Lecythioscopa
Extinct genus of priapulid worms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lecythioscopa is a genus of probable archaeopriapulid known from two specimens from the Walcott Quarry from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale.[1]
| Lecythioscopa Temporal range: Burgess Shale | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Stem group: | Priapulida (?) |
| Class: | †Archaeopriapulida |
| Genus: | †Lecythioscopa Conway Morris, 1977[1] |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Morphology
The specimens of Lectythioscopa are both missing their posterior portions, leaving a head, comparable to the proboscis of other priapulids, and long trunk, which is curved in both specimens. The animal was probably a burrower due to its external radial symmetry.[1]
History
The species was originally placed as Canadia simplex by Charles Walcott in a 1931 publication based on a single specimen.[2] Simon Conway Morris later identified what was previously considered a specimen of Canadia dubia as sharing similar features, placing them both under the name of Lecythioscopa simplex.[3][1]
