Academy emphasizes the number collected over those analyzed:

The story of the discovery began in 2020 in Huayuan County, in central China’s Hunan Province, when road construction exposed ancient shale rock layers. Scientists began excavating the area and uncovered an extraordinary site. To date, they have collected over 50,000 fossils. An initial study of thousands of these specimens revealed 153 animal species, with a remarkable 59 percent being completely new to science.

The fossils represent 16 animal phyla….

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Artist conception of the Huayuan ecosystem. All the animals fit into known phyla and resemble other Cambrian BST species, with some variations.
(Image by YANG Dinghua & Scientific Visualization Team at ScienceNet.cn)