A hypothetical reconstruction of Hallucigenia
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Evolutionary Studies, Paleontology
- Keywords
- Hallucigenia, Burgess Shale, Burgess, Cambrian, Lobopod, Hallucigenia fortis, Hallucigenia hongmeia, Reconstruction, Hypothetical
- Copyright
- © 2019 McCall
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2019. A hypothetical reconstruction of Hallucigenia. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27551v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27551v1
Abstract
Hallucigenia is an odd genus of Early Cambrian lobopod whose history is fraught with changes. Presented in this article are four reconstructions showing the three known species of Hallucigenia in further detail; culminating research into single reconstructions. A wrinkled cuticula scattered with tiny papillae is suggested for all species; a pair of antennae suggested for H. sparsa and H. hongmeia; fine anterior appendages lined with hair-like setae suggested for all species as an adaptation for filter feeding. Inferences on diet and method of feeding can be made. Further anatomical connections are made between Hallucigenia and Onychophora.
Author Comment
The author is seeking advice on how to improve the article before looking for publication. Any feedback is appreciated. And also, these reconstructions are mostly tentative.