Orstenotubulus

Orstenotubulus; Temporal range: Guzhangian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Reconstruction of Orstenotubulus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
(unranked):	Panarthropoda
Phylum:	†"Lobopodia"
Genus:	†Orstenotubulus
Species:	†O. evamuellerae
Binomial name
	†Orstenotubulus evamuellerae; Maas et al 2007

Orstenotubulus is a genus of lobopodian known from Orsten deposits of the latest 'middle' Cambrian (Miaolingian).^[1]^[2] It is believed by some to be an ancestor of the Tardigrades.

Morphology

Orstenotubulus was a Mid Cambrian lobopodian. It had an elongated, thin body with pairs of dorsal spines running down the entire top of the body. It also had tiny retractable spines ventral to the leg surface. Orstenotubulus would have crawled along the sea floor like most other lobopodians, using its dorsal spines to deter any predators.

References

^ ^a ^b Maas, A.; Mayer, G.; Kristensen, R. M.; Waloszek, D. (2007). "A Cambrian micro-lobopodian and the evolution of arthropod locomotion and reproduction". Chinese Science Bulletin. 52 (24): 3385. Bibcode:2007ChSBu..52.3385M. doi:10.1007/s11434-007-0515-3. S2CID 83993887.
^ Maas A, Waloszek D. 2001. Cambrian derivatives of the early arthropod stem lineage, pentastomids, tardigrades and lobopodians – an ‘Orsten’ perspective. Zoologischer Anzeiger 240: 451–459.

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[maas-1] Maas, A.; Mayer, G.; Kristensen, R. M.; Waloszek, D. (2007). "A Cambrian micro-lobopodian and the evolution of arthropod locomotion and reproduction". Chinese Science Bulletin. 52 (24): 3385. Bibcode:2007ChSBu..52.3385M. doi:10.1007/s11434-007-0515-3. S2CID 83993887.

[2] Maas A, Waloszek D. 2001. Cambrian derivatives of the early arthropod stem lineage, pentastomids, tardigrades and lobopodians – an ‘Orsten’ perspective. Zoologischer Anzeiger 240: 451–459.

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