近年来,由于大量可靠的前寒武纪多细胞动物化石的发现,激起了各国学者在前寒武纪地层中寻找多细胞动物化石及其遗迹的热情。华北辽东半岛南部新元古界兴民村组“类水母”化石自上个世纪80年代中期发现以来,一直被大多数学者认为是可能的后生动物化石。然而,笔者通过对“类水母”化石的形态学及生长模式的研究,认为辽南前寒武系兴民村组“类水母”化石可能并非多细胞动物化石,而是一类亲缘关系不明的不具备运动能力的底栖生物化石,该化石具有无限的线性增长方式。关于其生物学属性需要进行进一步的研究。
In recent years, the discovery of large numbers of reliable Precambrian metazoan fossils, has aroused the scientists' interests all over the world in searching for the metazoan fossils and their traces in the Precambrian strata. The Neoproterozoic 'medusoid' fossils from the Xingmincun Formation of southern Liaoning Province, North China, have been considered as metazoan fossils since they were discovered in 1980s. However, based on our study on the morphology and growth pattern of 'medusoid' fossils, we propose that they may not be metazoan fossils actually, but a kind of benthic organisms which had no ability to move when they were alive with their affinity remaining problematic, and they had indeterminate and linear growth method. Further research for confirming their real affinity is still needed.