Biology:Eiffelia

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Short description: Extinct genus of sponges

Eiffelia
Temporal range: Early Cambrian–Burgess Shale
[1]
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Informal group: "Heteractinida"
Family: Eiffeliidae
Genus: Eiffelia
Walcott, 1920
Type species
Eiffelia globosa
Walcott, 1920
Species
  • Eiffelia araniformis (Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981)[2]
  • Walcott, 1920 †Eiffelia globosa
Synonyms[3]
  • Lenastella Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
  • Actinoites Duan, 1984
  • Niphadus Duan, 1984

Eiffelia is an extinct genus of sponges known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale as well as several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits. It is named after Eiffel Peak, which was itself named after the Eiffel Tower. It was first described in 1920 by Charles Doolittle Walcott.[4] It belongs in the Hexactinellid stem group.[5] 60 specimens of Eiffelia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.11% of the community.[6]

Eiffelia generally have star-shaped six-rayed spicules, with rays diverging at 60°, occasionally with a seventh ray perpendicular to the other six.

Species

Two species are known:

  • Eiffelia globosa Walcott, 1920: This species is known from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. In life, it had a globe-like shape and was up to 6 cm in diameter.
  • Eiffelia araniformis (Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981): This species is known from several Early Cambrian small shelly fossil deposits in the Siberian Platform, Mongolia, China , Europe, and Australia . It was originally described in the genus Lenastella. It was moved to Eiffelia by Bengtson et al. (1990).
    Synonyms:[7]
  • Lenastella araniformis Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
  • Lenastella aculeata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
  • Lenastella mucronata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
  • Lenastella umbonata Missarzhevsky in Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981
  • Actinoites universalis Duan, 1984
  • Actinoites simplex Duan, 1984
  • Niphadus xihaopingensis Duan, 1984
  • Niphadus complanatus Duan, 1984


References

  1. Botting, J. (2007). "'Cambrian' demosponges in the Ordovician of Morocco: Insights into the early evolutionary history of sponges". Geobios 40 (6): 737–748. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2007.02.006. Bibcode2007Geobi..40..737B. 
  2. Skovsted, C. B. (2006). "Small Shelly Fauna from the Upper Lower Cambrian Bastion and Ella Island Formations, North-East Greenland". Journal of Paleontology 80 (6): 1087–1112. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2006)80[1087:SSFFTU2.0.CO;2]. 
  3. Wrona, R. (2004). "Cambrian microfossils from glacial erratics of King George Island, Antarctica". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 49 (1): 13–56. http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app49/app49-013.pdf. 
  4. Walcott, C. D. (1920). "Cambrian geology and paleontology IV:6—Middle Cambrian Spongiae". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 67: 261–364. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29838882. 
  5. Botting, J. P.; Butterfield, N. J.; Valentine, J. W. (2005). "Reconstructing early sponge relationships by using the Burgess Shale fossil Eiffelia globosa, Walcott". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 (5): 1554–1559. doi:10.1073/pnas.0405867102. PMID 15665105. 
  6. Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A. (October 2006). "Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale". PALAIOS 21 (5): 451–65. doi:10.2110/palo.2003.P05-070R. Bibcode2006Palai..21..451C. 
  7. Elicki, O. (2011). "First skeletal microfauna from the Cambrian Series 3 of the Jordan Rift Valley (Middle East)". Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 42: 153–173. http://www.geo.tu-freiberg.de/~elicki/elicki_2011_AAPM42_Cambrian-Jordan.pdf. 

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q5348882 entry