Three Cambrian fossils assembled into an extinct body plan of cnidarian affinity
Open accessAbstract
Significance New material from the Chengjiang fossil Lagerstätte clarifies the identity of three early Cambrian problematica. The presumed earliest hemichordate Galeaplumosus abilus and the putative ancient sea pen Chengjiangopenna wangii are in fact fragments of Xianguangia sinica . Here we demonstrate that X. sinica possessed a polypoid body, a blind gastric cavity partitioned by septum-like structures, a holdfast that contained an additional cavity functioning as a hydroskeleton, a basal pit used for anchorage, and a radial whorl of feather-like tentacles for ciliary suspension feeding. Phylogenetic analyses based on the new findings suggest that X. sinica represents an extinct body plan most closely allied to cnidarians and thus sheds light on their early evolution.
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Pinnules are present on the proximal portion of the Xianguangia tentacle, extending into the 'column,' indicating that the 'column' is the basal part of the tentacles.
“but we show here that pinnules are present on the proximal portion (Figures 1A, 1B, and 1E), extending into the “column,” indicating that the “column” is the basal part of the tentacles.”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Description (page unavailable) says the feather-like tentacles project from atop the column, with pinnules branching from each tentacle. The Emended Diagnosis (page unavailable) identifies the column as a trunk distinct from the tentacles, contrary to the claim that it is their basal portion. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese structures conform in dimensions to structures referred to as macrocilia in Xianguangia and striated structures in Siphusauctum.
“conform in dimensions to structures referred to as macrocilia in Xianguangia [13”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that Xianguangia filaments are 19–23 μm thick and suggests they may resemble macrocilia. It does not call the Xianguangia structures macrocilia outright or establish that the citing paper’s structures conform to their dimensions. The citation is attached to Xianguangia, so this verdict does not assess the Siphusauctum comparison. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe pinnules of Xianguangia harbor dense distally oriented lineations or striations, 19-23 μm thick and up to 600 μm long, interpreted as compound cilia, more specifically macrocilia.
“The pinnules harbor dense lineations or striations that are distally oriented (“Mci” in Figure 1D), 19–23 μm thick, and up to 600 μm long, which we interpret as compound cilia, more specifically macrocilia”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Description reports dense filaments on Xianguangia pinnules, 540–630 μm long; the Discussion interprets them as cilia 19–23 μm thick. It describes a macrocilia-like compound structure only as a possibility, with preservation-related thickening as an alternative. The Description says the filaments project nearly at right angles from the pinnules, not that they are distally oriented. No page numbers are provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis may be explained by mode of splitting or preservation, if the ciliary organs have separate membranes over each axoneme rather than a single membrane as proposed for "dinomischids".
“This may be explained by mode of splitting or preservation, if the ciliary organs have separate membranes over each axoneme rather than a single membrane as proposed for “dinomischids” [13”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Discussion (page unavailable) suggests that preservation or diagenesis might explain the unusual thickness of the cilia in X. sinica. It does not discuss splitting or propose a single membrane around multiple axonemes in “dinomischids,” so it supports only the preservation-related part of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCoelenterata has been recovered from morphological data.
“Coelenterata (Figure 6) has been recovered from morphological data [13”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Discussion (page not available) says the fossil’s anatomy corresponds to coelenterates and reports a phylogenetic analysis based on 111 characters. But it says that analysis suggests the fossil was a stem-group cnidarian; it does not say the analysis recovered Coelenterata as a group. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Xianguangia has tentacles with ciliated pinnules.
“Recent work showed that it has tentacles with ciliated pinnules”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
Daihua sanqiong is reconstructed as a sessile, polypoid organism that, like Xianguangia and Siphusauctum, used an extensive ciliary apparatus for filter feeding.
“Daihua sanqiong is reconstructed (Figures 2I and S4) as a sessile, polypoid organism that, like Xianguangia [13”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The new matrix builds on previously available datasets through the incorporation of new morphological information and an expanded taxon sample.
“The new matrix builds on previously available datasets [2, 11, 13, 53”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
Although similarities prompted the assignment of Xianguangia sinica to the cnidarian stem group, we recover this taxon as the most early-diverging ctenophore.
“Although these similarities prompted the assignment of Xianguangia sinica to the cnidarian stem group [13”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
Among the phylogenetic hypotheses proposed for deep-branching animals, Coelenterata maximizes support from independent lines of evidence.
“Among the phylogenetic hypotheses proposed for deep-branching animals, Coelenterata maximizes support from independent lines of evidence”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [13]
The Discussion (page not available in our copy) assesses whether the fossil X. sinica belongs to the cnidarian stem group and argues against identifying that fossil as a ctenophore. Searches for Coelenterata and for independent evidence concerning deep-branching animal relationships found no passage comparing support for Coelenterata with other phylogenetic hypotheses. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body plan
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Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body planPreprint
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Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body planPreprint
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Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body plan
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eLife Assessment: Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body plan
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Reviewer #1 (Public Review): Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body plan
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Early evolution of the ecdysozoan body planPreprint
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A morphological phylogenetic approach to the evolution of symmetry in animals
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Edrathina obditchia, an Ediacaran stem-group ctenophore from the Fermeuse Formation of Newfoundland
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- Authors
- Ou, Q., Han, J., Zhang, Z., Shu, D., Sun, G., & Mayer, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Kassel (DE)
- Northwest University (CN)
- China University of Geosciences (CN)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2017-07-31
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 33
- Pages
- 8835-8840
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5565419
- OpenAlex
- W2739939815
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (1164230)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41572017)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- Chengjiang Lagerstätte, cnidarian evolution, tentacles, phylogenetic analysis
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cnidaria, Fossils
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