''Vetulicola'' is an extinct genus of marine animal discovered from the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is the eponymous member of the enigmatic taxon

Vetulicolia Vetulicolia is a group of bilaterian marine animals encompassing several extinct species from the Cambrian, and possibly Ediacaran, periods. As of 2023, the majority of workers favor placing Vetulicolians in the stem group of the Chordata, but ...

, which is of uncertain affinities but may belong to the

deuterostome Deuterostomes (from Greek: ) are bilaterian animals of the superphylum Deuterostomia (), typically characterized by their anus forming before the mouth during embryonic development. Deuterostomia comprises three phyla: Chordata, Echinodermata, ...

s. The name was derived from ''

Vetulicola cuneata ''Vetulicola cuneata'' ("wedged-shaped ancient dweller") is a species of extinct marine animal from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China. It was described by Hou Xian-guang in 1987 from the Lower Cambrian Chiungchussu Formation, and bec ...

,'' the first species described by Hou Xian-guang in 1987 from the Lower Cambrian Chiungchussu Formation in Chengjiang, China.

Etymology

''Vetulicola'' is a compound Latin word composed of ''vetuli'', meaning "old," or "ancient," and ''cola'', meaning "inhabitant."

Description

The type species, ''Vetulicola cuneata'', as originally described by Hou Xian-guang in 1987, has a body plan similar to those of arthropods and composed of two distinct parts of approximately equal length. The anterior part is rectangular with a

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

-like structure of four rigid cuticular plates, with a large mouth at the front end. The posterior section is slender, strongly cuticularised and placed

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

ly. Paired openings connecting the

pharynx The pharynx (: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the human mouth, mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates ...

to the outside run down the sides. These features are interpreted as possible primitive

gill slit Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys. In c ...

s. ''Vetulicola cuneata'' could be up to 9 cm long. The ''Vetulicola'' are thought to have been swimmers that were possible

filter feeder Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a s ...

s. Other ''Vetulicola'' species described are ''Vetulicola rectangulata'' (Luo and Hu, 1999), ''V. gantoucunensis'' (Luo ''et al''., 2005), ''V. monile'' (Aldridge ''et al.'', 2007), and ''V. longbaoshanensis'' (Yang ''et al.'', 2010). The mouth openings of all the other species are smaller, and do not protrude as in ''V. cuneata''. All other species, with the stark exception of ''V. gantoucunensis'', are smaller than the type species.

Taxonomy

''Vetulicola'' is the namesake genus of the family

Vetulicolidae Vetulicolidae is a vetulicolian family from the Cambrian Stage 3 Maotianshan Shale and Sirius Passet Lagerstätte that consists of ''Vetulicola'', ''Beidazoon'', and ''Ooedigera''. It is distinguished from the Didazoonidae by a harder body wall a ...

, which also includes '' Ooedigera'' and '' Beidazoon''. The family has been recovered as a monophyletic clade even in a 2024 analysis that yielded a paraphyletic

and

Vetulicolida Vetulicolida is a class of vetulicolians. It consists of the order Vetulicolata (which contains the families Vetulicolidae and Didazoonidae) and the genus '' Nesonektris'', which is of uncertain placement. It is distinguished from the Banff ...

, although that same analysis found that the sole species of ''Beidazoon'', ''B. venustrum'', is more closely related to ''V. monile'' than ''V. monile'' is to other members of ''Vetulicola'': An earlier study in 2014 treated ''Vetulicola'' as monophyletic, but was unable to resolve any relationships among vetulicolians as a group:

Paleobiology

''Vetulicola'' was the

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

of the

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

organism '' Vermilituus gregarius'', which appears to have lived inside ''Vetulicolas anterior body. Only around 2% of ''Vetulicola'' individuals had ''Vermilituus'' infestations, but ''Vermilituus'' could be very numerous: one ''Vetulicola'' specimen had 88 individuals of ''Vermilituus'' infesting it. Such large numbers of symbiotic organisms were probably harmful to the host ''Vetulicola''.

References

External links

Biota of the Maotianshan Shale, Chengjiang China
- URL retrieved June 22, 2006 *

Palaeos Palaeos.com is a web site on biology, paleontology, phylogeny and geology and which covers the history of Earth. The site is well respected and has been used as a reference by professional paleontologists such as Michael J. Benton, the professor of ...

' Page on

br>Photos of ''Vetulicola cuneata'' fossils
- URL retrieved June 22, 2006

- Accessed January 3, 2008

- Accessed January 3, 2008 {{Taxonbar, from=Q7923847 Vetulicolia Maotianshan shales fossils Cambrian genus extinctions