| Vetulicola cuneata Temporal range: Cambrian |
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|---|---|
| V. cuneata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Superphylum: | Deuterostomia |
| Phylum: | Vetulicolia Shu, et al. 2001 |
| Family: | Vetulicolidae |
| Genus: | Vetulicola |
| Species: | Vetulicola cuneata (Hou, 1987) |
Vetulicola cuneata ("Wedged-shaped ancient dweller") is the type species of a genus of small, Early Cambrian animals from the Chengjiang biota of China.
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V. cuneata has a body composed of two distinct parts of approximately equal length. The front part is rectangular with a carapace-like structure of four rigid cuticular plates fused together, with a large mouth at the front end: there is a keel-like extension of the body wall on the top and belly. The posterior section is slender, strongly cuticularised and placed dorsally. Paired openings connecting the pharynx to the outside run down the sides. These features are interpreted as possible primitive gill slits. Vetulicola cuneata could be up to 7 cm long.
It is assumed that V. cuneata spent most or all of its time swimming in the water column. Sediment found within the gut suggest that it was a deposit-feeder, possibly swimming to and from favorable feeding sites. One specimen that had a pair of the putative carpoid echinoderm, Cotyledion tyloides attached to the terminal tail segment lead one researcher to speculatre that V. cuneata lay buried in the sediment, with only its terminal segment exposed, but, nothing about its anatomy, or the taphonomy of its fossils, suggest that it was a burrower. Rather, it's more likely that larval C. tyloides would occasionally settle on the terminal segment, then take advantage of serendipity to feed whenever their host discharged nutrient-rich fecal matter.