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1 July 2017 Evolutionary implications of a new transitional blastozoan echinoderm from the middle Cambrian of the Czech Republic
Elise Nardin, Bertrand Lefebvre, Oldřich Fatka, Martina Nohejlová, Libor Kašička, Miroslav Šinágl, Michal Szabad
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Abstract

The primitive blastozoan Felbabkacystis luckae n. gen. n. sp. is described from the Drumian Jince Formation, Barrandian area (Czech Republic) from eleven fairly well-preserved specimens. Its unique body plan organization is composed of a relatively long, stalk-like imbricate structure directly connected to the aboral imbricate cup of the test and of an adoral vaulted tessellate test supporting the ambulacral and brachiolar systems. Its bipartite test, called prototheca, highlights the evolution of the body wall among blastozoans. Felbabkacystis n. gen. shows the combination of plesiomorphic (imbricate stalk-like appendage) and derived features (highly domed peristome, elongate epispires). The new genus is interpreted as a transitional form between calyx-bearing and theca-bearing blastozoans, and is attributed to the new family Felbabkacystidae. The lithology, the associated fauna, and the possession of a long stalk suggest that Felbabkacystis was probably a low-level suspension feeder living in relatively deep settings.

© 2017, The Paleontological Society
Elise Nardin, Bertrand Lefebvre, Oldřich Fatka, Martina Nohejlová, Libor Kašička, Miroslav Šinágl, and Michal Szabad "Evolutionary implications of a new transitional blastozoan echinoderm from the middle Cambrian of the Czech Republic," Journal of Paleontology 91(4), 672-684, (1 July 2017). https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2016.157
Accepted: 1 November 2016; Published: 1 July 2017
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