Paucijaculum
Cambrian genus of chaetognath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paucijaculum is an extinct genus of chaetognath from the Carboniferous age Francis Creek Shale and Carbondale Group of Illinois, United States.[2] It contains one species, Paucijaculum samamithion.
| Paucijaculum Temporal range: Moscovian, ~ | |
|---|---|
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| Paucijaculum samamithion specimen from Mazon Creek Pit 11 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chaetognatha |
| Genus: | †Paucijaculum Schram, 1973 |
| Species: | †P. samamithion |
| Binomial name | |
| †Paucijaculum samamithion Schram, 1973 | |
Discovery and naming
The holotype is FMNH PE116 and it was discovered no later than 1972 inside an ironstone concretion at Pit 11 at Mazon Creek.[3] Schram (1973) named and described Paucijaculum samamithion as the oldest known and first known fossil chaetognath;[3] this was accepted until Eognathacantha was identified from the Cambrian Stage 3 in China.[4]
Additional specimens have been found in the Carbondale Group near Essex, Illinois.[5]
