 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2022) |
| Nailiana Temporal range:
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| Genus: | †Nailiana Ou et al., 2021
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| Species: | †N. elegans
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| Type species | |
| †Nailiana elegans | |
Nailiana elegans is a species of stem-Cnidarian from the Chengjiang biota of China that has a polypoidal body plan.[1] The species was first described in 2021 from multiple solitary specimens from China, with some being preserved with Cambrian Lingulids that would suggest a lifestyle as a macrophagous predator from the Cambrian.[1] Naliana probably represents one of the earliest evidence for a macrophagous predator within the fossil record, and, because of how the structure of food webs from the Cambrian were very poorly understood with most reconstructions of them being based upon the feeding interactions between Animal species or upon the gut-content of extremely well-preserved fossils,[1] provides important insights and evidence for how complex the nature of early Cambrian food chains actually were.[1]
- ^ a b c d Ou, Qiang; Shu, Degan; Zhang, Zhifei; Han, Jian; Van Iten, Heyo; Cheng, Meirong; Sun, Jie; Yao, Xiaoyong; Wang, Rong; Mayer, Georg (2022). "Dawn of complex animal food webs: A new predatory anthozoan (Cnidaria) from Cambrian". The Innovation. 3 (1): 100195. Bibcode:2022Innov...300195O. doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100195. PMC 8717384. PMID 35005675.