A new cornute (Homalozoa: Echinodermata) from the uppermost Middle Cambrian (stage 3, Furongian) from Northern Iran: Its systematics and functional morphology

Abstract

A new rare nearly bilaterally symmetrical cornute from the Mila Formation, upper Middle–early Late Cambrian (Series 3, Furongian) from northern Iran is described, Persiacarpos jefferiesi gen. and sp. nov. It resembles Phyllocystis blayaci, but differs by the presence of the distal protrusion of M5 on the posterior end of the theca and by various sizes and patterns of the slightly bulging centralia. The animal appears to be mobile and probably moved in a tadpole-like wriggling manner. It may have fed with ambulacral cover plates open, using cover plates and/or podia for food capture, while the animal was in motion.