Echmatocrinus

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.^[1] Around 20 specimens of Echmatocrinus are known; these comprise < 0.02% of the community.^[2][3]

Echmatocrinus Temporal range: Burgess shale PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Echmatocrinus brachiatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	incertae sedis
Genus:	†Echmatocrinus
Species:	†E. brachiatus
Binomial name
†Echmatocrinus brachiatus Sprinkle 1973

The creature was a little like an inverted cone, with a crown of seven to ten tentacles.^[3] Each tentacle was covered with small extensions. The cone itself was covered with irregularly arranged mineralised plates,^[1] 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.^[1] E. brachiatus sometimes

References

1. Babcock, L. E.; Ausich, W. I. (2000). "Echmatocrinus, a Burgess Shale animal reconsidered". Lethaia. 33 (2): 92–95. 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. 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.

External links

• "Echmatocrinus brachiatus". Burgess Shale Fossil Gallery. Virtual Museum of Canada. 2011. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2023-01-21.

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).