Mackenzia

Mackenzia
Temporal range:
Middle Cambrian, 508 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: ?Cnidaria
Class: ?Anthozoa
Subclass: ?Hexacorallia
Order: ?Actiniaria
Family: Mackenziidae
Genus: Mackenzia
Walcott, 1911
Species: M. costalis
Walcott, 1911

Mackenzia is an elongated bag-like animal known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. It attached directly to hard surfaces, such as brachiopod shells. 14 specimens of Mackenzia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise <0.1% of the community.[1] Mackenzia was originally described by Charles Walcott in 1911 as a holothurian enchinoderm.[2] Later, Mackenzia is thought to be a cnidarian and appears most similar to modern sea anemones.[3]

References

  1. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS. 21 (5): 451–65. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. JSTOR 20173022.
  2. Durham, J. W. (1974). "Systematic Position of Eldonia ludwigi Walcott". Journal of Paleontology. Paleontological Society. 48 (4): 750–755. doi:10.2307/1303225 (inactive 2015-02-28). JSTOR 1303225.
  3. Conway Morris, S. (1993). "Ediacaran-like fossils in Cambrian Burgess Shale–type faunas of North America". Palaeontology. 36 (31–0239): 593–635.
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