''Cambrorhytium'' is an enigmatic fossil genus known from the

Latham Shale The Latham Shale is a geologic formation in California. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cambrian period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California * Paleontology in California Paleontology in California refer ...

(California), and the Chengjiang (China) and

Burgess Shale The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At old (middle Cambrian), it is one of the earliest fos ...

(Canadian rockies)

lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

. 350 specimens of ''Cambrorhytium'' are known from the Greater

Phyllopod bed The Phyllopod bed, designated by USNM locality number 35k, is the most famous fossil-bearing member of the Burgess Shale fossil '' Lagerstätte''. It was quarried by Charles Walcott from 1911–1917 (and later named Walcott Quarry), and was ...

, where they comprise 0.7% of the community. The fossil is conical, with iterated linear markings on its walls, parallel to its base. Its wall is thin, and it lacks the keel that is distinctive of

hyolith Hyoliths are animals with small conical shells, known as fossils from the Palaeozoic era. They are at least considered as lophotrochozoan, and possibly being lophophorates, a group which includes the brachiopods, while others consider them as be ...

s. It has been interpreted as a

cnidarian Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in Fresh water, freshwater and Marine habitats, marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocyt ...

polyp, with the interpretation suggesting that the animal lived in the tube and extended tentacles (of which no trace has been found) from the flat aperture. This is supported by similarities to Palaeoconotuba. The other possible, but probably unlikely, affinity is with the hyolith molluscs. Its name is from the Latin ''rhytium'', drinking horn. ''C. elongatum'' has been described to contain an alimentary canal in a single Chinese specimen. ''C. major'' was originally described as a member of the

genus '' Orthotheca''. ''C. fragilis'' was originally included by

Charles D. Walcott Charles Doolittle Walcott (March 31, 1850February 9, 1927) was an American paleontologist, administrator of the Smithsonian Institution from 1907 to 1927, and director of the United States Geological Survey.Wonderful Life (book) by Stephen Jay Go ...

in the genus ''

Selkirkia ''Selkirkia'' is a genus of predatory, tubicolous priapulid worms known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale, Ogygopsis Shale and Puncoviscana Formation. 142 specimens of ''Selkirkia'' are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed The Phyllopod b ...

'', – a taxonomy that was retained by later workers until finally questioned and redescribed as ''Cambrorhytium'' in the eighties. Its similarity with the lower cambrian species '' Torellelloides giganteum'' may indicate a close relationship.

References

External links

"Cambrorhytium major"
Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011. (Burgess Shale species 31) Burgess Shale fossils Staurozoa Burgess Shale animals Prehistoric cnidarian genera Controversial taxa Fossil taxa described in 1908 Cambrian genus extinctions {{paleo-staurozoa-stub