Feeding Strategies: Deposit feeder



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Spartobranchus tenuis

Artistic reconstruction of Spartobranchus tenuis. Marianne Collins © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Enteropneusta
Species name: Spartobranchus tenuis
Remarks:

Spartobranchus is considered a stem-group enteropneust (acorn worm), and shares many similarities with modern acorn worms (Caron et al. 2013; Nanglu et al. 2020). It shows the tripartite body characteristic of this group, consisting of an acorn-shaped proboscis, cylindrical collar, and elongate trunk.

Described by: Walcott
Description date: 1911 (redescribed in 2013)
Etymology:

Spartobranchus — from the Greek “sparte,” for cord or rope (made from the Spartium shrub), and “brankhia” for gills.

tenuis — from the Latin, meaning thin or delicate.

Type Specimens: USNM 108494; Paralectotype – USNM 553526.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: None
Other deposits: None

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan stage, Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old).
Principal localities:

Walcott Quarry

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Spartobranchus tenuis was first reported by Walcott in 1911 as a priapulid worm named Ottoia tenuis. It was removed from the genus Ottoia by Conway Morris in 1979, and formally redescribed as Spartobranchus tenuis, an acorn worm, by Caron et al. in 2013.

Description:

Morphology:

Spartobanchus is a small worm with a maximum length of 10 cm. The three major components of its body are a proboscis, a collar, and a long, thin section called the trunk. The proboscis is oval or “acorn” shaped, hence the common name of the group: acorn worms. The trunk is a relatively short cylindrical section behind the proboscis. The trunk comprises roughly 90%-95% of the total body length of the animal. The entire body is highly flexible, with the trunk often being recurved onto itself. The anterior part of the trunk is known as the pharynx. Inside the pharynx are presumably collagenous bars known as gill bars, which give the pharynx a strongly striated appearance. The posterior part of the trunk is where the gut is located and is relatively featureless. It is often preserved darkly compared to the rest of the body. At the most posterior end of the trunk is a bulbous structure, which may have served as an anchor for the animal. Roughly one quarter of Spartobranchus specimens are found associated with fibrous, collagenous tubes that the worms produced. These tubes have a corrugated appearance, and can take many forms including: straight tubes, forked, spiral, and circular.

Abundance:

More than 9000 specimens, making it one of the most abundant species in the Walcott Quarry.

Maximum Size:
About 10 cm.

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

Spartobranchus was likely a deposit feeder, as this is the most common mode of life of extant acorn worms that are morphologically highly similar. The presence of a pre-oral ciliary organ on the proboscis also suggests that food particles were transported from the proboscis to the mouth. It may have also been able to filter feed, given the ability of some burrowing hemichordates to draw in food from interstitial water. The tubes Spartobranchus is associated with would have served as a protective dwelling and were secreted by the proboscis. These worms shared this trait with their close relatives, the graptolites. Some large tubes from the Raymond Quarry (located roughly 20m above the Walcott Quarry) appear to also contain undescribed acorn worms similar in morphology to Spartobranchus (Nanglu and Caron 2021). These tubes also possessed polychaetes, suggesting a symbiotic relationship between these worms.

References:

  • CARON, J.-B., CONWAY MORRIS, S., AND C. B. CAMERON. 2013. Tubicolous enteropneusts from the Cambrian period. Nature 495: 503-506
  • CONWAY MORRIS, S. 1979. The Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) fauna. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 10: 327–349.
  • NANGLU, K. AND J.-B. CARON. 2021. Symbiosis in the Cambrian: enteropneust tubes from the Burgess Shale co-inhabited by commensal polychaetes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288 (1951): 20210061.
  • NANGLU, K., J.-B. CARON, AND C. B. CAMERON. 2020. Cambrian tentaculate worms and the origin of the hemichordate body plan. Current Biology 30 (21): 4238-4244
  • WALCOTT, C. 1911. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology II. Middle Cambrian annelids. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 57(5): 109-145.
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Peronopsis columbiensis

Artistic reconstruction of Peronopsis columbiensis. Danielle Dufault © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Artiopoda, Order: Agnostida
Species name: Peronopsis columbiensis
Remarks:

Owing to their distinctive appearance, agnostids have been classified either as trilobites, related to Eodiscina, or as stem group “crustaceans” (Müller and Walossek 1987; Cotton and Fortey 2005; Haug et al. 2009). The most recent phylogenetic analysis finds that agnostids form a grouping with trilobites, supported by shared features of the dorsal exoskeleton, such as mineralization, the expression of segmental boundaries, and the form of the thoracic joints (Moysiuk and Caron 2019). More taxonomically inclusive analyses will be needed to determine whether they belong inside or outside the group of true trilobites.

Described by: Rasetti
Description date: 1951
Etymology:

Peronopsis – From the Greek perone, “pin, brooch ” and opsis, “looking like.”

columbiensis – No etymology provided, but presumably in reference to the occurrence of the species in British Columbia, Canada.

Type Specimens: Holotype – USNM 116267; paratypes – USNM 116268-9; in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: P. montis

Other deposits: other species occur throughout the world in the middle Cambrian.

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan stage, Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old).
Principal localities:

Mount Stephen, Mount Odaray, Marble Canyon.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Burgess Shale material was originally named Peronopsis columbiensis by Rasetti (1951). Naimark (2012) proposed to reassign the species to the genus Quadragnostus based on published images, but we maintain it here under Peronopsis pending taxonomic restudy of Burgess Shale specimens. Moysiuk and Caron (2019) recently described the appendages, digestive tract, and other soft tissues from exceptionally preserved specimens.

Description:

Morphology:

Adult dorsal exoskeletons reach about 20 mm in length. The semicircular cephalon has a narrow marginal rim around the front and sides and rounded genal angles. There are no dorsal eyes and no facial sutures. The narrow glabella comes to an ogival point, with no anterior median furrow; a transverse furrow crosses the glabella near its anterior. A pair of short genal spines are present. Two short thoracic segments carry lateral nodes on the axial rings. A narrowly rimmed pygidium, the same size and general shape as the cephalon, has abruptly angled anterolateral corners and a pair of short, backwards-directed marginal spines posterolaterally. The pygidial axis is broader than the glabella, but of similar outline, with a median tubercle between two transverse furrows. The pointed tip of the axis is separated by a gap from the pygidial rim posteriorly, without a median furrow. A saddle-shaped hypostome is present ventrally, unfused to the headshield. Unmineralized anatomy: The head probably bears six pairs of appendages, including one pair of elongate sensory antennules, two pairs of appendages with oar-like outer branches, and probably three pairs of stout walking limbs with a row of club-like projections. Additional walking limbs were present beneath the thorax (2) and pygidium (probably 4). The digestive tract curves dorsally from the mouth before emitting two pairs of branching gut glands, the first of which is the largest and occupies much of the space below the headshield. Behind this, the cylindrical midgut extends back to the pygidium. The hindgut begins roughly below the pygidial tubercle, and narrows considerably before reaching the anus below the tip of the pygidial axis.

Abundance:

Specimens likely assignable to this species are very common at Tokumm Creek and in the upper levels of the Marble Canyon quarry, where it is the most abundant artiopodan (Nanglu et al. 2020). Peronopsis columbiensis also occurs in notable numbers at Mount Odaray, Mount Stephen, and a few smaller localities (Rasetti 1951).

Maximum Size:
About 20 mm.

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

The mode of life of agnostids has been extensively debated (Fortey and Owens 1999). With the oar-like appendages capable of protruding while the animal was partially enrolled, agnostids certainly appear well-adapted for swimming (Müller and Walossek 1987). Together with their occurrence in mass mortality beds with wide geographic range, this evidence has been proposed to support a pelagic lifestyle (Fortey 1985). However, most specimens at the Burgess Shale are found in unrolled position, suggesting they did not live permanently enrolled. Further, Peronopsis is sometimes found in groups, associated with the remains of other Burgess Shale organisms, where it was potentially feeding on carrion or bacterial films, providing evidence for a benthic habitat. The huge, branching gut glands in the head likely acted as a food storage organ, possibly enabling a feast-and-famine lifestyle. The club-like outgrowths on the walking legs may have functioned in respiration (Moysiuk and Caron 2019).

References:

  • COTTON, T. J. and FORTEY, R. A. 2005. Comparative morphology and relationships of the Agnostida. In KOENEMANN, S. and JENNER, R. (eds.) Crustacea and Arthropod Relationships, CRC Press, 95–136 pp.
  • FORTEY, R. A. 1985. Pelagic trilobites as an example of deducing the life habits of extinct arthropods. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 76: 219–230.
  • FORTEY, R. A. and OWENS, R. M. 1999. Feeding habits in trilobites. Palaeontology, 42: 429–465.
  • HAUG, J. T., MAAS, A. and WALOSZEK, D. 2009. †Henningsmoenicaris scutula, †Sandtorpia vestrogothiensis gen. et sp. nov. and heterochronic events in early crustacean evolution. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 100: 311–350.
  • MOYSIUK, J. and CARON, J.-B. 2019. Burgess Shale fossils shed light on the agnostid problem. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286: 20182314.
  • MÜLLER, K. J. and WALOSSEK, D. 1987. Morphology, ontogeny, and life habit of Agnostus pisiformis from the Upper Cambrian of Sweden. Fossils and Strata, 19: 1–124.
  • NAIMARK, E. B. 2012. Hundred species of the genus Peronopsis Hawle et Corda, 1847. Paleontological Journal, 46: 945–1057.
  • NANGLU, K., CARON, J.-B. and GAINES, R. R. 2020. The Burgess Shale paleocommunity with new insights from Marble Canyon, British Columbia. Paleobiology, 46: 58–81.
  • RASETTI, F. 1951. Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 116: 1–277.
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Pakucaris apatis

Artistic reconstruction of Pakucaris apatis. Danielle Dufault © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Hymenocarines, Family: Odaraiidae
Species name: Pakucaris apatis
Remarks:

Hymenocarines were early arthropods with bivalved carapaces and mandibles, forming the bulk of the first mandibulates (represented today by myriapods, crustaceans and insects) (Aria and Caron 2017; Vannier et al. 2018). In many hymenocarines, including Pakucaris, determining the exact number and types of appendages in their head remains difficult, which hinders a detailed understanding of the evolutionary relationships inside this group. Pakucaris most probably belongs to the family Odaraiidae, a group of hymenocarines with highly multisegmented bodies, reduced or absent antennae and highly multisegmented legs.

Described by: Izquierdo-López & Caron
Description date: 2021
Etymology:

Pakucaris – from the Japanese onomatopoeia paku, suggestive of ‘eating’, related to the video game character Pac-Man, due to the naked eye resemblance of the carapace and shield of Pakucaris to the shape of the character. Latin caris, meaning “crab” or “shrimp”, and

apatis – from the goddess of deception in Greek mythology Apate, in reference to the resemblance of Pakucaris to a trilobite.

Type Specimens: Holotype ROMIP65739
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: None
Other deposits: None

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan Stage, upper part of the Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old)
Principal localities:

Marble Canyon, Tokumm Creek

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

The holotype of Pakucaris apatis was first discovered during the 2012 expedition to the Marble Canyon site of the Burgess Shale. A few other specimens were discovered during the following 2014 and 2016 expeditions and classified as “New arthropod E” (Nanglu et al. 2020). The 2018 expedition at the Tokumm Creek site uncovered one additional specimen. The first description of Pakucaris apatis was published in 2021 in the journal Papers in Paleontology (Izquierdo-López and Caron, 2021). Several other authors have noted the similarity between the shield of Pakucaris and pygidia (O’Flynn et al. 2022). A pygidium is a structure in which the most posterior segments of an arthropod become fused, usually into a shield. The pygidium is typically found in trilobites, but also across many other groups in the Cambrian, suggesting that this structure appeared multiple times independently.

Description:

Morphology:

Pakucaris has two morphotypes: a small one (around 1 cm) with its body subdivided into 30-35 segments, and a larger one (around 2.5 cm), with its body subdivided into 70-80 segments. The carapace of Pakucaris covers up to two-thirds of the total body length. It has a dome-like shape with a small dorsal crest that runs across its entire length. The carapace bends towards the front, extending into a small process (rostrum). Similarly, the lateral sides of the carapace also extend frontally into small lateral processes. The head has one pair of pedunculate eyes, one pair of thin small appendages, and at least one pair of larger segmented antennae. The small thin appendages are not segmented and represent a sensorial organ known as frontal filaments. The first antennae (also termed antennules) have 7 to 8 segments, with each segment bearing a small spine. Each segment of the body bears one pair of limbs, each subdivided into two branches (biramous): a walking leg (endopod) and a paddle-like flap (exopod). The endopod is thin and is subdivided into at least 20-21 segments. The exopod has an ovoid, flattened shape and is as long as half the endopod. The posterior section of the body has a shield-like structure. This shield is formed by the fusion and lateral extensions of the segments. The shield bears around 10 big spines on each of its lateral sides, as well as a series of smaller spines on its posterior side.

Abundance:

Pakucaris is rare, only known from eight specimens from the Marble Canyon and Tokumm Creek sites. The bigger morphotype is only known from one specimen.

Maximum Size:
About 2.5 cm

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

Pakucaris was probably a nektobenthic animal living close to the benthos (Izquierdo-López and Caron 2021). It may have used its antennae with spines to scrape rocks or other objects and may have also used its paddle-like exopods to create currents and capture organic particles, aided by its antennae and other head appendages. The tail shield (or pygidium) of Pakucaris was most probably a structure to protect against predators. The two morphotypes of Pakucaris may represent different growth stages of males and females, but the number of specimens available to date is too limited to reach a conclusion.

References:

  • ARIA, C. and CARON, J. B. 2017. Burgess Shale fossils illustrate the origin of the mandibulate body plan. Nature, 545: 89–92.
  • IZQUIERDO-LÓPEZ, A. and CARON, J. B. 2021. A Burgess Shale mandibulate arthropod with a pygidium: a case of convergent evolution. Papers in Palaeontology, 7: 1877–1894.
  • NANGLU, K., CARON, J. and GAINES, R. 2020. The Burgess Shale paleocommunity with new insights from Marble Canyon, British Columbia. Paleobiology, 46(1): 58–81.
  • O’FLYNN, R. J., WILLIAMS, M., YU, M., HARVEY, T. and LIU, Y. 2022. A new euarthropod with large frontal appendages from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. Palaeontologia Electronica, 25(1):a6: 1–21.
  • VANNIER, J., ARIA, C., TAYLOR, R. S. and CARON, J. B. 2018. Waptia fieldensis Walcott, a mandibulate arthropod from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Royal Society Open Science, 5:172206.
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Nereocaris exilis

Artistic reconstruction of Nereocaris exilis. Marianne Collins © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Hymenocarines, Family: Odaraiidae
Species name: Nereocaris exilis
Remarks:

Hymenocarines were early arthropods with bivalved carapaces and mandibles, forming the bulk of the first mandibulates (represented today by myriapods, crustaceans and insects) (Aria and Caron 2017; Vannier et al. 2018). In many hymenocarines, including Nereocaris, determining the exact number and types of appendages in their head remains difficult, which hinders a detailed understanding of the evolutionary relationships inside this group. Nereocaris most probably belongs to the family Odaraiidae, a group of hymenocarines with highly multisegmented bodies, reduced or absent antennae and highly multisegmented legs.

Described by: Legg, D. A., Sutton, M. D., Edgecombe, G. D., Caron, J-B.
Description date: 2012
Etymology:

Nereocaris – After “Nereus”, the Greek titan with a fish-like tail and the Latin caris, meaning “crab” or “shrimp”, and

exilis – from the Latin exilis, meaning “slender”.

Type Specimens: dsfsdfdsfdsfdasf
Other species:

Holotype ROMIP61831

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan Stage, Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old)
Principal localities:

Tulip Beds (S7) (N. exilis) and the Collins Quarry (N. briggsi).

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

The first description of Nereocaris exilis was published in 2012 based on specimens from the Tulip Beds site in Mount Stephen (Yoho National Park). Two years later, Nereocaris briggsi was described based on specimens from the Collins Quarry in Mount Stephen (Legg and Caron 2014). Nereocaris was originally described with a median eye protruding from a single eye peduncle located between the lateral eyes (Legg et al. 2012; Legg and Caron 2014). This structure was later reinterpreted as one of a pair of frontal filaments; short unsegmented limb-like structures with a sensorial function (Izquierdo-López and Caron 2022). Similarly, the tail fan of Nereocaris exilis was initially interpreted as having six pairs of lateral caudal rami (termed telson processes in the original study) and one medial telson process. This structure was later reinterpreted as two pairs of three-partite caudal rami borne by the terminal segment (“te” in Izquierdo-López and Caron, 2022), and was also reconstructed as such for N. briggsi (Izquierdo-López and Caron 2022). The discovery of Nereocaris and the phylogenetic analyses adjunct to the publication have been key to the interpretation of hymenocarines as earliest euarthropods (Legg et al. 2013; Fu et al. 2022) (or ‘upper stem-euarthropods’ based on Ortega-Hernández 2014). The discovery of mandibles in several hymenocarines (Aria and Caron 2017; Vannier et al. 2018; Zhai et al. 2019) has prompted the reinterpretation of this group as mandibulates, although the mandibulates affinities of Nereocaris and other odaraiids remain unclear pending clearer resolution of their head appendages.

Description:

Morphology:

The carapace of Nereocaris has a dome-like shape, compressed laterally, which becomes progressively wider towards the back of the animal. The top of the carapace bears a dorsal crest (keel) that runs across its entire length and extends posteriorly into a small process. The carapace is truncated anteriorly, and each valve extends towards the ventral side, terminating into an anterior hook. The carapace valves extend beyond the length of the legs, and in N. briggsi extend across the ventral side, similar to Odaraia alata. The head bears one pair of short pedunculate eyes and one pair of thin and small, unsegmented appendages (frontal filaments). Antennulae appear to be absent, and further cephalic specializations are unknown from the material available. The body of Nereocaris is highly multisegmented, reaching more than 90 segments in N. exilis. The trunk is subdivided into a thoracic region with limbs and a long limbless abdomen. Limbs are short, subdivided into two branches (biramous): a walking leg (endopod) and a seemingly paddle-like flap (exopod). Based on N. briggsi, the walking legs are probably subdivided into 14 or similar segments (podomeres). The exact morphology and size of the exopods is not well-preserved, but darker areas close to the legs’ base could indicate their approximate shape and length. The terminal segment is distinctly larger than the preceding segments and extends into a blunt process towards the posterior side of the animal (the “mtp” in Legg & Caron, 2014). This last segment bears one pair of caudal rami, each being partly subdivided into three smaller segments (tripartite). Each segment bears one spine on its outer edge.

Abundance:

Nereocaris exilis is rare, only known from three specimens from the same locality. Nereocaris briggsi is highly abundant in its locality, with over 190 specimens known.

Maximum Size:
About 14.2 cm (N. exilis)

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

The limbs of Nereocaris exilis do not extend beyond the carapace ventral margin, indicating that they were not used for crawling. By contrast, the limbs of Nereocaris briggsi protrude from the carapace, but these were considered ill-suited to walk on the benthos (Legg and Caron 2014). For this reason, Nereocaris was reconstructed as a nektonic species, using its long abdomen as a means of propulsion (Legg et al. 2012; Perrier et al. 2015). N. exilis could have been a suspension-feeder, based on the lack of any raptorial or similar predatory limbs, but this possibility was questioned based on the lack of endites or setae on the limbs (Legg et al. 2012), which are widely used by extant filter-feeding crustaceans (Riisgård and Larsen 2010). A straight gut in N. briggsi, a simple tube filled with sediment may support the presence of a suspension or deposit feeding lifestyle, in which the animal would have consumed mud containing organic material (Legg and Caron 2014). It was also hypothesized that multiple odaraiids (Izquierdo-López and Caron 2022), most prominently Fibulacaris (Izquierdo-López and Caron 2019), could have swum upside-down, thus facilitating the capture of particles by the carapace. Whether Nereocaris could have adopted such behaviour remains uncertain.

References:

  • ARIA, C. and CARON, J. B. 2017. Burgess Shale fossils illustrate the origin of the mandibulate body plan. Nature, 545: 89–92.
  • FU, D., LEGG, D. A., DALEY, A. C., BUDD, G. E., WU, Y. and ZHANG, X. 2022. The evolution of biramous appendages revealed by a carapace-bearing Cambrian arthropod. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 377.
  • IZQUIERDO-LÓPEZ, A. and CARON, J. B. 2019. A possible case of inverted lifestyle in a new bivalved arthropod from the Burgess Shale. Royal Society Open Science, 6: 191350.
  • IZQUIERDO-LÓPEZ, A. and CARON, J.-B. 2022. Extreme multisegmentation in a giant bivalved arthropod from the Cambrian Burgess Shale. IScience, 25, 104675.
  • LEGG, D., SUTTON, M. D. and EDGECOMBE, G. D. 2013. Arthropod fossil data increase congruence of morphological and molecular phylogenies. Nature Communications, 4: 1–7.
  • LEGG, D. A. and CARON, J. B. 2014. New Middle Cambrian bivalved arthropods from the Burgess Shale (British Columbia, Canada). Palaeontology, 57: 691–711.
  • LEGG, D. A., SUTTON, M. D., EDGECOMBE, G. D. and CARON, J. B. 2012. Cambrian bivalved arthropod reveals origin of arthrodization. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279: 4699–4704.
  • ORTEGA-HERNÁNDEZ, J. 2014. Making sense of ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ stem-group Euarthropoda, with comments on the strict use of the name Arthropoda von Siebold, 1848. Biological Reviews, 91: 255–273.
  • PERRIER, V., WILLIAMS, M. and SIVETER, D. J. 2015. The fossil record and palaeoenvironmental significance of marine arthropod zooplankton. Earth-Science Reviews, 146: 146–162.
  • RIISGÅRD, H. U. and LARSEN, P. S. 2010. Particle capture mechanisms in suspension-feeding invertebrates. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 418: 255–293.
  • VANNIER, J., ARIA, C., TAYLOR, R. S. and CARON, J. B. 2018. Waptia fieldensis Walcott, a mandibulate arthropod from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Royal Society Open Science, 5:172206.
  • ZHAI, D., ORTEGA-HERNÁNDEZ, J., WOLFE, J. M., HOU, X.-G., CAO, C. and LIU, Y. 2019. Three-dimensionally preserved appendages in an early Cambrian stem-group pancrustacean. Current Biology, 29: 171–177.
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Kootenayscolex barbarensis

Artistic reconstruction of Kootenayscolex barbarensis. Danielle Dufault © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Polychaetes
Species name: Kootenayscolex barbarensis
Remarks:

Kootenayscolex bears significant resemblance to modern polychaetes, but is currently considered outside of any extant group. It is currently considered as a stem-group polychaete, as are the other polychaetes from the Burgess Shale (Parry et al. 2016; Nanglu and Caron 2018).

Described by: Nanglu and Caron 2018
Description date: 2018
Etymology:

Kootenay — for Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, Canada, where the Marble Canyon fossil locality is located, and scolex from the Greek word for “worm,” which is a common suffix for polychaetes and reflects their general worm-shaped morphology.

barbarensis — from Barbara Polk Milstein, who is a volunteer at the Royal Ontario Museum and a long-time supporter of Burgess Shale research.

Type Specimens: Holotype ROMIP 64388; paratypes ROMIP 63099.1, and ROMIP 64389-, 64398
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none
Other deposits: none

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan Stage, upper part of the Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old)
Principal localities:

Marble Canyon and the Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge, British Columbia.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

This abundant polychaete, was first reported by Caron et al. in 2014 as a species comparable to Burgessochaeta setigera from the Walcott Quarry. Kootenayscolex was formally described as its own genus by Nanglu and Caron in 2018, using hundreds of new specimens discovered from the Marble Canyon fossil site in Kootenay National Park.

Description:

Morphology:

Kootenayscolex ranged in size from 1mm-30mm. Its head bore two long sensory structures known as palps, as well as a short medial antenna located between them. As with other polychaetes, its body was divided into a series of segments with the widest segments being in the middle of the body. Up to 25 segments have been observed in this species, each of which possessed a pair of parapodia which are fleshy, lateral outgrowths. From these parapodia extended bristles, known as chaetae, arranged into bundles. The dorsal bundles included up to 12 bristles, while the ventral bundles included up to 16 bristles which were arranged as a wider fan. The last segment of this animal, called the pygidium, was relatively simple and possessed no appendages. The head section, called the prostomium, also possessed a single set of parapodia and chaetae, directly adjacent to the mouth.

Abundance:

Kootenayscolex is the fifth most abundant species at Marble Canyon with 833 specimens (Nanglu et al. 2020).

Maximum Size:
About 3 cm.

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

Kootenayscolex has been reconstructed as a deposit feeding organism due to some specimens preserving sediment which filled the gut. This is particularly noticeable in specimens which have an enlarge anterior part of the gut which is nearly the width of the body. The elongate dorsal bristles were likely used for defense against predators, while the ventral bristles would have allowed for movement along the seafloor.

References:

  • NANGLU, K., AND J.-B., CARON. 2018. A new Burgess Shale polychaete and the origin of the annelid head revisited. Current Biology, 28 (2): 319-326.
  • NANGLU, K., CARON, J.-B. and GAINES, R. R. 2020. The Burgess Shale paleocommunity with new insights from Marble Canyon, British Columbia. Paleobiology, 46, 58-81.
  • PARRY, L. A., EDGECOMBE, G. D., EIBYE-JACOBSEN, D., AND J. VINTHER. 2016. The impact of fossil data on annelid phylogeny inferred from discrete morphological characters. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283 (1837): 20161378.
Other Links:


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Gyaltsenglossus senis

Artistic reconstruction of Gyaltsenglossus senis. Emily Damstra © ROM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: No subphylum assignment
Species name: Gyaltsenglossus senis
Remarks:

Gyaltsenglossus is currently considered a stem-group hemichordate. It has features of both the modern hemichordate groups in that it has the long proboscis and worm-shaped body of the Enteropneusta (acorn worms) and the crown of feeding tentacles of the Pterobranchia.

Described by: Nanglu et al. 2020
Description date: 2020
Etymology:

Gyaltsen (pronounced “GEN-zay”) in honour of the lead author’s father, and glossus from the Greek glossa, meaning tongue, a common generic suffix for hemichordates.

Senis from the Latin senex, meaning old.

Type Specimens: Holotype ROMIP 65606.1
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: None.
Other deposits: None

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan Stage, upper part of the Burgess Shale Formation (around 507 million years old).
Principal localities:

Odaray Mountain, Yoho National Park.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Gyaltsenglossus was described in 2020 based on 33 specimens, all collected from Odaray Mountain. Only the holotype preserves all major anatomical features.

Description:

Morphology:

: Gyaltsenglossus is a worm roughly 2 cm long. At the anterior end, it has an elongate, ovoid, muscular proboscis. Behind the proboscis is a set of six arms which bore roughly 15 pairs of tentacles. These arms were roughly 1.5 times as long as the proboscis, based on measurements taken from the holotype. The tentacles give the arms an overall fuzzy or foliose appearance. Behind the feeding arms is a roughly cylindrical trunk, which tapers from the largest point at the anterior and becomes smaller towards the posterior end of the animal. On the dorsal side of the trunk, directly behind the feeding arms, an elevated area leads to a set of thin, thread-like appendages. Posterior to the trunk is a bulbous structure with internal features preserved more darkly than in the surrounding tissues. This bulbous structure may constitute thickened tissue. In some specimens, a gut ending prior to the posterior bulbous structure is preserved.

Abundance:

33 specimens were described.

Maximum Size:
About 2 cm.

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

The morphology of Gyaltsenglossus suggests that it had a two-part feeding ecology. The long proboscis could have been used to feed directly from the marine mud on which the animal would have lived, in a manner similar to that of modern-day acorn worms. The feeding arms could also have been used to filter food particles from the water above the organism, as done by pterobranchs. The posterior bulbous appendage may have been used to anchor Gyaltsenglossus to the seafloor, particularly when it was feeding on small particles from the water.

References:

  • NANGLU, K., J.-B. CARON, AND C. B. CAMERON. 2020. Cambrian tentaculate worms and the origin of the hemichordate body plan. Current Biology. 30 (21): 4238-4244
Other Links:


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Zacanthoides romingeri

Zacanthoides romingeri (figure 3) illustrated by Rominger (1887) as Embolimus spinosa.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Class Trilobita, Order Corynexochida
Species name: Zacanthoides romingeri
Remarks:

Trilobites are, by a large margin, the most diverse of extinct arthropod classes, encompassing more than 2000 species, although the biomineralization of their cuticle is likely largely responsible for their much better-known diversity. A recent probabilistic analysis of trilobite relationships suggests that many of the diagnostic traits used for the taxonomy of the main groups remain highly variable across lineages (Paterson, Edgecombe & Lee, 2019), which explains long-standing difficulties in resolving the trilobite evolutionary tree. The kinship of trilobites relative to other arthropod groups has been a historical dilemma also (Cotton & Braddy, 2004; Aria, Caron & Gaines, 2015; Paterson, 2020). Antennules and some other characters, on the one hand, would ally them with mandibulate arthropods (the Gnathomorpha or Antennulata hypothesis), while others would place them within the chelicerate lineage (the Arachnomorpha hypothesis). Recent phylogenetic results have brought increased support to Arachnomorpha, but there is still no consensus on the question (Aria, 2022).

Described by: Rominger
Description date: 1887
Etymology:

Zacanthoides – probably from the Greek z(a), “very,” and akanthion, “thistle” or “porcupine” or “hedgehog,” and oides, “resembling;” thus, very thistle- or porcupine-like.

romingeri – after Carl Rominger, a Michigan paleontologist who in 1887 published the first descriptions of trilobites from Mount Stephen.

Type Specimens: Type status under review – UMMP 4871 (2 specimens), University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: Zacanthoides sexdentatus, Z. submuticus, Z. longipygus, Z. planifrons, Z. divergens, all from older and younger Middle Cambrian rocks on Mount Stephen, Mount Odaray, and Park Mountain (Rasetti, 1951).

Other deposits: other species elsewhere in North America.

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

In 1887 Carl Rominger published an engraving of a nearly complete and markedly spiny trilobite and named it Embolimus spinosa. In 1908 Charles Walcott introduced the combination Zacanthoides spinosus for the Mount Stephen species and for a similar trilobite from Nevada. The next change came in 1942, when Charles Resser at the United States National Museum asserted that the Mount Stephen species was sufficiently distinct that it required a new name. Resser chose to honour the man who first formally described many of the common Mount Stephen trilobites, and Zacanthoides romingeri remains the combination in use today.

Description:

Morphology:

Hard parts: adult dorsal exoskeletons can reach up to 6 cm in length, tapering back from a large crescentic cephalon through a thorax of nine segments, to a relatively small rounded-triangular pygidium with long marginal spines.

The wide free cheeks bear strong genal spines; short, thorn-like intragenal spines mark the posterior corners of the fixed cheeks. The glabella is long and narrow, slightly expanded forwards. There are four pairs of lateral glabellar furrows; the anterior two pairs are weaker and angled to the front, the stronger posterior two are angled back. Very long narrow eyes that bow strongly outward are located far back on the cephalon. The occipital ring extends rearward into a strong, broad-based spine. Long, blade-shaped terminal spines on the wide pleurae curve progressively more backwards. A slender needle-like spine arises from the axial ring of the eighth thoracic segment. There are four pygidial axial rings; five pairs of marginal spines, each successively shorter, are directed rearwards and extend beyond the tip of the pygidium.

Unmineralized anatomy: not known.

Abundance:

Zacanthoides romingeri is moderately abundant at the Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds but absent from Fossil Ridge. Complete trilobites with the free cheeks in place are very scarce, and this species is mostly found as disarticulated sclerites. Its distinctive characteristics, however, usually allow even isolated pieces to be readily identified.

Maximum Size:
60 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

Zacanthoides romingeri adults very likely walked along the sea bed. The overall spinosity of this species may have served as a deterrent to predators, or possibly helped to break up the visual outline of the animal, making it harder to see on the sea floor (Rudkin, 1996).

References:

  • ARIA, C. (2022) The origin and early evolution of arthropods. Biological Reviews 97, 1786–1809.
  • ARIA, C., CARON, J.-B. & GAINES, R. (2015) A large new leanchoiliid from the Burgess Shale and the influence of inapplicable states on stem arthropod phylogeny. Palaeontology 58, 629–660.
  • COTTON, T.J. & BRADDY, S.J. (2004) The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh-Earth Sciences 94, 169–193.
  • PATERSON, J.R. (2020) The trouble with trilobites: classification, phylogeny and the cryptogenesis problem. Geological Magazine 157, 35–46.
  • PATERSON, J.R., EDGECOMBE, G.D. & LEE, M.S.Y. (2019) Trilobite evolutionary rates constrain the duration of the Cambrian explosion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116, 4394–4399.
  • RASETTI, F. 1951. Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 116 (5): 1-277.
  • RESSER, C. E. 1942. Fifth contribution to nomenclature of Cambrian trilobites. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 101 (15): 1-58.
  • ROMINGER, C. 1887. Description of primordial fossils from Mount Stephens, N. W. Territory of Canada. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1887: 12-19.
  • RUDKIN, D. M. 1996. The Trilobite Beds of Mount Stephen, Yoho National Park, p. 59-68. In R. Ludvigsen (ed.), Life in Stone – A Natural History of British Columbia’s Fossils. UBC Press, Vancouver.
  • RUDKIN, D. M. 2009. The Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds, p. 90-102. In J.-B. Caron and D. Rudkin (eds.), A Burgess Shale Primer – History, Geology, and Research Highlights. The Burgess Shale Consortium, Toronto.
  • SCHOLTZ, G. AND G. D. EDGECOMBE. 2006. The evolution of arthropod heads: reconciling morphological, developmental and palaeontological evidence. Development Genes and Evolution, 216: 395-415.
  • WALCOTT, C. D. 1888. Cambrian fossils from Mount Stephens, Northwest Territory of Canada. American Journal of Science, Series 3, 36: 163-166.
  • WALCOTT, C. D. 1908. Mount Stephen rocks and fossils. Canadian Alpine Journal, 1:232-248.
Other Links:

http://www.trilobites.info/ordcorynexochida.htm



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Scenella amii

3D animation of Scenella amii.

ANIMATION BY PHLESCH BUBBLE © ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Unranked clade (stem group molluscs)
Species name: Scenella amii
Remarks:

Scenella is generally classified as a monoplacophoran mollusc (Knight, 1952; Runnegar and Jell, 1976). A position possibly ancestral to brachiopods (Dzik, 2010), or within the Cnidaria, has also been proposed (Babcock and Robison, 1988; Yochelson and Gil Cid, 1984).

Described by: Matthew
Description date: 1902
Etymology:

Scenella – from the Greek word skene, “tent, or shelter,” in reference to its shape.

amii – after Marc Henri Ami from the Geological Survey of Canada.

Type Specimens: Holotype –ROM8048 in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none

Other deposits: Dozens of species are known from the Lower Cambrian to the Lower Ordovician.

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott and Raymond Quarries on Fossil Ridge. The Trilobite Beds and smaller localities on Mount Stephen.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

The limpet-like appearance of Scenella led to its original classification as a mollusc, initially as a pteropod, then as a gastropod (Walcott, 1886). The first fossils of this genus known from the Burgess Shale were collected from the Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen. These were described as Metoptoma amii by Matthew (1902), but Walcott (1908) considered other specimens from the same locality (and from the Walcott Quarry) to belong to Scenella varians, an earlier named species. Resser (1938) recognized that both species were identical and proposed a new combination, Scenella amii. In the same publication, Resser named a second species from the Trilobite Beds S. columbiana; this was based on a single specimen, originally recognized as a brachiopod with possible spines (Walcott, 1912), and remains highly dubious.

Description:

Morphology:

Each cone-shaped fossil has the form of a flat disc with a central peak, here termed “shell.” Concentric rings surround this peak, and sometimes the shell is also corrugated. The shells are stretched along one axis, making them elliptical rather than circular.

The fossils are often preserved in dense clusters and are usually oriented point-up.

No soft tissue is ever found associated with Scenella. The shell was evidently mineralized as indicated by the three-dimensional preservation and the presence of small cracks suggesting brittleness.

Abundance:

Hundreds of specimens of S. amii are known in the Walcott Quarry (2.27% of the community, Caron and Jackson, 2008). Many of these are found in dense clusters on single slabs.

Maximum Size:
10 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

If a mollusc, Scenella would have been a creeping bottom-dweller, potentially a grazer.

References:

BABCOCK, L. E. AND R. A. ROBISON. 1988. Taxonomy and paleobiology of some Middle Cambrian Scenella (Cnidaria) and hyolithids (Mollusca) from western North America. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Paper, 121: 1-22.

CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.

DZIK, J. 2010. Brachiopod identity of the alleged monoplacophoran ancestors of cephalopods. Malacologia, 52:97-113.

KNIGHT, J. B. 1952. Primitive fossil gastropods and their bearing on gastropod evolution. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 117(13): 1–56.

MATTHEW, G. F. 1902. Notes on Cambrian Faunas: Cambrian Brachiopoda and Mollusca of Mt. Stephen, B.C. with the description of a new species of Metoptoma. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 4:107-112.

RASETTI, F. 1954. Internal shell structures in the Middle Cambrian gastropod Scenella and the problematic genus Stenothecoides. Journal of Paleontology, 28: 59-66.

RESSER, C. E. 1938. Fourth contribution to nomenclature of Cambrian fossils. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 97:1-43.

Runnegar, B. AND P. A. JELL. 1976. Australian Middle Cambrian molluscs and their bearing on early molluscan evolution. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 1(2): 109-138.

WALCOTT, C. D. 1886. Second contribution to the studies on the Cambrian faunas of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, (30): 11-356.

WALCOTT, C. 1908. Mount Stephen rocks and fossils. Canadian Alpine Journal, 1: 232-248.

WALCOTT, C. 1912. Cambrian Brachiopoda. United States Geological Survey Monograph, 51: Part 1: 1-872, Part 872: 871-363.

YOCHELSON, E. L. AND D. GIL CID. 1984. Reevaluation of the systematic position of Scenella. Lethaia, 17: 331-340.

Other Links:

None



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Ptychagnostus praecurrens

Ptychagnostus praecurrens (USNM 116212). Complete individual originally interpreted as the holotype of Triplagnostus burgessensis by Rasetti (1951). Specimen length = 8 mm. Specimen dry – direct light. Walcott Quarry.

© Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History. Photo: Jean-Bernard Caron

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Class Artiopoda, Order Agnostida
Species name: Ptychagnostus praecurrens
Remarks:

Owing to their distinctive appearance, agnostids have either been classified as trilobites, related to Eodiscina, or as stem group “crustaceans” (Müller and Walossek 1987; Cotton and Fortey 2005; Haug et al. 2009). The most recent phylogenetic analysis finds that agnostids form a grouping with trilobites, supported by shared features of the dorsal exoskeleton, such as mineralization, the expression of segmental boundaries, and the form of the thoracic joints (Moysiuk and Caron 2019). More taxonomically inclusive analyses will be needed to determine whether they belong inside or outside the group of true trilobites.

Described by: Westergård
Description date: 1936
Etymology:

Ptychagnostus – from the Greek ptychos, “pleated” (some species have pleat-like furrows on the cephalon), and agnostos, for “unknown” or “unknowable.”

praecurrens – from the Latin prae, “before,” and currens, “to run,” in reference to the old age of this fossil.

Type Specimens: Holotype – SGU611; in the Geological Survey of Sweden (Sveriges geologiska undersökning – SGU), Uppsala, Sweden (Westergård, 1936)
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.

Other deposits: other species occur throughout the world in Middle Cambrian rocks.

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Wuliuan stage, Burgess Shale Formation (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

Most abundant in the Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge, but also present in most other localities.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Burgess Shale fossils assigned to this genus and species have been historically described under several name combinations. Originally, Rasetti (1951) described these as Triplagnostus burgessensis, but subsequently (1967) considered T. burgessensis to be a synonym of Ptychagnostus praecurrens (Westergård 1936), a name retained by Peng and Robison (2000), despite numerous interim variations. Naimark and Pegel (2017) proposed to reassign the species to the genus Pentagnostus based on a study of Russian material, but we maintain it here under Ptychagnostus pending taxonomic restudy of Burgess Shale specimens. Moysiuk and Caron (2019) recently described the appendages, digestive tract, and other soft tissues from exceptionally preserved specimens.

Description:

Morphology:

Adult dorsal exoskeletons reach about 10 mm in length. The semicircular cephalon has a narrow marginal rim around the front and sides and rounded genal angles. There are no dorsal eyes and no facial sutures. The narrow glabella comes to an ogival point, with a median furrow extending across the short preglabellar field to the anterior margin; a transverse furrow crosses the glabella just in front of a low tubercle located behind the midpoint. Two short thoracic segments carry lateral nodes on the axial rings. A narrowly rimmed pygidium, the same size and general shape as the cephalon, has abruptly angled anterolateral corners. The pygidial axis is broader than the glabella, but of similar outline, with a median tubercle between two transverse furrows. The pointed tip of the axis reaches almost to the rim posteriorly, without a median furrow. A saddle-shaped hypostome is present ventrally, unfused to the headshield. Unmineralized anatomy: The head probably bears six pairs of appendages, including one pair of elongate sensory antennules, two pairs of appendages with oar like outer branches, and probably three pairs of stout walking limbs with a row of club-like projections. Additional walking limbs were present beneath the thorax (2) and pygidium (probably 4). The digestive tract curves dorsally from the mouth before emitting two pairs of branching gut glands, the first of which is the largest and occupies much of the space below the headshield. Behind this, the cylindrical midgut extends back to the pygidium. The hindgut begins roughly below the pygidial tubercle, and narrows considerably before reaching the anus below the tip of the pygidial axis.

Abundance:

Very common in the Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge, where it is the most abundant artiopodan (Caron and Jackson 2008). Ptychagnostus also occurs in notable numbers at the Raymond Quarry, Mount Stephen, Tokumm Creek, the lower Marble Canyon Quarry and a few smaller localities (Caron et al. 2014; O’Brien and Caron 2016; Nanglu et al. 2020).

Maximum Size:
About 10 mm.

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

The mode of life of agnostids has been extensively debated (Fortey and Owens 1999). With the oar-like appendages capable of protruding while the animal was partially enrolled, agnostids certainly appear well-adapted for swimming (Müller and Walossek 1987). Together with their occurrence in mass mortality beds with wide geographic range, this evidence has been proposed to support a pelagic lifestyle (Fortey 1985). However, most specimens at the Burgess Shale are found in unrolled position, suggesting they did not live permanently enrolled. Further, Ptychagnostus is sometimes found in groups, associated with the remains of other Burgess Shale organisms, where it was potentially feeding on carrion or bacterial films, providing evidence for a benthic habitat. The huge, branching gut glands in the head likely acted as a food storage organ, enabling a feast-and-famine lifestyle. The club-like outgrowths on the walking legs may have functioned in respiration (Moysiuk and Caron 2019).

References:

  • CARON, J.-B. and JACKSON, D. A. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222–256.
  • CARON, J.-B., GAINES, R. R., ARIA, C., MÁNGANO, M. G. and STRENG, M. 2014. A new phyllopod bed-like assemblage from the Burgess Shale of the Canadian Rockies. Nature communications, 5: 1–6.
  • COTTON, T. J. and FORTEY, R. A. 2005. Comparative morphology and relationships of the agnostida. In KOENEMANN, S. and JENNER, R. (eds.) Crustacea and Arthropod Relationships, CRC Press, 95–136 pp.
  • FORTEY, R. A. 1985. Pelagic trilobites as an example of deducing the life habits of extinct arthropods. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 76: 219–230.
  • FORTEY, R. A. and OWENS, R. M. 1999. Feeding habits in trilobites. Palaeontology, 42: 429–465.
  • HAUG, J. T., MAAS, A. and WALOSZEK, D. 2009. †Henningsmoenicaris scutula, †Sandtorpia vestrogothiensis gen. et sp. nov. and heterochronic events in early crustacean evolution. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 100: 311–350.
  • MOYSIUK, J. and CARON, J. B. 2019. Burgess Shale fossils shed light on the agnostid problem. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286: 20182314.
  • MÜLLER, K. J. and WALOSSEK, D. 1987. Morphology, ontogeny, and life habit of Agnostus pisiformis from the Upper Cambrian of Sweden. Fossils and Strata, 19: 1–124.
  • NAIMARK, E. B. and PEGEL, T. v. 2017. Revision of the Cambrian Agnostina (Trilobita?) from Russia. Paleontological Journal, 51: 1167–1248.
  • NANGLU, K., CARON, J.-B. and GAINES, R. R. 2020. The Burgess Shale paleocommunity with new insights from Marble Canyon, British Columbia. Paleobiology, 46: 58–81.
  • O’BRIEN, L. J. and CARON, J. B. 2016. Paleocommunity analysis of the Burgess Shale Tulip Beds, Mount Stephen, British Columbia: Comparison with the Walcott Quarry and implications for community variation in the Burgess Shale. Paleobiology, 42: 27–53.
  • PENG, S. and ROBISON, R. A. 2000. Agnostoid biostratigraphy across the middle-Upper Cambrian boundary in Hunan, China. Memoir ( The Paleontological Society ), 53: 1–104.
  • RASETTI, F. 1951. Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 116: 1–277.
  • RASETTI, F. 1967. Lower and Middle Cambrian trilobite faunas from the Taconic Sequence of New York. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 152: 1–112.
  • WESTERGÅRD, A. H. 1936. Paradoxides oelandicus beds of Oland: with the account of a diamond boring through the Cambrian at Mossberga. Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning. Series C, no. 394, Årsbok 30: 1–66.
Other Links:

http://www.trilobites.info/ordagnostida.htm



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Kootenia burgessensis

Kootenia burgessensis (ROM 60761). Disarticulated specimen. Specimen dry – direct light (left) and coated with ammonium chloride sublimate to show details (right). Specimen length = 44 mm. Walcott Quarry.

© Royal Ontario Museum. Photo: Jean-Bernard Caron

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Deposit feeder
Phylum: Deposit feeder
Higher Taxonomic assignment: Class Trilobita, Order Corynexochida
Species name: Kootenia burgessensis
Remarks:

Trilobites are, by a large margin, the most diverse of extinct arthropod classes, encompassing more than 2000 species, although the biomineralization of their cuticle is likely largely responsible for their much better-known diversity. A recent probabilistic analysis of trilobite relationships suggests that many of the diagnostic traits used for the taxonomy of the main groups remain highly variable across lineages (Paterson, Edgecombe & Lee, 2019), which explains long-standing difficulties in resolving the trilobite evolutionary tree. The kinship of trilobites relative to other arthropod groups has been a historical dilemma also (Cotton & Braddy, 2004; Aria, Caron & Gaines, 2015; Paterson, 2020). Antennules and some other characters, on the one hand, would ally them with mandibulate arthropods (the Gnathomorpha or Antennulata hypothesis), while others would place them within the chelicerate lineage (the Arachnomorpha hypothesis). Recent phylogenetic results have brought increased support to Arachnomorpha, but there is still no consensus on the question (Aria, 2022).

Described by: Resser
Description date: 1942
Etymology:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: Kootenia dawsoni. However, see below regarding a possible synonymy with the genus Olenoides.

Other deposits: other species attributed to Kootenia are widespread in the Cambrian of North America, and have been recorded in Greenland, China, Australia, and elsewhere.

Type Specimens: Holotype (K. burgessensis) – USNM65511 in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA (Resser, 1942); Type status under review – (K. dawsoni), University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Other species:

Burgess Shale and vicinity: Kootenia dawsoni; Olenoides serratus. (Species of Kootenia are no longer considered different enough from those in Olenoides to warrant placement in a separate genus, but Kootenia is retained here for ease of reference to historical literature).

Other deposits: other species attributed to Kootenia are widespread in the Cambrian of North America, and have been recorded in Greenland, China, Australia, and elsewhere.

Age & Localities:

Age:
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus –Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:

The Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge, and nearby localities on Mount Field; K. dawsoni is known from the Trilobite Beds and elsewhere on Mount Stephen.

History of Research:

Brief history of research:

Kootenia burgessensis was established by Charles Resser based on material Walcott included in K. dawsoni. Kootenia originally appeared as a subgenus of Bathyuriscus in Walcott’s 1889 paper revising many of Rominger’s Mount Stephen trilobite identifications. Walcott named B. (Kootenia) dawsoni after G. M. Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada as a replacement for what Rominger had illustrated as Bathyurus (?) in 1887. In 1908, Walcott followed G. F. Matthew (1899) in calling this Dorypyge (Kootenia) dawsoni, but regarded Kootenia as a full genus in 1918. Harry Whittington included Kootenia burgessensis in his 1975 redescription of Burgess Shale appendage-bearing trilobites, illustrating a single specimen showing biramous thoracic limbs on one side. In 1994, Melzak and Westrop pointed out that the diagnostic character of Kootenia (depth of “interpleural” furrows on the pygidium) showed intraspecific variability, and argued that Kootenia—and perhaps other dorypygids trilobites—may have to be subsumed within Olenoides. We maintain Kootenia as a separate genus here pending formal taxonomic clarification.

Description:

Morphology:

Hard parts: adult dorsal exoskeletons may reach 5.5 cm in length and are broadly oval in outline. In most general features, Kootenia burgessensis resembles the co-occurring Olenoides serratus, with a semi-circular cephalon bearing genal spines, a thorax of seven segments, and a semi-circular pygidium. In Kootenia, however, spines on the thoracic pleural tips and shorter and blunter, as are those around the margin of the pygidium; interpleural furrows on the pygidium are absent to very faint.

Unmineralized anatomy: based on evidence from just a few specimens, Kootenia burgessensis, like Olenoides serratus, had a pair of flexible, multi-jointed “antennae” followed by three pairs of biramous limbs on the cephalon. Pairs of similar biramous appendages were attached under each thoracic segment, with a smaller number under the pygidium. No specimens, however, show any evidence of posterior antenna-like cerci as in Olenoides.

Abundance:

Kootenia burgessensis is moderately common in the Walcott Quarry section on Fossil Ridge, as is Kootenia dawsoni in the Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds.

Maximum Size:
55 mm

Ecology:

Life habits: Deposit feeder
Feeding strategies: Deposit feeder
Ecological Interpretations:

Adult Kootenia burgessensis walked along the sea bed, possibly digging shallow furrows to locate small soft-bodied and weakly-shelled animals or carcasses. Kootenia could probably swim just above the sea bed for short distances. Tiny larvae and early juveniles probably swam and drifted in the water column.

References:

  • ARIA, C. (2022) The origin and early evolution of arthropods. Biological Reviews 97, 1786–1809.
  • ARIA, C., CARON, J.-B. & GAINES, R. (2015) A large new leanchoiliid from the Burgess Shale and the influence of inapplicable states on stem arthropod phylogeny. Palaeontology 58, 629–660.
  • COTTON, T.J. & BRADDY, S.J. (2004) The phylogeny of arachnomorph arthropods and the origin of the Chelicerata. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh-Earth Sciences 94, 169–193.
  • PATERSON, J.R. (2020) The trouble with trilobites: classification, phylogeny and the cryptogenesis problem. Geological Magazine 157, 35–46.
  • PATERSON, J.R., EDGECOMBE, G.D. & LEE, M.S.Y. (2019) Trilobite evolutionary rates constrain the duration of the Cambrian explosion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116, 4394–4399.
  • MATTHEW, G. F. 1899. Studies on Cambrian faunas, No. 3. Upper Cambrian Fauna of Mount Stephen, British Columbia: The trilobites and worms. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Series 2, Vol. 5, Section IV:39-66.
  • MELZAK, A. AND S. R. WESTROP. 1994. Mid-Cambrian (Marjuman) trilobites from the Pika Formation, southern Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 31:969-985.
  • RASETTI, F. 1951. Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 116 (5): 1-277.
  • RESSER, C. E. 1942. Fifth contribution to nomenclature of Cambrian trilobites. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 101 (15): 1-58.
  • RESSER, C. E. 1942. Fifth contribution to nomenclature of Cambrian trilobites. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 101 (15): 1-58.
  • ROMINGER, C. 1887. Description of primordial fossils from Mount Stephens, N. W. Territory of Canada. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1887: 12-19.
  • SCHOLTZ, G. AND G. D. EDGECOMBE. 2006. The evolution of arthropod heads: reconciling morphological, developmental and palaeontological evidence. Development Genes and Evolution, 216: 395-415.
  • WALCOTT, C. 1889. Description of new genera and species of fossils from the Middle Cambrian. United States National Museum, Proceedings for 1888:441-446.
  • WALCOTT, C. D. 1908. Mount Stephen rocks and fossils. Canadian Alpine Journal, 1: 232-248.
  • WALCOTT, C. 1918. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology IV. Appendages of trilobites. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 67(4): 115-216.
  • WHITTINGTON, H. B. 1975. Trilobites with appendages from the Middle Cambrian, Burgess Shale, British Columbia. Fossils and Strata, No. 4: 97-136.
Other Links:

http://www.trilobites.info/ordcorynexochida.htm