Cathaymyrus

Cathaymyrus
Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3, 518 Ma[1]
↓
C. diadexus and Vetulocystis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Genus: †Cathaymyrus
Shu, Conway Morris & Zhang 1996[2]
Type species
Cathaymyrus diadexus
Shu, Conway Morris & Zhang 1996
Species
  • †C. diadexus Shu, Conway Morris & Zhang 1996
  • †C. haikoensis Luo, Hu & Chen 2001[3]

Cathaymyrus is a genus of Early Cambrian chordate known from the Chengjiang biota in Yunnan Province, China.[4] Both species have a long segmented body with no distinctive head. The segments resemble the v-shaped muscle blocks found in cephalochordates such as Amphioxus. A long linear impression runs along the "back" of the body looking something like a chordate notochord.[citation needed]

While some authors have suggested that the genus is a cephalochordate and closely related to living lancelets, other authors have disputed this due to the poor preservation of the head region, considering its placement within Chordata uncertain.[5]

  1. ^ Yang, C.; Li, X.-H.; Zhu, M.; Condon, D. J.; Chen, J. (2018). "Geochronological constraint on the Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society. 175 (4): 659–666. Bibcode:2018JGSoc.175..659Y. doi:10.1144/jgs2017-103. ISSN 0016-7649. S2CID 135091168.
  2. ^ Shu, DG., Morris, S. & Zhang, XL. A Pikaia-like chordate from the Lower Cambrian of China. Nature 384, 157–158 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384157a0
  3. ^ Luo Huilin, Hu Shixue, Chen Liangzhong. (2001). New Early Cambrian Chordates from Haikou, Kunming. Acta Geologica Sinica, 75 (4)
  4. ^ Shu, D-G.; Luo, H-L.; Conway Morris, S.; Zhang, X-L.; Hu, S-X.; Chen, L.; Han, J.; Zhu, M.; Li, Y.; Chen, L-Z. (1999). "Lower Cambrian vertebrates from south China". Nature. 402 (6757): 42. Bibcode:1999Natur.402...42S. doi:10.1038/46965. S2CID 4402854.
  5. ^ Nanglu, Karma; Cole, Selina R.; Wright, David F.; Souto, Camilla (February 2023). "Worms and gills, plates and spines: the evolutionary origins and incredible disparity of deuterostomes revealed by fossils, genes, and development". Biological Reviews. 98 (1): 316–351. doi:10.1111/brv.12908. ISSN 1464-7931.