Name: Phylum Nematomorpha; Maotianshania cylindrica
Geological Time: Early Cambrian (~525 million years ago)
Size (25.4mm=1 inch): 45 mm long (if straightened) on a 38 mm by 48 mm matrix.
Fossil Site: Chengjiang Maotianshan Shale: Quiongzhusi Section, Yu’anshan Member, Heilinpu Formation, Mafang, Anning, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
 Description:
This is an example of the nematomorph Maotianshania cylindrica. The
species is known from numerous specimens, many of which have preserved
details, with the taxon named after, Maotianshan (Mao Tian Hill),
site of the discovery of the Chengjiang Biota by Hou Xian-guang in
1984. The intestine is often preserved as a dark film, indicative
of its deposit-feeding lifestyle. The diversity of soft-tissue fossils
is astonishing: algae, medusiforms, sponges, priapulids, annelid-like
worms, echinoderms, arthropods (including trilobites), hemichordates,
chordates, and the first agnathan fish make up just a small fraction
of the total. Numerous problematic forms are known as well, some of
which may have represented failed attempts at diversity that did not
persist to the present day. While the species is known from other
Lower Cambrian locations in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, it is particularly
well known from the Chengjiang Biota. This one has been preserved
with the proboscis everted, affording an uncommon opportunity to see
this structure. The neatly arranged spines may have been used to capture
prey. The fine example preserved here in exquisite detail makes this
a highly unique specimen of life from 525 million years ago. |
