Name: Vetulicolia;
Banffia confusa
Geological
Time: Early Cambrian (~525 million years ago)
Size (25.4mm=1
inch): 25 mm long by 10 mm across on a 50 mm by 64 mm matrix
Fossil
Site: Chengjiang - Qiongzhusi Section, Yu'anshan Member, Heilinpu
Formation, Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China
Description:
This unusual fossil is Banffia confusa, a member of the Vetulicolians,
an enigmatic group which some scientists place in their own phylum
(Phylum Vetulicolia). They are thought to have been swimmers (notice
the fine segmentation) that either were filter feeders or detritivores.
One researcher places them with the Urochordates, giving them strong
affinity with the Phylum Chordata. At present, there is no agreement
as to their systematic placement. The diversity of soft-tissue fossils
is astonishing: algae, medusiforms, sponges, priapulids, annelid-like
worms, echinoderms, arthropods (including trilobites), hemichordates,
chordates, and the first agnathan fish make up just a small fraction
of the total. Numerous problematic forms are known as well, some
of which may have represented failed attempts at diversity that
did not persist to the present day. This species is found only within
the Chengjiang Biota, but the genus also is found in the Middle
Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, as indicated by the
place name (Banff) used to name the genus by Charles Doolittle Walcott
in 1911. |
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