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Early Cambrian palaeoscolecid cuticles from Shaanxi, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Xi-Guang Zhang  and
Brian R. Pratt
Xi-Guang Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon S7N 0W0, Canada
Brian R. Pratt
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon S7N 0W0, Canada
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Abstract

Phosphatized, three-dimensional cuticle fragments of the palaeoscolecids Houscolex lepidotus new genus and new species, Houscolex species indeterminate, and an unidentified form are described from the Lower Cambrian Qiongzhusi Formation of Shaanxi, China. These segmented worms, characterized by regularly arranged simple plates and platelets, small circular pores and fine pits, and irregularly distributed nipplelike protuberances, are unique among known palaeoscolecids. The occurrence of such cuticles as seemingly persistent elements of phosphatized faunas suggests that wormlike organisms achieved a fairly high diversity and widespread geographic distribution during the Early and Middle Cambrian.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , March 1996 , pp. 275 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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