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Bryzoa
Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles used for filter feeding. Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters. The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water. 5,869living species are known. At least two genera are solitary (''Aethozooides'' and '' Monobryozoon''); the rest are colonial. The terms Polyzoa and Bryozoa were introduced in 1830 and 1831, respectively. Soon after it was named, another group of animals was discovered whose filtering mechanism looked similar, so it was included in Bryozoa until 1869, when the two groups w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. Its Bryozoan credentials have been called into question, but the octocoral Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising around 3,000 species of water-based organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians (sea fan ... alternative is equally unconvincing, and there are reasons to suggest a position in the Stenolaemata stem lineage. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q20817953 Fossils of Mexico Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera Cambrian invertebrates Cambrian fossil record Fossil taxa described in 2010 Cambrian genus extinctions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
