''Burykhia hunti'' is a Precambrian fossil from the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...

region of Russia dating to . It is considered of

ascidian Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" m ...

affinity, due to the sac-like morphology and a series of distinctly perforated bands reminiscent of a

tunicate A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ...

pharynx. If ''B. hunti'' is a tunicate, it could be the oldest ascidian fossil known as of its publication in 2012. It is possibly related to the slightly younger '' Ausia'', another putative ascidian from the

Vendian biota The Ediacaran (; formerly Vendian) biota is a taxonomic period classification that consists of all life forms that were present on Earth during the Ediacaran Period (). These were composed of enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessi ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. In the case of ''Burykhia'', the narrow longitudinal vessels support affinity with the suborder

Phlebobranchia Phlebobranchia is a suborder of tunicate, sea squirts in the class Ascidiacea. Characteristics The group includes both colonial and solitary animals. They are distinguished from other sea squirts by the presence of longitudinal vessels in the ...

. ''Burykhia'' does not appear to have been

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

References

Ascidiacea Tunicate genera Prehistoric chordate genera Ediacaran life Precambrian fossils Ediacaran Europe White Sea fossils {{Paleo-deuterostome-stub

See also

References