''Wufengella'' is a genus of extinct camenellan "

tommotiid Tommotiids are an extinct group of Cambrian invertebrates thought to be early lophophorates (the group containing Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, and Phoronida). The majority of tommotiids are mineralised with calcium phosphate rather than calcium car ...

" that lived during the Early Cambrian (

Stage 3 Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * St ...

). Described in 2022, the only species ''Wufengella bengtsonii'' was discovered from the Maotianshan Shales of Chiungchussu (Qiongzhusi) Formation in Yunnan, China. The fossil indicates that the animal was an armoured worm that close to the common ancestry of the phyla Phonorida,

Brachiozoa Brachiozoa is a grouping of lophophorate animals including Brachiopoda and Phoronida. It also includes their ancestors, the extinct tommotiids. References Lophophorata Protostome unranked clades {{Protostome-stub ...

and Bryozoa, which are collectively grouped into a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

called Lophophorata.

Discovery

''Wufengella'' is known from a single specimen. The fossil was discovered by Chinese palaeontologists Jin Guo and Peiyun Cong at the Yunnan University. An almost complete fossil, parts of the anterior end are missing. The location of the specimen,

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

at Haikou, Kunming, Southwest China, is member of the Chengjian Lagerstätte that is established to belong to Cambrian Stage 3 (between 521 and 514 million year ago). The same fossil deposit had yielded worm-like

lobopod The lobopodians, members of the informal group Lobopodia (from the Greek, meaning "blunt feet"), or the formally erected phylum Lobopoda Cavalier-Smith (1998), are panarthropods with stubby legs called lobopods, a term which may also be used as ...

'' Facivermis'' and Cambrian chordate ( myllokunmingiid) among other animal fossils. The name Wufengalla is after the Wufeng Hill in Chengjiang. Wufeng is a Chinese word for "dancing/flying phoenix." The species name was given to honour Stefan Bengtson, a palaenotologist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. The specimen (CJHMD00041) is maintained at the Nature Museum of Yunnan. Luke A. Parry at the University of Oxford identified the specimen as a

worm, and the description was published in '' Current Biology''.

Description

From a partially incomplete fossil, ''Wufengella'' is known to have an elongated body that measures about long. It has long bristles on both sides of the body that are presumed to be sensory organs for detecting their immediate surrounding such as approaching predators. It also has flap-like structures that could be suction organs for attachment to objects. In contrast to its related lophophorates which are fixed to sea floors, ''Wufengella'' was likely actively mobile.. The back (dorsal) side of ''Wufengella'' is studded with armoured plates called sclerites. The sclerites are arranged almost randomly (bilaterally asymmetrical) throughout the body. However, there is some pattern of organisation. The larger major sclerites are aligned in two rows along the body length, and the tiny minor ones are distributed unevenly in between the two major rows.

Evolutionary importance

''Wufengella'' has two important features that contribute to evolutionary changes in ancient invertebrate group, the lophophorates, that include the tommotiids as one group. One feature is the presence of sclerites, which is a common structure that distinguishes tommotiid species. In all groups, except the tannuolinids (such as ''Micrina''), the sclerites are asymmetrical. The structure and distribution of sclerites indicate the linkage between the different groups. Another feature is body segmentation. The arrangement of the sclerites and the bristles indicate that the body is transversely segmented as in modern

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

worms. This suggest that ''Wufengella'' could be related to the common ancestor of annelids and brachiopods. In addition, the over structure indicates that it could be close to the common ancestry Phonorida,

and Bryozoa. The three phyla are established to constitute the same evolutionary lineage and are collectively grouped into a

called Lophophorata. It has been predicted that the last common ancestor of the lophophorates would be a sessile, lophophore-bearing suspension feeder having U-shaped gut (called lophophore), The fact that ''Wufengella'' was mobile implies that it lies outside the

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

of Lophophorata.

References

{{Reflist Fossil taxa described in 2022 Cambrian invertebrates Maotianshan shales fossils Cambrian China Lophophorata