| Velumbrella Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | † Cambroernida |
| Class: | † Eldonioidea |
| Family: | † Rotadiscidae (?) |
| Genus: | † Velumbrella Stasińska 1960 |
| Type species | |
| V. czarnockii Stasińska 1960 | |
Velumbrella is an eldonioid [1] known from the Early to Middle Cambrian of Poland. [2] The fossils depict a scleritosed disk with a U-shaped gut. [3]
Velumbrella was originally thought to be related to the hydrozoan order Trachylenida, [4] or possibly to Ediacaria or Beltanella which were considered to be Cambrian jellyfish. [5] Upon erecting the class Eldonioidea, Dzik assigned Vellumbrella to Eldoniidae rather than Rotadiscidae on account of its radial ribs. [6]
Several authors (including Dzik) later noted the similarity between Velumbrella cznarnockii and Pararotadiscus guizhouensis (which was initially described as Rotadiscus guizhouensis). [7] [8] A more recent review tenatively placed Velumbrella in the Rotadiscidae (along with the more confidently-assigned Pararotadiscus), [1] noting that the rotadiscids are distinguished from other eldonioid families by concentric ornamentations on the dorsal surface. [9]
