Cephalozoa

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Cephalozoa
Temporal range: Ediacaran 571–551 Ma
Fossil of Yorgia waggoneri, a cephalozoan found on the shores of the White Sea.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Proarticulata
Class: Cephalozoa
Fedonkin, 1985
Subtaxa

Cephalozoa[1] are an extinct class of primitive segmented marine organisms within the Phylum Proarticulata from the Ediacaran period. They possessed bilateral symmetry and were characterized by a thin, rounded body.

Description[edit]

Yorgia waggoneri organization diagram.

Unlike the other classes of proarticulates, the segmentation of the body is not complete and shows a "head" with fine distribution channels. Some species of the Yorgiidae family also show some asymmetry.[3][4][5]

They were discovered in Russia near the White Sea in the Arkhangelsk region, where they lived during the Ediacaran, approximately 635 to 540 Ma (millions of years ago).

Taxonomy[edit]

Cephalozoa includes the families Yorgiidae and Sprigginidae:

Yorgiidae[edit]

Sprigginidae[edit]

The genus Andiva sometimes includes Cephalozoa:

Fossil of Andiva ivantsovi.

Recent studies indicate that the family Yorgiidae could be included or closely related to the class Vendiamorpha.[7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ivantsov, A. Y. (2001). "Vendia and Other Precambrian "Arthropods"". Paleontological Journal. 35 (4): 335–343.
  2. ^ Fedonkin, Mikhail A. (2007). The Rise of Animals: Evolution and Diversification of the Kingdom Animalia. Baltimore (Md.): JHU Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8679-9.
  3. ^ Ivantsov, A. Yu (2004). "New Proarticulata from the Vendian of the Arkhangel'sk Region" (PDF). Paleontological Journal. 38 (3): 247–253.
  4. ^ Ivantsov, A. Y.; Malakhovskaya, Y. E.; Serezhnikova, E. A. (2004). "Some Problematic Fossils from the Vendian of the Southeastern White Sea Region" (PDF). Paleontological Journal. 38 (1): 1–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
  5. ^ Ivantsov, A. Y. (2004). Vendian Animals in the Phylum Proarticulata (PDF) (Thesis). Prato, Italy: The Rise and Fall of the Vendian Biota. IGSP Project 493. Abstracts. p. 52.
  6. ^ Ivantsov, Andrey Yu (2007). "Small Vendian transversely Articulated fossils". Paleontological Journal. 41 (2): 113–122. Bibcode:2007PalJ...41..113I. doi:10.1134/S0031030107020013.
  7. ^ "Vendiamorpha". Fossilworks. Gateway to the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 December 2021.