Petalilium

Petalilium latus
Temporal range: Chengjiang
↓
A reconstruction of the closely related species Nectocaris pteryx. Petalilium was larger in size, but otherwise comparable to Nectocaris.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca (?)
Stem-group: Cephalopoda (?)
Family: †Nectocarididae
Genus: †Petalilium
Species: †P. latus
Binomial name
Petalilium latus
Luo & Hu 1999[1]
Synonyms

Petalilium (sometimes mis-spelled Petalium)[3] is an enigmatic genus of Cambrian organism of uncertain affinity known from the Haikou area,[4] from the Maoshoiatan mudstone member of the Chengjiang biota.[5]

Contents

Morphology

Fossils of Petalilium[note 1] show a dorsoventrally flattened body, usually 5 to 6 centimetres, but ranging from 1.5 to 10 cm. It has an ovate trunk region and a large muscular foot, and a head with stalked eyes and a pair of long tentacles. The trunk region possesses about 50 soft, flexible, transverse bars, lateral serialised structures of unknown affinity. The upper part of the body, interpreted as a mantle, is covered with a random array of spines on the back, while gills project underneath. A complete, tubular gut runs the length of the body.

Classification

Whilst it was originally described as a phyllocarid,[1] and a ctenophore affinity has been suggested,[6] neither interpretation is supported by any compelling evidence.[7]

Some of the characters observed in Chen et al.'s 2005 study suggested that Petalilium may be related to mollusks, a view supported by its similarity to the putative early cephalopod Nectocaris.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ (originally described as Vetustovermis by Chen et al. 2005, but recognised as Petalilium by Smith & Caron 2010)

References

  1. ^ a b H. Luo, S. Hu, L. Chen, S. Zhang and Y. Tao, (1999) (in Chinese with an English abstract)). Early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna from Kunming region, China, Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming, China. pp. 129. 
  2. ^ a b Smith, M. R.; Caron, J. B. (2010). "Primitive soft-bodied cephalopods from the Cambrian". Nature 465 (7297): 469. Bibcode 2010Natur.465..469S. doi:10.1038/nature09068. PMID 20505727. http://individual.utoronto.ca/martinsmith/nectocaris.html.  edit
  3. ^ Chen, J. Y.; Huang, D. Y.; Bottjer, D. J. (2005). "An Early Cambrian problematic fossil: Vetustovermis and its possible affinities.". Proceedings of the Royal Society, Part B 272 (1576): 2003–2007. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3159. PMC 1559895. PMID 16191609. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1559895.  edit
  4. ^ Steiner, M.; Zhu, M.; Zhao, Y.; Erdtmann, B. (2005). "Lower Cambrian Burgess Shale-type fossil associations of South China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 220: 129. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2003.06.001.  edit
  5. ^ Han, J.; Shu, D.; Zhang, Z.; Liu, J.; Zhang, X.; Yao, Y. (2006). "Preliminary notes on soft-bodied fossil concentrations from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang deposits". Chinese Science Bulletin 51 (20): 2482. doi:10.1007/s11434-005-2151-0.  edit
  6. ^ L.Z. Chen, H.L. Luo, S.X. Hu, J.Y. Yin, Z.W. Jiang, Z.L. Wu, F. Li and A.L. Chen (2002) (in Chinese, with English abstract)). Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna in Eastern Yunnan, China, Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming. pp. 199. 
  7. ^ Hu, S.; Steiner, M.; Zhu, M.; Erdtmann, B. D.; Luo, H.; Chen, L.; Weber, B. (2007). "Diverse pelagic predators from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte and the establishment of modern-style pelagic ecosystems in the early Cambrian". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 254: 307. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.03.044.  edit