Didazoon

Didazoon Temporal range: Early Cambrian
Didazoon haoae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Vetulicolia Shu, et al. 2001
Order:	Vetulicolida Chen & Zhou 1997
Family:	Didazoonidae Shu & Han 2001
Genus:	Didazoon Shu & Han 2001
Species:	Didazoon haoae Shu & Han 2001

The genus Didazoon was erected by Shu, et al. based on fossils found in the Qiongzhusi (Chiungchussu) Formation, Yu'anshan Member (Eoredlichia zone), Lower Cambrian, in the Dabanqiao area (Kunming), about 60 km northwest of Chengjiang, China. It currently consists of the single species Didazoon haoae.

The fossils show that the body of the animal was covered in a thin, flexible cuticle. The anterior part of the body was divided into six segments, with fairly broad membranes separating the segments, and the posterior part of the body was divided into seven segments. The constriction between the anterior and posterior parts of the animal shows creasing, and the authors hypothesize that it was quite flexible. The fossils are interpreted as showing a large anterior opening, presumably a mouth, a spacious anterior cavity, an alimentary canal, possibly voluminous in the anterior section, and a narrow intestine in the posterior section, straight or coiled (in one specimen). There are five structures on each side of the anterior portion that the authors interpret as gills. Narrow strands towards the lateral margins, sometimes branched, may represent vascular tissue. The authors also identify a dark strand on the lower interior surface of the anterior section, which they speculate is an endostyle.

See also

• Maotianshan shales

References

• Shu, D. -G.; Morris, S. C.; Han, J.; Chen, L.; Zhang, X. -L.; Zhang, Z. -F.; Liu, H. -Q.; Li, Y. et al. (2001). "Primitive deuterostomes from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Lower Cambrian, China)". Nature 414 (6862): 419–424. doi:10.1038/35106514. PMID 11719797.  edit

External links

• New phylum on the block
• Once We Were Worms
• Chu, et al., Primitive Deuterostomes from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte - accessed December 1, 2005

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