A group of halobios fossils, dating back more than 530 million years, are being displayed in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The exhibits at the Chengjiang Mount Maotian Ancient Life Research Station under the Nanjing Geology and Ancient Life Research Institute, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, are the fossils of a dozen animal species such as poriferan, coelenterate, brachipods, mollusca and arthropod, and many alga fossils.

Chinese scientists found the first fossil of an animal of the early Cambrian period on the Mount Tianmao in Chengjiang County in 1984. Later, they launched systematic investigations and large scale excavations at the site, and conducted in-depth research on all fossils they have unearthed.

The discovery, regarded as "one of the most stunning scientific discoveries in the world in the 20th century," has brought the evolution history of most existing animals back to the Cambrian period.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2002)