Soluta is an extinct class of

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...

s that lived from the Middle Cambrian to the Early Devonian. The class is also known by its junior synonym Homoiostelea. Soluta is one of the four "carpoid" classes, alongside

Ctenocystoidea Ctenocystoidea is an extinct clade of echinoderms, which lived during the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. Unlike other echinoderms, ctenocystoids had bilateral symmetry, or were only very slightly asymmetrical. They are believed to be one of th ...

Cincta Cincta is an extinct class of echinoderms that lived only in the Middle Cambrian epoch. Homostelea is a junior synonym. The classification of cinctans is controversial, but they are probably part of the echinoderm stem group. Cinctans were sessi ...

, and

Stylophora The stylophorans are an extinct, possibly polyphyletic group allied to the Paleozoic Era echinoderms, comprising the prehistoric cornutes and mitrates. It is synonymous with the subphylum Calcichordata. Their unusual appearances have led to a v ...

, which made up the obsolete subphylum

Homalozoa Homalozoa is an obsolete extinct subphylum of Paleozoic era echinoderms, prehistoric marine invertebrates. They are also referred to as carpoids. Description The Homalozoa lacked the typical pentamer body form of other echinoderms, but all ...

. Solutes (or solutans) were asymmetric animals with a stereom skeleton and two appendages, an arm extending anteriorly and a posterior appendage called a homoiostele.

Biology

Most solutes were free-living, but the basal solutan ''Coleicarpus'' used its homoiostele as a holdfast, as did juvenile ''Castericystis''.

Classification

The phylogenetic position of Soluta is contentious. Solutans are widely agreed to be echinoderms, though the outmoded

calcichordate hypothesis The calcichordate hypothesis holds that each separate lineage of chordate (Cephalochordates, Urochordates, Craniates) evolved from its own lineage of mitrate, and thus the echinoderms and the chordates are sister groups, with the hemichordates as an ...

held that they were ancestral to both echinoderms and

chordates A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five synapomorphies, or primary physical characteristics, that distinguish them from all the other taxa. These five ...

. Within echinoderms, one hypothesis holds that stylophorans are

stem-group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

echinoderms which branched off before echinoderms evolved

radial symmetry Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, take the face of a human being which has a pla ...

. Another hypothesis holds that they are specialized descendants of radiate echinoderms which lost radial symmetry, likely belonging to

Blastozoa Blastozoa is a subphylum of extinct animals belonging to Phylum Echinodermata. This subphylum is characterized by the presence of specialized respiratory structures and brachiole plates used for feeding. This subphylum ranged from the Cambrian to ...

. Solutes are divided into two orders, Syringocrinida and Dendrocystitida.

Distribution

The earliest solutes, ''Coleicarpus'' and ''Castericystis'', lived during the Drumian age of the Cambrian. Solutes were the last of the four carpoid classes to appear in the fossil record. Solutes appear to have evolved in

Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, althoug ...

, but became more widespread during the Ordovician.

References

Homalozoa Paleozoic echinoderms Prehistoric deuterostome classes {{paleo-echinoderm-stub