Keurbosia

Keurbosia; Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Bilateria
(unranked):	incertae sedis
Genus:	†Keurbosia
Species:	†K. susanae
Binomial name
	†Keurbosia susanae; nomen nudum

Keurbosia is an enigmatic genus of Ordovician bilaterian[1] of unknown affiliation from South Africa.[2] The genus comprises a single species, Keurbosia susanae, which has yet to be formally described. It has been variously speculated to be related to arthropods or vertebrates.[2][3]

Discovery

The only two known specimens of Keurbosia susanae were discovered in 1998 in the Soom Shale of South Africa by a team from Leicester University.[2] It hasn't been formally described yet, and remains a nomen nudum.[1]

Description

Keurbosia had a compressed, bilaterally symmetrical segmented body of around 38 cm (15 in) in length, surrounded by pairs of flaps on each segment, imbricating with each other, as well as wider lobe-like appendages of unknown purpose. The animal was soft-bodied, and had around 45 segments.[1][4]

Its well-preserved internal anatomy shows a structure that has been interpreted as a notochord, from which branched a thick musculature.[2][1]

References

Gabbott, Sarah E.; Browning, Claire; Theron, Johannes N.; Whittle, Rowan J. (2017). "The late Ordovician Soom Shale Lagerstätte: an extraordinary post-glacial fossil and sedimentary record" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society. 174 (1): 1–9. Bibcode:2017JGSoc.174....1G. doi:10.1144/jgs2016-076. ISSN 0016-7649.
Male, Alan (2012). "Pictures of new knowledge: a dilemma of fact or fantasy". Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Art, Illustration and Visual Culture in Infant and Primary Education.
"Research Imagery | Professor Alan Male". 25 September 2019.
Aldridge, R.J., Gabbott, S.E. & Theron, J.N. 2001. The Soom Shale. In: Briggs, D.E.G. & Crowther, P.R. (eds) Palaeobiology II. Blackwell, Oxford, 340–342.

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[GabbottBrowning2017-1] Gabbott, Sarah E.; Browning, Claire; Theron, Johannes N.; Whittle, Rowan J. (2017). "The late Ordovician Soom Shale Lagerstätte: an extraordinary post-glacial fossil and sedimentary record" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society. 174 (1): 1–9. Bibcode:2017JGSoc.174....1G. doi:10.1144/jgs2016-076. ISSN 0016-7649.

[pictures-2] Male, Alan (2012). "Pictures of new knowledge: a dilemma of fact or fantasy". Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Art, Illustration and Visual Culture in Infant and Primary Education.

[3] "Research Imagery | Professor Alan Male". 25 September 2019.

[4] Aldridge, R.J., Gabbott, S.E. & Theron, J.N. 2001. The Soom Shale. In: Briggs, D.E.G. & Crowther, P.R. (eds) Palaeobiology II. Blackwell, Oxford, 340–342.