Essexella
Extinct cnidarian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Essexella is an extinct genus of cnidarian known from Late Carboniferous fossils; it contains a single species, E. asherae. It is one of the most recurrent organisms in the Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois;[1] in the Essex biota of Mazon Creek, it consists of 42% of all fossil finds.[2] Essexella was originally described as a jellyfish,[3] but was recently redescribed as a sea anemone.[4]
| Essexella Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Essexella asherae fossil on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Genus: | †Essexella Foster, 1979 |
| Species: | †E. asherae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Essexella asherae Foster, 1979 | |
Another alleged jellyfish, Reticulomedusa, is likely Essexella preserved from different angles. Essexella may have produced the common trace fossil Conostichus.[5]
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