'Sophisticated' Bronze Age city unearthed in Kazakhstan 'transforms our understanding of steppe societies' - Live Science

The holotype of Polyostiosphaera operculata gen. et sp. nov. from the early Cambrian Kuanchuanpu Biota (NIGP210977). (a, b) Light microscopy images. (c, d) Scanning electron microscopy images. (e–g, j) Surface renderings; the outer envelope, plug-like opercula, membrane and inner body are indicated by green, pink, blue and yellow, respectively. (h) Transparent model showing the inner body. (i, k) Virtual three-dimensional sections of (f) and (j), respectively. (l) Virtual slice of (f). (m) Close-up view of (a). (n, o) Close-up views of (c). (p) Close-up view of (l), showing the spatial relationships among the plug-like opercula, outer envelope, membrane and internal cells. White arrows, apertures; pink arrows, plug-like opercula. Yellow, blue and pink outline internal cells, the membrane and plug-like opercula, respectively. Scale bars: (a–i, l) 200 μm, (j, k) 180 μm, (m) 66 μm, (n) 60 μm, (o) 64 μm, (p) 37 μm. Credit: Chen et al. (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2026). The Cambrian explosion was a major diversification of animal life that unfolded early in the Cambrian period, which began around 538.8 million years ago.