A new Cambrian stem-group comb-jelly

[Halichoeres]

We're not 100% sure where ctenophores (comb-jellies or sea gooseberries) fit in the phylogeny of animals. They've been proposed as sister to the Bilateral, sister to the Cnidaria, sister to the [Cnidaria + Bilateria], or sister to the remaining Metazoa. And since they're soft bodied, the fossil record is gappy. This paper describes a sessile, polyp-shaped (i.e., cnidarian-like) fossil animal that the authors propose as part of the stem-group of the ctenophores. Meet Daihua sanqiong:



This one is from Chengjiang, but there are also likely to be new ctenophore relatives described from Qingjiang (the new Cambrian lagerstätte described elsewhere on this sub-forum). Maybe they'll shed more light on the placement of ctenophores.

Paper (open access): https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30206-4

[Faelrin]

Don't think I've ever seen a fossil with coloration like that before (assuming it isn't under some fancy lighting causing that). Absolutely gorgeous specimen.

[Jose S.M.]

The preservation of that fossil is beautiful. It's amazing how soft bodied animals can be preserved like that.

[Ravonium]

Interesting to see that the fossil is so well preseved that they managed to make an approximation of its life appearance (and I have to say, it looks somewhat squid like!). As always, thanks for sharing