| Stenothecoida Temporal range: Early–mid-Cambrian, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Superphylum: | Lophotrochozoa |
| Class: | † Stenothecoida Yochelson, 1968 [3] |
| Genera | |
| |
Stenothecoida is a taxon of bivalved fossils from the Early to middle Cambrian period. They look a bit like brachiopods or bivalve molluscs.
Their affinity is uncertain. They were considered by E. L. Yochelson 1968[ citation needed ] to belong to Mollusca, whereas Runnegar and Pojeta (1974) suggested that they might be 'bivalved monoplacophorans'. This said, the morphology of the shell does not resemble the shell of any other class of molluscs; [4] they also look a little like brachiopods [1] It's not clear whether their two valves are each other's mirror images, as in bivalve molluscs, though they aren't identical to one another [?]. [1] It's more likely that the valves each have a single plane of symmetry (as in brachiopods), suggesting a brachiopod affiliation. [1]
As with many other Cambrian taxa, [5] [6] it has been suggested that they arise through reduction of a Halkieria -like ancestor. [1]
Thought to be low-Mg calcite. [7]
The earliest occurrence dates to 525 Ma. [2]
These fossil shells have been found in Canada, China, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the USA.
Hyoliths are animals with small conical shells, known from fossils from the Palaeozoic era. They are at least considered as being lophotrochozoan, and possibly being lophophorates, a group which includes the brachiopods, while others consider them as being basal lophotrochozoans, or even molluscs.
The Rostroconchia is a class of extinct molluscs dating from the early Cambrian to the Late Permian. They were initially thought to be bivalves, but were later given their own class. They have a single shell in their larval stage, and the adult typically has a single, pseudo-bivalved shell enclosing the mantle and muscular foot. The anterior part of the shell probably pointed downward and had a gap from which the foot could probably emerge. Rostroconchs probably lived a sedentary semi-infaunal lifestyle. There were probably more than 1,000 species of members of this class.
The evolution of the molluscs is the way in which the Mollusca, one of the largest groups of invertebrate animals, evolved. This phylum includes gastropods, bivalves, scaphopods, cephalopods, and several other groups. The fossil record of mollusks is relatively complete, and they are well represented in most fossil-bearing marine strata. Very early organisms which have dubiously been compared to molluscs include Kimberella and Odontogriphus.
Haplophrentis is a genus of tiny shelled hyolithid which lived in the Cambrian Period. Its shell was long and conical, with the open end protected by an operculum, from which two fleshy arms called helens protruded at the sides. These arms served to elevate the opening of the shells above the sea floor, acting like stilts.
Helcionellid or Helcionelliformes is an order of small fossil shells that are universally interpreted as molluscs, though no sources spell out why this taxonomic interpretation is preferred. These animals are first found about 540 to 530 million years ago in the late Nemakit-Daldynian age, which is the earliest part of the Cambrian period. A single species persisted to the Early Ordovician. These fossils are component of the small shelly fossils (SSF) assemblages.
The small shelly fauna, small shelly fossils (SSF), or early skeletal fossils (ESF) are mineralized fossils, many only a few millimetres long, with a nearly continuous record from the latest stages of the Ediacaran to the end of the Early Cambrian Period. They are very diverse, and there is no formal definition of "small shelly fauna" or "small shelly fossils". Almost all are from earlier rocks than more familiar fossils such as trilobites. Since most SSFs were preserved by being covered quickly with phosphate and this method of preservation is mainly limited to the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian periods, the animals that made them may actually have arisen earlier and persisted after this time span.
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks. Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The number of additional fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000, and the proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied.
Brachiopods, phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major categories are traditionally recognized, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods. The word "articulate" is used to describe the tooth-and-groove structures of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic skeletal feature, by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished as fossils. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple, vertically oriented opening and closing muscles. Conversely, inarticulate brachiopods have weak, untoothed hinges and a more complex system of vertical and oblique (diagonal) muscles used to keep the two valves aligned. In many brachiopods, a stalk-like pedicle projects from an opening near the hinge of one of the valves, known as the pedicle or ventral valve. The pedicle, when present, keeps the animal anchored to the seabed but clear of sediment which would obstruct the opening.
Tommotiids are an extinct group of Cambrian invertebrates thought to be early lophophorates.
The origin of the brachiopods is uncertain; they either arose from reduction of a multi-plated tubular organism, or from the folding of a slug-like organism with a protective shell on either end. Since their Cambrian origin, the phylum rose to a Palaeozoic dominance, but dwindled during the Mesozoic.
Stenothecidae is an extinct family of fossil univalved Cambrian molluscs which may be either gastropods or monoplacophorans.
Anabarella is a species of bilaterally-flattened monoplacophoran mollusc, with a morphological similarity to the rostroconchs. Its shell preserves evidence of three mineralogical textures on its outer surface: it is polygonal near the crest of the shell, subsequently changing to both spiny and stepwise. Its internal microstructure is calcitic and semi-nacreous. Its name reflects its provenance from Anabar, Siberia. It has been interpreted as ancestral to the rostroconchs, and has been aligned to the Helcionellidae.
Fordilla is an extinct genus of early bivalves, one of two genera in the extinct family Fordillidae. The genus is known solely from Early Cambrian fossils found in North America, Greenland, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The genus currently contains three described species, Fordilla germanica, Fordilla sibirica, and the type species Fordilla troyensis.
The cephalopods have a long geological history, with the first nautiloids found in late Cambrian strata.
Allonnia is a genus of coeloscleritophoran known as complete scleritomes from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. It is also a constituent of the small shelly fauna.
Pojetaia is an extinct genus of early bivalves, one of two genera in the extinct family Fordillidae. The genus is known solely from Early to Middle Cambrian fossils found in North America, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus currently contains two accepted species, Pojetaia runnegari, the type species, and Pojetaia sarhroensis, though up to seven species have been proposed. The genera Buluniella, Jellia, and Oryzoconcha are all considered synonyms of Pojetaia.
Watsonella is an extinct genus of mollusc known from early (Terreneuvian) Cambrian strata. It has been hypothesized to be close to the origin of bivalves. It contains a single species, Watsonella crosbyi.
Stereom is a calcium carbonate material that makes up the internal skeletons found in all echinoderms, both living and fossilized forms. It is a sponge-like porous structure which, in a sea urchin may be 50% by volume living cells, and the rest being a matrix of calcite crystals. The size of openings in stereom varies in different species and in different places within the same organism. When an echinoderm becomes a fossil, microscopic examination is used to reveal the structure and such examination is often an important tool to classify the fossil as an echinoderm or related creature.
Fordillidae is an extinct family of early bivalves and one of two families in the extinct superfamily Fordilloidea. The family is known from fossils of early to middle Cambrian age found in North America, Greenland, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. The family currently contains two genera, Fordilla and Pojetaia, each with up to three described species. Due to the size and age of the fossil specimens, Fordillidae species are included as part of the Turkish Small shelly fauna.
The orthothecids are one of the two hyolith orders.
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