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Ceratophyton
Extinct genus of Cambrian organisms From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ceratophyton is a genus of Cambrian acritarch, around 100–200 μm in length, produced by a eukaryotic (metazoan?) organism.
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Affinity
Ceratophyton has been interpreted as an originally chitinous component of a metazoan.[2][3] An arthropod relationship has been proposed,[4] although on a more conservative view it is difficult to provide confident classification beyond saying that they are fragments of a eukaryote.[2] Particular species, however, show promising similarity to the sclerites of modern priapulid worms.[5]
Species
C. vernicosum
This species, the type, comprises a single unornamented cone.[1] This species occurs in platform settings in western Russia in the Lontova and Lyukati horizons, first occurring in the local base of the 'Cambrian'.[2][6] In Poland it occurs from the base of the Cambrian (Platysolenites zone) to the Schmidtiellus zone.[6]
It has been reported from the middle Cambrian of Belgium, although these specimens are short on diagnostic features.[3]
It also occurs below the T. pedum zone, indicating the presence of the producer in the Ediacaran period.[7]
C. circufuntum
This species is represented by single cones that have rings around their bases.[1]
C. duplicum
This taxon has a double wall, resembling a pair of stacked cones; it may represent a taphomorph of C. vernicosum.[2]
C. dumufuntum
This single cone has short conical spines, which occur on its basal region.[1] This species is known from the mid-to-late Atdabanian siltstones of the Ouldburra formation of Australia.[7][8]
C. spinuconum
This species again comprises a single cone; it has spines and processes along both margins.[1]
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Differences from other taxa
Ceratophyton differs from the taxon Veryhachium in having a basal opening.[2]
References
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