Enigmatic Typhloesus wellsi: Now transitional between lancelets and sea cucumbers
Today
the ‘alien goldfish’ and late-surviving Late Carboniferous, Typhloesus welsii (Melton and Scott 1972, Conway Morris 1990), goes under DGS (Figs. 1, 4). The aim is to tease out a few more details than previously traced during earlier binocular examinations fifty and thirty-two years ago… before Photoshop’s ability to highlight structures became available to workers.
Based on tracings presented here
(Figs. 1, 4), Typhloesus is transitional between lancelets and sea cucumbers sharing traits once considered unique to each type.Let’s compare traditional interpretations with several novel ones offered here. Please note that several were proposed by Melton and Scott 1972, then later misinterpreted by Conway Morris 1990.
Backstory:
Earlier we looked at the origin of echinoderms from lancelet ancestors evolving first into sea cucumbers (Fig. 2), then on to other echinoderms, from starfish to crinoids. So Typhloesus merely cements and adds detail to a relationship already documented here.
This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not, please provide a prior citation so I can promote it here.
PS
Nowadays, sea cucumbers can be temporary homes for pearlfish, the relative size and elongate shape of extinct conodonts. They enter and exit through ‘the back door.’ If analogous, maybe a tiny conodont was living inside Typhloesus when it was fossilized, rather than the conodont being a prey item. With sea cucumbers, perhaps uniquely, this possibility must be considered.
References
Conway Morris S 1990. Typhloesus wellsi (Melton and Scott 1973), a bizarre metazoan from the Carboniferous of Montana USA. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B 327: 595–624.
Melton W and Scott HW 1972 (1973). Conodont-bearing animals from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana. Book chapter in GSA Special Papers: Conodont Paleozoology by Rhodes FHT. https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE141
Typhloesus: The ‘Alien Goldfish’ of Bear Gulch by Christopher Taylor at 6/20/2016.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2021/11/16/enigmatic-typhloesus-wellsi-now-transitional-between-lancelets-and-sea-cucumbers/
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