Marocella

Marocella Temporal range: Early Cambrian– Middle Cambrian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Marocella; Source: Evans, 1992
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	incertae sedis
Genus:	†Marocella
Binomial name
Marocella mira Geyer, 1986[1]

Marocella is a conical shelly fossil of uncertain affinity (probably a mollusc) known from Cambrian strata.^[2]

Morphology

Limpet-like Marocella is a low conical shell with concentric ridges that grew to a couple of centimetres in length.^[3]

Affinity

Marocella is thought to be a mollusc, although its position within this phylum is undetermined.^[3] Relationship to the halkieriids has also been considered.^[4]

Ecology

Some specimens show evidence of repairing damage caused by predators.^[3] It probably moved around on the sea floor.^[3] It was geographically widespread.^[3]

1. ^ Geyer, G. (1986). "Mittelkambrische Mollusken aus Marokko und Spanien" (in German). Senckenbergiana Lethaea 67: 55–118. 
2. ^ Evans, K. R. (1992). "Marocella: Antarctic Specimens of an Enigmatic Cambrian Animal". Journal of Paleontology 66 (4): 558–562. JSTOR 1305841.  edit
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Skovsted, C. B.; Brock, G. A.; Lindström, A.; Peel, J. S.; Paterson, J. R.; Fuller, M. K. (2007). "Early Cambrian record of failed durophagy and shell repair in an epibenthic mollusc". Biology Letters 3 (3): 314–317. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0006. PMC 2464687. PMID 17412671. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2464687.  edit
4. ^ Evans, K. R. (1992). "Marocella: Antarctic Specimens of an Enigmatic Cambrian Animal". Journal of Paleontology 66 (4): 558–562. JSTOR 1305841.  edit