Tiny sea anemone from the Lower Cambrian of China
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BACKGROUND: Abundant fossils from the Ediacaran and Cambrian showing cnidarian grade grossly suggest that cnidarian diversification occurred earlier than that of other eumetazoans. However, fossils of possible soft-bodied polyps are scanty and modern corals are dated back only to the Middle Triassic, although molecular phylogenetic results support the idea that anthozoans represent the first major branch of the Cnidaria. Because of difficulties in taxonomic assignments owing to imperfect preservation of fossil cnidarian candidates, little is known about forms ancestral to those of living groups. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We have analyzed the soft-bodied polypoid microfossils Eolympia pediculata gen. et sp. nov. from the lowest Cambrian Kuanchuanpu Formation in southern China by scanning electron microscopy and computer-aided microtomography after isolating fossils from sedimentary rocks by acetic acid maceration. The fossils, about a half mm in body size, are preserved with 18 mesenteries including directives bilaterally arranged, 18 tentacles and a stalk-like pedicle. The pedicle suggests a sexual life cycle, while asexual reproduction by transverse fission also is inferred by circumferential grooves on the body column. CONCLUSIONS: The features found in the present fossils fall within the morphological spectrum of modern Hexacorallia excluding Ceriantharia, and thus Eolympia pediculata could be a stem member for this group. The fossils also demonstrate that basic features characterizing modern hexacorallians such as bilateral symmetry and the reproductive system have deep roots in the Early Cambrian.
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The early Cambrian putative cnidarian Eolympia possesses a bipartite calyx, a stalk, and 18 tentacles, suggesting "dinomischid" affinities, as retrieved when included in our analyses.
“The early Cambrian putative cnidarian Eolympia [63”
From Cambrian Sessile, Suspension Feeding Stem-Group Ctenophores and Evolution of the Comb Jelly Body Plan (2019) · cites this paper as [63]
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- Authors
- Han, J., Kubota, S., Uchida, H.-O., Stanley, G. D., Yao, X., Shu, D., Li, Y., & Yasui, K.
- Affiliations
- Northwest University (CN)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- University of Montana (US)
- Chang'an University (CN)
- Hiroshima University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Yasui, Kinya
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2010-10-13
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- e13276
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2954142
- OpenAlex
- W2111301221
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Hiroshima University Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Hiroshima University Acedemic Information Repository (Hiroshima University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Kyoto University Research Information Repository (Kyoto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Monash University
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (50702005, 40602003)
- Northwest University
- University of Tokyo
- University of the Ryukyus
- Universidad Austral de Chile
- RIKEN
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Keywords
- sea anemone, Lower Cambrian, fossil cnidarians, Hexacorallia, microfossils, mesentery, tentacles, pedicle, transverse fission, bilateral symmetry, stem group, Ediacaran-Cambrian transition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, China, Microscopy, Electron, Scanning, Phylogeny, Sea Anemones
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