Emmonsaspis
Emmonsaspis is a fossil that was found in the Cambrian-age Parker Slate of Vermont in the late 19th century.
| Emmonsaspis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Emmonsaspis 1886 |
Description
Emmonsaspis is described as a tadpole or worm-like animal. No trace of a spinal cord is present.
There are two species: Emmonaspis worthanella and Emmonaspis cambriensis (Walcott(?) 1886(?) 1911(?)).
E. cambrensis has been described as a graptolite, a chordate, an arthropod and as a frond-like organism.[1][2]
Affinities
It was interpreted by paleontologist C. D. Walcott in 1911 as a polychaete worm. Although some paleontologists regard it as an early chordate allied with Pikaia et al., Conway Morris suggested in 1993 that it might be a Cambrian descendant of the Vendian form Pteridinium, and a frondose morphology is the current vogue.[3]
Notes
- "Cambrian Primitive Chordate Fossil". www.fossilmuseum.net. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- "Duffy: Chordate Origins". www.biology.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- Shu, D. -G.; Morris, S. C.; Zhang, X. -L. (1996). "A Pikaia-like chordate from the Lower Cambrian of China". Nature. 384 (6605): 157–158. doi:10.1038/384157a0.
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