Vetulicolia

Vetulicolia
Temporal range: about 520–501 Ma Cambrian Stage 3—Drumian (Possible Ediacaran record)[1]
Fossil of Vetulicola cuneata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade?: †Vetulicolia
Shu et al. 2001
Type species
†Vetulicola cuneata
Hou, 1987
Classes
  • †Banffozoa?
  • †Vetulicolida

Vetulicolia[note 1] is a clade of bilaterian animals encompassing several extinct species belonging to the Cambrian period.[2][3] The clade was created by Degan Shu and his research team in 2001,[4] and named after Vetulicola cuneata, the first species of the phylum described in 1987.[5]

The vetulicolian body plan comprises two parts: a voluminous rostral (anterior) forebody, tipped with an anteriorly positioned mouth and lined with a lateral row of five round to oval-shaped openings on each side, which have been interpreted as gills (or at least orifices in the vicinity of the pharynx); and a caudal (posterior) section that primitively comprises seven body segments and functions as a tail. All vetulicolians lack preserved appendages of any kind, having no legs, feelers or even eye spots.[6] The area where the anterior and posterior parts join is constricted.[7]

Their taxonomic affinity has been uncertain; they have been interpreted as stem- and crown-group arthropods, stem-group vertebrates,[8] and early deuterostomes (a group which as a whole includes the vertebrates, other invertebrate chordates, echinoderms and hemichordates). The general scientific consensus before 2001 considered them early limbless arthropods but now considers them early deuterostomes.[9] Vetulicolian fossils examined in 2014 show the presence of notochord-like structures, and it was concluded that vetulicolians are crown-group chordates and probably related to modern tunicates.[10] Research from 2017 rather indicates vetulicolians are related to Saccorhytus, another basal deuterostome group,[11] although another study shows the possibility that Saccorhytus is an ecdysozoan instead of a deuterostome.[12] A 2024 paper, however, found vetulicolians to be a paraphyletic group at the base of Chordata. [13] Banffozoa’s inclusion within this group is dubious, due to their lack of gill slits and apparent gut diverticula, and so they may be within Protostomia instead.[14]

  1. ^ Liu, Junping; Chen, Ailin; Li, Binglin; Tang, Feng; Zhao, Jiangtai; Chen, Ke (2024-10-06). "Problematic Ediacaran sail-shaped fossils from eastern Yunnan, China". Historical Biology. Informa UK Limited: 1–7. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2403588. ISSN 0891-2963.
  2. ^ Shu, Degan (2005). "On the Phylum Vetulicolia". Chinese Science Bulletin. 50 (20): 2342–2354. Bibcode:2005ChSBu..50.2342S. doi:10.1007/BF03183746. ISSN 1001-6538. S2CID 86827605.
  3. ^ McMenamin, Mark A. S. (2019). "Cambrian Chordates and Vetulicolians". Geosciences. 9 (8): 354. Bibcode:2019Geosc...9..354M. doi:10.3390/geosciences9080354. ISSN 2076-3263.
  4. ^ Shu, D. G.; Conway Morris, S.; Han, J.; Chen, L.; Zhang, X. L.; Zhang, Z. F.; Liu, H. Q.; Li, Y.; Liu, J. N. (2001-11-22). "Primitive deuterostomes from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Lower Cambrian, China)". Nature. 414 (6862): 419–424. Bibcode:2001Natur.414..419S. doi:10.1038/35106514. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11719797. S2CID 4345484.
  5. ^ Briggs, Derek E. G.; Fortey, Richard A. (2005). "Wonderful strife: systematics, stem groups, and the phylogenetic signal of the Cambrian radiation". Paleobiology. 31 (2_Suppl): 94–112. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2005)031[0094:WSSSGA]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0094-8373. S2CID 44066226.
  6. ^ Ailin, C.; Hongzhen, F.; Maoyan, Z.H.U.; Dongsheng, M.A.; Ming, L.I. (2003), "A New Vetulicolian from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna in Yunnan of China", Acta Geologica Sinica, 77 (3): 281–287, doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2003.tb00742.x, S2CID 128895860[dead link‍]
  7. ^ McMenamin, Mark A. S. (11 August 2019). "Cambrian Chordates and Vetulicolians". Geosciences. 9 (8): 354. Bibcode:2019Geosc...9..354M. doi:10.3390/geosciences9080354.
  8. ^ Shu, Degan (2003). "A paleontological perspective of vertebrate origin". Chinese Science Bulletin. 48 (8): 725–735. Bibcode:2003ChSBu..48..725S. doi:10.1007/BF03187041. S2CID 85163902.
  9. ^ Dominguez, Patricio and Jeffries, Richard. (2003). Fossil evidence on the origin of appendicularians. Paper read at International Urochordate Meeting 2003. Abstract at [2] – URL retrieved June 22, 2006.
  10. ^ García-Bellido, Diego C; Paterson, John R (2014). "A new vetulicolian from Australia and its bearing on the chordate affinities of an enigmatic Cambrian group". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 14: 214. doi:10.1186/s12862-014-0214-z. PMC 4203957. PMID 25273382.
  11. ^ Han, Jian; Conway Morris, Simon; Ou, Qiang; Shu, Degan; Huang, Hai (2017). "Meiofaunal deuterostomes from the basal Cambrian of Shaanxi (China)". Nature. 542 (7640): 228–231. Bibcode:2017Natur.542..228H. doi:10.1038/nature21072. PMID 28135722. S2CID 353780.
  12. ^ Liu, Yunhuan; Carlisle, Emily; Zhang, Huaqiao; Yang, Ben; Steiner, Michael; Shao, Tiequan; Duan, Baichuan; Marone, Federica; Xiao, Shuhai; Donoghue, Philip C. J. (2022-08-17). "Saccorhytus is an early ecdysozoan and not the earliest deuterostome". Nature. 609 (7927): 541–546. Bibcode:2022Natur.609..541L. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05107-z. hdl:1983/454e7bec-4cd4-4121-933e-abeab69e96c1. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 35978194. S2CID 251646316.
  13. ^ Mussini, G.; Smith, M. P.; Vinther, J.; Rahman, I. A.; Murdock, D. J. E.; Harper, D. A. T.; Dunn, F. S. (2024). "A new interpretation of Pikaia reveals the origins of the chordate body plan". Current Biology. 34 (13): 2980–2989.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.026. PMID 38866005.
  14. ^ Caron, Jean-Bernard (June 2005). "Banffia constricta , a putative vetulicolid from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences. 96 (2): 95–111. doi:10.1017/S0263593300001255.


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