Metaspriggina
Encyclopedia
Metaspriggina is a genus of chordate
known from only two specimens in the middle Cambrian Burgess shale
.
Whilst named after the Ediacaran organism
Spriggina
, later work has shown the two to be unrelated. Evidence for cranial structures are present in one of the specimens.
Chordate
Chordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
known from only two specimens in the middle Cambrian Burgess shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
.
Whilst named after the Ediacaran organism
Ediacara biota
The Ediacara biota consisted of enigmatic tubular and frond-shaped, mostly sessile organisms which lived during the Ediacaran Period . Trace fossils of these organisms have been found worldwide, and represent the earliest known complex multicellular organisms.Simple multicellular organisms such as...
Spriggina
Spriggina
Fossils of Spriggina are known from the Ediacaran period, around . The segmented organism reached about 3 cm in length and may have been predatory...
, later work has shown the two to be unrelated. Evidence for cranial structures are present in one of the specimens.