Burykhia

Burykhia hunti is a Precambrian fossil from the White Sea region of Russia dating to 555 million years ago. It is considered of ascidian affinity, due to the sac-like morphology and a series of distinctly perforated bands reminiscent of a tunicate pharynx. If B. hunti is a tunicate, it could be the oldest ascidian fossil known as of its publication in 2012.[1] It is possibly related to the slightly younger Ausia, another putative ascidian from the Vendian biota in Namibia.[1] In the case of Burykhia, the narrow longitudinal vessels support affinity with the suborder Phlebobranchia.

Burykhia
Temporal range: 555 Ma
↓
reconstruction as a tunicate-like animal
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Tunicata
Class: Ascidiacea (?)
Family: †Ausiidae
Genus: †Burykhia
Fedonkin, Vickers-Rich, Swalla, Trusler & Hall, 2012
Species:
†B. hunti
Binomial name
†Burykhia hunti
Fedonkin, Vickers-Rich, Swalla, Trusler & Hall, 2012

Burykhia does not appear to have been colonial.[1]

See also

References
  1. Fedonkin, M. A.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Swalla, B. J.; Trusler, P.; Hall, M. (2012). "A new metazoan from the Vendian of the White Sea, Russia, with possible affinities to the ascidians". Paleontological Journal. 46: 1. doi:10.1134/S0031030112010042.


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