Interesting. There are so many other sessile, "plant-like" animals
(anemones and sea cucumbers just for example) and filter-feeders, but I
guess this one is special.
Posted by: "Lin Kerns" linkerns@gmail.com
lin.kerns Date: Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:33 am ((PST))
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2012/01/120118173659-large.jpg>
*Cluster of four specimens of Siphusauctum gregarium. Scale = 10 mm.
(Credit: © Royal Ontario Museum)
*Unusual 'Tulip' Creature Discovered: Lived in the Ocean More Than 500
Million Years Ago
ScienceDaily (Jan. 18, 2012) — A bizarre creature that lived in the
ocean more than 500-million years ago has emerged from the famous Middle
Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies.
Officially named *Siphusauctum gregarium*, fossils reveal a tulip-shaped
creature that is about the length of a dinner knife (approximately 20
centimetres) and has a unique filter feeding system.
*Siphusauctum* has a long stem, with a calyx -- a bulbous cup-like
structure -- near the top that encloses an unusual filter feeding system
and a gut. The animal is thought to have fed by filtering particles from
water actively pumped into its calyx through small holes. The stem ends
with a small disc which anchored the animal to the seafloor.
*Siphusauctum*lived in large clusters, as indicated by slabs containing
over 65
individual specimens.
Lorna O'Brien, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto and her supervisor,
adjunct professor Jean-Bernard Caron, curator of invertebrate
palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum, reported on the discovery
Jan. 18 in the online science journal *PLoS ONE*.
"Most interesting is that this feeding system appears to be unique among
animals. Recent advances have linked many bizarre Burgess Shale animals
as primitive members of many animal groups that are found today, but *
Siphusauctum* defies this trend. We do not know where it fits in
relation to other organisms," said lead author O'Brien.
"Our description is based on more than 1,100 fossil specimens from a new
Burgess Shale locality that has been nicknamed the Tulip Beds," she
added.
Located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, the Tulip Beds were
first discovered in 1983 by the Royal Ontario Museum. They are located
high on Mount Stephen, overlooking the town of Field. Like the rest of
the Burgess Shale, the beds represent rock layers with exceptional
preservation of mostly soft-bodied organisms.
The Burgess Shale, protected under the larger Rocky Mountain Parks
UNESCO World Heritage site and managed by Parks Canada, preserves fossil
evidence of some of the earliest complex animals that lived in the
oceans of our planet nearly 505 million years ago. The discovery of
*Siphusauctum*expands the range of animal diversity that existed during
this time period.
The research was partially funded by UofT fellowships to O'Brien and a
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery
Grant awarded to Caron.
------------------------------
*Story Source:*
The above story is
reprinted<http://news.utoronto.ca/university-torontoroyal-ontario-museum-scientists-discover-unusual-tulip-creature>from
materials provided by
*University of Toronto* <http://www.utoronto.ca/>. The original article
was
written by Kim Luke.
*Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further
information, please contact the source cited above.*
------------------------------
*Journal Reference*:
1. Lorna J. O'Brien, Jean-Bernard Caron. *A New
Stalked Filter-Feeder from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale,
British Columbia, Canada*. *PLoS ONE*, 2012; 7 (1): e29233 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0029233<http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029233>
University of Toronto (2012, January 18). Unusual 'tulip' creature
discovered: Lived in the ocean more than 500 million years ago. *
ScienceDaily*. Retrieved January 20, 2012, from
*http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/01/120118173659.htm *
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