Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 100, Issue 14, Pages 8314-8318Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1431177100
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Here we report the discovery of eight specimens of an Early Cambrian fossil tunicate Shankouclava near Kunming (South China). The tunicate identity of this organism is supported by the presence of a large and perforated branchial basket, a sac-like peri-pharyngeal atrium, an oral siphon with apparent oral tentacles at the basal end of the siphonal chamber, perhaps a dorsal atrial pore, and an elongated endostyle on the mid-ventral floor of the pharynx. As in most modern tunicates, the gut is simple and U-shaped, and is connected with posterior end of the pharynx at one end and with an atrial siphon at the other, anal end. Shankouclava differs from Cheungkongella, which was previously called a tunicate. Based on new, more complete Cheungkongelia specimens that show branching tentacles, this form may be a lophophorate, and in any case is not a tunicate.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available