Markuelia

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Markuelia is a genus of fossil worm-like bilaterian animals allied to Ecdysozoa and known from strata of Lower Cambrian to Lower Ordovician age. There are two known species, Markuelia hunanensis and Markuelia secunda, that the genus encompasses; the closest known relatives are Loricifera, Kinorhyncha and Priapulida.

An advanced X-ray imaging technique called called X-ray tomographic microscopy has been applied to splendidly preserved, uncrushed Markuelia fossils found in Hunan province in southern China and in eastern Siberia. When details in features smaller than one micrometre across can be observed, these fossils are seen to represent many developmental stages, from the first cell divisions to the time of hatching; therefore they offer a unique opportunity to study the development of Lower Cambrian animals. They also yield remarkable insights into the phylogeny of the whole taxon that is today known by the name of Scalidophora.