Oikozetetes
Encyclopedia
Oikozetetes is a scleritome-bearing Cambrian
organism which may be related to the halkieriids.
They bore two morphologically different shells, which were probably calcareous while the organism was alive (although diagenesis sometimes replaces the original minearal with another, such as silica). It is thought to also have borne an armour coat consisting of biomineralised sclerites, like Halkieria
. These are never found in direct association with the shells, but there are many biostratinomic processes which could account for this fact.
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
organism which may be related to the halkieriids.
They bore two morphologically different shells, which were probably calcareous while the organism was alive (although diagenesis sometimes replaces the original minearal with another, such as silica). It is thought to also have borne an armour coat consisting of biomineralised sclerites, like Halkieria
Halkieria
Halkieria is a genus of fossil organisms from the Lower to Middle Cambrian. It has been found on almost every continent in Lower to Mid Cambrian deposits, forming a large component of the small shelly fossil assemblages...
. These are never found in direct association with the shells, but there are many biostratinomic processes which could account for this fact.