Orstenotubulus
Extinct genus of Cambrian animals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orstenotubulus is a genus of minute lobopodian known from three-dimensionally preserved remains found in the Upper Cambrian (Furongian) Orsten deposits of southern Sweden.[1][2]
| Orstenotubulus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Reconstruction of Orstenotubulus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Panarthropoda |
| Phylum: | †Lobopodia |
| Genus: | †Orstenotubulus |
| Species: | †O. evamuellerae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Orstenotubulus evamuellerae Maas et al 2007 [1] | |
Morphology
Orstenotubulus was tiny, estimated to only be 4–5 millimetres (5⁄32–3⁄16 in) long, with elongated, thin body about 0.12–0.205 millimetres (1⁄200–1⁄125 in) wide with pairs of upward-pointing spines running down the entire top of the body. Each pair of spines was associated with a pair of relatively elongate legs, with the whole body suggested to have 9-10 spine-leg pairs. The body was weakly annulated. It had tiny retractable spines ventral to the leg surface.[1]
Ecology
Orstenotubulus is thought to have lived by walking on the seafloor, with its spines likely serving to protect it against predators.[1]
Taxonomy
A 2015 study found that it was within the "hallucishaniid" grouping of lobopodians, related to lobopodians like the also spined Hallucigenia and Collinsovermis.[3]
