''Maotianshania cylindrica'' is an extinct worm-like creature of average size (up to long and wide). It occurs in the

Lower Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago (m ...

(Atdabanian) Chengjiang biota of Northeastern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, China. It is usually preserved as pink impression. The gut is a dark central zone. The anterior pharnyx and "collar", carry tiny sepia-colored teeth. The very back-end of the body has two small hooks.

Etymology

''Maotianshania'' has been named for the Maotianshan shales, home to the famous Chengjiang

Lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

Description

The body of ''Maotianshania'' is worm-like, up to 4 cm in length and 2 mm wide, having 3-4 rings (or annuli) per mm. Like its relatives ''

Cricocosmia ''Cricocosmia'' is a genus of palaeoscolecid worm from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. Fossils of prehistoric ''Cricocosmia'' species were found in the Cambrian period Maotianshan Shale geologic formation in China China, official ...

'' and ''

Palaeoscolex ''Palaeoscolex'' is the type genus of the Palaeoscolecid worms, and served as a wastebasket taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that ha ...

'', it is usually preserved as a very thin pink impression on the buff-colored

matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

that is characteristic for the

Maotianshan shales The Maotianshan Shales are a series of Cambrian, Early Cambrian deposits in the Chiungchussu Formation, famous for their ''Lagerstätte, Konservat Lagerstätten'', deposits known for the exceptional preservation of fossilized organisms or traces. ...

. The front of the body consists of a presumably protrusive and retractable elongate pharynx, armed with tooth- or spine-like outgrowths, arranged in rows and circles and which stand alternately between adjacent rings with the mouth at the very tip. Behind the pharynx is a collar-like "introvert" which also has rows of hooks, spines or scalids. The scalids of the first circle of the introvert form a so-called corona and are remarkably larger than the succeeding scalids. The gut is a simple tube, that often stands out as a darker central canal through the entire length of the body. The teeth, hooks and spines on the pharynx and introvert are sepia-colored, as are two small curved hooks at the very back-end of the body.

Ecology

Living

scalidophora Scalidophora is a group of marine pseudocoelomate protostomes that was proposed on morphological grounds to unite three phyla: the Kinorhyncha, the Priapulida and the Loricifera. The three phyla have four characters in common — chitinous cuti ...

ns use their introvert for movement and the pharynx to swallow prey, which is assumed to be true for ''Maotianshania'' too. The inwardly curved pharyngeal spines prevent prey from escaping, while the spines on the introvert (or scalids), may serve to anchor the body to the environment when pulling it forward. The life habit of ''Maotianshania'' is most likely creeping on the seafloor (epibenthic) or living in the sandy or muddy top layer. It seem unlikely the animal has been burrowing vertical into the sediment. A predatory life is plausible, also given that no sediment is contained in the gut.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3845178 Maotianshan shales fossils Nematomorpha Cambrian invertebrates