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''Herpetogaster'' is an
'' H. collinsi'' is known from over 160 specimens. It possessed a pair of branching tentacles and a tough but flexible body that curved helically to the right like a ram's horn and was divided into at least 13 segments. A flexible, extensible
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
cambroernid
The Cambroernida are a clade of Paleozoic animals with coiled bodies and filamentous tentacles. They include a number of early to middle Paleozoic (Cambrian to Devonian) genera noted as "bizarre" or "orphan" taxa, meaning that their affinities wi ...
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of animal from the Early 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 Ordovic ...
Chengjiang biota
The Maotianshan Shales () are a series of Early Cambrian sedimentary deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation or Heilinpu Formation, famous for their '' Konservat Lagerstätten'', deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized orga ...
of China, Blang Formation of China, Pioche Formation of Nevada and Middle Cambrian
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (di ...
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 ...
of Canada containing the species ''Herpetogaster collinsi'' and ''Herpetogaster haiyanensis''.
Description
'' H. collinsi'' is known from over 160 specimens. It possessed a pair of branching tentacles and a tough but flexible body that curved helically to the right like a ram's horn and was divided into at least 13 segments. A flexible, extensible stolon
In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...
emerged from the body at about the ninth segment and secured the animal to the sea floor, often by attaching to the sponge
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...
'' Vauxia.'' It is not known whether the attachment was permanent.
A mouth opened between the tentacles, leading internally to a pharynx, a large lentil-shaped stomach, a narrower straight intestine, and an anus at the end of the "tail." The tentacles were softer than the body and probably extensible. A dark line running down the center of each tentacle and connecting with the head is tentatively reconstructed as a hydrostatic canal and/or vascular system; if this interpretation is correct, the tentacles might have been controlled by fluid pressure, and individuals could have fed by snaring either small prey or edible particles in the tentacles and bringing the tentacles to the mouth, as in living sea cucumbers. Structures on the back of the head have been noted as potential pharyngeal pores, which suggests a relationship with early echinoderms. The whole animal was 3-4 cm long. They were probably gregarious, as up to eight individuals have been found on the same slab. The six specimens of ''Herpetogaster'' 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 less than 0.01% of the community.
See also
*Paleobiota of the Burgess Shale
This is a list of the Biota (ecology), biota of the Burgess Shale, a Cambrian lagerstätte located in Yoho National Park in Canada.
The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is fa ...
References
Works cited
* * * * * *External links
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5743704 Cambroernids Burgess Shale fossils Cambrian genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 2010 it:Herpetogaster collinsi