Thaumaptilon

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Thaumoptilon is a fossil sea pen, an invertebrate from the Cambrian period. It was up to 20 cm long. It attached itself to the sea floor with a holdfast.

Leaf-shaped, Thaumoptilon had a central axis extending to its tip,with many "ribs" radiating from it, in a similar manner to the ribs of a leaf. these may have had canals connecting them to the axis. One side of its surface was covered in spots, which might have been zooids.

Thaumaptilon is considered important due to its resemblance to some Ediacaran fauna. It may be a link between the Ediacaran fauna and the later sea pens.[1]