Pywackia

Pywackia is a contentious Cambrian fossil that has been interpreted as the earliest (total group) Bryozoan, and the only representative of that phylum in the Cambrian period.[1] Its Bryozoan credentials have been called into question,[2] but the octocoral alternative is equally unconvincing, and there are reasons to suggest a position in the Stenolaemata stem lineage.[3] Finally, the skeletal microstructure is consistent with a cnidarian affinity, but insufficient to support a close affinity with any modern subgroup.[4]

Pywackia
Temporal range:
Artist's restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: incertae sedis
Genus: †Pywackia
Species:
†P. baileyi
Binomial name
†Pywackia baileyi
Landing in Landing et al., 2010

References
  1. Landing, E.; English, A.; Keppie, J. D. (2010). "Cambrian origin of all skeletalized metazoan phyla--Discovery of Earth's oldest bryozoans (Upper Cambrian, southern Mexico)". Geology. 38 (6): 547. Bibcode:2010Geo....38..547L. doi:10.1130/G30870.1.
  2. Taylor, P. D.; Berning, B. R.; Wilson, M. A. (2013). "Reinterpretation of the Cambrian 'Bryozoan' Pywackia as an Octocoral". Journal of Paleontology. 87 (6): 984. Bibcode:2013JPal...87..984T. doi:10.1666/13-029. S2CID 129113026.
  3. Ed Landing; Jonathan B. Antcliffe; Martin D. Brasier; Adam B. English (2015). "Distinguishing Earth's oldest known bryozoan (Pywackia, late Cambrian) from pennatulacean octocorals (Mesozoic—Recent)". Journal of Paleontology. 89 (2): 292–317. Bibcode:2015JPal...89..292L. doi:10.1017/jpa.2014.26. S2CID 131609198.
  4. Hageman, Steven J.; Vinn, Olev (2023). "Late Cambrian Pywackia is a cnidarian, not a bryozoan: Insights from skeletal microstructure". Journal of Paleontology: 1–12. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.35.
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