New Species of Vetulicola, An Enigmatic Fossil from Guanshan
"Member of Putative Phylum Vetulicolia"

Description: This unusual fossil is a new species of Vetulicola, a member of the Vetulicolians, an enigmatic group which some scientists place in their own phylum (Phylum Vetulicolia). They are thought to have been swimmers that either were filter feeders or detritivores. One researcher places them with the Urochordates, giving them strong affinity with the Phylum Chordata. At present, there is no agreement as to their systematic placement. This specimen comes from the strata immediately above the Chengjiang Boita, and is thus slightly younger, more closely contemporary with the Burgess Shale Fauna of British Columbia.. This species is the third member of the genus, and was first found in 1997. Some 20 examples are known. While I have the name of the genus, I do not wish to publish it here as this taxon is yet to be formally described later this year. The darkened areas are the gills. It is found in association with a number of small Redlichiid trilobites and brachiopod shells.

Shu, D.-G., Conway Morris, S., Han, J., Chen, L., Zhang, X.-L., Zhang, Z.-F., Liu, H.-Q., Li, Y., and Liu, J.-N. 2001. Primitive Deuterostomes from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Lower Cambrian, China), Nature, 414:419-424. (November 11, 2001).