Yuknessia

Last updated

Yuknessia
Temporal range: Chengjiang-Burgess Shale
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Genus:
Yuknessia

Walcott, 1919
Species
  • Y. simplexWalcott, 1919 (type)
  • Y. stephenensisLoDuca et al., 2015

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Yohoia</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Yohoia is an extinct genus of megacheiran arthropod from the Cambrian period that has been found as fossils in the Burgess Shale formation of British Columbia, Canada. The type species, Yohoia tenuis, was described in 1912 by Walcott, who considered it an anostracan crustacean. 711 specimens of Yohoia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 1.35% of the community. In 2015, Conway Morris et al. reported another species, Y. utahana, from the Marjum Formation, Utah.

<i>Odaraia</i> Extinct genus of crustaceans

Odaraia is a genus of bivalved arthropod from the Middle Cambrian. Its fossils, which reach 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length, have been found in the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada.

Dalyia is a pterobranch known from the middle Cambrian Burgess shale. It was previously interpreted as a red alga. It has smooth or faintly lineated stems, which branch into up to four equal branches at branching points. 37 specimens of Dalyia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.07% of the community.

<i>Plenocaris</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Plenocaris plena is a Cambrian arthropod with a bivalved carapace, and is known from the Burgess shale and Chengjiang. Originally described as a species of Yohoia by Walcott in 1912, it was placed into its own genus in 1974.

Liangshanella is a genus of Cambrian bradoriid known from the Chengjiang biota and Burgess Shale. 6263 specimens of Liangshanella are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 11.9% of the community.

<i>Morania</i> Extinct genus of bacteria

Morania is a genus of cyanobacterium preserved as carbonaceous films in the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. it is present throughout the shale; 2580 specimens of Morania are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 4.90% of the community. It is filamentous, forms sheets, and resembles the modern cyanobacterium Nostoc. It would have had a role in binding the sediment, and would have been a food source for such organisms as Odontogriphus and Wiwaxia.

<i>Herpetogaster</i> Extinct genus of Cambrian animals

Herpetogaster is an extinct cambroernid genus of animal from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China, Pioche Formation of Nevada and Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of Canada containing the species Herpetogaster collinsi and Herpetogaster haiyanensis.

The Phyllopod bed, designated by USNM locality number 35k, is the most famous fossil-bearing member of the Burgess Shale fossil Lagerstätte. It was quarried by Charles Walcott from 1911–1917, and was the source of 95% of the fossils he collected during this time; tens of thousands of soft-bodied fossils representing over 150 genera have been recovered from the Phyllopod bed alone.

Chaunograptus is a genus of putative graptolite known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 11 specimens of Chaunograptus are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.02% of the community.

Cambrorhytium is an enigmatic fossil genus known from the Latham Shale (California), and the Chengjiang (China) and Burgess Shale lagerstätte. 350 specimens of Cambrorhytium are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.7% of the community.

Acrothyra gregaria is a species of gregarious brachiopod known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 253 specimens of Acrothyra are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.5% of the community.

Eiffelia is an extinct genus of sponges known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale as well as several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits. It is named after Eiffel Peak, which was itself named after the Eiffel Tower. It was first described in 1920 by Charles Doolittle Walcott. It belongs in the Hexactinellid stem group. 60 specimens of Eiffelia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.11% of the community.

<i>Emeraldella</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Emeraldella is a genus of arthropod known from the Middle Cambrian of North America. The type species E. brocki was described in 1912 from the Burgess Shale. 21 specimens of Emeraldella are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community. A re-study on the species was done in 2012. A second species E. brutoni is known from the Wheeler Shale, which was described in 2011. An additional specimen of E. brutoni was described in 2019, which revealed more of the anatomy. It has been placed as a basal member of the clade Vicissicaudata within Artiopoda, a group of arthropods containing trilobites and their relatives.

<i>Mollisonia</i> Extinct genus of Ancient Arthropod

Mollisonia is an extinct genus of Cambrian arthropod. Species are known from the Burgess Shale, Langston Formation, and Wheeler Shale of North America, as well as the Chengjiang Biota of China. Twenty-one specimens of Mollisonia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise less than 0.1% of the community. Remains possibly attributable to the genus are also known from the Ordovician Fezouata Formation of Morocco and Bøggild Fjord Formation Greenland. An observation published in 2019 suggests this genus is a basal chelicerate, closer to crown group Chelicerata than members of Habeliida. It is suggested to be closely related to Corcorania, Urokodia, and Thelxiope, which together form the clade Mollisoniida, which are thought to be closely related to Chelicerata.

Paterina is a genus of brachiopods known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 18 specimens of Paterina are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.03% of the community.

Protospongia is a genus of Porifera known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 102 specimens of Protospongia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.19% of the community.

Walcottidiscus is a genus of pentagonally shaped echinoderms known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 16 specimens of Walcottidiscus are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community.

<i>Rhabdopleura</i> Genus of hemichordates

Rhabdopleura is a genus of colonial sessile hemichordates belonging to the Pterobranchia class. As one of the oldest living genera with a fossil record dating back to the Middle Cambrian, it is also considered to be the only living genus of graptolites.

<i>Diagoniella</i> Extinct genus of sponges

Diagoniella is a genus of sponge known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. 128 specimens of Diagoniella are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.24% of the community.

This is a list of the biota of the Burgess Shale, a Cambrian lagerstätte located in Yoho National Park in Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 Briggs, D. E. G.; Erwin, D. H.; Collier, F. J. (1995), Fossils of the Burgess Shale , Washington: Smithsonian Inst Press, ISBN   1-56098-659-X, OCLC   231793738
  2. 1 2 3 Steven T. LoDuca; Jean-Bernard Caron; James D. Schiffbauer; Shuhai Xiao & Anthony Kramer (2015). "A reexamination of Yuknessia from the Cambrian of British Columbia and Utah". Journal of Paleontology. 89 (1): 82–95. Bibcode:2015JPal...89...82L. doi: 10.1017/jpa.2014.7 . S2CID   129248278.
  3. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. Bibcode:2006Palai..21..451C. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR   20173022. S2CID   53646959.
  4. Michael Steiner & Jörg Maletz (2012). "Cambrian graptolites (Pterobranchia) and the origin of colonial organization in metazoans" (PDF). TERRA NOSTRA – Schriften der GeoUnion Alfred-Wegener-Stiftung. Centenary Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft. Programme, Abstracts, and Field Guides. 2012/3: 173–174.
  5. Maletz, Jörg; Steiner, Michael (2015). "Graptolite (Hemichordata, Pterobranchia) preservation and identification in the Cambrian Series 3". Palaeontology. 58 (6): 1073–1107. Bibcode:2015Palgy..58.1073M. doi: 10.1111/pala.12200 . S2CID   129341868.