Early Deuterostomes
Early Deuterostomes (Chordates, Echinoderms and relatives) are represented here with their modern counterparts.
Shankouclava anningense Chen et al., 2003 from the Early Cambrian Maotianshan Shale, is the earliest known definite tunicate to which the sea squirts are modern representatives.
Pikaia gracilens Walcott, 1911 from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale was possibly a cephalochordate, to which the lancelets are the only modern surviving representatives.
Spartobranchus tenuis Caron et al., 2013, also from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale, is the earliest known acorn worm (enteropneust).
It was also suggested that the modern pterobranch Rhabodpleura is the last surviving genus of the enigmatic widespread Paleozoic group called graptolites.
March 11, 2018
References:
Caron, J. B., Morris, S. C., & Cameron, C. B. (2013). Tubicolous enteropneusts from the Cambrian period. Nature, 495(7442), 503.
Chen, J. Y., Huang, D. Y., Peng, Q. Q., Chi, H. M., Wang, X. Q., & Feng, M. (2003). The first tunicate from the Early Cambrian of South China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(14), 8314-8318.
Mitchell, C. E., Melchin, M. J., Cameron, C. B., & Maletz, J. (2013). Phylogenetic analysis reveals that Rhabdopleura is an extant graptolite. Lethaia, 46(1), 34-56.
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