Thambetolepis

Thambetolepis is a dubious genus of sachitid halkieriid from the Cambrian (530-513 Ma). The genus Sinosachites may have been the same as Thambetolepis.

Thambetolepis Temporal range: Cambrian, 530–513 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Order:	†Chancelloriida
Family:	†Sachitidae
Genus:	†Thambetolepis Jell, 1981
Species:	†T. d. (?)
Binomial name
†Thambetolepis delicata (?) Jell, 1981
Synonyms
?Sinosachites flabelliformis He, 1981

The sclerites of Sinosachites are probably synonymous with Thambetolepis, which was originally described from Australia. Left-hand and right-hand sclerites exist, so the animal was bilaterally symmetrical; as in Halkieria, palmate, cultrate and siculate sclerite morphologies exist.^[1] The chambers are the same diameter, ~40 μm, as the longitudinal canals in Australohalkieria; their greater number and arrangement as lateral rather than longitudinal bodies reflects the greater size of the Sinosachites sclerites, which measure about 1–2 mm in length.

References

1. Vinther, J. (2009). "The Canal System in Sclerites of Lower Cambrian Sinosachites (Halkieriidae: Sachitida): Significance for the Molluscan Affinities of the Sachitids". Palaeontology. 52 (4): 689–712. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2009.00881.x. S2CID 84163005.