Yangtzedonta and the early evolution of shelled molluscs

The holotype of Yangtzedonta Yu, 1985 and its type species, Y. primitiva Yu, 1985, is an incomplete specimen of Xianfengella prima He et Yang, 1982. Therefore, based on the principle of priority, the names Yangtzedonta and Y. primitiva Yu (1985) should be abandoned. The fact that ventral valve of Xianfengella is bilaterally symmetrical indicates that they are not the left valve of a bivalved mollusc, as originally proposed by Yu. At present, the oldest certain bivalve is Xianfengoconcha elliptica Zhang, which occurs in the Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Stage in China. The oldest known rostroconch is Heraultipegma yunnanensis He et Yang, which first occurs in the third small shelly fossil assemblage zone of the Early Cambrian Meishucunian Stage. The oldest known monoplacophoran, Maikhanella pristinis (Jiang), first occurs in the first small shelly fossil assemblage zone (Meishucunian Stage). Evidence derived from analyses of shell morphology, mode of growth, histology, and stratigraphic occurrence suggests that bivalves evolved from a branch of rostroconchs, and that rostroconchs in turn evolved from a branch of monoplacophorans. The hypothesis that these three groups originated simultaneously and independently at the beginning of the Cambrian and subsequently evolved in parallel, probably is incorrect.