Luolishaniidae

Luolishaniidae
Temporal range: Stage 2–Middle Cambrian
(1) Collinsovermis, (2) Luolishania (= Miraluolishania), (3) Ovatiovermis, (4) Facivermis
Video of Ovatiovermis anchored to a hold and filter feeding using its arms
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Panarthropoda
Phylum: †Lobopodia
Clade: †Hallucishaniids
Family: †Luolishaniidae
Families and genera

The Luolishaniida (formerly Luolishaniidae) are an order of Cambrian lobopodians with anterior 5 or 6 pairs of setiferous lobopods. Most luolishaniids also have posterior lobopods each with a hooked claws, and thorn-shaped sclerites arranged as three or more per trunk segment. The type genus is based on Luolishania longicruris Hou and Chen, 1989, from the Chengjiang Lagerstatte, South China. They are presumed to have been benthic suspension or filter feeders. New specimens of the previously enigmatic Facivermis show that it was a sessile tube-dweller, and part of this group.

Description

Classification

A 2023 analysis concluded, on the basis of numerous morphological similarities, that members of Luolishaniida might be the closest known relatives of tardigrades. This was again confirmed in the 2025 redescription of Palaeocampa anthrax.

Internal phylogeny

Below is an internal phylogeny of the order after Knecht et al. 2025:

Luolishaniida

†Luolishania

†Collinsovermidae

†EBS Collinsovermid (SAM P14848)

External phylogeny

Phylogeny of Panarthropoda and various lobopodians after Knecht et al. 2025:

Paleobiology

Notes

References

  1. 1 2 Hou, X.; Bergström, Jan (1995). "Cambrian lobopodians-ancestors of extant onychophorans?". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 114: 3–19. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb00110.x.
  2. 1 2 3 Yang, Jie; Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Gerber, Sylvain; Butterfield, Nicholas J.; Hou, Jin-bo; Lan, Tian; Zhang, Xi-guang (14 July 2015). "A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 112 (28): 8678–8683. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.8678Y. doi:10.1073/pnas.1505596112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4507230. PMID 26124122.
  3. 1 2 3 Howard, Richard J.; Hou, Xianguang; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Salge, Tobias; Shi, Xiaomei; Ma, Xiaoya (February 2020). "A tube-dwelling early Cambrian Lobopodian". Current Biology. 30 (8): 1529–1536.e2. Bibcode:2020CBio...30E1529H. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.075. hdl:10141/623115. PMID 32109391.
  4. 1 2 3 Caron, Jean-Bernard; Aria, Cédric (2020a). "The 'Collins' monster', a spinous suspension-feeding lobopodian from the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia". Palaeontology. 63 (6): 979–994. Bibcode:2020Palgy..63..979C. doi:10.1111/pala.12499. S2CID 225593728.;
    Caron, Jean-Bernard; Aria, Cédric (2020b). "Corrigendum: The 'Collins' monster', a spinous suspension-feeding lobopodian from the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia". Palaeontology. 63 (6): 995–996. Bibcode:2020Palgy..63..995C. doi:10.1111/pala.12509.
  5. 1 2 Ma, Xiaoya; Hou, Xianguang; Bergström, Jan (July 2009). "Morphology of Luolishania longicruris (Lower Cambrian, Chengjiang Lagerstätte, SW China) and the phylogenetic relationships within lobopodians". Arthropod Structure & Development. 38 (4): 271–291. Bibcode:2009ArtSD..38..271M. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2009.03.001. PMID 19293001.
  6. ↑ Richards, Jared C.; Ortega-Hernández, Javier (2026). "Predator–prey scaling laws support a suspension-feeding lifestyle in Cambrian luolishaniid lobopodians". Biology Letters. 22 (4). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2025.0650. PMID 42050928.
  7. ↑ Kihm, Ji-Hoon; Smith, Frank W.; Kim, Sanghee; Rho, Hyun Soo; Zhang, Xingliang; Liu, Jianni; Park, Tae-Yoon S. (2023). "Cambrian lobopodians shed light on the origin of the tardigrade body plan". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 120 (28) e2211251120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12011251K. doi:10.1073/pnas.2211251120. PMC 10334802. PMID 37399417.
  8. 1 2 3 Knecht, Richard J.; McCall, Christian R. A.; Tsai, Cheng-Chia; Rabideau Childers, Richard A.; Yu, Nanfang (23 July 2025). "Palaeocampa anthrax, an armored freshwater lobopodian with chemical defenses from the Carboniferous". Communications Biology. 8 (1) 1080. doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08483-0. PMC 12287526. PMID 40702124.