Armilimax, a mysterious animal from the Cambrian of Utah

[Halichoeres]

The Spence Shale, one of several important Cambrian formations in Utah, is coughing up treasures lately. Here's Armilimax pauljamisoni ("Paul Jamison's armored slug"). It has a lumpy shell, a digestive tract with a pronounced U-turn in it, and a generally slug- or worm-like appearance, but the authors aren't sure what it might be related to.

The fossil, an interpretive diagram, and a life restoration:


Paywall: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871174X20300457

[Faelrin]

Well I think this one is going on my figure wishlist list. At first glance it looked kind of like a sea cucumber to me, if not a pinecone merged with a worm of sorts, but that's more from looking at the artwork, rather then the fossil itself. Armored slug is definitely an interesting name for it though.

[brontosauruschuck]

I love this!

[Shonisaurus]

I hope that some day Collecta, Favorite or another brand of toys and even resin will make a model of the armilimax is a curious prehistoric invertebrate.

[Halichoeres]

Every time I post a weird new taxon, I have to resist the urge to tag every sculptor on the forum to encourage them to make one.

[stargatedalek]

Looks kind of like a giant limpet outgrew its shell. Interesting how the creature grows "past" its own digestive track, almost like it's segmented despite being soft bodied.