Yilingia spiciformis is a worm-like animal that lived between approximately 551 million and 539 million years ago in the Ediacaran period, around 10 million years before the Cambrian explosion. A fossil of this creature and its tracks were discovered in 2019 in Southern China.[1] It was a segmented bilaterian, conceivably related to panarthropods or annelids. It is a rare example of a complex Ediacaran animal that is similar to animals that existed since the Cambrian, hence suggesting that perhaps the Cambrian explosion was less sudden than often assumed.
| Yilingia Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Bilateria |
| (unranked): | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Yilingia |
| Species: | †Y. spiciformis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Yilingia spiciformis Chen et al. 2019
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Fossils of around 35 specimens were found. The creature appears to be metameric, with each metamere having three lobes, like later trilobites.[2] The fossils make Yilingia one of the oldest known animals to be capable of making decisions and moving on its own.[3]
References
edit- ^ Chen, Zhe; Zhou, Chuanming; Yuan, Xunlai; Xiao, Shuhai (2019). "Death march of a segmented and trilobate bilaterian elucidates early animal evolution". Nature. 573 (7774): 412–415. Bibcode:2019Natur.573..412C. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1522-7. PMID 31485079.412-415&rft.date=2019&rft_id=info:pmid/31485079&rft_id=info:doi/10.1038/s41586-019-1522-7&rft_id=info:bibcode/2019Natur.573..412C&rft.aulast=Chen&rft.aufirst=Zhe&rft.au=Zhou, Chuanming&rft.au=Yuan, Xunlai&rft.au=Xiao, Shuhai&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Yilingia" class="Z3988">
- ^ "Ancient wormlike animal caught in its tracks sheds light on early locomotion". 2019-09-03.
- ^ A 550-million-year-old worm was one of the first animals to move and make decisions, a new study says