''Ceratophyton'' is a genus of

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

acritarch, around 100–200 µm in length, produced by a

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...

( metazoan?) organism.

Affinity

''Ceratophyton'' has been interpreted as an originally chitinous component of a metazoan. An

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

relationship has been proposed, although on a more conservative view it is difficult to provide confident classification beyond saying that they are fragments of a

eukaryote Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...

. Particular species, however, show promising similarity to the sclerites of modern priapulid worms.

Species

''C. vernicosum''

This species, the type, comprises a single unornamented cone. This species occurs in platform settings in western Russia in the Lontova and Lyukati horizons, first occurring in the local base of the 'Cambrian'. In Poland it occurs from the base of the Cambrian (''

Platysolenites Platysolenites is a genus of agglutinated foraminifera known from Ediacaran and lower Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian ...

'' zone) to the ''

Schmidtiellus ''Schmiditellus'' is an extinct genus of holmiid trilobites from the Cambrian of Poland. As of 2017, a ''Schmidtiellus reetae'' fossil from 530 mya, collected in Saviranna in northern Estonia, is the oldest known fossilized eye. The structure ...

'' zone. It has been reported from the middle Cambrian of Belgium, although these specimens are short on diagnostic features. It also occurs below the '' T. pedum'' zone, indicating the presence of the producer in the Ediacaran period.

''C. circufuntum''

This species is represented by single cones that have rings around their bases.

''C. duplicum''

This taxon has a double wall, resembling a pair of stacked cones; it may represent a taphomorph of ''C. vernicosum''.

''C. dumufuntum''

This single cone has short conical spines, which occur on its basal region. This species is known from the mid-to-late

Atdabanian Cambrian Stage 3 is the still unnamed third stage of the Cambrian. It succeeds Cambrian Stage 2 and precedes Cambrian Stage 4, although neither its base nor top have been formally defined. The plan is for its lower boundary to correspond approxim ...

siltstones of the Ouldburra formation of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

''C. spinuconum''

This species again comprises a single cone; it has spines and processes along both margins.

Differences from other taxa

''Ceratophyton'' differs from the taxon '' Veryhachium'' in having a basal opening.

References

Cambrian life Acritarch genera {{paleo-eukaryote-stub