Sunellidae

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Sunellidae
Temporal range: Cambrian stage 2–Cambrian stage 3
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
(unranked): Deuteropoda
Family:† Sunellidae
Huo, 1965
Type genus
Sunella
Genera

Sunellidae is a family of arthropods. [1]

History of study

Sunellidae was originally made to include three genera: Sunella , Chiella &and Luella but later the latter two where synonymized with Sunella. Later two other genera, Jinningella &and Combinivalvula were described and the definition of Sunellidae was strictened by adding the additional defining feature, the possession of an anterodorsal sulcus. In 2021 one species of Sunella , S. bispinata was moved to the genus Caudicaella . [2] It was assigned to Isoxyida in 2025. [1]

Contents

Distribution

Sunellidae have been found in the Chengjiang biota (exact locality cannot be determined) [3] (dated to no older than 518 Ma [4] ), [3] the Guojiaba formation ( tentatively assigned to Cambrian stage 3), [3] [5] the Qingjiang biota (dated to ~518 ma) [6] and the Shuijingtuo Formation (dated to ~526.5 Ma [7] ) [2] all of which are in China. Various more poorly documented formations also yield Sunellids. Caudicaella aff. bispinata specimens are also known from the Heatherdale Formation in Australia. [8]

Preservation

Usually the soft anatomy of sunellids is not preserved but a few examples of soft part preservation (only twenty-two times in Sunella cf. shensiella and six in Combinivalvulachenjiangensis) have been recorded in Combinivalvulachenjiangensis and Sunella cf. shensiella. [3]

Anatomy

Sunellids have a roughly semicircular carapace and have anterior and posterior carndinal spines. [3] They are distinguished from other similar arthropods by the presence of an anterodorsal sulcus (a feature shared by the unrelated bradoriids). [1] [3] [2] Probable sexual dimorphism has been observed in Sunella. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Collantes, Luis; Pates, Stephen (2025). "Isoxys carbonelli and the palaeoenvironmental disparity of Isoxys during Cambrian Stage 3". Historical Biology. 0: 1–9. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2529395. ISSN   0891-2963.
  2. 1 2 3 Sun, Ao. "Taxonomy and ontogeny of bivalved arthropods from the lower member of the Shuijingtuo Formation, Series 2 and Stage 3, Eastern Three Georges Area, South China". Acta Palaeontologica Sinica. doi:10.19800/j.cnki.aps.2021019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Zhang, Xingliang; Shu, Degan (November 2007). "Soft anatomy of sunellid arthropods from the Chengjiang Lagerstutte, Lower Cambrian of southwest China". Journal of Paleontology. 81 (6): 1412–1422. Bibcode:2007JPal...81.1412Z. doi:10.1666/06-031R.1. ISSN   0022-3360.
  4. ↑ Yang, Chuan; Li, Xian-Hua; Zhu, Maoyan; Condon, Daniel J.; Chen, Junyuan (2018-03-15). "Geochronological constraint on the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China". Journal of the Geological Society. 175 (4): 659–666. Bibcode:2018JGSoc.175..659Y. doi:10.1144/jgs2017-103. ISSN   0016-7649. Archived from the original on 2025-04-07.
  5. ↑ Tan, Yineng; Xiao, Xianming; Gao, Ping; Meng, Guangming; Wang, Qiang; Liu, Wei; Feng, Yue (2025-06-15). "Sedimentary Environment and Organic Matter Enrichment Mechanism of the Lower Cambrian Shale in the Northern Margin of the Yangtze Platform". Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 13 (6): 1175. Bibcode:2025JMSE...13.1175T. doi: 10.3390/jmse13061175 .
  6. ↑ Fu, Dongjing; Tong, Guanghui; Dai, Tao; Liu, Wei; Yang, Yuning; Zhang, Yuan; Cui, Linhao; Li, Luoyang; Yun, Hao; Wu, Yu; Sun, Ao; Liu, Cong; Pei, Wenrui; Gaines, Robert R.; Zhang, Xingliang (2019-03-22). "The Qingjiang biota—A Burgess Shale–type fossil Lagerstätte from the early Cambrian of South China". Science. 363 (6433): 1338–1342. doi:10.1126/science.aau8800.
  7. ↑ Yang, Chuan; Bowyer, Fred T.; Condon, Daniel J.; Li, Xian-Hua; Zhu, Maoyan (2023-04-15). "New U-Pb age from the Shuijingtuo Formation (Yangtze Gorges area) and its implications for the Cambrian timescale". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 616 111477. Bibcode:2023PPP...61611477Y. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111477. ISSN   0031-0182.
  8. ↑ Chen, Fei-Yang; Betts, Marissa J.; Zhang, Zhi-Liang; Brock, Glenn A. (2025-06-01). "The bivalved arthropod Caudicaella aff. bispinata from the Heatherdale Shale (Cambrian Stage 3), South Australia". Palaeoworld. 34 (3): 100882. Bibcode:2025Palae..3400882C. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2024.09.006. ISSN   1871-174X.
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