Thaumaptilon

Thaumaptilon; Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria?
Genus:	Thaumaptilon; Conway Morris, 1993
Species:	T. walcotti

Thaumaptilon is a fossil genus of animals from the middle Cambrian Burgess Shale which some authors have compared to members of the Ediacaran biota, generally believed to have disappeared at the start of the Cambrian, 539 million years ago.^[1] It was up to 20 cm long, and attached itself to the sea floor with a holdfast.

Leaf-shaped, Thaumaptilon had a central axis extending to its tip, with many "ribs" radiating from it, in a similar manner to the ribs of a leaf. These may have had canals connecting them to the axis. One side of its surface was covered in spots, which might have been zooids.

Thaumaptilon is considered important due to its resemblance to some Ediacarans; it was believed to be a relative of forms such as Charnia.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Forms related to Charnia were once believed to be related to sea-pens (pennatulacean cnidarians), although this hypothesis has been questioned based on several lines of evidence.^[5]^[6]

The name Thaumaptilon is said to be derived from the Greek thauma, "wonderful", + ptilon, "soft feather".^[2] In ancient Greek, thauma (θαῦμα) however means "wonder".^[7]

^ "Stratigraphic Chart 2022" (PDF). International Stratigraphic Commission. February 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b Conway Morris, S. (1993). "Ediacaran-like fossils in Cambrian Burgess Shale-type faunas of North America" (PDF). Palaeontology. 36 (3): 593–635. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09.
^ Cite error: The named reference S15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference CIT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference WGC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Antcliffe2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[1] "Stratigraphic Chart 2022" (PDF). International Stratigraphic Commission. February 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.

[SCM1993-2] Conway Morris, S. (1993). "Ediacaran-like fossils in Cambrian Burgess Shale-type faunas of North America" (PDF). Palaeontology. 36 (3): 593–635. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09.

[S15-3] Cite error: The named reference S15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[CIT-4] Cite error: The named reference CIT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[WGC-5] Cite error: The named reference WGC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Antcliffe2007-6] Cite error: The named reference Antcliffe2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Liddell_&_Scott-7] Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]