''Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi'' is the largest known
vetulicolia
VetulicoliaThe taxon name, Vetulocolia, is derived from the type genus, ''Vetulicola'', which is a compound Latin word composed of ''vetuli'' "old" and ''cola'' "inhabitant". is a taxon (either phylum or subphylum in rank) encompassing several ex ...
n, with the holotype (and only known specimen) measuring about 202 millimeters in length.
Palaeocritti - a guide to prehistoric animals Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi
/ref> In life, it would have been an egg-shaped animal with a long cylindrical tail. The body is divided into 6 segments, with a gill opening (that has gill filaments extending out from each opening) placed symmetrically on each side of every body segment starting at the second segment. The cylindrical tail is divided into 7 segments, and differs from the tails of all other known vetulicolians (not being flattened like vetulicolids like '' Vetulicola'', and not oar-like or leaf-like like those of the didazoonids like '' Didazoon'', and is unlike the tails of banffozoans like '' Banffia'' and '' Skeemella'').
The details of the tail anatomy, and of the gill openings with gill filaments currently leave ''Y. magnificissimi'' as ''incertae sedis
' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...
''.
Etymology
The generic name translates as "Animal of Yu Yuan," Yu Yuan being an ancient name for Chengjiang County
Chengjiang (; earlier Tchinkiang) is a city located in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China, just north of Fuxian Lake.
Administrative divisions
Chengjiang City has 2 subdistricts and 4 townships.
;2 subdistricts
* Fenglu ()
* Longjie ()
;4 towns
C ...
. The specific name, ''magnificissimi'', translates as "magnificent," in reference to the great size of the holotype.
See also
* Maotianshan shales
The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Early Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their '' Konservat Lagerstätten'', deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales ...
References
*Chen, Feng, Ma, Li, (2003), A New Vetulicolian from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna in Yunnan of China Acta Geologica Sinica
Notes
Cambrian animals of Asia
Vetulicolia enigmatic taxa
Fossil taxa described in 2001
Prehistoric animal genera
{{paleo-deuterostome-stub
Cambrian genus extinctions