Yuknessia Temporal range: Chengjiang-Burgess Shale | |
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Genus: | Yuknessia Walcott, 1919 |
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Yuknessia is an early pterobranch, known from the Burgess shale, [1] the Chengjiang and the Wheeler shale. [2] Long, unbranched fronds emerge from a central holdfast-like body covered in small conical plates. [1] 23 specimens of Yuknessia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community. [3] The genus contains two species: the type species Y. simplex and Y. stephenensis. [2] It was originally interpreted as a green alga, and has since been reinterpreted it as a colonial pterobranch. [2] [4] [5]