Nuucichthys Temporal range: Cambrian,
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Holotype specimen | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Genus: | †Nuucichthys Lerosey-Aubril & Ortega-Hernández, 2024 |
Type species | |
Nuucichthys rhynchocephalus Lerosey-Aubril & Ortega-Hernández, 2024
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Nuucichthys (meaning "Núu-ci fish") is an extinct genus of stem-group vertebrates known from the Cambrian (Miaolingian series) Marjum Formation of Utah, United States. The genus contains a single species, N. rhynchocephalus, known from a single individual, representing the first Cambrian vertebrate from the Great Basin region of North America. Nuucichthys provides insights into the diversity of Cambrian vertebrates, which are more rare in Laurentian deposits. Taxonomic studies recover this genus as closely related to other Laurentian stem-vertebrates such as Metaspriggina and Emmonaspis (possible early vertebrate).[1]