Cincta

Cincta
Temporal range: Miaolingian
Trochocystites bohemicus from the Czech Republic with a length of 15 millimetres (0.59 in)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Clade: Ambulacraria
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: †Cincta
Jaekel, 1918
Families
  • †Trochocystitidae
  • †Gyrocystidae
  • †Sucocystidae

Cincta is an extinct class of echinoderms that lived only in the Middle Cambrian epoch.[1] Homostelea is a junior synonym.[2] The classification of cinctans is controversial, but they are probably part of the echinoderm stem group.[1][3]

Cinctans were sessile, asymmetrical animals with a skeleton made of stereom plates and a racquet-shaped body composed of a theca and stele. They may have had a lifestyle similar to modern tunicates, filter-feeding by pumping water through gill slits in their pharynx.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rahman2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lefebvre2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rahman2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).