Three Cambrian fossils assembled into an extinct body plan of cnidarian affinity

Significance New material from the Chengjiang fossil Lagerstätte clarifies the identity of three early Cambrian problematica. The presumed earliest hemichordate Galeaplumosus abilus and the putative ancient sea pen Chengjiangopenna wangii are in fact fragments of Xianguangia sinica . Here we demonstrate that X. sinica possessed a polypoid body, a blind gastric cavity partitioned by septum-like structures, a holdfast that contained an additional...