| Nidelric | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Order: | † Chancelloriida (?) |
| Genus: | † Nidelric Hou et al. 2014 [1] |
| Species | |
See text | |
Nidelric is a Cambrian genus of scleritomous organism, tentatively interpreted as a chancelloriid. [2]
| Nidelric | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Order: | † Chancelloriida (?) |
| Genus: | † Nidelric Hou et al. 2014 [1] |
| Species | |
See text | |
Nidelric is a Cambrian genus of scleritomous organism, tentatively interpreted as a chancelloriid. [2]
Two species are described in the genus:
Hallucigenia is a genus of Cambrian animal resembling worms, known from articulated fossils in Burgess Shale-type deposits in Canada and China, and from isolated spines around the world. The generic name reflects the type species' unusual appearance and eccentric history of study; when it was erected as a genus, H. sparsa was reconstructed as an enigmatic animal upside down and back to front. Hallucigenia was later recognized as a lobopodian, a grade of Paleozoic panarthropods from which the velvet worms, water bears, and arthropods arose.
The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Early Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their Konservat Lagerstätten, deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. The Maotianshan Shales form one of some forty Cambrian fossil locations worldwide exhibiting exquisite preservation of rarely preserved, non-mineralized soft tissue, comparable to the fossils of the Burgess Shale. They take their name from Maotianshan Hill in Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China.
Vetulicola is an extinct genus of marine animal from the Cambrian of China. It is the eponymous member of the enigmatic phylum Vetulicolia, which is of uncertain affinities but may belong to the deuterostomes.
Yunnanocephalus is a genus of ptychopariid trilobite. It lived during the late Atdabanian and Botomian stages, in what are currently Antarctica, Australia and China. It was a "moderately common" member of the Chengjiang Fauna. Yunnanocephalus is the only genus currently assigned to the Yunnanocephalidae family.
Acanthomeridion is an extinct arthropod found in the Chengjiang fauna deposits of China. In 1997, it was placed in its own, monotypic family, Acanthomeridiidae. It is known from eight specimens, all found in China.
Megacheira is an extinct class of predatory arthropods that possessed a pair of great appendages, hence the class name as well as the common name "great appendage arthropods". Their taxonomic position is controversial, with studies either considering them stem-group euarthropods, or stem-group chelicerates. Most of them were found in marine environments throughout the world from the lower to middle Cambrian. Megacheirans were important components of several faunas, including the Burgess, Wheeler and Maotianshan Shales Lagerstatten.
Haikoucaris is a genus of megacheiran arthropod that contains the single species Haikoucaris ercaiensis. It was discovered in the Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China.
Isoxys is a genus of extinct bivalved Cambrian arthropod; the various species of which are thought to have been freely swimming predators. It had a pair of large spherical eyes, and two large frontal appendages used to grasp prey.
Kunmingella is genus of Cambrian bradoriid from the Chengjiang biota, containing the single species K. douvillei.
Archaeopriapulida is a group of priapulid-like worms known from Cambrian lagerstätte. The group is closely related to, and very similar to, the modern Priapulids. It is unclear whether it is mono- or polyphyletic. Despite a remarkable morphological similarity to their modern cousins, they fall outside of the priapulid crown group, which is not unambiguously represented in the fossil record until the Carboniferous. They are probably closely related or paraphyletic to the palaeoscolecids; the relationship between these basal worms is somewhat unresolved.
The palaeoscolecids are a group of extinct ecdysozoan worms resembling armoured priapulids. They are known from the Lower Cambrian to the late Silurian; they are mainly found as disarticulated sclerites, but are also preserved in many of the Cambrian lagerstätten. They take their name from the typifying genus Palaeoscolex. Other genera include Cricocosmia from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang biota.
Diania is an extinct genus of lobopodian animal found in the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale of China, represented by a single species - D. cactiformis. Known during its investigation by the nickname "walking cactus", this organism belongs to a group known as the armoured lobopodians, and has a simple worm-like body with robust, spiny legs. Initially, the legs were thought to have a jointed exoskeleton and Diania was suggested to be evolutionarily close to early arthropods, but many later studies have rejected this interpretation.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2014.
Archotuba is a genus of elongated conical tubes that were seemingly deposited by colonial organisms. Known from the Chengjiang, its biological affinity is uncertain; it somewhat resembles the tubes of the 'priapulid' Selkirkia, but a cnidarian affinity is also possible. In the absence of soft parts, there really isn't enough data to confirm a biological affiliation.
Luohuilinella is an extinct genus of xandarellid artiopodan arthropod known from the Chengjiang biota of China. The type species Luohuilinella rarus was described in 2012. A second species Luohuilinella deletres was described in 2018. Both taxa are rare components of the assemblage. Like other Xandarellids and most artiopodans, it possessed an unmineralised exoskeleton. The type and currently only known specimen of L. rarus is known from a dorsal exoskeleton, around 17 mm long and 9 mm wide which consists of 27 tergites with pronounced pleural spines. L. deletres is much larger, with specimens being over 10 cm long, L. deletres possessed at least 11 pairs of biramous appendages. Both taxa are dorsoventrally flattened, making a benthic or nektobenthic lifestyle probable. Both taxa have pronounced notches in the cephalon to accommodate the stalked eyes.
Luolishania is an extinct genus of lobopodian worm and known from the Lower Cambrian Chiungchussu Formation of the Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. A monotypic genus, it contains one species Luolishania longicruris. It was discovered and described by Hou Xian-Guang and Chen Jun-Yuan in 1989. It is one of the superarmoured Cambrian lobopodians suspected to be either an intermediate form in the origin of velvet worms (Onychophora) or basal to at least Tardigrada and Arthropoda. It is the basis of the family name Luolishaniidae, which also include other related lobopods such as Acinocricus, Collinsium, Facivermis, and Ovatiovermis. Along with Microdictyon, it is the first lobopodian fossil discovered from China.
Hallucigeniidae is a family of extinct worms belonging to the group Lobopodia that originated during the Cambrian explosion. It is based on the species Hallucigenia sparsa, the fossil of which was discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1911 from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia. The name Hallucigenia was created by Simon Conway Morris in 1977, from which the family was erected after discoveries of other hallucigeniid worms from other parts of the world. Classification of these lobopods and their retatives are still controversial, and the family consists of at least four genera.
Carbotubulus is a genus of extinct worm belonging to the group Lobopodia and known from the Carboniferous Carbondale Formation of the Mazon Creek area in Illinois, US. A monotypic genus, it contains one species Carbotubulus waloszeki. It was discovered and described by Joachim T. Haug, Georg Mayer, Carolin Haug, and Derek E.G. Briggs in 2012. With an age of about 300 million years, it is the first long-legged lobopodian discovered after the period of Cambrian explosion.
Lenisambulatrix is a genus of extinct worm belonging to the group Lobopodia and known from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale of China. It is represented by a single species L. humboldti. The incomplete fossil was discovered and described by Qiang Ou and Georg Mayer in 2018. Due to its missing parts, its relationship with other lobopodians is not clear. It shares many structural features with another Cambrian lobopodian Diania cactiformis, a fossil of which was found alongside it.
Synophalos is an extinct genus of bivalved arthropod. The genus contains a single species, Synophalos xynos, found in the Cambrian Stage 3-aged Chengjiang biota of Yunnan, China. The body has approximately 6 abdominal segments, which terminate in a forked unsegmented tail. It is noted for having been found in unusual chain-like associations where up to 20 individuals were connected via the insertion of the tail into the head carapace of the preceding individual. Similar behaviour is not known in any other arthropod, living or extinct. Its purpose is unknown, though it may have served a reproductive, migratory, or defensive purpose, with the authors of the describing paper considering migration as its most likely function. In 2009, Xian-Guang et al. tentatively referred Synophalos to Waptiidae.
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