Tommotia

Tommotia
Temporal range: Tommotian
Tommotia admiranda
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
incertae sedis (possibly stem-Brachiopoda)
Class:
incertae sedis
Order:
Mitrosagophora
Genus:
†Tommotia

Rozanov & Missarzhevsky, 1966
Referred species
  • †T. admiranda (Rozanov & Missarzhevsky, 1966)
  • †T. baltica (Bengtson 1970)
  • †T. garbowskae (Rozanov & Missarzhevsky, 1966)
  • †T. korolevi (Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1981)
  • †T. kozlowskii (Missarzhevsky & Mambetov, 1966)
  • †T. parilobata (Bengtson, 1986)
  • †T. reticulosa (Bengtson et al. 1990)

Tommotia is a small shelly fossil from the Early Cambrian Period. Originally, only a cone-shaped shell was recognized, which was originally thought to be an early cephalopod, with either squid-like tentacles or a snail-like foot. More recent investigation has shown that the cone is not the remains of a complete animal, but a sclerite of a larger, soft-bodied animal that would have resembled a chiton or a sea mouse. The fossils called Camanella may be another type of sclerite from the same animal.[1]

  1. ^ Begtson, Stefan (1970). "The Lower Cambrian fossil Tommotia". Lethaia. 3 (4): 363–392. Bibcode:1970Letha...3..363B. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1970.tb00829.x.