Echmatocrinus

Echmatocrinus
Temporal range: Burgess shale
Echmatocrinus brachiatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: incertae sedis
Genus: †Echmatocrinus
Species:
†E. brachiatus
Binomial name
†Echmatocrinus brachiatus
Sprinkle 1973

Echmatocrinus brachiatus is an extinct species of Cambrian animal which resembles a crinoid or an octocoral. Its exact taxonomy is still a subject of debate. It is known only from the Burgess Shale. Around 20 specimens of Echmatocrinus are known; these comprise <0.02% of the community.

The creature resembled an inverted cone, with a crown of seven to ten tentacles. Each tentacle was covered with small extensions. The cone itself was covered with irregularly arranged mineralised plates, whose texture recalls that of the Burgess Shale echinoderm Walcottidiscus. The organisms lived a solitary lifestyle, although juveniles are sometimes attached to (or budding from) adults.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Babcock, L. E.; Ausich, W. I. (2000). "Echmatocrinus, a Burgess Shale animal reconsidered". Lethaia. 33 (2): 92–95. Bibcode:2000Letha..33...92A. doi:10.1080/00241160050150221.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. 1 2 Sprinkle, James; Collins, Desmond (29 March 2007). "Revision of Echmatocrinus from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia". Lethaia. 31 (4): 269–282. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1998.tb00517.x.

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).