A palaeoscolecid worm from the Burgess Shale
Abstract
Palaeoscolecid worms are a ubiquitous group of Early Palaeozoic ecdysozoans that are curiously lacking in the archetypal Cambrian Lagerstätten, the Burgess Shale. Here I describe Scathascolex minor gen. et sp. nov, the first unequivocal palaeoscolecid from this site. Scathascolex is armoured with simple Hadimopanella-like plates, but lacks smaller platelets, pointing to a close affinity with the Palaeoscolecida sensu stricto. Neither preservational nor environmental factors account for the scarcity of palaeoscolecids in the Burgess Shale, which presumably represents an ecological phenomenon.
- Publication:
-
Palaeontology
- Pub Date:
- November 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1111/pala.12210
- Bibcode:
- 2015Palgy..58..973S