''Ellisell'' is a

Middle Cambrian Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (di ...

genus of fossils from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It contains only one species, ''Ellisell yochelsoni''. Both the genus and species are named after the paleontologist and geologist (1928–2006), who had turned 60 at the time the fossils were first described. The genus was originally placed in the family

Salterellidae Salterellidae is a family of enigmatic fossil genera from the Early to Middle Cambrian. It was originally created for the genus ''Salterella'' by Charles Doolittle Walcott, who placed it in the group Pteropoda. It was later placed in Agmata, a ...

of the phylum

Agmata Agmata is a proposed extinct phylum of small animals with a calcareous conical shell. They were originally thought to be cephalopods or annelid worms. The living animals filled up to five-sixths of their shell with laminae, angled layers composed ...

; this placement was rejected by Yochelson & Kisselev (2003), but was restored by Peel (2016). ''Ellisell'' is distinguished from ''

Salterella ''Salterella'' is an enigmatic Cambrian genus with a small, conical, calcareous shell that appears to be septate, but is rather filled with stratified laminar deposits. The shell contains grains of sediment, which are obtained selectively (with ...

'' by its slowly expanding conch and the resulting cylindrical apertural cavity, compared to the latter's more rapidly expanding conch and cone-shaped apertural cavity.

References

Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera Fossils of Denmark {{cambrian-animal-stub