Echmatocrinus
| Echmatocrinus brachiatus Temporal range: Burgess shale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Echmatocrinus brachiatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Echmatocrinus |
| Species: | †E. brachiatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Echmatocrinus brachiatus Sprinkle 1973 | |
Echmatocrinus is a problematic Cambrian animal which resembles a crinoid or an octocoral. It is known only from the Burgess shale.[1] 5 specimens of Echmatocrinus are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise < 0.1% of the community.[2]
The creature was a little like an inverted cone, with a crown of seven to nine tentacles.[1] Each tentacle was covered with small extensions. The cone itself was covered with irregularly arranged mineralised plates.[1] The organisms lived a solitary lifestyle, although juveniles are sometimes attached to (or budding from) adults.[1]
External links
- "Echmatocrinus brachiatus". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Babcock, L. E.; Ausich, W. I. (2000). "Echmatocrinus, a Burgess Shale animal reconsidered". Lethaia. 33 (2): 92–95. doi:10.1080/00241160050150221.
- ↑ Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022.
Further reading
Ausich, W. I. 1998a. Early phylogeny and subclass division of the Crinoidea (phylum Echinodermata). Journal of Paleontology 72 (3): 499-510.
Ausich, W. I. 1998b. Origin of the Crinoidea. In Echinoderms: San Francisco (R. Mooi & M. Telford, eds.) pp. 127-132. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam.
Ausich, W. I. 1999. Origin of crinoids. In Echinoderm Research 1998 (M. D. Candia Carnevali & F. Bonasoro, eds.) pp. 237-242. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam.
Sprinkle, J., & R. C. Moore. 1978. Echmatocrinea. In Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology pt. T. Echinodermata 2. Crinoidea (R. C. Moore & C. Teichert, eds.) vol. 2, pp. T405-T407. The Geological Society of America, Inc.: Boulder (Colorado), and The University of Kansas: Lawrence (Kansas).